By Ige Ramos
The dining table has long been the silent witness to history, but on the evening of January 29, 2026, at the Gateway Cineplex, the conversation turned to a different kind of table — one often left empty by the ravages of conflict. We gathered for the premiere of “Hope for the Dawn to Come,” the first Philippine-produced documentary to chronicle how the war in Ukraine has fundamentally transformed the lives of its children.
As the lights dimmed, the presence of our Guest of Honor, Honorable Yuliia Fediv, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Philippines, added a powerful sense of reality to the 4K images of resilience. Her presence was more than a diplomatic gesture; it represented a shared humanity that spans thousands of miles between Manila and Kyiv.
In this edition of The Diplomat Eats, we go beyond the formal rules of state dinners to look at the “soft power” of the home. For a country like Ukraine, which is known as the “breadbasket of the world,” sovereignty is not just in its land but also in the recipes that last through the night and the kids who take them into the morning. We talked with Ambassador Fediv about how food, memory, and the “bitter herbs” of history keep a hope alive that will never die.
In “Hope for the Dawn to Come,” we see how war shatters the mundane. What was the specific dish from your own childhood that represented absolute safety, and how do you evoke that feeling today for the children of Ukraine?
My favorite meal is Ukrainian borsch — a rich beetroot soup that embodies the soul and heritage of Ukraine. Every family has its own special recipe for borscht. I love how my mom cooks it with smoked meat, beans, garlic, and always sour cream on the top. Borsch is served with rye bread with lard and spring onions. The warmth of the red soup gives you a feeling of home, surrounded by beloved family and friends with whom you share the meal.
Nowadays, Ukrainian children are facing constant bombings and drone attacks and end up in total blackouts without heating, water, and electricity. So, the warmth of the food can’t be shared at the family table. You need to spend most of the time in cold bomb shelters instead, hoping to have something proper to survive.
When homes are transformed by conflict, the act of cooking becomes a form of resistance. Do you see the preservation of Ukrainian recipes as a way of guarding the “internal borders” of a child’s identity?
The war has scattered Ukrainians around the world, dividing families and significantly affecting our usual rituals, including cooking. We each preserve a piece of our culinary tradition in our own way, ensuring that our children remember the taste of their homeland.
Most Ukrainians continue to cook familiar dishes, regardless of how far from home they live. This is made easier by shops selling Ukrainian products, as well as by parcels sent from home containing ingredients that cannot be found in shops or markets. These goods include wheat for Christmas kutia, buckwheat for traditional Ukrainian buckwheat pancakes, and dried apples for uzvar.
For me, one very good way of preserving culinary traditions is a book of Ukrainian recipes called “Ukraine: Food and History”, which explores Ukrainian cuisine within its cultural and historical context. It highlights traditional recipes, culinary diplomacy, and intangible heritage. It also covers cooking methods and the culture of hospitality. This book is like a collection of recipes from your grandmother that you can take with you wherever you go.
Ukrainian restaurants around the world are also very important. These family-run establishments offer a great atmosphere and a wide range of delicious dishes. They are also places where the Ukrainian community meets.
In the Philippines, for example, there is one on the island of Palawan in the city of El Nido. Established ten years ago by a family from Odessa, the restaurant is called Odessa Mama Café & Brewpub. You can enjoy syrnyky, varenyky (dumplings) with cottage cheese, borsch with meat and pampukhy (doughnuts) there.
Many Ukrainian children now find themselves at foreign tables. How can food serve as a “soft power” tool to help these children integrate without losing the flavor of their home?
I believe it is important to raise children to be open to different cultures and tastes. It’s good to preserve your own culture, but it’s also important to introduce children to the food of the country in which they live.
The first step is, of course, to cook Ukrainian food at home and add local dishes into your daily menu.
In my opinion, we should also introduce foreigners to our cuisine to help them understand us better. Ukrainian parents could organize Ukrainian culture days at schools, holding festive dinners and inviting families from different communities to attend.
If there are a lot of Ukrainian children at the school, you could consider adding some familiar Ukrainian products or dishes to the menu.
Ukraine is the breadbasket of the world. In the context of the documentary’s title, how does the simple act of baking Palyanytsya serve as a metaphor for the “dawn” and the renewal of life?
Bread occupies a special place in Ukrainian culture, cuisine, and religion. All types of bread are treated with great respect in Ukraine.
Following the Holodomor, an artificially created famine that claimed over five million lives between 1932 and 1933, the role of bread changed. It became the main symbol of Ukrainian survival.
Ukrainians never throw away bread. After the Holodomor, doing so became considered a sin. In families that survived the Holodomor, there is an almost genetic desire to stockpile bread and food.
Despite the large number of industrial bakeries nowadays, the tradition of baking bread, especially festive bread, is still observed in many Ukrainian families.
Traditionally, bread in Ukraine is baked by older women, matriarchs, and grandmothers. Recipes vary by region and are passed down through the generations.
Bread plays an important role in Christian celebrations. Paska, for example, is a sweet Easter bread baked on the Thursday before Easter and blessed during Easter service. Wedding korovai is a large, festively decorated sweet bread served to guests at weddings. Bread also plays a special role in memorial ceremonies.
In Ukraine, there are many rules and superstitions surrounding the handling of bread. For instance, when a grandmother is kneading dough, it is forbidden to argue or shout.
The Philippines and Ukraine both place high value on communal eating. What parallels do you see between the Filipino salu-salò and the Ukrainian spirit of feeding one’s neighbor during times of crisis?
