Bulbanews 04 2015 en preview

W e h a ve o n l y fre s h a n d s a vo r y n e w s!

April 2015 | № 4 (139)

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Natalka Karpa I Grew Up on Kvitka Cisyk’s Songs…

European Travel: Hola, Catalonia, or a Special Region of Spain

The Easter Basket: Traditional Foods and Their Meaning

Book Presentation: Yuriy Beloyvan’s “The Alternate Reality” Is Already Out

DELIVERY OF HOMEMADE UKRAINIAN FOOD AND HOTLINE

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2 | guest

Natalka Karpa: ‘I Grew Up on Kvitka Cisyk’s Songs…’

Natalka Karpa is a Ukrainian singer, who performs ethno, pop, and folk songs. She is well-known in both Ukraine and abroad (her song «Kalyna» was a leader in the European music charts in 2008-2009). In support of this single, in cooperation with the Polish Universal Music, the singer traveled around almost all of Europe. In 2013, in support of her new ethno-album, she began a world tour to centers of the Ukrainian diaspora. In addition to this, Natalka Karpa is the creative director of the production center KARPARATION, a lyricist and author of music, and has a pleasant, sincere, and outgoing personality.

– Natalka, energetic, always with a smile – have you always been this positive?

material wealth, but I knew what was warmth, care, and attention.

– Thank you for your question, and at the same time for the compliment. Comparing memories from childhood that I remember and what my parents told me, I was an extremely well-behaved child (for example, I didn’t jump into puddles but walked around them, I always neatly put away my dolls in my room). I was a well-tempered child. I never had temper tantrums, but stubbornly and silently reached my goals.

– Now that you’re always on the move, and have no time for household chores, have you kept that love for order at home?

– Was this persistence was justified?

– Persistence is probably something I learned from my parents. But I’m persistent only when it’s something I want (laughs). I didn’t know my ABCs like other children; first I learned the musical scale.

– Do you think it was your personality or your parents’ upbringing?

– I don’t know. But I can say I grew up surrounded by love. Perhaps there wasn’t always enough

– I will say this - I don’t have time, but I love order. Well ... sometimes I come home from a tour, eat something quickly, and think “Ah, I’ll wash it in the morning,” but when I am very tired. But when I have the energy, then everything shines clean! It’s the same with work. I hate procrastinating, when something drags on. Things that have begun need to be finished quickly.

self-discipline. My mother is not musical, but a very good critic. My father plays many instruments. He teaches music. My grandma sings beautifully.

– So your creative talent is from your father?

– You know, there are diamonds that are ready, and I am one of those that needed to be sanded (laughs). My younger sister Yulia also sings, has a better ear for music, and possibly voice. And I had to work really hard on myself and continue to do so, in order to not only have this talent but for it to also give some results.

– Are you more like your mother or father?

– Well, your persistence and productivity is widely known in Ukraine. Colleagues claim that in fact you work very much...

– I don’t look like my mother nor my father.

Everyone would laugh and ask: “Whose child are you?” If you take the color of my skin, I am more like my father: I tan quickly. In terms of my selforganization and organizational skills I take after my mother. As well as communication skills and

– You know, in my youth, that childhood perseverance which I told about grew into a fanatical ability to work. I realized that my parents weren’t billionaires, that I can’t be dependent on others, that I have to work to achieve something. I thought so then and think so now.

guest | 3

– Your favorite melody from childhood, which became the basis of your singing worldview?

– There is one... As a child I had a favorite cassette tape. And I knew where, which second, to stop it and rewind...to hear again the song that made my whole body tremble... It was a singer who performed Ukrainian songs elegantly, extremely emotionally (it gave me goose bumps). Later, when I was older, in a store among numerous recordings I found the name of the song, and read about the singer. It was Kvitka Cisyk (an American singer, daughter of postwar immigrants from Western Ukraine – auth.)

Since then, her songs are always with me...

– Natalka, does it ever happen that an informal situation, when you are sitting with friends or family, that you sing? Or do you only sing on stage or in the studio?

– It’s always like that. I don’t understand how it is possible to just sit at the table. Just eat and drink? In such cases, I look for a piano (ideally).

I love to play, sing. You should see what happens when our family gathers. My sister pulls her part, my dad accompanies... you have to see and hear (laughs).

– Last year you gave your fans a solo concert.

What are you working on now?

– For two years I’ve been telling everyone that I’ve almost recorded an ethno-style album. I’ve almost completed it. I was inspired by the diaspora: Ukrainians living in different parts of the Earth.

These ethnic motifs are influenced by Ukrainian songs, as well as by embroidery, folklore, symbolism.

Ukrainians abroad played a significant role. I saw how one can love Ukraine without having it. How strongly and sincerely.

– When something is taken from a person, he or she sorely misses is. And so immigrants need this part of Ukraine ... at least in songs. You know, even those children who were born there still listen, try to understand the language, the thoughts, the notes of their ancestors. By the way, sometimes they mistakenly think that a Ukrainian is a Cossack with a forelock and sharavary (Cossack pants). We show them modern Ukraine.

