There is nothing on this side of heaven
like the food of Ukraine where I now live.
The variety, the taste, the sight; eleven
dishes at once, here's the feast they give:
First a round of vodka, a toast for what we've got.
Then comes fresh rye bread with garlic salo,
finest white fat of the cherished pork,
followed by pickles, and fat fried in tallow,
and fresh herbs and tomatoes for your fork.
Then a round of vodka, just a little shot.
Next comes soup, the famous beetroot borsch,
always served with garlic pampushki;
and delicate deruni, the potato pancake course,
and some pickled fish with onions, almost free.
Another round of vodka, just a little, bitty shot.
For the main course, hunks of roasted meat,
and varenyki of potato or cabbage with sour cream,
and morss, a compote of prunes, smoky and sweet,
fills up the empty corners with all that one could dream.
And yet a round of vodka, just a little, bitty, tiny shot.
If one still has an appetite, dessert may follow this,
the torte of cream and honey is filled with hazelnuts;
coffee and sweet tea and a digestif, not to miss,
then go home to let it journey through your guts!
But no more of that vodka, it's a lot!
MargaretG
Author notes
Glossary:
salo: pork side fat, like bacon without the lean, served raw
borsch: red vegetable soup
pampushki: soft wheat rolls with crushed garlic
deruni: potato pancakes fried crisp
varenyki: called pirogi in Polish, filled dumplings
morss: juice made from smoked prunes
vodka: called horilka in Ukrainian
In a list
A contest entry
- HUGUENAUTY CONTEST No #36 FOR HUGH WYLES FAVOURITES GROUP ONLY. by huguenauties.
750 points, ended September 24, 2008, 10 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Thank you for reading.
Comments
1 - 28 of 28
-
Congratulations Margaret on your well deserved win.
-
The brilliance, the light touch to offset,
well recognized with the glow of gold!!!
Superb, Margaret.
M-C -
Congrats, but not really a surprise, was clearly the one that fit the contest the best.
-
I think I like that single line between stanzas (if with some martini)
Pampushki and deruni sounds good too!
And of course the dessert increased my appetite.
I know that in Poland and Russia they consume lots of vodka, didn't know in Ukraine was the same.
I enjoyed your menu
-
-
Thank you Mariza. The food is too good, and alcohol too cheap. If I want to stay slim I have to cook my own way.
-
-
Haha! Drink up, drink up, while it's still alcohol! (AKA whenever you feel sad, happy, angry, mellow, when someone married, when someone died, when someone has had a birthday, when someone hasn't had a birthday...)
-
-
There speaks a Slav
You know that vodka does not keep once the bottle has been opened.
Thanks for your appreciation.
-
-
Dear Margaret, A great feast you've planned for the banquet. I'll definitely will be visiting your table.
Jen
-
-
Thank you Jen! I have loads to share (save me from the varenyki!), I love this food too much.
Best of luck to you!
-
-
"Another round of vodka..." I bet everyone mentions that line
It sounds good. I never get to try anything different. I see deviled eggs in the photos, add those. Fried pickles? Weird, I want to try those.
Of all the entries, this is probably the one that best captures the idea behind the contest...good food and good fun, and neither done to excess (unlike the Vodka) And I would guess that this is the early favorite in the contest.
-
-
Thanks for your comment! You're right, most did mention the vodka. It is part of the culture, like wine in France or beer in Germany. Simple food, simply enjoyed.
-
-
Bring on the Vodka
Dear Sweetpea,
The Ukrainian meal will make a fine addition to out banquet and they certainly love their Vodka, I giggled at your reference to the Vodka between each verse.
A bonza poem my friend that I enjoyed reading.
Love Joan
-
-
Thank you Joan! We go out for a meal like this a couple of times a year. More than that would be habit-forming!
-
-
A Mighty Banquet
Dear Margaret, Oh your menu sounds so delicious to eat.
All that Vodka between would put me under the table in no time, but being Ukrainians they would have been brought up on it and used to drinking it.
I loved your very lighthearted poem Margaret.
Good luck in the voting.
Love Hine
-
-
Thanks for commenting, Hine - I must be careful too about the bottles going around, but I enjoy the food very much. Best of luck to you, too!
-
-
Dear Margaret,
A scrumptious meal you've described! I'm half Irish, half PA Dutch (German) but I married a Ukrainian so I learned to love Ukrainian meals. I always enjoyed eating ( and drinking ) at my in-laws house, especially on holidays!
Best of Luck in the contest!
<3 Maureen
-
-
ah Maureen, I thought you must have a Ukrainian connection. There is a great appreciation of simple things here, good food, and good company. Thanks for commenting!
-
-
"Smachnoho!" (Sorry, no time to say anything more at present!")
-
-
Vam duzhe dyakuyu! Vse dla vas uspishno, spodivayusya.
-
-
Dear Margaret,
I'd really love to join with you in your Ukrainian feast
and sip a vodka - one or two or maybe three at least
for even with that great repast, if I drank any more,
my legs would just give way at last and I'd be on the floor!
Then you would say: "He's well away - not fit to be a king!"
and, from the queen the following day, I'd hear like anything!
So I'll abstain from drinking much and just enjoy the food as such,
and with each choice, protect my voice in case I'm asked to sing.
LOL. I'm enjoying every mouthful. May I have another glass of water, please?
A most enticing menu served with poetic relish.
Best of luck in the contest.
Love and hugs, XXX Hugh (R.)
(Hope my breath doesn't smell of garlic!)
-
-
Thanks for your comment King Hugh - no one can out do you at the banquet table. As long as we all dine together, no one will complain about the garlic!
-
-
My Joy would throw up
as she is fat-intolerant.
Hearty meals are often heartless on the heart. So, with the above sumptuous delight, I guess it's die happy even if in chest pain.
Then again, I could stick to Vodka; pretend to be an alcoholic and get drunk. Miss all the fat and make stupid jokes.
Margaret, this is a poem which is a collectable.
Being a diplomat's wife must keep you trim if you drink only water in between official meals. I mean, the "guts" have to have a holiday like the rest of us.
-
-
Joy Sprat! She can never eat this way, and we can only feast once in a while. I'm happy you enjoyed the menu; you are right, I have to watch my diet or watch my waist expand.
Thanks for your appreciative comment.
-
-
Well eaten...
...I mean, written. Another sumptuously imaged sharing of LIFE in the Ukraine. They say it's all in the presentation... I say you've done it all.
Bon appetite and plenty of Pepto...
Peace (be still, my rumbling gut! ),
Rahad
-
-
Thank you for your appreciation, Rahad! Life is in the balance: enjoyment postponed is a pain to the heart, overindulgence is a pain to the stomach.
-
-
Oh, what a celebration,
with a bit of vodka between courses,
described in a manner fitting a gourmet,
with a bit of vodka on the side;
ethnic specialties explained so well,
with a tiny bit of vodka;
a joy to imagine you partaking of the feast,
and bringing it to us, gloriously,
with the last drop of vodka.
A superb telling, Margaret!!
M-C
-
-
Thanks M-C! This was a little festivity just for the sake of it which we enjoyed the previous weekend. A little vodka, only one bottle!
-
-
A little, but enough to lighten
this delightful piece! A perfect combo.
-
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 28 of 28
