The kosher kitchens feeding war torn Ukraine

Since the kitchen was busy working, they decided to take food to members of the community. ”I often drive myself”, Rabbi Moshe said. “We take a van a few times a week to some of the villages where there is really war. We go to hospitals, to soldiers, to Jewish people and those who aren’t Jewish. We bake a few hundred loaves of bread and donate it through the whole city. Fresh bread is a really significant thing, it makes people feel that we haven’t forgotten them.”

Felicity Spector with rebbetzin Miriam Moskovitz (Image: Felicity Spector)[Missing Credit]

I went back to the synagogue in May this year to see the Moskovitzes again: Miriam was away but she told me to find her son Sholom when I arrived. She explained that he would be organising a monthly food drive, sorting out hundreds of bags of essential supplies to be distributed around the community. The main hall was filled with dozens of volunteers ranged around a long table, which was piled high with produce like buckwheat, sunflower oil, eggs and loaves of challah bread baked in the kitchen downstairs. They were putting 750 packs together with enough to keep a family going for a fortnight.

We clattered downstairs to see the kitchen area, every surface seemingly covered in challah wrapped neatly in cellophane packets. Two women were busy making huge pots of soup: all kosher of course, but no one who comes in for a hot meal is turned away. You could tell that the synagogue was a vibrant part of city life, like Odesa where the Jewish community centre runs frequent cultural events, with classes for children in everything from Hebrew to music.

[Missing Credit]

And in Dnipro, the city my grandparents fled more than a century ago, the chief rabbi, Shmuel Kaminetsky, met us in his office at the top of the ten storey Menorah building, a giant edifice containing kosher restaurants, a hotel, a Holocaust museum and even a hospital. Rabbi Kaminetsky told me that when they first arrived in the newly independent Ukraine back in 1991, they had integrated themselves into Dnipro life by throwing open their doors and sharing food. Of course, it worked.

**********

Felicity’s Jew-ish food picks in Ukraine:

There are kosher food sections in major city branches of the Ukrainian Silpo chain - and a number of excellent Jewish-ish restaurants around the country. I have a few favourites - which you should certainly visit when a victorious Ukraine is at peace again.

Photo: Felicity Spector[Missing Credit]

Moshe, Dnipro

A fantastic little place where the hummus plates are the star: order a ‘sabich hummus’ and it will come in a glorious, glistening pool piled high with fried aubergine and potatoes, chopped cucumber and tomato, pickled cucumber and red onion and jammy soft boiled egg. Add some fluffy pita on the side and you might just have room to share a slice or cheesecake for dessert.

[Missing Credit]

Ulublenniy Dyadya, Kyiv

The name means ‘favourite Uncle’ and the food menu is full of wondrous things, including fattoush and schnitzel, Forshmak chopped herring, and a pistachio and kataifi version of Kyiv Cake named after Golda Meir - ‘a symbol of elegance and strength’.

[Missing Credit]

Rozmaryn, Odesa

A beautiful family run kosher place decorated in vintage style: get the bagels and some dips and home cooked dishes like stuffed pancakes and rugelach from the bakery counter next door. If it’s a more modern take on Jewish Odesa you’re after - head into the centre of town for Dizyngoff, one of the city’s coolest and most creative kitchens.

Bread and War: A Ukrainian story of food, bravery and hope (Duckworth) is out now

[Missing Credit]