W e h a ve o n l y fre s h a n d s a vo r y n e w s!
March 2015 | № 3 (138)
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Ani Lorak When I was a kid, we knew a wonderful recipe: spread sour cream over bread, then sprinkle it with sugar
Chef Andrey Azarov: Every Recipe Is a Way to Discover Your Soul and Find Wisdom
Born in Ukraine: Kateryna Bilokur, the Thorny Path of a Genius
Holiday Symbol: How to Choose Flowers for Your Beloved
DELIVERY OF HOMEMADE UKRAINIAN FOOD AND HOTLINE
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2 | guest
Ani Lorak: «When I was a kid, we knew a wonderful recipe: spread sour cream over bread, then sprinkle it with sugar» She is a smart, beautiful, lovable, talented young woman whose concerts sell out in Ukraine and abroad. Her daughter is a cutie, her husband is a catch! What else does one need to be happy? But Karolina does not let herself rest on her laurels: she works on new images and an anniversary concert tour. She radiates optimism and strength. We talked to Ani Lorak about her everyday life and her long-term goals. – Karolina, you look amazing. Are you always in such a good and sunny mood? – I try to stay in good spirits. But just as nature is unpredictable with its weather, so is my mood. That is why I do everything to keep away melancholy and look for inspiration in very simple things. I get help from my family, my audience at the concerts, meetings with friends, thanks to all of this I live in the best of moods.
– I am an artist and I have to be at different social functions related to my profession, but I prefer a quiet rest. To be honest, I am a homely person, I like to stay at home with my family and beloved. I don’t like crowded places with many people that I don’t know. Sometimes I feel at a party like I’m at work. I don’t enjoy such gatherings. – Where and with whom do you like to spend holidays?
– What can spoil it? – Human foolishness, jealousy, misunder standing, disrespect, rudeness: all the negative human qualities. But situations can be different: some people can realize they made a mistake, work on their self-improvement, can ask for forgiveness, others go too far in their insolence, to the point of no return. This is the scariest thing in the world.
– With my family. I like to travel, to discover new places. Naturally, I like to spend holidays at the sea, I can go there at any time of winter or summer. My family and I have gone to wonderful countries – Greece, Turkey, I enjoyed exotic Thailand, we went to Bali. It’s a long trip there, but the difficult flight was worth it – we saw very picturesque places.
– Are you a naturally outgoing person or do you prefer to stay at home?
– Do you ever go to your husband’s home country?
– We do, but not very often. I prefer Turkey in the summer. It is warm, the sea is clear, I think this is the No. 1 holiday destination for families with children. You are never bored there, children and adults always have something to do. As a mother, I like it very much. – You have a little daughter. What do you teach her? – Kindness, love, respect, gratitude. Sometimes I learn from her how to take life positively and how to meet troubles with a smile: when she falls and gets up right away and keeps running, when she smiles the first thing in the morning, when she exudes positivity no matter what – these are the qualities we have long forgotten. We are so preoccupied with our daily troubles that we forget to enjoy life in all its aspects. Our children remind us of this because they are little angels, they accept life as it is. – Who does your daughter take after?
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– Sofia is a very loving and kind girl. I recognize myself in her tenderness. She is also a very polite child. I am happy when Sofia says “thank you” and “please.” These two words are able to change her life for the better. I can also see that she has a very caring and creative personality. Like mother, like daughter (she laughs)! Her father has made his contribution as well. She has his big eyes, eyebrows, intelligent gaze. I think our daughter took the best from the two of us. I would like her to grow up just as kind, courageous, and sympathetic as Murat, sweet and loving like her mother. I want to give her my inner world because every woman should have it. I want Sofia to develop her own female energy. I want her to become whoever she wants to, but not who her parents want her to be, I want her to find her own life path, her calling. We, her parents, also made our choice once. I am ready to support any choice she makes and will always stand by her. – What are you currently working on? What have you prepared for your fans? – I will reveal a secret: I am already working on a new album that will include songs like “Take Away Paradise,” “Slowly,” “Mirrors” and other tracks on which I work. I just returned from a tour of Europe with the show “Karolina.” This is a two-hour program made up of my best songs from the past 20 years of work. As a matter of fact, I celebrated my anniversary with this show. I am very happy that the result of my big team’s work still receives a standing ovation in many countries. – Which countries offer you the warmest welcome? – Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Baltic countries, Belarus, Russia, and Moldova welcome me with open arms. A special part of the “Karolina” show is dedicated to a song by legendary composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk. I am particularly pleased that Ukrainian music is so enthusiastically received abroad. We put in a lot of time and effort into the show and the feedback I’m now getting makes me very happy. I am glad to see that in every city I feel united with my audience, which means that music knows no boundaries. For example, in Belarus, all tickets were sold out even before the concert was advertised, so the organizers decided to arrange an additional performance. I am sure nothing can be achieved without effort, and my success is the result of my team’s work. – You must have set goals for yourself at the beginning of your career. Have you reached those goals? – I became a singer – it was my most cherished dream. But I had to work hard to reach it. I know that if you want to catch fish, you shouldn’t mind getting wet. My great dream was to participate in the contest “Morning Star,” and in 1995 I was voted an up-and-coming star of the year. At that time everyone was watching that show. Then, when I returned to Ukraine I felt attention. We set new goals: we released an album, shot a music video, I was invited to concerts, we kept on working. At the long-expected trip to the Big Apple Music Contest for young musicians in 1996 in New York, I won the first prize. In 2008, I won the second place at Eurovision and won the Artistic Award Eurovision Song Contest for the best artist. This summer I was happy to receive a Greek award for highest sales of my single “Sun” on iTunes, which I released in 2009 as part of the album of the same name. Also, in Kazakhstan, I was awarded the EMA Eurasian Music Award, and this
only encouraged me to move forward. I know that the best things are just starting. When I reach one summit, I set new goals, I dream of discovering new horizons in order to become a better person.
have a very active lifestyle so I ensure I always have fresh vegetables and fruit in my changing rooms.
