Cuisine of Odesa explained

The cuisine of Odesa in Ukraine is influenced by cultures of various regions, including Ukrainian, Russian, Jewish, Georgian, French, German, Italian, Armenian, Uzbek, Bulgarian, Moldovan, and Greek cultures. However, many recipes are indigenous to Odesa, with fusion cuisine being common.

Typical dishes

Appetizers

• Vorschmack^{[1] [2] [3]}
• Aubergine dip ("Aubergine caviar")
• Tzimmes^[4]
• "Bull's heart" tomato appetizer with bryndza^[5]
• Baked peppers with garlic
• Loader's sandwich from Pryvoz
• Odesa-style meze

Meat

• Essig-fleisch, beef stew with prunes
• Gefilte helzele, stuffed chicken neck^[6]
• Stuffed peppers
• Stuffed eggplants
• Cabbage rolls (/), "little fingers" and dolma

Fish and seafood

• Gefilte fish^{[7] [8]}
• Fried gobies^[9]
• Fried flounder^[10]
• Marinated fish^[11]
• Danube herring with baby potatoes^{[12] [13]}
• Roe cutlets
• Odesa mussels^[14]
• Pilaf with mussels^{[15] [16]}
• Black sea mussels on the beach
• Rapanas baked with cheese and garlic
• / (small shrimps)^[17]
• Black Sea sprat cutlets
• Deep-fried Black Sea sprats or tsatsa^[18]

Other

• Fried semolina
• , a sauce based on brine, garlic, spices, served to the ear, or used as a dressing for vegetables
• Odesa borscht with gobies^[19]
• Placinte^[20]
• "5 minutes" pickled cucumbers^[21]

Desserts

• Varenyky with cherries^[22]
• White cherry jam
• Vertuta^[23]
• Blintzes (/), “little fingers” with quark^[24]
• Napoleon cake^{[25] [26] [27]}
• Walnut stuffed prunes^[28]

Overview

Due to its coastal location, Odesa cuisine includes a large number of seafood dishes.The most popular dish is gefilte fish, which is served on holidays using several types of fish, mainly pike, mullet or redlip mullet, carp, and pike perch. Fried fish is also popular. Preference is given to the Black Sea flounder and gobies. Cutlets are fried from small fish of the herring family, mainly Black Sea sprats. Pilaf with mussels is a popular Odesa seafood dish. Mussels are often fried on-site on large sheets of iron.

A traditional snack in Odesa is boiled shrimp, called /, in the Odesite slang.

Among cold appetizers, vorschmack is especially popular, as well as a dip made from grilled aubergines.

Stuffed chicken neck (gefilte helzele) and stuffed vegetables (bell peppers, zucchini, and aubergines) are very popular.

Another feature of Odesa cuisine is the tendency to reduce the size of individual food items while keeping the portion size unchanged. For example, pelmeni and varenyky, when interpreted by Odesa chefs, look different than the more traditional versions. In Odesa, pelmeni and varenyky are served at a small size, whereas varenyky in Ukrainian cuisine are as large as a fist. The most popular type of varenyky are cherry varenyky. Cabbage rolls in the Odesa culinary tradition are also made in a smaller size than is traditional elsewhere, with a preferred size called “the little finger.” A popular dessert, called (blintzes with quark), is also quite small.

Odesa specialties

The specialties of Odesa and Odesa Oblast include:

• The forty-day potato variety grown in the village of Roksolany. This variety is distinguished by a short ripening period and excellent taste. The "forty-day” from Roksolany is considered the best potato variety in Odesa for making mashed potatoes and roasts;^[29]
• White crayfish from the village of Maiaky. Once, the Dniester estuary was considered the best place in the world for catching crayfish. The crayfish market no longer operates on an industrial scale; however, crayfish from Maiaky continue to be one of the most popular beer snacks in Odesa.
• The Mikado tomato is an early-ripening variety that takes 90–95 days from germination to ripening. The plants are tall (1 - 1.2 meters high). The fruits are flat and rounded, with an average weight of 150 - 200 g. This variety has a very high-quality taste and is used in salads in Odesa cuisine. Salad with Mikado and sheep cheese is especially popular.^[30]
• Gobies are fish of the perch family. In Odesa, gobies are divided into whips, herbalists, round timber, and sandpitters. They are caught with a donkey fishing rod, then fried or stewed in tomato. They can also be salted and dried, and served with beer.^[31]

• Black-Sea turbot is a fish of the Scophthalmidae family. Two species are caught in coastal waters: kalkan and brill. Kalkan is one of the largest members of the family, reaching a length of 115 cm and a weight of up to 28 kg. The second species, brill, differs from Kalkan, first of all in size: brills are smaller, and in habitat: they live at shallower depths and closer to the coast.^[32]
• Black Sea sprat is a small commercial sea fish of the herring family. In Odesa it is often called "sardelle". Not to be confused with Atherinaor European anchovy, the taste of which is somewhat poorer.^[33]
• Aubergine is a popular vegetable in Odesa cuisine. It is the main ingredient in aubergine dip.^[34]