– Do you leave tips at restaurants?

– It all depends on the staff. When you realize that they sincerely recommend a particular dish, are interested whether you like it, then I don’t want to leave just a tip, but also make friends with the nice waiter or waitress.

– What are your favorite dishes?

– I love cheese and fish. I love all forms of cheese.

I live without meat, but I cannot imagine my life without cheese. When I want something tasty - it certainly is not sweet. Usually I will eat a delicious seafood salad. I love seafood. Sometimes I joke that was born in some seaside city.

– Do you ever drink?

– Yes, of course. I love dry wines. I recommend Casillero del Diablo – a Chilean wine. And to warm up the vocal cords and mood, a good cognac with coffee.

– How do you stay fit?

– In which countries have you already presented this program?

– I train daily with ballet. I go three times a week to the gym. Although, it depends how I am feeling.

I can train for two and a half hours, but sometimes after half an hour I understand that I’ve had enough... I pay attention to my mood, and I do not force myself. There will be a new day, a new attitude, and I will make up for it.

– My team and I have been in Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and many other countries…

– What would you like to wish the readers of our newspaper?

– The beautiful Ukrainian national costumes that are in your wardrobe were specially made for this program?

– Since its founder is a restaurant chain that promotes Ukrainian cuisine, first of all I wish them bon appetite! Don’t think long about which dish to order. Remember, if you select a Ukrainian dish, you will never make a mistake, because they are all very delicious. Eat for your health! As for a more global wish, then try to approach all things in life with optimism. Savor life!

– Yes. We first started writing the album, and a little later made the Ukrainian costumes. I put in my soul into them, frankly speaking. I found old, authentic blouses, re-sewed them, altered them, added to them. Some of the items were falling apart... but we were able to save them.

Text:Oksana HNATYSHYN Photos: Natalka Karpa’s archive

– Ukrainians abroad are always welcome you?

Carp from Karpa INGREDIENTS • Fresh carp – 800 g • Smoked pork fat – 40 g • Potatoes – 1.1 kg • Cream sauce with onions • Salt • Ground black pepper • Parsely

INSTRUCTIONS Clean the carp, cut in half lengthwise, cut the halves into pieces.

Add pork fat, salt, and pepper to the pieces of carp.

Fill a pot with a layer of boiled potatoes (sliced), a layer of fish, a layer of potatoes, a layer of fish.

Top with cream sauce with onions and bake in the oven. When ready sprinkle the dish with parsley.

4 | interview

Ksenia Simonova: Art is a Language of the World. I Just Learned to Speak That Language Ksenia Simonova has received been praised as one of the most talented people in Ukraine. The world met this girl when she was a winner on the “Ukraine’s Got Talent” show. Her sand animation was a sensation and impressed the judges and the audience. The video of her performance on YouTube generated over 38 million views! She has traveled half the globe with her fairy-tale art performances and her title is the “Queen of Sand.”

She enjoyed recognition from presidents and high dignitaries of many countries, including the royal families of the UK, Norway, Monaco, and Thailand. She represented Eupatoria, Crimea, in London, Malta, Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Vienna, Munich, Paris, Gdansk, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Davos, Hong-Kong, Sydney.

She met with a BULBA News correspondent over a cup of coffee and talked about her numerous travels around the world and her favorite work.

– You graduated with a major in psychology and graphic art, but what made you try sand animation?

–The story is simple and complicated at the same time… I came to the tryouts of a big TV show at a major Ukrainian commercial TV channel, and I won. I came there to take a break from everything – but I received a million. I have worked with sand for over five years. It is now my main work, but it wasn’t so all the time. I never worked as a psychologist. At the same time I was a student at another college majoring in graphic art. I worked as a graphic artists until 2008 when our magazine was shut down as a result of the crisis (my husband and I started the magazine in late 2007).

– Was sand your attempt to find something new?

– It happened like this. We were unemployed. We had to move out of our parents’ apartment because they were coming back to town from their summer house. We sold our car and rented a tiny apartment.

The rooms were miniature. But despite being tiny and cramped it was the coziest apartment ever. We had no money whatsoever, we ate some canned food and pasta, and when we had none of that we would invite ourselves to our parents and they would make us dinner.

– Was it a difficult time for you?

– Yes and no. Despite everything it was the happiest time in our lives. At nights Dima (Ksenia’s son) was playing on the carpet and we were at the kitchen table drinking tea and listening to music.

I drew almost nothing, I wrote nothing and for the first time in my life I felt no regret. But then the melancholy and depression set it. Once Ihor left and returned in a few hours with a piece of glass and four bottles. He put them on the table and brought in a bag of sand. “That’s enough, come here,” he said and pulled me off the couch. I was standing at the table, he set the bottles on the corners of the table and then placed the glass on top of them. He said, “This is for you instead of the magazine.” I took some sand in my hand and threw it on the glass top. The world suddenly came to life and started turning. A

new page was tuned, even though we didn’t know it yet.

