On One’s Own Plate: Off Air

Food is a natural need that all people have in common. Gastronomic traditions, table etiquette, and culinary techniques are what distinguishes one culture from another. Speaking of food, one can touch on many issues: social interaction, economic development, social activism, artistic events, and so on. This year, we are going to focus on gastronomic interactions: the food traces of contacts, penetrations, and enrichment of cultures that have been coexisted in the territory of Ukraine.

We will talk about trends and experiences of other countries where modern cookbooks have long outgrown the format of a recipe book. Today’s gastronomic book is a guide to the world of history or contemporary art, national culinary traditions or the incredible discoveries by culinary professionals. One can find books ranging from the ones about the history of beans to art books by world-famous artists on bookstore shelves. Now creating a cookbook brings together experts from different industries and professions.

In partnership with the Polish Institute, the Czech Cultural Center, Goethe-Institut, and the French Institute in Ukraine, we are going to hold daily presentations of the best foreign art books on modern gastronomy. The project also includes talks on the common and distinctive features of the culinary traditions of Ukrainians and their neighbors. Culinary specialists, food photographers, gastronomic historians, journalists, and artists will share their thoughts and experiences to gain better insight into national cuisines through history and culture. In addition, they will talk about the gastronomic publication sector in Ukraine: whether it is developed enough, and what books the reader needs.

This project aims to expand the horizons of knowledge about the food culture of the Ukrainians and our neighbours and to tell the story of the coexistence of different ethnic groups that formed new tastes in the national cuisine.

Olena Braychenko’s special program On One’s Own Plate: Off Air is a kind of continuation of the program On one’s own plate on UA: Radio Culture. We invite you to explore the tastes of the past and the present, as well as to take part in discussions on good neighborliness and gastronomic interactions.