As soon as you plan a trip to the Carpathians, something related to cuisine and delicious Ukrainian dishes will definitely come to mind. After all, Ukrainians are famous for their good appetite and variety of dishes. From the masterpiece Ukrainian borsch to the appetizing pampushkas. An interesting fact is that Ukrainian cuisine contains a lot of vegetables, much more than in other neighboring countries. This is due to the fact that the Ukrainian land is very fertile and produces large crops.
Also, according to a survey of foreigners, it is worth noting that culinary tourism is the top reason to visit Ukraine. So let’s take a closer look at the world of Ukrainian cooking.
National dishes
Ukrainian cooking has many recipes: various borscht, including pampushky, dumplings, mushroom soup, banush, dumplings and sausages, the well-known palyanytsia, yavoriv pie, roasts and drinks made from fruit and honey. All these dishes are known outside of Ukraine, they are loved by foreigners, and our people are famous for them.
Did you know that the Yavoriv pie is planned to be included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list? It is a dough pie with potato and buckwheat filling. Recipes for the pie are passed down from generation to generation. Do you know what Shpundra is? It is an old Ukrainian dish mentioned in Kotliarevskyi’s famous work The Aeneid. This dish was considered a delicacy and was always present on the tables of nobles. It is meat fried in lard and then stewed in beet kvass with beets. It was this dish that the chef of TAOR Karpaty Resort & Spa treated guests of the complex on New Year’s Eve 2023****. And what could be better than banush with mushroom sauce? This is corn grits cooked with milk and cream. It goes perfectly with bacon, cheese or mushroom sauce. This dish is very satisfying and tasty and can be found on the menu of TAOR restaurant.
Restaurants
Western Ukraine is famous for its themed restaurants. You will find many Galician dishes in even the smallest restaurants in Lviv. You will be greeted with the words “Glory to Ukraine” in Kryivka, then you will find yourself in the museum of kerosene lamps in the Gasova Lampa restaurant, and the Bachevsky restaurant will surprise you with a variety of Ukrainian dishes. But if you want to visit the Carpathians, be sure to visit a restaurant with a variety of Ukrainian dishes – TAOR Karpaty Resort & Spa****. It is here that the beauty of the mountains combined with delicious cuisine will create a great mood. Create for yourself a cozy vacation combined with a gastronomic variety of dishes: from smoked bacon to machanka with porcini mushrooms.
Culinary festivals
There are a lot of culinary festivals in Ukraine, so let’s take a look at them first:
- Lviv Coffee Festival
- National Sorochyntsi Fair, Velyki Sorochyntsi
- Festival of national cuisine, Lutsk
- Strawberry Festival, Odesa
- Street food, Kyiv
- Wine and honey festival, Uzhhorod
- “With love to lard”, Lutsk
- Chocolate Festival, Lviv
All these festivals bring together hundreds of people. At the festivals, people taste delicious food, listen to good music, and hold fairs. It is always a reason for a good mood. At TAOR Karpaty Resort & Spa ****, in 2022, we held a craft festival to raise funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The event featured street food with tasting of various Ukrainian dishes, performances by folk ensembles, and local producers had the opportunity to present their work. Most importantly, these are all works of love!
