Authentic culinary dishes have been researched in Rivne

The city of Rivne, as a regional centre, has for decades gathered the cultural traditions of all districts of Rivne region. It also applies to the culinary heritage. The territorial location of Rivne almost on the border of Polissya and Volyn has led to a combination of culinary traditions of these historical regions within the city. However, over time, old traditional dishes appear less and less in the kitchens of Rivne housewives and in the menus of local restaurants. Moreover, young people hardly know at least a few names of authentic delicacies.

Therefore, to preserve and promote the traditional culinary heritage of Rivne an international project "Cultural heritage of the cuisine - the promotion of culinary traditions through the professionalization of the gastronomic offer of Lublin and Rivne" was launched in 2020 which is implemented by the Department of Strategic Development and Investment of the Rivne City Council and community organization “Agentsiya stalogo rozvytku mista” (Agency for sustainable development of the city) together with the Government of the City of Lublin. The project is funded by the European Union under the cross-border cooperation program "Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020".

At this stage, the process of studying the gastronomic features of Rivne continues. The team of the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the city" establishes communication with local restaurants that seek opportunities to promote regional culinary traditions, and studies the history of the origin of traditional local dishes. As part of this process, an expedition took place in the village of Bilsk, Rokytne district, to study the culinary dishes that came to Rivne from this area. Members of the organization visited the hamlet “Feshchuny”, which is located among the forests of Polissya, where they were hospitably received by the hostess - Mrs. Eva and Mrs. Nina. They prepared the most popular local dishes - potravka, sourdough baked in the furnace, kulish with mushrooms and ribs, rozsol (brine) for mashed potatoes, cranberry juice and donuts sprinkled with poppy seeds. Also they shared their own culinary secrets, which are passing on to their families from generation to generation. The cooking process was accompanied by stories from the lives of housewives and colorful authentic songs. Nina and Eva noted that over time, they themselves are changing their culinary traditions in a modern way: “Today we dissolve bread on yeast, not as earlier. We threw bread, filled it with water and put it on the edge of the furnace for the night. It's like playing on yeast. And in the morning I already kneaded pancakes. Once there was no form, I took leaves from oak or cabbage - then it became even more delicious." That's why they always rejoice when someone else is interested in ancient recipes and cooking features.
Eva said that Rokytnivshchyna is famous for its kulish - here in each village they are prepared in a special way. Her family often prepares this dish on the basis of millet with the addition of mushrooms: "Pour millet, rinse it - it's kulish. Rinse the millet until the water is clear. My mother taught me to put it in a jug and put a spoon. If it stands, that's enough. Dried yellow mushrooms were poured with boiling water. Let the kulish boil, then we will throw mushrooms ''.Nina told some interesting features of local cuisine. For example, she traditionally adds mint to the kutia, and her family likes to combine milk with cracklings and eat it with hot bread. She does not have a cookbook, because all recipes are inherited orally, and the number of ingredients is determined "by eye" - the main thing here is to have experience.

The study of regional culinary traditions continues to this day, so the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the city" plans several more expeditions to study the regional culinary heritage, especially the dish "Matsyk", which is unique to our region and deserves to become a culinary brand of Rivne.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union under the Сross-border cooperation program "Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020".
The content is the sole responsibility of the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the City", and under no circumstances can be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.