Foodie's guide to Ukraine: 9 regions with must-try dishes
9 Ukrainian regions for gastro tourism (collage: RBC-Ukraine)
From forshmak and tsatsa in Odesa to banosh in the Carpathians and Bessarabian wines, gastro tourism in Ukraine is gaining momentum. Each region has its culinary calling card that can become a reason for traveling, Ukrainian travel blogger Sofiia Rastorhuieva shared.
Odesa
Odesa is not just a city by the sea; it is a separate gastro world. Here you can feel the blend of Ukrainian, Jewish, Greek, Bulgarian, and Moldovan cuisines.
What to try: Odesa-style forshmak, tsatsa (small fried fish), gobies in tomato sauce, grilled rapana, homemade green borscht, and verguns with wine. And, of course, Odesa wine from Shabo or Bolhrad.
Lviv
Lviv is sometimes named the gastronomic capital of Ukraine. The city's atmosphere is impossible without aromatic coffee and legendary chocolate.
Tourists always head to the "Coffee Mine" and "Lviv Handmade Chocolate." And the main dessert of the region is Lviv syrnyk, which is tender and at the same time filling.
Zakarpattia
Zakarpattia is a blend of cultures reflected in its cuisine. Here you can try bograch, a thick Hungarian soup, banosh with bryndza and cracklings, as well as wines from "Chateau Chizay."
Local markets are a unique gastronomic experience with cheeses, sausages, and fruits.
Bessarabiia
In the south of the Odesa region, it is worth visiting Izmail, Bolhrad, and Vylkove. It is here that unique Danube herring, mamalyga with bryndza, homemade wines, and spicy vegetable appetizers are prepared. This is a region where the cuisine was strongly influenced by Bulgarian and Moldovan.
Poltava region
Poltava dumplings are a true symbol of Ukrainian cuisine. Without this dish, any celebration is incomplete.
It is also worth trying lemeshka made from buckwheat flour and uzvar of dried fruits, which is made according to ancient recipes.
Hutsul region
Yaremche, Verkhovyna, and Kosiv are regions of mountain cuisine. Its main highlights are banosh made of corn flour, mushroom soup, and smoked bryndza.
And also meat delicacies from the smokehouse, prepared according to traditional Hutsul recipes.
Kherson region
In season, this region becomes a real gastro paradise: sweet watermelons and melons, juicy tomatoes, and fragrant peaches. A specialty of the local cuisine is fish soup made of pike or carp, as well as homemade juices, jams, and preserves.
Bukovyna
Tourists are attracted to Chernivtsi and its surroundings by the cuisine with a Romanian accent. Here you should try placintas with cheese or potatoes, kulesha, baked lamb, and sweet fruit liqueurs. Every market in Chernivtsi is a gastronomic journey into the past.
Ternopil region
Here, they value homemade dishes like zrazy with meat, cabbage rolls, lard with horseradish, and homemade fruit liqueurs and tinctures made from raspberries or rowanberries.
Kharkiv
Kharkiv cuisine is a combination of classics and local specialties. You should try borscht with prunes, Jewish forshmak, as well as fresh donuts at the Central Market.
You can feel the gastronomic rhythm of the city in its street food.
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