The Authentic Ukrainian Kitchen: Recipes from a Native Chef

Celebrate Ukraine’s independent spirit and unique culture in 100 recipes from the chef determined to showcase his country's amazing resilience and traditions.

Now, more than ever, Ukrainian cuisine and culture deserve to be known around the world. Here, Yevhen Klopotenko shares modern recipes for the dishes that best express Ukraine’s unique culinary heritage and define the independent spirit of its people. Inside you’ll find fresh ideas about how to use common vegetables, new approaches to fermentation and pickling, the delight of dumplings and simple baked goods, hearty long-simmered braises, and the pleasure of babka, torte, candied fruit, and so much more.

Klopotenko is Ukraine’s most internationally celebrated chef, and these recipes are the result of years of research into regional Ukrainian cooking. He has peeled back layers of propaganda to identify true Ukrainian cuisine, shaped by tradition, geography, and agriculture.

Known as the “breadbasket of Europe,” Ukraine’s beloved dishes include:

• Borsch, the national treasure, and its many variations
• Pampushky, easy garlic bread rolls
• Varenyky, dumplings stuffed with sweet or savory fillings
• Deruny, fried potato pancakes
• Sweet and savory breakfasts, simple salads and dips, and hearty braises
• Lviv-style cheesecake, nut torte, and many more desserts

But this cookbook is about more than the food: It stands for the preservation of a culture under threat and the independence of people under attack.

“Yevhen is a powerhouse: You can feel his presence when he walks in the room. He is one of the chefs who is not only feeding the few at his restaurant, he is feeding the many of Ukraine. The recipes in this book are the recipes of the people, by a man who is on the frontlines of defending democracy.” -Chef José Andrés, Founder of World Central Kitchen

Yevhen Klopotenko is a Ukrainian chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and social activist. He is known for his popular cooking website klopotenko.com, promoting authentic Ukrainian cuisine across the country and the world. He is renowned for changing school catering so that children could become educated about Ukrainian culinary traditions and heritage. In 2015 he won season 5 of MasterChef Ukraine. In 2016 he graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. In 2019, he opened a restaurant named “100 Years Back to the Future,” combining Ukrainian culinary heritage with modern techniques. In 2020 he was named one of 50 Next ranking of people shaping the future of gastronomy. Now he is devoting efforts to humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Born in Kyiv, he studied international relations at the Kyiv University of Economics and Law and has worked in the US, UK, and Europe.