– How do you keep fit? What’s your secret?
– I like the food that I grew up with. There is such thing as genetic code. This is information about the food that our parents ate, and this information is passed on to us – and we prefer our native borscht, a piece of meat or salo. My specialty is Ukrainian borscht. I come from Chernivtsi region, everyone knows how to make it there. I stick to all the rules, I make it with ribs (I try to go buy them at the market myself), with beans, with sautéed vegetables. When I was a little kid, we had a very good recipe: we spread sour cream over bread and then sprinkled sugar on top. Yummy! Bread crust is especially tasty for this! Back then we never had fancy sweets, so we got by with what we had. But it was so incredibly tasty! Let me tell you the best recipe from my childhood, a real Ukrainian specialty. You chop salo, fry it, it melts on the frying pan, then you let it cool down and form white lard. Then you add salt and pepper to it and spread it on fresh bread – so yummy! This was the taste of my childhood. Text:Oxana HNATYSHYN
– I have a mini-set of exercises for every day. It looks like a regular workout. I do crunches, I stretch, I dance at rehearsals. As a matter of fact, I lose several kilos after my concerts. Because 2.5 hours on stage are better than any visit to a sports club. After each performance we basically wring out our clothes. I pay special attention to cleaning procedures. I like contrast showers, then I put on good cream. I like massages. So my good form is also the result of my lifestyle. – What are your main rules in food? – I practically do not eat bread. I can have a piece of light rye bread if I want it very much. I also limit my consumption of deserts. My main rule – I eat soup every day. No day goes without a warm meal. First, it is very good for you, second, it invigorates me. Of course, I try not to overeat and I stop eating after 6 pm. If I am starving, I can have a light salad. I
– What’s your favorite meal?
4 | interview
Andrey Azarov: «Every Recipe Is a Way to Discover Your Soul and Find Wisdom» There is hardly any need to introduce Andrey Azarov to food lovers for he has long been a cooking guru. This chef from Belarus collected over 600 recipes of dishes from all over the world, narrated them in video, and started his own Internet recipe bank. He was also the first in Russia to design a cooking video app – Talerka App – which has been downloaded by over 100,000 users over the world. His book How to Learn to Cook is a bestseller in Russia, and his YouTube channel has generated millions of views. In this exclusive interview, Andrey talked to us about cooking and everything one would want to know about it. First Culinary Experiments Everything must have started in childhood. My mother never learned to cook from her mother. І grew up in the 1970s in Pinsk, Belarus, and there was a total deficit of any normal food. I remember the lines in grocery stores for staple products like sour cream. My mother was bending over backwards to feed her two children. My sister and I got drawn into the process too. When mother was at work, we tried to cook something. But at the beginning, everything we made was tasteless, we simply had no skills to make it taste good. When I grew up I realized that, for instance, the goulash we cooked back then was far from the goulash we’re making now. Then there was college. Like all hungry students, I had to learn to cook something out of nothing. For example, I intuitively learned to make soup from a single onion. It turned out later that the real French onion soup is prepared mostly of onions. Of course, they also use meat broth, and they sauté the onion for some forty minutes, then it becomes caramelized and sweet, and then of this the French make a wonderful cheap soup considered to be the best cure for hangovers. All these experiences influenced my choice to become a chef. I didn’t feel like working in
my profession – design. I was drawn to the kitchen, I knew I was my own boss there. Recipe Secrets You need to know the basics to be a good cook. If you don’t have the necessary knowledge and you start experimenting in the kitchen, there will be no good out of it. It is like a surgeon experimenting with a scalpel. And I decided to start with traditional recipes. If I dealt with Ukrainian cuisine, I was trying to learn what the hearth was like, what the stove was like, what was used for fuel, what kind of kitchenware was used. When you know all this, it is easier to understand the recipes. If we look at the example of, let’s say, Lebanon or Northern Tunisia, it will be completely different, because they used a different kind of fuel – brushwood. They also came up with a tadjin – an earthenware plate with a conoidal lid. First, they would roast something fast in the plate over the brushwood, then they would add some other ingredients, cover it with the lid and let it stew over a small fire. The clay pot is an analogue of a stove. In this way, in two hours and with minimum fuel, you can cook mutton. The bones will heat through thoroughly, the meat will separate
easily, and the dish will taste divine. If you analyze the country from where the food comes, you can
