Read, translate and retell the text. Ukraine enjoys a variety of traditional cookery, as well as favourite imported dishes

Ukrainian cookery

Ukraine enjoys a variety of traditional cookery, as well as favourite imported dishes. Breakfast is a simple meal of bread, butter and perhaps soft-boiled eggs. Homemade jam with whole berries in heavy syrup is prized. Lunch may consist of a fish dish, a salad or a vegetable. Dinner is the main meal and guests are treated with great hospitality. Soup is made from available vegetables, such as carrots, cabbage or turnips, plus a piece of meat that is removed for serving. Accompaniments may include kasha (buckwheat groats), cabbage or pearl barley. Desserts are simple, perhaps small pastries, a fruit puree or fruit compote. Tea is the favourite drink, although coffee is enjoyed as well. Kvass, a slightly fermented drink, may be made from white or dark rye bread, cranberries.

The traditional Ukrainian food includes hot borsch, kasha, mlyntsi, pyrohy and varenyky dumplings.

The ingredients of hot borsch are beef consommé, tomato sauce, shredded cabbage, sliced celery, shredded carrots, onions, sliced thinly, 1 teaspoon sugar, beats, cut into thin strips, dillweed, sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. The steps to cook borsch are the following: put consommé in a large saucepan, add tomato sauce, cabbage, celery, carrots and onions. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat to low, simmer for about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender, but not mushy. Skim grease of soup, stir in sugar and beats. Simmer for 10 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put into soup bowls. Sprinkle with dillweed. Serve hot with sour cream on the side.

The ingredients of kasha are one egg, beaten, kasha (buckwheat groats), butter, cut in pieces, chicken broth, salt and pepper. The steps to kasha are the following: put egg and kasha in a medium bowl. Mix well. Put a large frying pan over medium heat. Add kasha. Cook stirring constantly until kasha is toasted and dried out. Add rest of ingredients. Reduce heat to low. Cover pan. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Cook until kasha has absorbed liquid and is tender but not mushy. Add water if necessary. Fluff with a fork. Serve hot.

The ingredients of mlyntsi include wheat flour, buckwheat flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk, butter, beaten eggs, melted butter, smoked fish or caviar, sour cream. The steps to cook mlyntsi are the following: put flours, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Heat milk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until very warm and butter is melted (115 degrees). Stir milk, butter and eggs into flour mixture. Beat out 1 minute or until smooth with an electric mixer. Cover bowl. Set in a warm place for 1 hour or until mixture has risen to double its size. Put a greased griddle over medium heat. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of mixture onto griddle. Cook about 1 minute or until bottom is browned and top is bubbly. Flip over to brown other side. Keep mlyntsi in warm oven while cooking the rest. To serve, brush with melted butter, top with smoked fish and then top with sour cream.

The ingredients of pyrohy are: flour, salt, shortening (fat used to make pastry crisp), sour cream, cooked ground beef, 1 egg beaten, 2 eggs hard boiled and chopped, chopped onion, dillweed, salt, pepper, 3 drops Tabasco (peppery sauce). The steps: mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening and sour cream. With clean hands form soft dough. Add cold water if necessary. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Combine beef, half of beaten egg, hard-boiled eggs, onion, dillweed, salt, pepper and Tabasco in a medium bowl. Mix well. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough out onto a floured board. Cut dough into 3-inch circles. Put a small amount of meat mixture into center of each circle and fold dough into a half circle. Press edges together and brush top with saved beaten egg. Bake on a greased baking sheet for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot.

The ingredients of varenyky /dumplings include vegetable oil, large onion chopped, all-purpose flour, salt, one egg, water. Steps: in bowl, combine flour with salt. Beat together egg, water and oil. Stir into flour mixture to make soft but not sticky dough that holds together. If necessary, add water, 1 tbsp (15 ml) at a time.

Chicken Kyiv is a tasty dish named after Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The chicken roll-ups are usually fried, but it is easier to cook them in the oven. The ingredients are: softened butter or margarine, fresh lemon juice, dried dill, salt, 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves about 3 ounces each, pounded thin, 1 large egg, seasoned dried breadcrumbs. The steps: preheat oven to 425 F. In small bowl combine butter, lemon juice, dill and salt until well blended. Spread each chicken cutlet with some butter mixture. From short end, roll up, at same time turning long edges of chicken in toward center, secure with a toothpick to close. Lightly beat egg in a bowl. Place bread crumbs in another bowl. Dip chicken in 12× 8 inch baking pan. Cook 30 minutes or until chicken is golden and tender. To serve, carefully remove toothpicks from chicken rolls. Make 4 servings.

The ingredients of the cucumber salad include: cucumbers, peeled and sliced thinly, salt, sour cream, four lemon juice, sugar, pepper. Steps: layer cucumbers in a shallow dish, sprinkling some of the salt between layers. Let cucumbers sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Drain off liquid and dry with a paper towel. Put sour cream, lemon juice, sugar and pepper in a medium bowl. Beat together. Stir in cucumbers. Add the rest of the salt to taste. Cover and chill. Serve cold.