– Before you started your sand career, you were working in publishing. Do you ever wish you would return to new business projects?

– I have to admit that I am being torn apart. I want to live in theater, I want to breathe theater – that’s about sand. I want to perform with symphony orchestras – this is also about sand. We are now making a TV program where I am a presented. I do want to revive the magazine very much. But I have no time!

Whatsoever! And I just gave birth to my second son.

– What do you think makes your paintings work?

– I think its honesty and respect toward the audience. And maybe it’s the rule I have: everything I do, I try to enjoy it. Otherwise, you might just as well stop.

– What were the most unexpected and interesting performances?

interview | 5

– It was a birthday party for King Rama the 8th (King of Thailand) and I met his family. It wasn’t so much for performing in Bangkok, or meeting the royal family, but the music to my performance was written by the king himself. It was a good, sincere music. And it was a wonderful trip and meeting.

– What are you working on now?

– My first and most important job is being a mom – for Dima and for baby Seraphim. We are also shooting my personal TV program “Day of Happiness.” It will be on the Internet and on a local TV channel. A month from now there will be the premiere of my husband’s and my play “The Past Side of the Future,” which is about the Second World War. We also plan a series of concerts “Sand Baroque” with a symphonic orchestra, next year we plan to stage another play, “White Epoch.”

– Does it ever happen that you refuse an invitation? What are the reasons?

– It happens quite often. For various reasons.

For example, a few years ago I didn’t go to the US to perform at one of the last episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show simply because I had signed a collaboration deal with the Dior House. Sometimes I refuse an invitation because it does not fit my religious or moral views.

– Which country had the biggest influence on you by its lifestyle, beauty, and infrastructure?

– I like Denmark. We have spent a lot of time there with my family in the past three years. Not only do I perform there, but I also just like to travel the country as a tourist. We stayed at hotels, in tiny houses and in even tinier Danish apartments. Dima likes that country, and I like that Dima likes it (she smiles).

– Whenever you have a spare moment in your trips, what do you do?

– I always carry my watercolors, ink, pencils, and paper around with me. So when I have some spare time – and it happens quite rarely – I draw: the landscapes, the people. I don’t want to waste time on shopping. I try to research in advance where I can find what I need, then I just go there and buy it. Nothing fancy. We like to try different cuisines.

– Where do you want to go?

– I’d like to go to Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica – but maybe later.

– What was your most interesting meeting from your tours and where did it happen?

– I am lucky to meet brilliant people. There are many who left a trace in my heart: Natalia Vodianova, Sean Penn, Vassiliy Lanovoy, Oleg Garkusha. I like working with orchestra conductors: YouTube Symphony Orchestra, the Toscana Orchestra, Wermland Opera Orchestra in Sweden – their conductor is a woman, by the way.

– You are often called a citizen of the world, your talent is recognized everywhere you go.

How do you feel in this role?

– That’s fine. Art is a language of the world. I just learned to speak that language.

– Have you experimented with food?

– I once had a kangaroo steak in Sydney (she laughs). We didn’t plan to eat any kangaroos, we were just walking on the seafront and looking for a place to have lunch. And we were invited in to try their “specialty.” When I learned what I was eating, I felt uncomfortable. Moreover, our son asked us to bring him from Sydney a live kangaroo…

– When you’re abroad, do you try new things or do you look for something similar to our cuisine?

– If there’s time, we try to learn as much as we can about the local national cuisine. But I do sometimes miss Ukrainian food. When we spent a month in Denmark, I was always happy when we were invited to dinner by Ukrainians who treated us to borscht and pampushky. They even had salo!

They get it from their family in Ukraine. I like our food. I think that Ukrainian culinary traditions are some of the best.

– Have you adventures?

had

any

funny

culinary

– Of course we have. We met a Greek guy in London (he’s a director of commercials) and we complimented his Greek coffee. So next time we met him, he brought us three packs of this wonderful coffee. In return, he asked us to bring him some salo next time we come to London. Funny, isn’t it? (she smiles).

– Do you like to try new cuisines?

– Not exotic ones, like African or Asian. I like European food better, but it also has many culinary traditions. I would like to go on a culinary tour of Serbia and Montenegro. I dream of going to Iceland and Greenland, I’d like to try some Eskimo food. I am attracted to Mongolia. I have never been there, I was often invited.

Text: Lesia Kichura Photos courtesy of Ksenia Simonova

6 | history

April 1 April Fool’s Day

April 2 International Children’s Book Day

April 3 Birthday of the Korchma Velozavodskaya

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April 4 Passover – the oldest of all Jewish holidays

April 5 Entry of Christ into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)

April 7 Annunciation World Health Day

April 8 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

April 11 End of the Lent

12 april

Easter April 12 Easter

April 21 The Radonitsa. The Commemoration of the Dead.

April 23 World Book and Copyright Day

April 29 International Dance Day

Max Factor: History of a Legend The year 2015 marks 120 years since the legendary Max Factor (Maksymillian Faktorowicz) opened his first perfume shop in Ryazan.