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comprehend how you can cook the same thing here. But people do everything wrong. They take a tadjin, bought for an exorbitant price in Tunisia or Algeria, then throw in all the ingredients and put it into the oven. In other words, they put a stove into the oven. And this is a huge mistake. The easiest thing to do is put it on the burner. This is how you try to find each recipe’s soul and to understand its wisdom. Food Philosophy Everything we eat does not exist in a vacuum, everything has its own history, and you need to know it before you put something into your mouth. Of course, you can go to McDonald’s on your way: buy something, shove it down your throat on the go. But this is no kind of discovery, such food is like a log that you throw into the fire to keep it going, it’s energetic but nothing more. This is not something you will remember, it all tastes the same. If you are looking for culinary discoveries, you won’t eat fast food. The other day I tried a very good bogracs at one Hungarian friend’s. It was once-in-a-lifetime event, because I will always remember the taste and the place where I tried it. The best compliment you can get when you cook something is: “I once tried this in this place,” or “My grandmother used to cook it like this.” Taste can be so strong that it can, like a time machine, return us to our childhood. This is the most important thing – this energy component of our life. We cannot just work and feed our body in order to work more and then feed the body again. We would then all turn into robots. Eating as Communicating People who have something in common can talk about food. For example, about the taste of bread: in my country it tastes better than in yours. This way, people become cosmopolites, they accept foreign culture and share their own. They get integrated into the world, and the world becomes part of them. If you eat cabbage soup all the time, dumplings, top it up with herring and vodka, you only have something in common with the people who do the same thing. You have no conversation topic because it is hardly possible to talk about vodka and dumplings all the time. His Video Recipes The Talerka.tv project was conceived as my own recipe book. Since I am a designer I find it easier to remember things in a visual form. When the recipes are simply written down, I can’t tell the difference between them – it’s all letters. When there is a video, it is easier to put information into your brain. This is how I came up with the idea to make video recipes. Now, my personal recipe book which I uploaded onto the Internet has over 100,000 views per month from around the world. Maybe people find it easy to understand my language – the language of a short video with no narrator and no text. Over the past ten years I collected 620 recipes, of them 450 exist in a video format. If you decide to cook something every day, it will last you two years! You can really learn how to cook. Some people wrote to me and said they feel safe leaving their children home alone with my recipes – they know the kids won’t get poisoned. It’s all visual there, everything is explained, no problem. Some people could only fry an egg a year ago or heat a pre-packaged meal. Now they go to the market, buy meat, know which piece to take and how to cook it. The project really teaches and helps people.
People’s Interest in Cooking People are starting to get interested in cooking because they missed it. In the Soviet Union ideology replaced everything human. The idea itself – to abolish all restaurants and to turn everything into kitchen factories where everything is unified, everything is calculated – resulted in the concentration camp menu. I am sure that back then all Nutrition Institutes worked to make sure that Soviet people were wellfed and healthy. It was a way to treat cattle, not people. This is the difference between the USSR and the rest of the world, where family restaurants and long culinary traditions prospered. Here, everything was destroyed and turned into slave forage. After the Soviet Union collapsed
people received more opportunities, more rights, including in the kitchen. Borsht and Korchma When I spent ten years working in Moscow, I frequented Korchma to eat salo, borsht, and vodka. Because just borsht, without salo and vodka, is simply an amuse-buche. But if you really want to taste borsht, it needs to come with a shot of vodka and a slice of bread with salo and garlic. But the borsht needs to be right, needs to be true Ukrainian borsht! When I was in Moscow, it was my favorite place. Elsewhere the borsht didn’t taste as good. Текст: Stepan Hrytsiuk Photos: Yuriy HELYTOVYCH
6 | history
March 1 Spring Begins March 3 International Writers’ Day March 5 Purim March 8 International Women’s Day
Granchak – The Faceted Glass: A Soviet Epoch Symbol International Women’s Day March 9 Birthday of Ukrainian Poet Taras Shevchenko International DJ Day March 14 St Eudokia’s Day March 15 World Consumer Rights Day March 17 Commemoration Day of St Prince Daniel of Moscow March 18 Tax Police Day in Russia March 20 Spring Equinox International Day of Happiness March 22 Day of Forty Martyrs of Sebaste Birthday of Korchma at Krasnokazarmennaya St. March 25 Birthday of Korchma Taras Bulba Chain of Restaurants Birthday of Korchma at Petrovka St. Fest of the Icon of the Mother of God of Lydda
It is impossible to imagine any Soviet celebration, restaurant, or soda-vending machine without a faceted table-glass – the granchak. It was used both in kindergartens to serve juice or tea and in factories where workers ate lunch right at the machines. Over the years, the table-glass became a cult object in the USSR. But its history contains many interesting details and even more legends. Today, it is quite difficult to know fact from fiction. But we will share with you only verified information. According to one legend the granchak glass was designed by the famous sculptor Vera Mukhina, who later sculpted the monument Worker and Kolkhoz Woman. Allegedly, she made it during the siege of Leningrad in cooperation with the Black Square author Kazimir Malevich. She was inspired by one observation: she noticed that a thin and round glass often slipped from the exhausted hands of the famished people of Leningrad and broke. Mukhina was then head of the Artistic Glass Workshop and decided not to shelve the
idea and created a new super strong faceted glass model that was very easy to hold in one’s palm. It is said to come into being in 1943 – this date has since been considered the birthday of the faceted glass. In 2013, the world celebrated 70 years of the granchak. Mukhina’s glass had the following technical specifications. It was 65 mm in diameter and 90 mm in height. The classic faceted glass had 16 facets. However, there existed variations with 12, 14, 18, and even 20 facets. The price was
