I did not find they were necessary and the soup was delicious, satisfying and quite filling without them. A surprisingly huge hit, although I didn’t like the roasted potatoes, which were a little crispy by the time the denser beets were fully cooked.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. I planned to make this then couldn’t get ribs so I used thick slices of lamb neck and cooked on low for four hours. Olia Hercules will entice you with evocative new flavours and ingredient combinations that will leave you asking yourself why you haven't been eating Ukrainian food all your life! It’s very easy to make, the marinade smells absolutely amazing — although I missed that the sliced onions should be added to the marinating meat, so added with the carrots — and the final addition of herbs brightens everything up.

I live in France so I cannot talk about the rest of the world but most ingredients are pretty common and quite easy to find.

It is much more than ‘just’ Ukrainian recipes, it is a celebration of food eaten in Ukraine – from all over the ex-Soviet Union – each recipe stating which country the cuisine originates from, if not Ukraine. The diversity of the recipes took me by surprise, and has awakened in me an interest in finding out more about the cuisines of Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia – and all the other Eastern European countries. Flatten them with the palm of your hand, then rub with the grated garlic and season generously all over with salt and the cayenne pepper.It makes a huge pot (much more than four servings) and I cannot wait to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Should have read other reviews on this before weighing my flour from the book recipe - they were on the dry side but we still liked them!