From borscht to biscuits – women are making friends by sharing recipes
Posted on 22 Jul 2024
Halyana Mattvienko in the kitchen with (centre) New Scots Locality Link Worker Lucy Russell and fellow Ukrainian Olena Babenko.
Women from different countries and cultures are bonding over their love of good food, thanks to a North Ayrshire Council project.
The Taste of Home cooking group started through the Discovery Award, which is a fun and free personal challenge award for people aged over 50.
The Discovery Award Federation has four categories for its challenges: Community Involvement; Recreational Pursuit; Hobby/Interest and Journey of Discovery.
Lucy Russell, a New Scots Locality Link Worker with the Council’s Connected Communities service, supports the group - which meets in Argyle Community Centre in Saltcoats on Tuesdays from 9.30am to 1pm.
She explained: “The Discovery Award was undertaken by members of the Ukrainian community over the age of 50. ‘Skills’ were part of one of the sections, so they decided to start a cooking group to share dishes that are traditionally Ukrainian.
“One popular recipe that has been shared is for borscht, which is a Ukrainian soup that is red in colour because one of the ingredients is beetroot.”
Victoriia Gillies is Ukrainian and works with the Taste of Home group as a sessional Community Development Worker.
She said: “We have a lot of Ukrainians living in North Ayrshire and it is great for them to be able to spend time with each other, share their recipes and improve their English at the same time.
“Projects like this also help Ukrainian people to integrate into the community by spending time with members of the Women’s Group at the centre – and with other Scottish people they meet.”
Olena Babenko attends the group, which is funded through the Council’s Community Development team, and said: “I like it because I meet new people, and I get to cook and share Ukrainian dishes.”
Recently, the New Scots women got a chance to put their feet up instead of putting aprons on when members of the Women’s Group at the centre cooked for their Ukrainian friends and made cottage pie with ginger loaf, tablet and shortbread for dessert.
Irena Kovalchuk is another New Scot who enjoys the weekly get-togethers, and she added: “I like to introduce Ukrainian cuisine to people in the Scottish community. And I like making new friends and meeting new people.”
A volunteer tutor is expected to start attending the weekly meet-ups in the coming weeks to help the Ukrainian cooks to improve their language skills through ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) sessions.
If you would like to find out more about the group, which stops during the school holidays, please follow ‘ESOL North Ayrshire’ on Facebook.
Alternatively, simply go along to the Argyle Community Centre in Campbell Avenue – near Caledonia Primary School – on a Tuesday after the summer break.
Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member for Communities and Islands, added: “It is heartwarming to see women from different countries, with different cultural backgrounds, making friends and building relationships through their enjoyment of cooking and baking.”
If you know someone whose first language isn’t English and needs support with their English, you can complete a short referral form online here: https://bit.ly/3ZEFrLj
If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering opportunities across North Ayrshire to help New Scots improve their English and integrate into their community, you can fill in a form here: https://bit.ly/411LLO9
Halyna’s healthy, hearty borscht recipe to try at home:
Ingredients:
1kg of beef/pork on the bone
125g white beans (such as cannellini beans)
900g of red beetroot (finely sliced)
450g of potatoes (sliced)
340g of cabbage (finely sliced)
1 large onion (finely sliced)
1 medium carrot (finely sliced)
2 sweet peppers (finely sliced)
Tomato paste
Butter, salt and pepper for taste/seasoning
Spices to suit your personal taste
2 sprigs of fresh dill (finely chopped)
2 sprigs of flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)
120ml of soured cream for serving.
Directions - Cook the meat on the bone with the white beans (which must be soaked in advance for 2 or 3 hours, changing the water).
When the meat and white beans are half cooked, add the beets and leave the lid off the pan.
When the beets lose their bright purple colour, add the potatoes.
Next, add the cabbage. At the same time, add the onions, carrots and peppers to a pan and saute them. Add tomato paste and stew the vegetables by adding some butter, salt, pepper, sugar and spices as desired to taste.
Finally, add the dill and parsley.
Place all ingredients into a pan and boil together for no more than three minutes.
When the borscht thickens, it is ready.
Remove the pan from the heat – and serve with a dollop of soured cream.
To make this dish suitable for vegetarians, simply make it without the meat.