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always sandblasted on the bottom – it varied depending on the model. For example, the classical 16-faceted table glass cost seven copecks; a glass with 20 facets cost twice as much – 14 copecks. Despite variations the holding capacity of the glass was always the same. If you filled it up to the border it would hold exactly 200 grams, if you filled it up to the rim 250 grams. This type of drinkware began to be used in homes, dining rooms, trains, and sodavending machines in the streets. The secret was in its superior hardness achieved by a special technology. The raw material was prepared at a temperature of 1,400-1,600 degrees Celsius. Then it was annealed twice, and then lead similar to the one that was used for making crystal was added. It is no surprise that such a glass could easily crack nuts! But many researchers refute Mukhina’s involvement in the invention of the granchak. They say she only perfected it by adding a special smooth border on top. Other sources say that the mass production of faceted glasses began in the Soviet Union much earlier – in the late 1930s. Soviet engineers then built a dishwashing machine. This technological miracle was far from perfection – it could only work with plates and glasses of certain sizes and super hardness. The granchak due to its qualities
was an ideally fit for the mission and its facets helped to fix it inside the dishwasher. But even before the Soviet Union, this type of drinkware was used by Tsar Peter the Great. He was a great lover of ships and his fleet, which he actively developed. The tsar spent much of his time on different sea ships and he understood that such a glass would be especially handy for it would not break norroll on the floor. The emperor was known for breaking the “window into Europe” and wanted to replace all wooden tableware with the more fashionable glass. Consequently, he ordered his subjects to invent an appropriate drinkware, which would be both hard to break and beautiful. After he was presented with the glass, he drank some alcohol from it and said: “This glass is stately and handy!” and then, to try it out, he threw it on the floor. He cried: “Let the glass be!” People present during this incident misinterpreted his phrase as “Let the glass brake!” and this started the Russian custom of breaking glasses after important toasts, it was said to bring happiness. Although it must be said that this custom is known in other nations as well. Despite everything, in the USSR the faceted glass grew from kitchenware into a cult object. Decades after its invention it always is grouped together with a bottle of vodka and a piece of rye bread.
Trivia • In 1918 the granchak glass was featured in the painting by famous Russian artist Kyzma Petrov-Vodkin entitled “Morning Still-Life.” It shows a sunlit wooden table, an egg, and a red cat reflected on the side of a samovar, a bouquet of field flowers, and tea in a faceted glass. • People used to call the faceted glass Malenkov’s glass. The name came from the defense minister Georgiy Malenkov who issued an order to ration to certain categories of military servicemen 200g of vodka per day. Those who did not drink alcohol could exchange their ration for the same amount of tobacco or sugar. This order was in place only for a short time but many people remembered it long after it was gone. • In the 1980s granchaks started to break. One woman’s entire table spread which she had set for a party was ruined because of the glasses. People immediately started talking about a new dry law, the capitalists’ trick. The reason was much more prosaic. The factory launched a new imported production line of glasses and deviated from the original technology. As a result, the glasses started to break – they cracked and their bottoms fell away.
‘Troinoy’ Eau de Cologne: The Father of Russian Perfume Industry Those who remember the Soviet Union remember well the aroma of the eau de cologne Triple. It was present literary in every home and almost all men smelled like it. Housewives kept it in the kitchen to treat cuts and bruises as a makeshift antiseptic, tourists packed it in their backpacks, barbers offered it to clients as an aftershave because its alcohol content was 64 percent. It was also odorant and cheap. Yet the most sacred and interesting role of the Troinoy was different – a certain category of Soviet citizens consumed it as an alcoholic beverage at the time of alcohol prohibition. This was reflected in numerous jokes and tales. At such moments the Soviet men preferred not to look up to Allain Delon who obviously “did not drink eau de cologne.” It is difficult to establish when exactly this perfume started to be produced in the USSR. We only know that it came from Europe where it was known as “water from Cologne.” It was produced there in the seventeenth century and had medicinal properties. The description said: “This magical water treats poisons, shields against the plague. It can cure jaundice, catarrh, nausea, convulsions in the stomach, side and chest. It heals burns, adds strength t o women in labor, and assists expectoration. It can also remove tinnitus, add beauty, makes skin smoother, and improves its color.” In 1810 Napoleon Bonaparte issued a decree forcing everyone to reveal the recipes of their medicines. To hide their secrets, people started adding aromatic components and called them perfumes. The name “troinoy” (“triple”) appeared because of its three main components – lemon, bergamot, and neroli. It is assumed that this perfume was brought to Russia by soldiers of the Napoleonic army. Later it was produced by the hereditary French parfumier, founder of the Russian perfume school – Henri Brocard. After the advent of the Soviet regime, his factory was renamed State Soap Works No. 5, and later New Dawn. Troinoy was produced in the millions; it was popular both among regular people and among the highest party leadership. It was said to be Joseph Stalin’s favorite perfume because it was the only one that didn’t irritate his skin.