No one could have expected that a man originally from a small town in the Russian Empire would be world famous and that his luxurious cosmetics would be used by millions of people. This man turned his name into a brand and influenced the style of real icons like Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich, and Jean Harlow. He used to say: “Beautiful women are not born, beautiful women make themselves up.” All his life Max Factor tried to put his words into reality.

We don’t know exactly when the creator of the legendary cosmetics was born. Some researchers give the date of September 15, 1877, others cite August 1872. What can be said for sure is that he was born in the tiny town Zdunska Wola in the county of Lodz. Some people confuse it with the city of Lodz. It was then the territory of the Russian Empire, now it’s modern Poland.

The family into which the boy was born was very poor. He was the eleventh child. It goes without saying that the boy had to work starting at an early age. In order to earn some money he started selling candies in a theater foyer, later he served as an assistant at a pharmacy, and at the age of fourteen he became an apprentice to a wig maker. But after a while he realized that none of these jobs could bring him big money or prospects. At fifteen, he packed all his stuff and departed for Moscow where he found a job making wigs for actors at the Bolshoy Theater.

He served two years in the army, then was discharged and opened his own shop in Ryazan where he sold creams, perfumes, rouges, and

history | 7

A Nail in Your Lungs: Belomorkanal Cigarettes

wigs – all the things women and actresses of that time couldn’t live without.

Much later, under a shortened name of Max Factor, Maksymillian Faktorowicz moved to the USA and settled in Los Angeles. His calculations were simple – he wanted to stay close to the movie industry which was quickly developing. He tied his future to the movies.

Factor opened a shop where he sold theatrical make-up and cosmetics and gave advice to his clients on how to apply them.

Soon the news of a talented immigrant spread among the actors. They came to him in order to replace the old greasepaint with something new. He recalled that time: “I spent all my time on individual consulting. I showed them how to accentuate their face’s features and how to conceal its flaws.”

The year 1914 was a turning point for Max Factor. He invented the first “cosmetics with a drop-like effect for eyes.” He melted black wax and applied it to the tips of eyelashes.

Later, he patented a new type of makeup.

Before that, theatrical greasepaint was in stick form and was applied in a thick layer, which caked and cracked. Factor’s invention, however, was cream-like and didn’t dry up when applied to skin. But its major advantage, in everyone’s view, was that it was practically invisible. Its inventor later said: “Makeup is no good when it’s visible. Only if another person cannot tell that you’re made up is it successful.” To get such an effect, movie stars were ready to pay any amount of money. Now they could appear on screen without the fear that their face will look like a mask!

His product was recognized by most famous actors of that time, among them world-renowned Charles Chaplin. Now he could grimace and make faces as much as he wanted with the makeup from the Russian immigrant!

Very soon Max Factor & Co products were sold to the wider public. Now not only rich stars, but also regular girls not in the movie industry were using them. They copied they styles of their idols on the screen. Max Factor made a revolution in public opinion because up till then makeup was considered to be used by actors and prostitutes, and not regular women.

In 1918 the genius Factor developed the idea of “color harmony” in makeup.

According to this, all cosmetics had to match in combination of color tone, hair color, and eye color, which made a face look particularly spectacular. That’s why all cosmetic products had to match. He also introduced the term “makeup” to the wider public.

Max Factor improved his cosmetics range even more when color film was invented. For his contribution to the movie industry, he was awarded the Honorary Academy Award.

With the help of his two sons, he later started his own trademark Max Factor. The company produced liquid cream in tubes, developed waterproof makeup, lip gloss, special nail enamel, and much more. The fashion guru was called the Father Factor.

Glamour magazine wrote about him: “The Max Factor name symbolizes beauty both on and off-screen, in the US and a hundred other countries.”

The inventor of revolutionary cosmetics died in 1938. He left behind a huge industrial empire inherited by his sons and a legendary name which was turned into a brand name.

Text: Stepan HRYCIUK

In mid-September 1931, the USSR started a grandiose construction project: the White Sea–Baltic Sea Canal. It was covered by the press, it was celebrated by poets, it was built with huge labor resources. At the same time that this was happening, a foreman at the Leningrad Uritski Factory decided to mix two sorts of Azerbaijani and Moldavian tobacco and created another symbol of the epoch – the Belomorkanal cult cigarettes, which were а high-quality product at that time: the tobacco was good and it didn’t spatter like other brands.

The new industrial invention gained popularity very quickly. The first reason was the original design of the package, which showed a map of Europe with a bold line for the White Sea–Baltic Sea Canal and thin lines for the other country borders. It served as propaganda because this water artery was considered the longest in the world. And the Soviet people were supposed to feel pride in the achievements of their country. Later, the map only showed the Soviet Union and two more canals: the Volga-Don and the MoskvaVolga canals.

The second reason this brand was so popular was because for the same price you could buy twentyfive, as opposed to twenty, cigarettes. They were also very strong and meant to be

only for “real men.” Each cigarette contained 1.8 mg of nicotine and 30-35 mg of tar.

That’s why intelligent people couldn’t smoke it, it was exclusively a proletarian luxury.

