It's not always being an American abroad, like when you're missing Thanksgiving at home. But many ex-pats will be creating their own feast right here in Kyiv.
y celebrated at home with gobs of family members. Celebrating it in Ukraine, just seems, well, so un-American.
There’s no Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and no college football. It just isn’t the same as home.
But that doesn’t mean American ex-pats can’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Just ask California native B.J. Bjelajac, who has cooked up a tradition Thanksgiving feast in Kyiv for six years.
Bjelajac, along with his girlfriend, Oksana Strashna, see Thanksgiving as a chance to share a traditional American holiday with friends.
Although the couple has been celebrating Thanksgiving together since 1996, it wasn’t until two years ago when their flat became one of several American Thanksgiving Day hangouts.
The tradition started when former American ex-pat Bette Kestin suggested that the couple’s spacious apartment would be great for a large bash. Kestin said that as long as all the guests contributed something, hosting such a feast would not be too stressful.
“According to her plan, everybody had to contribute something,” Bjelajac said. “We had such a good time that we decided to make it a tradition every year.”
Thanksgiving is a time of family rituals, such as holding hands around the table and giving thanks. Despite being thousands of miles away from his hometown of Huntington Beach, Bjelajac has created a few of his own.
Every year, the couple shows a video of an old American football game, followed by an Austin Powers film.
“Maybe we do not have a Martha Stuart Thanksgiving dinner, but we have a lot of fun,” Strashna said.
As seasoned Thanksgiving dinner hosts, organizing the event has become a snap. Well, almost.
Invitations are sent out by e-mail one week before the event and each guest is told to prepare a traditional dish, such as mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie or turkey.
Finding all the ingredients for a foreign dish can be a chore. But Strashna takes it all in stride.
“I don’t remember ever being stressed out about finding the critical ingredients,” she said. “If something is missing, we just find the closest substitute.”
Many people worry too much about the turkey. Anything that takes hours to cook must be complicated, right? Well, not exactly.
“Some people spend hours pacing in front of the oven, not knowing how it will turn out,” Bjelajac said.
He recalled how one friend spent two hours thawing a turkey by massaging it in a bathtub full of cold water.
“Hey, it worked.”
Although turkey is not a common Ukrainian meal, there is an adequate supply of birds in Kyiv. In this emerging market economy, the folks at the market have learned to exploit Thanksgiving. In fact, many sellers at Volodymyrsky and Besarabska are warning buyers that the price will go up just before Nov. 29. Apparently they don’t know that Thanksgiving comes early this year – on Nov. 22.
Americans Embassy employees and members of the American Embassy Association can purchase Butterball turkeys for Hr 15 per kilo. Last year the embassy sold more than 100 turkeys.
So, what’s the secret to a scrumptious turkey?
“If it’s a Butterball, make sure you remove the guts and neck in the plastic bag,” Bjelajac said.
Texas native Stephan Korshak said that it’s in the details.
“A good way to keep your bird from burning is to sacrifice a towel to the kitchen gods, drench it in butter, and put it directly on the bird for about an hour and a half.”
In a land without stuffing mix, Jell-O and canned cream of mushroom soup, finding essential Thanksgiving ingredients or substitutes can be challenging. To make your Thanksgiving dinner shopping spree more efficient, check out what the following bazaars
and supermarkets have in stock.
SHOPPING LIST
TURKEY
Stuffing
celery, walnuts, thyme, cloves and ginger
GARNISH
sweet potatoes or yams, cranberries, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower
Pumpkin pie
pumpkin, *evaporated milk, whipping cream, cinnamon
*If you can’t find evaporated milk, use sweetened condensed milk and skip the sugar.
WHERE TO GO
Volodymyrsky Market
115 Gorkoho
The market sells just about all the key ingredients for a traditional Thanksgiving spread. While Besarabska sells the same ingredients, Volodymyrska sells them for less.