8 | beauty
Can You Imagine a Holiday Without Flowers? A bouquet of flowers is a traditional symbol of a holiday, a good mood, a wonderful way of expressing your feelings. International Women’s Day on March 8 can hardly be imagined without tulips, roses, lilies, and various flower arrangements that are traditionally given to beloved women, family members, coworkers, and friends. This custom appeared quite recently. In the fourteenth century flowers were mostly symbols in religious ceremonies. Starting in the fifteenth century they were used to adorn hairdos, clothes. For these purposes people used mostly bouquets of aromatic plants like jasmine, carnations, mint, mignonette, and basil. Only in the early eighteenth century did the tradition to decorate rooms with large bouquets the size of Victorian flowerbeds appear. They were adorned with ribbons, lace, and bright feathers of exotic flowers. In the nineteenth century, Europe saw a new fashion – “the language of flowers” – which came from the East. Socialites used cupid’s-delights and daisies to express their feelings, they sent each other symbolic messages and made meaningful presents. Every educated person was supposed to know this “language” so as not to look bad-mannered. In Russia, a variation on the flower language was popular even during Catherine the Great’s reign. The progressive empress compiled a “Flower Register.” It stipulated that a rose means “let’s make peace,” a red tulip “you’re loved,” and a red carnation a categorical “go away.” In the nineteenth century, a booked titled Selam, or the
Language of Flowers was published in Russia. It described 400 plants. Each flower has its own meaning. For example, a gentleman who sent his lady a bouquet of lilies-of-thevalley was indirectly saying that he is infatuated by her. Geraniums expressed an invitation to a secret date. A bunch of potato flowers had an unexpectedly romantic meaning – in meant: “You are the best!” In 1911 Europe started celebrating International Women’s Day. Its date was not fixed at first: in different years different countries celebrated it between March 2 and May 12. Only in 1914 was International Women’s Day celebrated everywhere on March 8. It coincided with a day off – Sunday. It must have been the reason why the holiday was fixed on this date. In Russia, and later in the USSR, this day long associated with the image of a working woman with a strong civic position. Flowers did not fit with this picture. After the war, in the late 1950s-1960s, men started giving women mimosas, later tulips, carnations, and gladioli. Today it is difficult to imagine a women’s present without a bouquet of flowers. Not only on March 8, but on birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations. In recent years, it became popular to present both
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women and men with planted flowers. How do you find your way among a great variety of flower shops? Let’s try to understand the modern language of flowers. First of all, it must be noted that Russian tradition states that only an uneven number of flowers can be given on holidays (three, five, seven, etc.) On birthdays, a bouquet is normally composed of the number of flowers equal to the birthday person’s age. If the age is an even number (for example, twenty), you add another flower (twentyone). A bouquet can be composed of similar flowers or different ones, it can be decorated with a sprig of baby’s breath or fern leaves. It can be wrapped in gift paper, mesh, or cellophane with different ribbons. If the wrapping is a regular cellophane, it should be taken off before the flowers are given to the receiver. A bouquet is presented vertically with the flowers at the top. If the flowers are given from a company or family it should be presented by a man. When choosing flowers we most often gravitate toward roses, which is understandable: they look beautiful and they smell nice. Red roses symbolize love. Pink roses tenderness. White roses are a symbol of purity and chastity and they are often given to brides. Yellow roses symbolize sunlight and welfare (yet the superstition that this is a color of separation is not taken seriously any longer). Tea roses symbolize elegance and harmony. Tulips are given to express friendly feelings, admiration, trust, to wish happiness and good luck. These flowers are mostly associated with spring.
Daffodils are telling of strong feelings, however, not always mutual. The meaning of lilies depends on its color. A white lily symbolizes purity and nobility. A yellow lily extravagance, flippancy, capriciousness. An orange lily curiosity, flirting. A striped lily abundance, welfare, prosperity. Alstroemeria is given to compliment a lady, to tell her about her beauty and virtues. Aster is a symbol of elegance, love, and memories. A bouquet of chrysanthemums can say a lot. A white mum means trust, candor; a yellow mum gratitude; a red one traditionally love. A beautiful planted flower of cyclamen should be given with caution because it
To celebrate the 15th birthday of the Korchma «Taras Bulba» chain of restaurants we present a CD of Ukrainian classical music in modern arrangements from Bulba Press.
means rejection, it says “farewell.” (Similarly to the Ukrainian custom of giving a pumpkin to a rejected suitor.) But when given to a family member or a friend, the cyclamen will not have this hidden meaning. A negative meaning is attached to a bouquet of dry flowers – it symbolizes discarded love. It can be present to put an end to somebody’s very persistent courtship. There are many types of carnations and their meanings are quite different. For example, pink carnations are a symbol of motherly love, gratitude, support. In the US, they are given on Mother’s Day. Red carnations mean success, victory, leadership. They are given to authoritative respected people, like coworkers or business partners. White carnations can be used to w i s h luck, to realize
dreams, to express affection to a kind and positive person. Yellow carnations are given to reconcile with someone. A spring flower of hyacinth has a wonderful scent and can tell so much. As a rule, it symbolizes a game, curiosity, but also wisdom. A blue hyacinth shows confidence and serenity. A red hyacinth means unexpectedness. A white flower is a symbol of consistency, loyalty. It is never easy to express your feelings. Flowers are perfect assistants in this difficult task. Your sincerity and good will that come with the flowers will never go unnoticed. Text: Olga SYNYUGINA
The exclusive new disc will be available for sale in our restaurants! Find time in your life for our music!
