Muristek
Olia Hercules: ‘When Russia invaded Ukraine, I couldn’t cook for the first month’
The chef on supporting her homeland, the power of broth and pining for Ukrainian wine
When Russia invaded Ukraine, I couldn’t eat. And I definitely couldn’t cook for the first month and a half. It was the feeling of guilt. I just felt, “How can I even cook anything when there’s such horror happening everywhere else in Ukraine?” Then, at the first event I did for #CookForUkraine, this woman I’d never met before came up to me and said, “I’ve brought you some broth.” I heated it up at home and had it out of a cup and it was just so life-giving. Then she started sending me a broth every week, and she’s been doing it for two months now. And that’s what I’ve been sustaining myself on.
When I was writing Mamushka, people would say, “Oh, you’re writing a Ukrainian cookbook? Is that about dumplings and potatoes?” I understand it: stereotypes are stereotypes, but hopefully I’ve been able to break some of them. Even when I spoke of Ukraine back then, it was like, “Is that Russia?” No, it’s not fucking Russia! Our culture has for years and years and years been suppressed. Language, food, everything.
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