Pickles on a Pedestal

You might be wondering why we named this blog The Pickle Project when we're writing about all kinds of food and foodways, not just pickles.  But we're happy to confirm our thoughts that pickles represent something important here in Ukraine, thanks to American Peace Corps volunteer Pat Combs who sent us this photo of yes, a statue of a barrel of pickles.

But pickles aren't the only food that Ukrainians have created monuments to.  In Poltava, there's a monument to galushka (known elsewhere in Ukraine as varenyky and as pierogi elsewhere in eastern Europe and in many Americans communities with immigrants from the region).  Varenyky, along with Ukrainian folk icon Cossack Mamai makes an appearance on a monument in front of a hotel in Cherkasi.

Giant Ukrainian food has come to the new world as well.  In Glendon, Alberta, now the home of many Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants, there's a statue of a giant vareynky (or pierogi) --speared by a fork and ready to eat!

Are there more food statues out there in Ukraine?  If you've seen one, send us your pictures.

Pickle barrel monument, courtesy Pat Combs
Galushka monument, Poltava, via wikipedia.commons.org
Monument, Cherkasi, via travelgather.com