10 | Народжені в Україні
Катерина Білокур: тернистий шлях генія Вона народилася в селянській сім’ї, де не могла отримати навіть початкової освіти, прагнула малювати і власноруч виготовляла не тільки пензлики, але й фарби, для чого використовувала сік буряка, цибулі, калини та бузини. Однак, у її талант не вірили навіть власні батьки, всіляко придушуючи його. Незважаючи на це, мешканка невеличкого села – Катерина Білокур – без перебільшення стала геніальною художницею, а її картини досі збирають захоплені відгуки мистецтвознавців. Одного разу, побачивши роботи українки, Пабло Пікассо скаже: «Якби ми мали художницю такого рівня майстерності, то змусили б заговорити про неї цілий світ…» Та про таку високу похвалу вона навіть не довідалася. Катерина Білокур народилася у селі Богданівка Полтавської губернії. Досі ніхто до стеменно не може сказати дати її появи на світ. У цьому плуталася навіть сама жінка, називаючи то 1900, то 1901 роки. Зрештою, за офіційну дату на родження прийнято вважати 25 листопада 1900 року. Це найбільш правдоподібно, оскільки тоді відзначають день великомучениці Катерини. Крім доньки, сім’я виховувала ще двох синів. Родина не була бідною, оскільки мала чималі земельні наділи, тримала худобу. Незважаючи на це, дати добру освіту дівчині ні тато, ні мама не вважали за потрібне, позаяк були переконані, що знання їй просто не знадобиться, а на науці мож на зекономити, купити взуття та одяг. Не дивно, що й жаги до малювання ніхто не підтримував. Це вважалося дивацтвом. Коли одного разу мати побачила, як дівчина сидить і шматком вугілля малює на полотні, то вирвала його з рук і серди то сказала: «Не дай Боже, тебе, стервило, поба чить хтось із односельців. Та тебе ж потім ніхто і заміж не візьме». Знаючи про те, що батьки категорично не підтримують її, Катерина малювала потайки. Та мати про все здогадувалася і не раз казала
сусідам: «От покарав нас Господь такою дочкою! У людей дочки в таких літах уже заміж повихо дили, їхні матері зятів мають, а наша (не при хаті згадувати!) чортів малює!» Заради справедливості варто зазначити, що не розуміли дівчину і більшість односельців. Її талант вони сприймали як намагання уникнути важкої фізичної роботи. Вона ж сама ні на кого не зважала і тільки вишукувала вільну хвилинку, щоб поринути в улюблене заняття. А для цього часто їздила далеко від дому, де росли дуже гарні квіти. Їх художниця ніколи не рвала, бо була переконана, що вони живі. «Ой, Боже мій! Як гля неш кругом, то та гарна, а та ще краща, а та ще чудовіша, та начебто посхиляються до мене, та як не промовляють: «Хто ж нас тоді малюватиме, якщо ти покинеш?» То я все на світі забуду, та й знову малюю квіти. Ой, не гнівайтеся на мене, мої близькії і далекії друзі, що я малюю квіти, бо із квітів картини красиві», – так з помилками і малозрозумілим почерком напише вона одного разу у листі до своїх знайомих. Одного разу Катерина дізналася про Мирго родський технікум художньої кераміки і одразу зацікавилась ним. Кажуть, що її заворожило сло
во «художньої», оскільки думала, що саме там на вчають на художників… У дорогу дівчина прихо пить із собою дві роботи, які планувала показати екзаменаційній комісії. На одному малюнку була «копія з якоїсь картинки», на іншому – начерк дідівської хати з натури. Розчарування молодої селянки було гірким, бо через відсутність документів про закінчення школи, прийняти її до закладу навідріз відмовляються. На картини, які вона принесла з собою, там також ніхто не глянув. Тоді дівчина робить відчайдушну спро бу – перекидає свої малюнки через паркан у сад технікуму: раптом спудеї піднімуть їх і оцінять… Катерина довго озиралася і все не вірила, що її так і не покликали. Вражена, вона пішла додому з Миргорода пішки. Згодом ще пробує вступити в Театральний технікум, але і там її не приймають. Дівчина настільки у розпачі, що одного разу хоче закінчити життя самогубством в річці. Якось йде на могилу до Тараса Шевченка, яко го вважала своїм духовним батьком. «То мені вже така воля була – скільки хотіла, стільки й плакала. І, як живому, Шевченкові розказува ла, як я хочу бути художником… – писала вона пізніше. – Якби це ви, Тарасе Григоровичу, живі
Народжені в Україні | 11
були, то ви допомогли б мені стати художником. А ті люди, серед яких я живу, не розуміють мене. І я між ними, як чужа». Однак там, в Каневі, вона дасть собі клятву – бути художником незважаю чи ні на що… Прийде додому і вкотре скаже про це батькові. Той приречено відповість: «Ну, ма люй, будь ти розпроклята! Лайки і доброго слова ти не слухаєш. А бити – я вже втомився з тобою б’ючись!» Так Катерина викидає вугілля і олівці, а натомість робить пензлі і купує справжні олійні фарби. Вона вчиться ґрунтувати полотно і малює як справжній художник. Поворотним стає 1934 рік, коли жінка створює «Берізки» – одну з трьох картин, що принесли їй світову славу. Наступно го року народжується ще один шедевр – «Квіти над тином». Та без сумніву доленосні часи прийдуть трішки пізніше. У 1940 році вона відвідає свою двоюрідну сестру і вдома у неї почує по радіо пісню «Чи я в лузі не калина була», яку співає Оксана Петру сенко. Художниця настільки вражена її співом, що вирішує написати співачці листа, а до нього кладе кілька своїх робіт. Малюнки потрапляють у руки до адресата і роблять у столиці справжній ажіотаж. Згодом до неї приїде ціла делегація. Її учасники будуть вражені, як у маленькому селі стільки часу без належної уваги жила така тала новита художниця. Катерина Білокур отримує славу і визнання. У тому ж 1940 році для неї організовують першу персональну виставку творів, везуть до Москви і показують Третьяковсь ку галерею. Найкращі зразки світового живопи су приголомшують селянку. Вона скаже: «Куди мені бути художницею? Я – ніщо! Моя мазанина нікудишня! Я там таке бачила! Усе таке чудове, недосяжне для мене! Куди мені, дурній сільській дівці, і думати про якусь умілість!» Незважаючи на це, вона продовжує малюва ти, її роботи закуповують для музеїв, а сама ав торка стає членом Спілки художників України. Картини експонуються у Києві, Москві і навіть на міжнародній виставці в Парижі, де їх побачить Пабло Пікассо. Це саме він порівняє українку з представницею «наївного мистецтва» Серафіною Луїз. У той час, при демонтажі паризької вистав ки, три картини з колекції вкрадуть. Їхня доля невідома досі. Катерина Білокур померла у 1961 році. Вона похована у селі Богданівка, де досі працює її Му зей-садиба. Текст: Степан ГРИЦЮК
«Обідно мені на природу, що так жорстоко зі мною обійшлася, наділивши мене такою великою любов’ю до того святого малювання, а тоді відібрала всі можливості, щоб я творила тую чудовую працю во всю шир мого таланту! І скільки в голові моїй снується чудових невиданих буйних картин! І так вони в мріях і залишаються, бо в дійсності приходиться дрижать над кожною унцією олії, фарби і над кожним міліметром полотна!» Катерина Білокур
Treat yourself! Starting in the New Year, the restaurant chain Korchma Taras Bulba will offer an exclusive line of designer T-shirts. The number is limited so don’t wait too long to buy one for yourself. This is your chance to stand out!
