Category: Traditional Recipes
Recipes cooked the way they are actually cooked, without the shortcuts that get added when a dish travels. That means the long braise where a long braise is the point, the fat the dish was built around, and the step everyone skips explained rather than removed.
Each of these has a lighter counterpart in Healthy Adaptations. The pair is the format of this site: read the traditional version to understand what the dish is, then decide what you want to change.
By kitchen. Ukrainian, built on beets, cabbage and soured milk. Polish, built on sour rye, sauerkraut and smoke. Ashkenazi Jewish, built around a calendar that decides when cooking can happen. Lithuanian, built almost entirely on the potato.
Where they overlap. The same dish keeps reappearing across borders under different names, and the differences are usually smaller than the arguments about them. Four comparisons: holubtsi and golabki, pierogi, varenyky and uszka, three borschts, and latkes, placki and deruny.
Terms that come up repeatedly have their own short entries in the glossary: schmaltz, zakwas, salo, kasha, farmer cheese.
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~40 minutes | Total time: ~3 hours (with rising) | Serves: 6 (about 12 kibinai) | Difficulty: Medium Quick Overview Make a simple leavened dough with…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Prep: ~1 hour | Cooking: ~1 hour 15 minutes | Serves: 6 | Makes: about 16–18 rolls | Difficulty: Intermediate Quick Overview Blanch a whole head of cabbage…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~30 minutes | Total time: ~40 minutes | Serves: 4 (about 14–16 pancakes) | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Grate the potatoes and onion together into a…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: about 1 hour | Total time: about 1 hour 45 minutes | Serves: 6 (about 50 dumplings) | Difficulty: Medium Quick Overview Make a simple dough…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: about 1 hour 30 minutes | Cook time: 35 minutes | Serves: 4 per filling (8 dumplings) | Difficulty: Advanced Quick Overview Grate raw potatoes and…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: about 25 minutes, plus time for the beets to cool | Chill time: 1 hour minimum | Serves: 4 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Boil the…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~15 minutes (plus steeping) | Total time: ~4.5 hours | Serves: 8 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Rinse the dried fruit and raisins under cold water…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~40 minutes (plus overnight soaking) | Total time: ~2.5 hours | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Soak whole wheat berries overnight, then simmer them…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~30 minutes | Total time: ~12–18 hours (mostly unattended) | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Soak the dried beans overnight, then give them a…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~35 minutes | Total time: ~2 hours 15 minutes | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Medium Quick Overview Pound thin slices of beef and spread each one…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~55 minutes | Total time: ~2.5 hours (including dough rising) | Serves: 9 (about 18 doughnuts, 2 per serving) | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Bloom yeast…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~40 minutes | Total time: ~6 hours (including rising and cooling) | Serves: 16 (1 loaf, 16 slices) | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Bloom yeast in…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: about 45 minutes | Total time: about 4 hours, plus overnight soaking | Serves: 16 | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Soak poppy seeds in scalded milk…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~40 minutes | Total time: ~4 hours (including rising) | Serves: 20 (2 loaves, 10 slices each) | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Bloom yeast in warm…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Simmer pork ribs into a rich broth with onion,…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Serves: 8 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Boil potatoes whole in their skins until tender, then peel and…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Prep: ~1 hour | Cooking: 2–3 hours | Serves: 6–8 | Makes: approximately 16–18 rolls | Difficulty: Intermediate Quick Overview Soften a whole head of cabbage, either by…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Quick Overview Brown the pork ribs, then build a broth base with onion, root vegetables, and spices Simmer the ribs and vegetables until tender, about 30 minutes Add…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~25 minutes | Total time: ~35 minutes | Serves: 4 (about 12–14 pancakes) | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Drain fresh farmer’s cheese or cottage cheese thoroughly…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Traditional Recipe Card Jump to Lighter Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~1 hour | Total time: ~4 hours (including chilling) | Serves: 8 | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Simmer fish bones,…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: 15 minutes | Total cooking: 45 minutes | Chilling (optional): 4+ hours | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Simmer whole beets in water or…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~35 minutes | Total time: ~45 minutes | Serves: 4–5 (about 16–18 pancakes) | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Grate the potatoes and onion together, then squeeze…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~45 minutes | Total time: ~2.5 hours (including chilling time) | Serves: 6 | Difficulty: Moderate Quick Overview Simmer a whole chicken with carrots, celery, onion,…
Skip to main content Skip to ingredients Skip to instructions Skip to nutrition information Jump to Ingredients Jump to Instructions Jump to Recipe Card Jump to Nutrition Active time: ~25 minutes | Total time: ~1 hour 30 minutes | Serves: 10 | Difficulty: Easy Quick Overview Boil wide egg noodles until just tender Whisk eggs,…
