Okroshka is the classic summer soup. It’s a mix of mostly raw vegetables (like cucumbers and spring onions), boiled potatoes, eggs, and a cooked meat such as beef, veal, sausages, or ham with kvass. Kvass is a mildly alcoholic beverage made from fermented black or rye bread.

The word okroshka comes from the Russian verb kroshit’ – crumble, or the noun kroshka – crumb; basically you crumble all the ingredients into a pot, and then pour kvass over them. Such extraordinary cold soup is often believed was invented by barge haulers who worked on rivers such as Volga. The workers were given dried fish and kvass for lunch, but as their teeth often left much to be desired, they soaked dried fish in kvas.

Vareniki is a kind of dumpling. It is made of dough, but the filling depends on the imagination, from cabbages to meat, mushrooms, cottage cheese, cherries, currants or potatoes are some of the most typical fillings.

Savory or sweet, vareniki turns out to be succulent. Ukrainians put sour cream almost in every dish, and these dumplings often get the same treatment. Begin your meal with one of these – you won’t regret it.

Holodets is a jelly-like dish from meat broth. It gets its name from holod, the Ukrainian word for cold and is traditionally served in Ukraine during winter holidays, especially during the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Chicken Kiev is the dish that has brought fame to Ukraine. However, the history of the dish is somewhat in the dark. Some argue that it was created in early 19th century Paris, when French cuisine and culture were extremely fashionable in Russia, and Russian chefs were sent there to train. Whatever the truth is, the simple combination of fresh chicken filet with a piece of garlic butter is considered to be quite exquisite all over the world. The Ukrainian version comes with a small bone sticking out that keeps the butter sealed inside. It resembles a conical corn dog and delivers the same satisfying fried, crunchy outside and soft center.

Lard is making a come back in foodie circles around the world. In the UK bread and salo got many families through the great depression and now it’s served in trendy cafes, smeared on sourdough toast, added to pizza or used to crisp up triple-cooked-chips. Lardo di colonnata, commonly referred to as lardo, is considered a delicacy in the Tuscan region of Italy. Salo is the ultimate Ukrainian food. There are salo festivals in Ukraine that celebrate this dish and even the With Love To Salo festival claims to have had four entries in the Ukrainian book of records for making the world’s biggest salo sandwich – 76m long.

Salo isn’t just enjoyed on a piece of bread. Pig fat chocolate may sound like a fast food expose but chocolate covered salo is a popular food trend here, sometimes referred to as Ukrainian snickers.