Books
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Quick viewThe book *Ukrainian Folk Fashion*
Ethnographic photography delves into the multifaceted world of traditional Ukrainian dress. The photographs, taken by the renowned photographer Anna Senik—who is the founder of the Ukrainian ethnographic photography movement—feature clothing from nine ethnographic regions of Ukraine. Two further sections of the book are devoted to Ukrainian embroidery and jewellery. Anna’s photo shoots resemble visual storyboards from an epic historical film, professionally captured on camera. Anna always strives to make all the images as authentic as possible, enlisting the help of the finest specialists: ethnographers, collectors and museum curators.
In order to provide the most accurate historical information possible, we invited the distinguished Ukrainian ethnographer Yuriy Melnychuk to collaborate on the publication. He has written insightful, informative texts and provided expert explanations regarding the geographical location of each region and the distinctive features of its traditional dress, embroidery and jewellery. And this makes the book doubly valuable – not only is it a unique, absolutely first-of-its-kind modern visual guide…
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Quick viewThe book *Cooking in the Wild* 52 $
The book *Cooking in the Wild | Modern Gastronomy in the Depths of the Carpathians* is about survival in the wilds of the Ukrainian Carpathians, communal cooking, caring for the environment, the forest and the mountains, a love of Ukrainian traditions, and the calling of a chef. In 2019, renowned chef Ihor Mezentsev, together with talented food photographers Dmytro Bakhta and Anna Smolyakova, created the unique ‘TOPOT’ project, the main aim of which is to return to the roots of national gastronomy. The participants – Ukrainian and international chefs – spend five days in the forest and mountains, and venture down to the river.
They prepare contemporary dishes in completely wild conditions, using ingredients they can gather from nature as well as purchase from local farmers.
In 2021, the fourth ‘TOPOT: Bridge’ gathering, which took place in the Carpathians and is featured in this edition, was attended by Ukrainian chefs as well as representatives of the international gastronomic community from the UAE, Denmark, Spain, the USA and the UK. Everyone was on an equal footing – men and women, star chefs and beginners.
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Quick viewThe book *Baking Bread*
The book *Baking Bread | Craft Bread Baking in Ukraine* explores bread, flour and sourdough, talented bakers, and the hard work and passionate dedication required to pursue one’s passion against all odds. The book features 24 contributors, including well-known bakeries such as “Marchuk Bread”, “Spelta”, Bakehouse, “Zavertaylo”, DOU, Flora Fermented, the bakery division at Marigold restaurant led by Igor Mezentsev, and others, as well as talented individual bakers. They are all united by a love of dough and bread-baking. The book’s authors are publisher Lusia Bondar and food researcher Yulia Aurora Ogorodnik.
Many of the book’s contributors have travelled a long professional journey in the kitchen before finding their life’s work: baking bread. Others took up this activity after the outbreak of full-scale war, when they were seeking emotional refuge and inspiration and found them precisely in working with dough, which became a form of ‘bread therapy’ for them.
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