It’s interesting to know that each community tried to make Belomorkanal a part of its culture: underworld criminal bosses, rock-band musicians, etc. Researchers also found that these cigarettes made it into Soviet folklore. For example, the abbreviated name “BK” gave start to a slang word “bychok” – a cigarette end. The cigarettes were also nicknamed in a Western manner – “Belomor Camel,” “Belle Amour Chanel.”

There was a weird myth that the cigarette diameter was 7.62 mm, allegedly, to make it easier to convert the factory into a cartridge production line.

8 | traditions

The Easter Basket:

traditional Foods and Their Meaning On April 12, 2015, Orthodox Christians will celebrate the Feast of Christ’s Resurrection, or Easter.

This is a popular holiday, people spend a lot of time preparing for it, they try to keep to the centuries-long traditions.

Traditionally, in Kyivan Rus, people greeted each other with words “Christ is Risen!” – “Indeed He is Risen!” and they kissed three times. They would also have different contests with painted eggs. For example, two people took one egg each and knocked it against each other’s egg. The person whose egg remained undamaged went on to do this with the next person. They also had contests in egg rolling: the person whose egg rolls the farthest wins. In some Western European countries, for example, Germany, people hid eggs on the night before the holiday and in the morning children went searching for them until they found the eggs in the Easter Hare’s nest.

Easter symbolizes the victory of life over death, good over evil, light over darkness. People try to purify their bodies and souls by fasting, also they clean their houses: they tidy the rooms, wash windows, refresh the paint, etc.

Easter is preceded by the Passion (Holy) Week – all days of the week are named with the word “holy” or “passion” before them: Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, etc. The preparation for the holiday begins on Holy (Clean) Thursday: people get up in the morning and then take a bath to clean away all sins. Then they go to church where they go to confession and Eucharist. After the liturgy they return home and finish cleaning their home, bake Easter bread, prepare cheese cakes, paint eggs, and cook other holiday foods.

On Holy Friday, Christians reflect upon the judgment, crucifixion, and the martyr death of Christ. No preparations are scheduled for that day.

Holy Saturday should be devoted to thinking of Christ’s death, grief, and the forthcoming Resurrection. On this day, churches begin blessing Easter food that parishioners bring.

In Ukraine, for example, especially in the West, people attach great signficance decorating the “Easter Basket” (a special basket with food that will be blessed).

This is a very important moment for the woman of the house: they want their baskets to look beautiful, for the food to be placed especially neatly in it, for the embroidered cloth to entice admiration from other church-goers. The Easter basket is an object of pride.

The food is chosen carefully for each item has its own symbolic meaning.

Traditionally, the basket is filled with Easter bread (paska), dairy products (cottage cheese, butter), painted eggs, ham or sausage, horseradish, boxwood, salt.

Paska (Easter bread) is angel’s bread, a symbol of Christ’s Resurrection.

Practically every woman has her own recipe, which she learned from her grandmother, with all its secrets and intricacies. Іt’s important to knead the dough in a calm, serene mood, with kind thoughts, otherwise the paska won’t turn out well.

Here’s one of the best recipes for the Easter paska.

Ingredients: – wheat flour – 500 g; – eggs – 6 pcs; – half a lemon; – dry yeast – 10 g; – sugar – 300 g; – butter – 250 g; – salt – 15 g; – raisins or candied fruit.

Preparation Preheat the oven to 390°F. Prepare the leavened dough: mix the dry yeast with 50 ml of warm water, add a bit of flour, mix it, cover it, and place in a warm spot. Sieve the rest of the flour, add 100g of sugar, salt, and mix everything. Pour the leavened dough into the flour and mix it until it becomes uniform. Keep mixing and add five eggs, one by one, then melted butter. For added taste, put in blanched raisins or candied fruit. Knead the dough well.

Put it in a big container, cover, and place in the fridge for 10 hours. Then transfer it to a warm place for 3 hours. Place it in baking forms, spread a whipped egg on top and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 300°F and bake until ready (small paska – 10 minutes, large paska – 30 minutes). Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon.

Prepare the sweet paste over boiling water, by melting the rest of sugar with two tablespoons of lemon juice, then spread it on the baked paskas.

traditions | 9

But paska is not the only product in the Easter basket that bears a symbolic meaning.

For example, the cottage cheese and the butter are made of milk, a gift from nature. Similar to how a mother’s selfless love is manifested in her feeding her baby with milk, so do the cheese and butter symbolize God’s self-sacrifice and love.

By eating these foods, Christians strive for God’s mercy, just as a baby craves for its mother’s milk.

The cheese and the butter are placed in small containers and decorated with a cross on top.

An egg symbolizes a closed space giving an independent, unique life. The image of an egg means the birth of eternal life and resurrection from the dead. Pysanka and krashanka eggs are popular in Slavic tradition. A pysanka is a raw egg covered with colorful geometric or floral ornaments symbolizing life, welfare, neverending movement. A krashanka is a boiled egg painted in onion peel water. People eat them, give them to friends and family with wishes of wellbeing, place them on the graves of the deceased.