Nutmeg Hr 5 (30 g)
Cloves Hr 3 (20 g packet)
Thyme Hr 3 (20 g packet)
Ginger Hr 3 (20 g packet)
(Price per kilo)
Cauliflower Hr 2
Pumpkins Hr 3
Squash Hr 0.80
Brussels sprouts Hr 5
Sweet potatoes Hr 28
Mushrooms Hr 7.50
Celery Hr 15 (10-12 stalks)
Iceberg lettuce Hr 8
Cranberries Hr 8
Walnuts Hr 14
Turkey Hr 15
Besarabska Market
2 Besarabska ploshcha
A couple of years ago, this was the best place to find traditional Thanksgiving ingredients. While Volody-myrska sells the same items at lower prices, Besarabska is still a more aesthetically pleasing place to shop. The exotic, imported fruits sold here are perfect for a fruit dessert.
(Prices per kilo)
Pumpkin Hr 3
Celery Hr 15
Snow peas Hr 18
Packaged green beans Hr 30
Squash Hr 2
Cauliflower Hr 8
Iceberg lettuce Hr 10
Mushrooms Hr 10
Ginger Hr 3 (20 g packet)
Nutmeg Hr 3 (20 g packet)
Turkey Hr 15
MegaMarket
50 Gorkoho
Kyiv’s favorite supermarket carries many of the same items found in Western supermarkets, but in bulk. The big find here is tightly packed brown sugar and whipping cream. If you don’t feel like dealing with crowds at the bazaars, MegaMarket does stock some canned and pre-packaged vegetables and spices.
Brown sugar Hr 15.50 for half-kilo
Cloves Hr 10.32 (57 g bottle)
Nutmeg Hr 3.50 (20 g packet)
Packaged Brussels sprouts Hr 6.84 a kilo
Packaged green beans Hr 16 a kilo
Canned green beans Hr 16 a kilo
Canned cranberries Hr 1.44 (322 g)
Whipped cream Hr 6.38 for a canister
RECIPES
Below are some recipes taken from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.”
Preparing a fresh turkey
To clean a turkey, make a small cut in the bottom part of the belly. The cut should be big enough to put your hand in. Hold the neck with one hand and pull the organs out of the cavity. The important thing is to pull out the throat gristle. Next, cut off the turkey’s neck and wash the interior parts with warm water. Now the turkey is ready for stuffing.
Stefan Korshak’s Ukraine-specific turkey stuffing
2 loaves of white bread (cubed), 1 kilo dried and pitted apricots, 500 gm raisins, 1 kilo mushrooms, 3 or 4 medium white onions, green onions (20 stalks), 1 teaspoon dill, 1 teaspoon parsley and 1 teaspoon cilantro, at least 125 grams of butter, and salt to taste.
Chop up the bread into 1 cm. cubes, pour a moderate amount of melted butter on it. Bake until bread becomes light brown. Chop onions finely and apricots into little chunks. Slice mushroom lengthwise. Mix the ingredients in a bowl with salt and melted butter.
Pumpkin pie filling
1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin (see below), 1 1/2 cups *evaporated milk, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs slightly beaten.
Preheat oven to 218 degrees C. Line a pan with the pastry dough (see below). Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into pastry shell. Bake for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 148 degrees and bake for about 45 minutes or until the filling is firm. Serve with warm whipped cream.
Pumpkin puree
Place 1 kilo of pumpkin (cut in large chunks with the skin still on) on a steamer rack over boiling water in a large pan and steam for about 30-40 minutes.
Check after 30 minutes of vigorous steaming. Remove when the interior is soft. Cut, spoon or scrape the pulp from the skin. Mash the pulp with a potato masher or use an electric beater or a food processor.
Pie crust
2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup cold water.
Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter and add water. Blend together and roll out on floured surfaced.
Cranberry sauce
1/2 pound cranberries, 1 cup water, 1 1/2 cups sugar.
Wash cranberries. Bring water to a boil, add cranberries and sugar. Cook for 10 minutes until skins pop. Skim off the white froth and then cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add nuts or even horseradish to give it a kick.
