In any case, Hercules produces a tasty honey cake with sour cream - that doesn't require days of refrigeration for the layers to soften. A really engaging style and an obvious passion for food and family add to the attractiveness of the offerings in this lovely book. Nowadays, everyone is much more aware of Ukraine as an independent country, and I wanted to know more about its own culture and cuisine.

The recipes are a solid combination of bright and fresh, as well as home-y and warm, with a good variety of complexities levels as well. After spending a year in Italy, Olia settled in London, pursuing a journalistic career after completing her Master’s degree. Also, world famous pickles from Ukraine and its neighbour regions are well presented in this wonderful book. I was expecting a really flavorful, spicy hot and pungent soup, and I just didn't quite get there with the flavors.It is a beautiful book to begin with; there is at least one picture to accompany each recipe plus pictures of Olia Hercules and her family in Ukraine. In fact I was impressed with the depth of flavor and the amount of collagen in the broth that was evident when I took the leftover broth out of the refrigerator for lunch the next day. The resulting soup was simultaneously subtle and rich, light and filling, playing up the lushness of the duck with the lemony tartness of the fresh sorrel leaves.

Either serve the meat pieces on top of the noodles, or pull the meat from the bones and mix it with the juices from the goose, then add the noodles to the meat and give them a good stir to coat them well. Following the financial crisis of 2008, Olia decided to quit her job as a film business reporter to pursue her dream to cook for a living. This is real cooking, written about with so much love' - Diana Henry'From stuffed cabbage leaves to garlicky poussins, Olia Hercules's recipes are redolent of long summers in her mother's Ukrainian garden; rich, nourishing and enhanced by her stint as an Ottolenghi chef' - Observer Food Monthly.

My one recommendation for the 3 minute per side shallow fry in the recipe is to put the heat on med-low--just a little bit above low.

I planned to make this then couldn’t get ribs so I used thick slices of lamb neck and cooked on low for four hours. I really shouldn’t have been surprised, as the Soviet Union was much bigger than Western Europe, and France (or Italy) alone have so many traditional foods specific to tiny regions. I always use butter and a teaspoon of vanilla extract; I've also made them with ricotta when out of cottage cheese, and it works beautifully. Finally, add the shredded cabbage and beans to the broth and cook for about 7 minutes until cooked through.She kicked off her culinary career working at Fulham's Union Market with Aaron Craze before landing her dream job as chef-de-partie at Ottolenghi's.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. I saw this recipe, realized I had all the ingredients, and thought, "that sounds good - the prunes are in interesting addition, let's try it.

Place the parcels on top of the sauce, folded side down, tucking them next to each other snugly so they don’t unravel. I found myself wishing for a bit more prune, though, so I would probably add more if I made it again. That’s not the case- it all comes together perfectly, the kidney beans are essential adding a textural aspect.