Sausage or ham symbolizes the fat calf killed by the father when his prodigious son returned home. This is a symbol of inner joy achieved by fulfilling God’s will.

Horseradish makes people stronger, similar to the Sacrament of Confession before Easter which confirms Christians in their faith.

Salt is one of the vital products for humans. It adds taste to food, it symbolizes the connection between people and God. All Christians need to keep their hearts pure in order to follow Jesus’s commandment: “You are the salt of the earth.”

The evergreen branch of boxwood is a symbol of eternal life and immortality.

The Easter basket may also contain salo, poppy seeds, and millet. But it’s not advised to put anything else there.

Some of the invariable decorations of the basket are the embroidered cloth and a candle.

The embroidery symbolizes the richness of threads interwoven with love and intellect.

Thread is a symbol of life, the embroidery means eternity. A candle is a light that you give to other people.

The beauty and the wealth of the Easter basket is obviously important, but more important is its spiritual value created by the simple things inside that connect people with something eternal and elevated.

Text: Olga SINIUGINA

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.

The exclusive new disc will be available for sale in our restaurants!

Find time in your life for our music!

10 | Travelling

Hola, Catalonia!

Hola, Spain! Hola, Catalonia! My friend Yura from Kyiv said (I once again went traveling with his “low-cost” club) when I asked him why those Spanish flags on the streets of Barcelona looked so strange, “Lower your voice, because if locals hear you, they won’t like it. You better recall where we are. That’s right – these are Catalonian flags. And stop calling them Spanish because the Catalonians might find it offensive.”

Very soon I had a chance to find out that Catalonia is indeed a special region in Spain. This is evidenced not only by the national flags on all the windows and balconies of the region. People here speak the Catalonian language which is different from Spanish and which foreigners cannot understand. The only word I managed to learn was “Hola!”

Catalonians use this word to greet everyone.

Galloping through Barcelona To see one of the most beautiful towns in the world more closely than from the deck of a hop on/hop off bus and by peeking into cathedrals and museums, you need to come to Barcelona for more than a week. I, however, barely had time to see it all – I was there for a day and a half.

Barcelona is a city with architecture designed by Antonio Gaudi. His first masterpiece that I saw was the grand Cathedral of Sagrada Familia, which translates as the Holy Family. At nine o’clock in the morning a long winding

line of tourists was already waiting to get into the weirdly-designed edifice. It reminded me of the line to the Vatican museums. I decided to content myself with the exterior tour of the church, which was erected in an unknown style.

It looks like neo-Gothic but when you look closer it’s completely different. The cathedral which has been taking over a century to build looks like a strange compilation of spikes and grottos.

The old architect, who died after being struck by a tram, did not finish his great masterpiece whose construction was constantly being postponed because of a permanent lack of money. It was continued by his students and their successors.

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Note! We are now hiring to work in Korchma “Taras Bulba” restaurants in Kyiv and New York.

Travelling | 11

All these architectural layers resulted in a dissonance between the parts of the most beautiful and majestic church in the city. Event the angular sculptures of “The Passion of the Christ” on one of the facades, which were created by a different sculptor, are very distinct from Gaudi’s curly forms. But even with all its inconceivable differences the Sagrada Familia looks majestic and unbelievably beautiful.

Mind-Blowing Dali’s Exhibition My trip to the town of Figueres with its main tourist attraction – the Salvador Dali TheaterMuseum – was even more anticipated than the tour of Barcelona. I had a gut feeling that what I would see there would be something special and exclusive. But what I saw in reality surpassed all my expectations. The Dali Theater-Museum is one of the most extraordinary museums in the world. It is called theater because part of its exhibitions is indeed hosted by an old municipal theater whose charred walls, as conceived by the famous artist, were turned into an exhibition site. It was inside this theater that Dali once had his first art exhibition.

A great surrealist and a notorious shocker, Salvador Dali designed it in a way that during the tour many guests literally felt their minds blown away. Some especially dark halls created an exclusive atmosphere for viewing and the paintings with especially brutal surrealist plots had a very depressing effect on some of my friends. “I feel like I have dirt all over my body, and I want to wash it away under a shower,” said Iryna and waited for me to agree. But I kept stubbornly silent. Indeed, some of the dark rooms did depress me a little.

Indeed, to stay sane, I was trying to avoid looking too closely at the paintings with human insides, but the rest was proof for me of Dali’s grand genius and realization that there is no other such theater-museum in the world. There will be no other museum where I can see an antique Cadillac installation with a huge curvaceous female figurine on top; or an enormous surrealist painting in the entrance hall which under closer inspection looks like a nude woman – “Gala overlooking the Mediterranean Sea” – and from afar the portrait of American President Abraham Lincoln. Nowhere else will I be able to see a one-of-a-kind room with an installation where two of Dali’s pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the street bustle, together with a jewelry nose-shaped table and a red lip-shaped sofa, when looked at from a special viewpoint on a balcony, turn into the golden-locked face of Mae West. The

theater’s exhibition contains many paintings by Dali yet they are absolutely different from each other. They could have easily been painted by different artists: from classical landscapes to the most surreal pieces and even 3D pictures. At different stages of his life, Dali radically evolved from his own self. A majority of traditional painting admirers might find the classical Dali most digestible. If he continued painting random landscapes, he would have stayed an unknown artist. But Dali wanted to be famous. And he had his share of it during lifetime, and after his death. His resting place is right here in the museum – in the central wall of the first-floor hall, next to the precious stone sculptures of Serpents.

