Happening Right Now – Ukrainian Festival

One thing I love about my dad is that he always has pierogis for me when I visit him. He isn’t much of a cook, and he doesn’t live anywhere close to really awesome food, but he knows Mrs. T’s Pierogies are something I can’t find a reason to complain about. Or course, I’ll complain about the lack of sour cream if he doesn’t stock that, too. You see, I love my dad very much. I’ll continue to love him just the same as long as I don’t have to spend more than 72 hours with him at a time.

The Ukrainian women behind the counter are too nice to correct any of us non-Cossack new yorkers when we ask for pierogies, but I’m sure that they would prefer if you would order them by their Ukranian name, Vareniki. Oh yeah, that guy in the picture right there, straight up American accent as he got a little salty with me when I started referring to them by their Polish name, then he ordered, hardcore, grizzled Russian – been here for 40 years. Told me I had to check out the Ukranian National Home, but I’ve already been (with my dad, nonetheless).

They come soaked in butter with fried onions to kick it up a notch. I don’t know if the butter-drench-ed-ness is something that was adapted to the American diet, or they come straight from the motherland like this, either way, I am in full agreement with this dish.

If you don’t get sour cream with these bad boys, you’re a right chump. They don’t necessarily need it, but if you have the option, why the fuck not? What else are you doing today? The gym? It’s gorgeous outside! Take a walk for crissakes.

Next on the menu for me was the Borscht. I spelled that right the first time (hooray me). Beet soup is a pretty simple concept; my friend’s Polish wife taught me how to make it:

Holy shit, I’m officially entering the world of recipe blogging. Homesick Texan, watch the fuck out.

Borscht

Ingredients:
Beets
Any other vegetables you feel like throwing in, but Parsnip, Onion, Carrots, and Celery are my favorites, and you can put in Garlic or Onion but not both, that’s the rule
A couple chicken bouillon cubes
Water
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

Preparation:
1. Clean and cut all the vegetables into manageably-sized pieces (make sure to use the WHOLE beet, leaves and all)
2. Throw ’em in a soup pot
3. Fill the rest of the pot with water
3. Drop a few bouillon cubes in that mother and maybe a tablespoon of sugar or so
4. Cook for a little while, then add some salt and pepper to taste
5. Cook for a while longer until the vegetables are tender
6. Break out some fancy bowls and serve that with some sour cream, and I really like to throw in some almonds as well.

I had a Russian guy yell at me for putting almonds in my borscht, but I convinced his wife It was good. She totally wanted to have sex with me.

This stuff was OK, but I would skip it in favor of the Stuffed Cabbage – They didn’t have it until I’d already ordered the borscht. I ran out of camera battery as I was taking these pictures, so my food blogger day came to a quick and abrupt end before I could get any close ups.

St. George Ukranian Festival
7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 674-1615