On September 17-18 there was an annual fair of Ukrainian culture. As usually it was set up on the property of St Andrey’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is not far from Washington DC.
I attended the fair on Saturday September 17 and I would like to share my experience and pictures with you.
I went to the fair with my friends and family. Although the weather could have been better, the sprinkling rain and cloudy skies did not interfere with the fun. Around 4pm the sun finally came out and made the experience even nicer.
There were concerts and shows non-stop all day long; Ukrainian music was playing everywhere.
There was an exhibition of folkloric Ukrainian arts and crafts.
People could buy traditional jewelry and accessories as well as costumes for adults and children.
The most popular part of the fair is Ukrainian cuisine with its famous golubtsy, sautéed cabbage, kolbasy, poppy seed pirogy, and of course varenyky (filled dumplings).
I can talk about varenyky for hours but you have to try them to understand.
As soon as I saw varenyky served with sour cream at the fair I couldn’t help it. As Gogol wrote in his classic tale “Christmas Eve”:
… Patsuk opened his mouth, glanced at varenyky, and opened his mouth wider. At this time one of the varenyky jumped out of the plate, dropped into the sour cream, flopped to the other side, and bounced right into his mouth. Patsuk ate it and opened his mouth again. Another varenyk followed in the same manner. Patsuk only took the responsibility for chewing and swallowing…
Thanks to Gogol for his wonderful tale and perpetuation of national Ukrainian cuisine. Well, I’m going to make some dough for varenyky right now. Do you like varenyky? What is your favorite kind?
Story by Irina Modern101
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