During our recent trip to Ukraine, we found a vast, beautiful, changing country of great diversity, both in communities and landscape. We saw dramatic coastlines, vast fertile fields of wheat, high mountain meadows, large cities and tiny villages, all with a wide array of foods and traditions.
However, more important are the many people we met along the way and those that continue to support the Pickle Project, without whom our work would not be possible. Our partners are a cornerstone of the Pickle Project. Their enthusiastic on-the-ground assistance during this trip and ongoing collaborations make a great difference in our work. Specific thanks to:
·Ihor and Tania Poshyvailo from the Ivan Honchar Museum, Kyiv (with translation assistance from Valentina Bochkovska)
Our thanks also go to a very long list (we hope we haven’t missed anyone) of wonderful people who provided translation, food and cultural research suggestions and ideas, transportation support and coordination, a place to rest our weary heads, a lovely meal with family, and so much more. In no particular order, we raise an appreciative glass to:
The entire Leonenko family, Donetsk (and Irina, there in spirit!)
Svitlana and Vladimir Salamatov, their family and neighbors, Kyiv
Neshet, Lenura, Serdar and Safie Seytaptiev, Ak-Meshet, Crimea
Katia Burkush, Kyiv
Barb Weiser, Peace Corps Volunteer, Simferopol/Ak-Meshet, Crimea
Cheryl Pratt, Peace Corps Volunteer, Sovetskiy, Crimea
Lidia Lykhach, Kyiv/US
Galina Chumak, Donetsk Art Museum, Donetsk
Staff at the village museum in Prelestno, Donetsk’a Oblast
Staff at the Greek museum in Sartana, Donetsk’a Oblast
Workers at the restaurant in Sartana, Donetsk’a Oblast
Lyubov, Ethnographer from the Museum of Local History, Donetsk
Alie Yuldasheva, Simferopol
Arzy Emirova, Crimea
Christi-Anne Hofland, L’viv
Eugene Chervony (L’viv) and family, L’vivska Oblast
Ania Ivanchenko, Donetsk
Alexandra Kirichenko, Donetsk
Carina, Donetsk
Natalia Bogachova, Odessa
Olya Kik, Oksana Terteka and Halja Pavlyshyn, L’viv
Nataliya Stryamets and the entire Stryamets family, L’viska Oblast
Olya and Mykola in Akreshori, Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast
Cheesemakers Vasyl, Mykolya, Mykolya and others
All the market vendors everywhere!
Of course, last but certainly not least, we also extend our warmest gratitude to our Kickstarter backers, as well as key supporting partners Shelburne Farms and the Trust for Mutual Understanding, that enable us to conduct this vital fieldwork, continue to expand our network and further build the Pickle Project!
Although Valentine’s Day is not widely celebrated in Ukraine, all of the chocolates being exchanged remind me of the Ukrainian penchant for giving chocolates. I learned about the practice of chocolate giving at the end of my first trip to Ukraine. As a colleague arrived to drive us to the airport, he presented me with an enormous box of chocolates. (It really was a huge box of chocolates! Perhaps, 18 inches long and 12 inches wide (40cm X 30cm). I had to hand-carry it because it would not fit in my suitcase..)
Now, after living in Ukraine, I have come to understand chocolate giving as a common ritual, sometimes charged with meaning and sometimes without expectation whatsoever. My friend, Katarynka, once told me that Ukrainians love chocolates but that they really love chocolates in boxes. This, she said, is because, during the Soviet era, boxes were fancifully decorated and typically came from abroad, which was considered more extravagant. Giving of any gifts, she explained, was and, arguably, still is a strategy for securing personal economic and political livelihood. Conversely, another friend, Natalia, who is a bit younger and grew up in a post-Socialist Ukraine, told me that she thinks it is “social” to bring good chocolates to friends or colleagues to enjoy with coffee. And, she added, they are tasty.
In her article on the culture of gift giving in contemporary St. Petersburg (And, by the way, the Pickle Project endeavors to fill the void of Ukrainian-specific food studies!) Jennifer Patico (2002) explores how the giving of small gifts, and chocolates, in particular, inform post-Socialist identities. She also further examines how these customs reflect and overlap with the social and transactional networking that was central to Soviet era life. Whereas, during the Soviet period, people drew on their connections to meet their material needs for goods and commodities, today, with a range of consumer goods available, urban Russians rely on money to achieve those ends. Now, Patico’s research suggests, gifts are used not as direct payments or bribes, but as “signs of attention” or spontaneous expressions of gratitude. They symbolize recognition that relationships are appreciated and in good standing, while reinforcing a kind of social commonality. Reflecting the variation in my friends’ responses to the chocolate question, Patico writes that gifts can be variously interpreted and that their meaning is often expressed by the choice of item selected. Boxes of chocolate (for women) and bottles of cognac (for men) are both neutral and traditional, reflecting the tastes of neither the giver nor the receiver. Nonetheless, chocolates in a decorative box are a good gift, she found, because a person would never buy a box of chocolates for themselves. Furthermore, they are frivolous, fleeting and delicious.
Regardless of the reason for the gift, Ukrainian chocolates come in a dizzying array of shapes, flavors and fillings. There are ones with poppy. And, coffee crème, almonds and crispy rice and marshmallow (delightfully called “hummingbird’s milk”) and cognac-soaked cherries and raspberry jelly. There are wafers, layered with hazelnut ganache. There are cones filled with champagne-flavored crème. My personal favorites involve the mingling of honey and almonds..
Chocolate confectionary is rather old industry in Ukraine, apparently dating back to the 18th century. According to Ukraine.com, as L’viv emerged as an important hub of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it also became a center for confectionery. In combined celebration of this history and International Women's Day, the 3rd Annual Chocolate Festival will take place in L’viv March 6-8, 2010.
For thoughtful academic discussion of gift-giving in Russia, see Jennifer Patico’s 2002 article “Chocolate and Cognac: Gifts and the Recognition of Social Worlds in Post-Soviet