500
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12 | Travelling
INADVERTENT SCULPTURES Some apparitions come to only one person, some come to many people. They could be scary, funny, interesting. What I saw in Israel seemed cool to me. I decided I couldn’t not share it with you. When walking in Or Yehuda I met a company of cute hydrants who looked strangely similar to cartoon aliens. I called them “brothers and sister” though it might have been vice versa… Or Yehuda was the first town on my way to Jerusalem. When traveling in the Holy Land I kept bumping into these cute likeable “aliens.” I was strolling along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea from Or Yehuda to Jaffa, a major port in Ancient Israel. I could write a novel about this city – it is inseparable from the stories of Perseus and Andromeda, the resurrection of my favorite Tabitha, whose name means “gazelle.” It was from here that Prophet Jonah started his journey. But now I want to talk about its inadvertent sculpture, very avant-garde and very cool. On the
shores of Jaffa I met a red cutie who blended so harmoniously with the green-lawn landscape. What’s more interesting is that these anonymous sculptures exhibit their own emotions. For instance, in one of the parking lots I noticed a sad thoughtful “calf.” He looked as if he were longing for some fresh green grass. Alas… Jerusalem is jam-packed with such “goats” and “calves.” All of them were painted bright yellow to match the Golden City. One of the hydrants in Old Jerusalem even occupied its own niche and stood at attention – a real modern guard. In a fashionable shopping district I saw a sculpture group dedicated to the eternal theme of motherhood – “Lady with a Child.” To match the bourgeois chic, it was glittering with golden metallic.
I suspect I wasn’t the first to notice the hydrant art. Supposedly, there are many similar pictures circulating the net. It is even more challenging to try to update the virtual collection, or the industrial sculpture gallery (I made up this term to indicate this sort of art). I wouldn’t mind learning the name of the sculptor who created them. And even more interesting: were these funny figures deliberately conceived by the author or did they come to be by chance? Finally, I couldn’t restrain myself and took a picture “Aliens on the Promenade.” I apologize to all Israelis, I do understand that aliens are the last thing on their minds. Text and Photos: Viktoriya Kovalchuk
Welcome to our happy team!
We are always happy to welcome young and energetic men and women eager to work hard and to become professionals at what they do. Every focused and enthusiastic employee will get an opportunity for career growth. A unique feature of our HR strategy is to employ not only the experienced professionals, but also young people, which results in an effective team.
Our job openings: Administrator Cook Hostess Cashier Waiter Delivery operator Bartender Doorman We offer: convenient flexible shifts + free meals + social package + career growth + high corporate culture + competitive salary. Requirements: nationals of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, aged 18 to 50. Enthusiasm to work, grow and improve. Human resources department: Moskow, Aeroport metro station, 3 Chernyakhovskogo St. Phone: 8-926-904-41-54, 8-926-461-21-71 resume@tarasbulba.ru
Note! We are now hiring to work in Korchma “Taras Bulba” restaurants in Kyiv and New York.
Cooking and Marketing | 13
Heart Attack Grill: Food That Kills
There are tons of amazing eateries in the world. However, the restaurant which we will tell you about in this issue undoubtedly stands out from most of them. Its very name – Heart Attack Grill – already speaks eloquently about its peculiarity. This is not surprising because fast food in Las Vegas does not serve healthy, but only greasy and fatty dishes. Perhaps that is why the staff wearsnurses uniforms. So the owners of the restaurant attract clients by being on the verge of foul. It seems that such a radical gimmick worked, becausethere is no shortage of people wanting to enjoy a lot of greasy food.
When former fitness trainer John Basso realized that it is futile trying to persuade people to lead a healthy lifestyle, he decided to make money on human weaknesses. And so he opened the world’s most unhealthy restaurant where true gluttons can feel like in paradise. This is not surprising –the portions at Heart Attack Grill are giant and calories are measured in the thousands. For example, one of the specials is a giant burger, which consists of almost 2 pounds of meat, half an onion, one tomato, 16 pieces of bacon, and 8 pieces of cheese. As a result, it has nearly ten thousand calories, which is three times the daily norm for an adult. This is a world record! In addition to this, the kitchen offers french fries, various meats, sausages, beer, and soda. The restaurant’s dishes are indeed so high in calories that they can not only cause the customers to feel sick, but also lead to fatalities. The owners even warn visitors with their special motto –A Taste Worth Dying For.