“I would like to return to the Dali Theater-Museum,” says Iryna the following day. Why am I not surprised? Because the unconscious sense of disgust to some of the exhibits gets replaced with the realization of the place’s uniqueness. Dali’s uniqueness. I knew some of his surrealist pieces from the Internet, but most of his expensive jewelry was a revelation for me.

The museum’s exposition contains many pictures with the artist’s main model Gala. This is hardly surprising: first, this shockingly scandalous woman and Dali’s beloved wife was also his largest inspiration; second, this place hosts the biggest collection of Dali’s works.

“When touring the exhibition we had to step out into the courtyard to take a breath of fresh air, and after we exited the museum, we went to pray in a church,” my friend Katya recalls her impressions of Dali. Another friend Halya is nodding her head in unison. I become slightly worried, “Was I the only one who didn’t feel the need to take a shower, or to vomit, or to go to church?”

“Quite the contrary, you are, evidently, the most normal of us all,” reassured my travel companions. I sighed and reflected on the measure of human normality. Or abnormality.

The last chord of our tour in the Dali Museum was the façade of its red building, adorned with big eggs on top. This is the Gorgot Tower, which in the past was part of the medieval city fortifications, and later it was linked to the museum when it started expanding. It’s easy to assume that the authentic tower had no red color, no uniform sculpture, and no white eggs on it – they are solely creations of Dali’s fantasies. At his wish, the Gorgot Tower was renamed in honor of his beloved – the Galatea Tower.

My friends in turns take pictures against the tower’s backdrop.

Surreal indeed…

Text and photo by Olesia Olendiy

12 | drive

Phillips Motor Berlina Coupe:

A Wonder Car

When this retro car drives out into the street, it is met by a hailstorm of emotions both from amateurs and experienced motorists. This could be explained by the fact that this rare automobile – Phillips Motor Berlina Coupe – is not often seen around: only 90 cars drove off the car factory conveyor belt and out to all parts of the world. Now, car collectors dream about getting one of these cars. This iron horse attracts attention because of its technical specifications: the American engineers combined two different automobiles in one – the 1937 legendary Mercedes 540K and the exclusive Corvette C3 Stingray. We talked about this miracle of design with Ukrainian collector Volodymyr Kulynych who owns the wonder car.

The Automobile’s History I bought my car two years ago in Ukraine. Its previous owner brought it here about eight years before and spent all that time renovating it. But he never finished the repairs as he did not have enough patience, and what’s more important – money. I decided to finish what the other owner started because I was really impressed with the rarity. I like retro cars, but this was something totally remarkable! On the outside – it’s a copy of Mercedes 540K, an old sports car very popular in the 1930s. Yet the underpinnings and everything else is more modern, from the 1980s. This is a C3 Chevrolet Corvette. It embodied everything that was best at that time in the American automobile engineering industry. It features A/C, powered windows, a fuel injected engine. I think this is a very successful combination because it makes the car easy and fast to drive, but it also looks awfully stylish.

drive | 13

An extraordinary thing about it is that between 1980 and 1982 there were only 90 of such models released. They were designed by a car shop specializing in tuning cars. None of these cars could be found at car dealers – they were sold exclusively at auctions.

When I bought the car it was almost 70 percent ready. I spent quite a lot of time to finish it. I had to repair the engine, to replace all the electrical wiring, and so on.

Phillips Motor Berlina Coupe: Technical Characteristics The Phillips Motor Berlina Coupe’s engine is quite powerful: 250 horsepower, it goes 0-100 km/h in some 5-6 seconds. To be honest, I never tried it because I understand that the car is old and I cherish it. The car is quite lightweight, the manufacturers made it of light and durable plastic. The inside is designed in a classic style, which is made of highquality leather and walnut wood. The radio is mechanic but it has the first automatic frequency tuning! It was state-of-the-art technology at that time, produced by Baker. And of course, this type of radio was only installed in elite and very expensive cars.

But the way one must drive this car is a bit unusual, you need some time to get used to it. Because of its very elongated front, the driver practically has to sit above the back wheel. As a consequence, driving this car is about 80 percent different from driving a regular automobile.

Motorists’ Reactions Whenever I’m driving my baby and have to stop on the street, it gets instant attention from the passers-by. People take pictures, ask about technical characteristics, its top speed, its model, where I got it from. Of course, you don’t find lots of information on this car online, and here it is in flesh and blood!

