About this item
A celebration of the food, flavors, and heritage of Eastern Europe - from the Black Sea to Baku, Kiev to Kazakhstan - Mamushka features over 100 recipes for fresh, delicious, and unexpected dishes from this dynamic yet underappreciated region. . Olia Hercules was born in Ukraine and lived in Cyprus for several years before moving to London and becoming a chef. In this gorgeous and deeply personal cookbook, she shares her favorite recipes from her home country with engaging and loving stories about her culinary upbringing and family traditions. Featuring personality and panache, Mamushka showcases the cuisine from Ukraine and beyond, weaving together vibrant food with descriptive narratives and stunning lifestyle photography. From broths and soups to breads and pastries, vegetables and salads to meat and fish, dumplings and noodles to compotes and jams. Youll also find some of Olias favorite dishes, like a Moldovan giant cheese twist and garlicky poussins, to sublime desserts such as apricot and sour cherry pie and a birthday sponge cake with ice cream, strawberries, and meringue. Including new flavor combinations, vibrant colors, seasonal ingredients and straightforward cooking techniques, Mamushkas earthy dishes appeal to home chefs everywhere. Join Olia on this delicious and diverse culinary tour through Eastern Europe.
About the Author
Olia Hercules was born in the south of Ukraine in 1984. She left her home town Kakhovka at the age of twelve, when she moved to Cyprus.After finishing school, she moved to the UK where she studied Italian language and International Relations at the University of Warwick. After spending a year in Italy, Olia settled in London, pursuing a journalistic career after completing her Master's degree.Following the financial crisis of 2008, Olia decided to quit her job as a film business reporter to pursue her dream to cook for a living.She trained at the renowned Leiths School of Food and Wine and then worked as a chef de partie in restaurants, including Ottolenghi, and as a recipe developer before landing a book deal for Mamushka, a cookbook that celebrates her family recipes, from Ukraine and Moldova to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Mamushka has won the prestigious Fortnum and Mason Award for best debut cookbook 2016.Olia was named the Observer Rising Star of 2015.Her second cookbook is called Kaukasis: a culinary journey through Georgia, Azerbaijan and beyond. It is published on August 10th in the UK and Australia and in October 2017 in the US, Canada, Germany and Poland.She lives in London with her son Sasha and partner Joe, writing, cooking and feeding her unceasing curiosity by researching food culture and culinary traditions of countries less explored.