Moreover, all patrons whose weight exceeds 350 pounds get a bonus – they can eat for free. As if to say that if you, God forbid, lose weight, we are ready to fix this at our own expense. All sold kilocalories per day are displayed on a special monitor in the restaurant. Heart Attack Grill takes pride in its staff. Almost all the waitresses are slim and fit and are dressed in white nurses uniforms that look very sexy. If needed,the girls can measure a customer’s pulse, and after a hearty lunch can take him in a wheelchair to his car. Visitors also enjoy this aspect of the experience. Our editorial staff wants to remind its readers that experimenting with food is extremely dangerous. Watch what you eat and in what quantities, and treat all overseas antics with humor!! Text: Maria KRASNA Photos: heartattackgrill.com
14 | menu
news from «korchma» | 15
www.tarasbulba.ru
ruk_proekta@tarasbulba.ru
Т.Ц “БИБЛИО- ГЛОБУС”
11 марта | 18:00 ул. Мясницкая, д.6/3
Когда даже пустота наполнена смыслом composition
mineralization 1-2 g/l chemical composition of water Sodium+potassium (Na+ K+) Chlorides (Cl) Sulphates Hydrogen carbonates Calcium Magnesium
Презентация книги Юрия Белойвана:
“Непал/Тибет: путешествие в другую реальность” г.Москва, ул. Пятницкая 14
тел.: 8 (915) 222-15-18 (495) 953-7153, 951-3760
Ценр современного искусства ВИНЗАВОД
13 марта | 18:00
www.tarasbulba.ru
4-й Сыромятнический пер., д.1
Children’s encyclopedia, a fairy tale ‘The Cat and the Fox’, new issue as well as poems, riddles and crossword puzzles. Look for of the children’s magazine Tarasik by BULBA PRESS in “Korchma Taras Bulba’ chain of restaurants
Your kids deserve the best childhood!
к ниг а - м е ню To celebrate its 15th birthday ‘Korchma Taras Bulba’ reveals its secrets! We offer you a recipe book Not by the salo alone
mg/l 4.5 3.5 4.6 95 77.2 20.67
We h ave o n l y f r es h a n d s a v o r y n ew s !
www.bulbanews.ru Bulba NEWS has its own website now
We offer only fresh and savory news! Share the news in social networks, and leave your comments. Send your news to: bulbanews.ru@gmail.com EVERYBODY READS US!
The newspaper office is open for cooperation! Call us at 8-968-665-12-07 or write to: bulbanews.ru@gmail.com
Cremations on the banks of the sacred Bagmati river, “the Sadhu holy drug-addicts” and the bloody festival Gadhimai Mela, the holy Mount Kailash, hermit monks and the Tibetan void celebrated by Buddhism. All this in Yuriy Beloyvan’s book Traveling to an Alternate Reality…
4 4 7 7 0 8 (495) 7
Ukrainian cuisine – made with love! Restaurants’ location:
MOSCOW, Aviamotornaya metro station, 6 Krasnokazarmennaya St., (499) 763 5741
Avtozavodskaya metro station,
6 Velozavodskaya St., (499) 764 1532
Akademicheskaya metro station,
16/10 Profsoyuznaya St., (499) 125 0877
Alekseyavskaya metro station, 3 Bochkova St., (495) 616 6754
Airport metro station,
64 Leningradskiy Prospekt St., (499) 151 9011
Baumanskaya metro station,
23/41 Bakuninskaya St., 8 495 956 55 81
Borovitskaya metro station,
8 Mokhovaya St., 24-hour, 8 962 918 75 38, 8 985 644 85 44
Krasnye Vorota metro station,
47 Myasnitskaya St., (495) 607 1762
Leninskiy Prospekt metro station,
37 Leninskiy Prospect St., (495) 954 6466
Novokuznetskaya metro station, 14 Pyatnitskaya St., (495) 953 7153
Novye Cheryomushki metro station, Nametkina St., 13 г, (495) 331 4211
You can never forget an adventurous journey. Unadventurous journeys are not worth writing about. The long-awaited new book
Smolenskaya metro station,
12 Smolenskiy Avenue. St., 24-hour, (499) 246 6902
Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station,
13 Sadovaya-Samotechnaya St., 24-hour, (495) 694 0056
Chekhovskaya metro station,
Nepal/Tibet: A Journey into an Alternate Reality was released this December by BULBA PRESS. The book can be purchased at the bookstore Biblio Globus and in the restaurants of the Korchma Taras Bulba chain.
Available now!
30/7 Petrovka St., (495) 694 6082
Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station,
6 Borovskoye Road, (495) 980 2051
Vystavochnaya metro station, of 1905 year,
27 Shmitovskiy Passage, 24-hour, (499) 256-4660
Odintsovskiy District, Gorki-2
‘Zhyvoi Dom’ Trade Center, 3rd floor +7 (495) 221-03-34
KIEV, “Teatralnaya”, “Zolotye Vorota”,“Kreschatik” metro station, 2-4/7 Pushkinskaya St.,+38 (044) 270-7248 357 West Broadway, NYork City, NY 10013
Certificate of registration PI № ФС FS 77 is 5экземпляров. 000 copies. Свидетельство о регистрации ПИ 77––19940. 19940.Circulation Тираж 50 000
phone: (212) 510 75 10
Laskavo prosymo!