Honestly, all the positive emotions make me feel exhilarated, sometimes I only drive out on the street to get admiration. I was often offered tons of money to sell it, once I was offered a new Lexus in its stead, but I never accept these offers. You see that my Phillips Motor Berlina Coupe never lets me get bored!

Technical Specifications Engine: 5,700 sm3 Maximum capacity: 220 hp at 5,200 rpm Maximum torque: 351 nm at 3,600 rpm Maximum speed: 200 km/h Acceleration: 0-96 km/h in 8.2 seconds

Текст: Stepan Hrytsiuk Photos: Yuriy HELYTOVYCH

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!

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14 | news from «korchma»

Yuriy Beloyvan’s “The Alternate Reality” Is Already Out The book on the expedition to the Himalayas was presented in Moscow People in Indian and Tibetan national costumes, ritual objects, oriental music and exotic scents – this was the entourage in the Vinzavod Contemporary Art Center on March 13 for the second presentation of the book Tibet/Nepal: A Journey to an Alternate Reality written by Russian traveler Yuriy Beloyvan (the first presentation took place on March 11 in Biblio-Globus). When speaking to the audience, the writer revealed that he spent lots of time researching for the book, he lived in the Himalayas for a total of six months. He said that the culture, traditions, and lifestyle in that region is so impressive that he had to share it with others.

To make the book more realistic it required an exclusive design.

The layout contains, in addition to the traditional text and pictures, reproductions of old maps, copies of money, scanned plane tickets, and receipts from the hotels. In other words, this is a unique traveler’s journal. By leafing through the pages, the reader can immerse himself in a distant reality. The book also contains reproductions of Tibetan scroll icons brought by Yuriy Beloyvan from the Country of Snow. The author is convinced that they should bring readers success and wealth. Every book has an enclosed CD with a documentary film.

Both presentations – at Vinzavod and in Biblio-Globus – were very successful. A few hundred people came to see the traveler in the Contemporary Art Center, and in order to sign all the books he had to endure a marathon – the autograph session lasted for almost three hours!

Every buyer received a T-shirt with a picture of Jambhala, the Tibetan god of wealth and prosperity.

Meanwhile, dancers entertained the audience with Indian dances and guests listened to a superb performance by a famous multi-instrumentalist Gennadiy Lavrentyev who played on the Indian table drums. Тhey also took part in a tea ceremony and could get a henna tattoo from Kseniya Knorre – a mehndi master.

At the end of the presentation the writer announced that he was already planning new expeditions and that maybe he would publish more books about exotic regions on the planet. Meanwhile, if you didn’t attend the presentation, you can buy the book Nepal/Tibet: A Journey to an Alternate Reality in bookstores or online. You can get it from the biggest book distribution companies.

news from «korchma» | 15

Culinary Workshops

for Children

In Rus little children were taught how to cook. The children, especially the girls, always helped the mother when she baked fragrant bread, pampushky, or made cabbage rolls.

They not only tried on the adult’s apron, but kept a close eye on the cooking process and the proportions that were used. After a while, a skillful cook and then a protector of the hearth and home grew up to help her mother. Centuries went by, but the tradition didn’t disappear. It is vigorously cherished by the Korchma Taras Bulba restaurant chain of home cooking in Moscow. Each Saturday and Sunday experienced chefs work for free with children of all ages, teaching them in workshops. They can knead dough and make varenyky with their own hands, bake a cake or fry cheese pancakes and try out a lot of other interesting recipes.

Fortunately, there’s no other place in Moscow with such rich cuisine as Korchma; therefore, there are a lot of dishes to try out!

Teachers are sure that when parents open the world of cooking to their children they impart a range of good skills to them. First of all, this is the development of imagination and new discoveries, especially when your child is 2 to 4 years old. In this period children like mixing, sieving, and kneading. If it is like a game and under the supervision of a senior

mentor, it’s very hard to overestimate the activity. Moreover, as a result we easily get simple shortcrust cookies or pies and for a child it is a double satisfaction. You will agree that there is nothing tastier than a dish cooked by yourself!

Second, strange as it might sound, when children cook it teaches them assiduity and numeracy. Because to be a good cook it isn’t enough just to

have good taste. It’s necessary to have a sense of proportion. That’s why it is always interesting for children to measure something out or to weigh something independently or to roll out the dough by themselves, to shape muffins or cut a funny figure out of the dough. This focuses their attention and teaches them to follow specific logical actions to obtain a result.

Third, the advantage concerns

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!

the very parents. While your child is engaged in this fascinating activity, you may relax in private and taste all the variety of dishes at our restaurants.

Having enjoyed tasty food and drinks, only at Korchma you’ll understand how important the culinary art is!

Only few restaurants possess it and we are among them! Therefore, bring your children and open up new horizons for them!

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Мы заполняем белые пятна на кулинарной карте Москвы! г. Одинцово, Можайское шоссе, 122

Новый ресторан «Корчма «Тарас Бульба»»

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To celebrate its 16th birthday ‘Korchma Taras Bulba’ reveals its secrets!

We offer you a recipe book Not by the salo alone

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

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