Varenyky

Varenyky are Ukrainian dumplings of unleavened dough with a filling, boiled in water. For the Holy Supper on Christmas Eve they are made meatless and dairy-free, most often with potato and with cabbage: as Suspilne notes, one batch gives you two of the twelve dishes at once. They are served with onion fried in oil or with mushroom sauce.

On other days the fillings vary more, and local recipes are still very much alive. In Ternopil region, Kremenets buckwheat varenyky have been proposed for the heritage list. The cooks who made them for the regional commission knead the dough only with hot water, using 800 grams of buckwheat flour and 200 grams of wheat flour. Andrii Levchuk, director of the local museum, made them from his father's recipe and remembers them from family gatherings in his childhood.

Why this matters to you: for Christmas Eve choose fillings without dairy, such as potato, cabbage or mushrooms, and serve them with onion fried in oil instead of butter.