• Bryndza, brine cheese made from cow, goat or sheep milk. It is used for making sandwiches, snacks, and salads, as well as hot dishes (for example, mamaliga) and as a filling for pastries. Aged Bessarabian sheep bryndza, salted in barrels, is especially popular among gourmet Odesa cuisine. It is usually soaked in fresh water for several hours before use.^[35]
• Frogs from Vylkove are used to cook deep-fried frog legs. The city of Vylkove in the Izmail Raion of Odesa Oblast became famous for eating and breeding frogs for export to France and other European countries.
• Odesa mussels^[36]
• Urda is a cheese made in Bessarabia from whey and sheep's milk. Used for making "quick" bread - gözleme.
• Bessarabian paprika is a spice made from a sweet variety of red pepper, in a pestle and mortar, and pound with vegetable oil. One of the most frequently used spices in Bessarabian cuisine.

• (or in Russian), the Black Sea herbal shrimp (Palaemon adspersus), has a high industrial value, is caught in the Black and Azov seas. are eaten in large quantities as snacks. Most often they are boiled, sometimes fried in a pan with garlic.

Books about Odesa cuisine

• Book: Одесская кухня в эмиграции . Odesa cuisine in emigration . ru . Kuleshova . Elena . Nagovitcina . Elena . Tallinn . 2011 . 978-9985-9487-3-6.
• Book: Popova, Marta . Секреты одесской кухни . Secrets of Odesa cuisine . ru . Dnepr . Днепрокнига . 1992 . 5-89975-054-5.
• Book: Nademlinsky, A. . В дебрях одесской кухни . In the wilds of Odesa cuisine . ru . Kyjiv . Грани-Т . 2008 . 978-966-4650-70-7.
• Book: Yavorska, A. . Кулинарная книга от одесситок . A culinary book from Odesa women . ru . Odesa . Optimum . 2005 . 966-8149-36-X.
• Book: Libkin, Savely . Моя Одесская кухня . My Odesa cuisine . ru . Moscow . Экспо . 2013 . 978-5-699-63635-8.
• Book: Eden, Caroline . Black Sea . Quadrille . 6 . 2018 . 978-1-787-13131-6.

External links

• Odessa food guide
• A history of Odessa in 10 dishes
• A Foodie Guide to Odessa: the up and coming city no one talks about
• About Odessa cuisine
• A history of Odessa in 10 dishes

Notes and References

1. Web site: Review of Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes – Through Darkness and Light . Moore . Eleanor . 14 February 2019 . Russian art and culture . March 2, 2021.
2. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 51 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
3. Web site: An authentic Old World appetizer – Jewish touch in Odessa cuisine . . March 2, 2021.
4. Web site: Review of Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes – Through Darkness and Light . Moore . Eleanor . 14 February 2019 . Russian art and culture . March 2, 2021.
5. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 177 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
6. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 124 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
7. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 16 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
8. News: The best food books to take you overseas - while stuck at home . Eden . Caroline . The Guardian . 13 June 2020 . March 4, 2021.
9. Web site: Delicious gobies . Kalenska . Maria . March 3, 2021.
10. Book: Hercules, Olia . July 14, 2020 . Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine . Weldon Owen . 278 . 978-1681885704.
11. News: Odessa's new parks lead a blossoming of urban regeneration . Eden . Caroline . The Guardian . 5 August 2017 . March 4, 2021.
12. Book: Hercules, Olia . July 14, 2020 . Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine . Weldon Owen . 21 . 978-1681885704.
13. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 49 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
14. Web site: Odessa mussels . Kalenska . Maria . March 3, 2021.
15. Web site: Mussel pilaf . Kalenska . Maria . 31 May 2019 . March 3, 2021.
16. Web site: Pilaf with mussels . Libkin . Savva . March 3, 2021.
17. Web site: Sprat cult . Kalenska . Maria . March 3, 2021.
18. Book: Hercules, Olia . July 14, 2020 . Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine . Weldon Owen . 276 . 978-1681885704.
19. Web site: Borscht with Gobies . July 6, 2021.
20. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 238 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
21. Web site: Odessa "5 minutes" pickled cucumbers . Kalenska . Maria . 6 October 2020 . March 3, 2021.
22. Web site: pickled cucumbers ODumplings with Cherry . Libkin . Savva . March 3, 2021.
23. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 235 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
24. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 93 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
25. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 245 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
26. Book: Hercules, Olia . July 14, 2020 . Summer Kitchens: Recipes and Reminiscences from Every Corner of Ukraine . Weldon Owen . 296 . 978-1681885704.
27. Web site: Food diplomacy: the French influence on Odessa dishes (but probably is Neapolitan) . . March 2, 2021.
28. Web site: Odessa-style walnut stuffed prunes . Kalenska . Maria . 3 April 2020 . March 3, 2021.
29. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 151 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
30. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 14 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
31. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 23 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
32. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 33 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
33. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 43 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
34. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 154 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
35. Book: Libkin, Savva . October 12, 2018 . My Odessa Cuisine . Fors . 156 . 978-617-7559-69-5.
36. Web site: Izmail is the place we are . Izmail City Council . March 3, 2021.