As I end my first 3 months in this new country, I will take a moment to reflect on the cross-cultural exchange in terms of food. As a way to keep some sort of normalcy in my life, I try to buy things that remind me of home (when I can afford it). It has been my experience that my host mom Таня (Tanya) is a lot more willing to try the new foods I expose her to than Саша (Sasha) or Павил (Pavil). Then again, I think she is the one that signed up to host a volunteer and not them! Anyway, I have made an effort to try out most of the stuff that comes my way. Although, ironically, it is usually Саша who tries to get me to eat things as if he was trying to get me try a cigarette for the first time. I expect he would get a big laugh if I tasted something vile for the first time and had to make a run for the toilet or at least grab the closest napkin! I show them that I am willing to try anything that is really new to me (as opposed to something like “liver cake” that my experience tells me will not be one of my favorites. I have already mentioned in previous posts about salo, kvass, and meat Jell-o. I will reiterate that salo, which is basically bacon that is not smoked and has virtually no meat at all, is not bad, if prepared correctly. It is usually cut into chunks and either eaten fried or raw with bread. I have tried the fried a few times and it just tastes like unsmoked bacon. I have successfully dodged the raw, which is fine by me. On the other hand I have been introduced to palmeni and vareniky (both of which we made on our cooking day) and both remind me of a cross between pierogies and wontons. The golubsy is a meat and rice mixture that is wrapped in a cabbage leaf and then simmered in a tomato sauce. And although everyone seems to have their own recipe for the filling, I haven’t actually had a bad one yet. Really good stuff. Also, I mentioned the borsch. There are 2 basic kinds of borsch, green and red. The main difference being the inclusion or exclusion of beets. I love both. Tons of vegetables and usually a potato or two, and a chunk of unidentified meat serves as the centerpiece to the bowl. The food here is so good and I feel sorry for those who don’t like it, because I figure thay could be in troube the next two years!
As for things I have introduced to the family (with mixed results)…maple syrup. Not Mrs. Butterworth’s, but the real deal Vermont Maple Syrup! Таня thought it was “OK” at best, Павил said “no good” and Саша refuses to even try it. I’m glad, because that means I have it for myself for my blinis (like pancakes or crepes) on Sunday mornings. Next up, Ukrainians do not seem to understand the concept of salad dressing. They just put a wicked amount of mayonnaise on top of their salads. After one time, I opted for a dry salad, which was fine for a week or so. Then I decided to buy the ingredients for salad dressing. Oil, vinegar, mustard, some spices, and (in later weeks soy sauce). Again, Таня tried and thought it wasn’t bad, but was not moved enough to use it on her salad. She still opts for the mayo. After that, soy sauce. I thought I would try my hand at making Chinese fried rice. The rice came out pretty good and Таня agreed. However, she LOVED the soy sauce. All of the sudden for the next week she was putting soy sauce on everything! It was so funny, like she was looking to me for permission as if I had to tell her if it was appropriate to put it on chicken or fish. Along the same lines, Таня only uses distilled vinegar. Not wanting to make salad dressing with that, I bought a bottle of cider vinegar (they didn’t have balsamic) and now she loves that so much, she used up my bottle and had me buy her more. Next up, we had some extra black tea bags, so I decided to try my hand at sun tea. Again, Таня tried my iced tea after telling her that Americans like it in the summer. She liked it and actually asked for a refill. When I offered a cup of iced tea to Саша. The look of horror that came over his face was worthy of a photo. You would think I was offering him a plate of tongue? No. A plate of raw pig fat? No. A plate of cow intestines? Nope…Hmmm, I can’t even think of a food that he wouldn’t eat, yet my iced tea was too weird for him! Lastly, I finally found the American food that went over very well…Oreo cookies. I told them that this was many Americans favorite cookie, and they could see why. They all loved them and 3 year old Максим cried when they were gone.
I am happy to report that I am doing my part to introduce my host family to the flavors and tastes that remind me of home and hopefully will be my legacy in this family. Five years from now when they get an Oreo, maybe they will say “hey, remember when that American introduced us to these fabulous “печенье”, and I can say I did my part to make this world a little better one bite at a time.
As for things I have introduced to the family (with mixed results)…maple syrup. Not Mrs. Butterworth’s, but the real deal Vermont Maple Syrup! Таня thought it was “OK” at best, Павил said “no good” and Саша refuses to even try it. I’m glad, because that means I have it for myself for my blinis (like pancakes or crepes) on Sunday mornings. Next up, Ukrainians do not seem to understand the concept of salad dressing. They just put a wicked amount of mayonnaise on top of their salads. After one time, I opted for a dry salad, which was fine for a week or so. Then I decided to buy the ingredients for salad dressing. Oil, vinegar, mustard, some spices, and (in later weeks soy sauce). Again, Таня tried and thought it wasn’t bad, but was not moved enough to use it on her salad. She still opts for the mayo. After that, soy sauce. I thought I would try my hand at making Chinese fried rice. The rice came out pretty good and Таня agreed. However, she LOVED the soy sauce. All of the sudden for the next week she was putting soy sauce on everything! It was so funny, like she was looking to me for permission as if I had to tell her if it was appropriate to put it on chicken or fish. Along the same lines, Таня only uses distilled vinegar. Not wanting to make salad dressing with that, I bought a bottle of cider vinegar (they didn’t have balsamic) and now she loves that so much, she used up my bottle and had me buy her more. Next up, we had some extra black tea bags, so I decided to try my hand at sun tea. Again, Таня tried my iced tea after telling her that Americans like it in the summer. She liked it and actually asked for a refill. When I offered a cup of iced tea to Саша. The look of horror that came over his face was worthy of a photo. You would think I was offering him a plate of tongue? No. A plate of raw pig fat? No. A plate of cow intestines? Nope…Hmmm, I can’t even think of a food that he wouldn’t eat, yet my iced tea was too weird for him! Lastly, I finally found the American food that went over very well…Oreo cookies. I told them that this was many Americans favorite cookie, and they could see why. They all loved them and 3 year old Максим cried when they were gone.
I am happy to report that I am doing my part to introduce my host family to the flavors and tastes that remind me of home and hopefully will be my legacy in this family. Five years from now when they get an Oreo, maybe they will say “hey, remember when that American introduced us to these fabulous “печенье”, and I can say I did my part to make this world a little better one bite at a time.
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