I am from Chernivtsi, the capital of Bukovyna, a region in the west of Ukraine. I come from a large family and have many relatives, including brothers, sisters, and cousins. When I was a child, we celebrated all the major religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, with our extended family, observing traditions and preparing special dishes. For instance, we had a tradition of serving food in a circle with guests tasting dishes and drinks one after the other.
Ukrainians are generally known for their large feasts, which are particularly common for celebrating significant events such as religious holidays, engagements, weddings, the completion of construction projects, and harvest festivals.
In times of hardship, interaction with relatives and neighbors, shared meals, and the exchange of food were essential for survival.
Now, during the war, many Ukrainians have been left homeless or unable to cook for themselves due to a lack of gas and electricity. People are therefore coming together to support each other. Throughout the country, there are Points of Resilience where people can warm up and enjoy a cup of tea while communities organize hot meals. Local authorities and catering establishments are working together to provide food for those in need. Church communities are playing a special role too, with churches becoming centers where people can eat and get help.
The Maltese Relief Service runs field kitchen centers where meals are prepared and distributed.
Proust’s madeleine was sweet, but history is often bitter. Is there a traditional Ukrainian ingredient that best symbolizes the strength required to endure the “night” before the dawn?
These days, Ukrainian stores sell a special type of honey — honey of resilience from the liberated areas of the Kharkiv region. Despite losing their hives and equipment, beekeepers have returned to these areas and started to rebuild their apiaries.
This honey is very valuable to me because it evokes childhood memories — my grandfather had an apiary and kept bees. Therefore, honey is my favorite treat, the taste of home, and a source of health and strength.
You represent a nation fighting for its soil. How does gastrodiplomacy allow you to communicate the importance of “gastronomic sovereignty” to a Philippine audience that is geographically distant but emotionally connected?
In terms of the role of shared meals within society, both within the family circle and at the community level, we are like the Philippines. Food is at the center of events that bring people together and allow them to share personal experiences.
Food unites different generations and different countries. To me, food is a universal language. It is an easy way to discover a new culture, even one that is geographically distant.
Whenever our embassy hosts an event, such as a National Day celebration, a film screening, or an art exhibit, we love teaming up with Filipino chefs to bring Ukrainian recipes to life.
If you could prepare one meal for the children featured in our documentary to give them a taste of Ukrainian hope, what would it be, and what story would you tell them while they ate?
There are two dishes from my childhood I would like to share. The first is a traditional Ukrainian summer dessert: cherry dumplings, which I made with my grandmother. To make them, we picked cherries from our garden.
The second dish was fish fried in corn flour and served with a sour cream and mushroom sauce. The fish had to be caught in the pond and the mushrooms gathered for the sauce.
For me, this dish evokes the carefree days of summer.
Beyond the smoke of war, what is the specific scent of a peaceful Kyiv afternoon — perhaps the blooming linden trees or fresh rye bread — that you wish for every child to smell again?
I live in the Darnytsia district of Kyiv, on the left bank of the Dnipro River. This area is renowned for its forests and stunning natural beauty.
My favorite route takes me through Rusanivka, a district built on a man-made island. I then continue on foot through Hydropark, a recreation area spanning two river islands. From there, I head to Podil, the oldest and most beloved district in Kyiv and the heart of the Ukrainian capital.
The scents I love most are those of blossoming chestnut trees and the tranquillity of the Dnipro River. Chestnut trees are a symbol of our beloved Ukrainian capital.
In Ukrainian tradition, the final toast is often the most meaningful. What “flavor” does hope have for you today, and how can we, as your hosts in the Philippines, help nourish that hope?
Traditionally, the final toast at Ukrainian feasts is an expression of gratitude, asking God to bless the hosts, guests, and Ukraine with long, happy, and healthy lives.
Today, we are grateful to the Filipino people for their support, and we encourage them to learn about the truth of the situation in Ukraine and share it with others.
We also invite them to join us in praying for Ukraine, its children, and for Ukrainian families to be reunited.
Glossary
borscht — a vibrant, sour soup popular in Eastern European and Northern Asian cuisines. It is most deeply ingrained in Ukraine, where it is considered national cuisine and a significant symbol of Ukrainian identity and domestic life. In 2022, the “Culture of Ukrainian Borscht Cooking” was added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection, acknowledging its importance and the threats to its tradition posed by conflict.
Їzhakultura — a scientific and educational project and publishing house dedicated to popularizing research in Ukrainian gastronomy, food history, and culinary practices. The organization aims to document and share regional food practices and ancient culinary techniques as part of Ukraine’s intangible heritage.
Kutia — a ceremonial buckwheat pancake with dried apples. It is one of the two most important ritual foods served at the Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper.
Lavka deokupatsii (Deoccupation Shop) — assists farmers and small farms in the occupied Kharkiv region. Since then, it has grown into physical and virtual shops selling a unique variety of honey — honey of resilience from the Kharkiv region’s liberated areas. Beekeepers have returned to these regions and begun reestablishing their apiaries in spite of losing their hives and tools.
Odessa Mama Café and Boodmo Brewery — an establishment in El Nido, Palawan, combining authentic Ukrainian cuisine with a microbrewery that serves house-crafted beers. Opened in March 2016, it is recognized as the first and only brewery in El Nido.
pampushky (doughnuts) — are traditional Ukrainian yeast-raised dough balls that are a staple of both daily meals and festive celebrations like Christmas.
syrnyky — a popular Eastern European dish made from farmer’s cheese, eggs, flour, and sugar. They are a standard breakfast, brunch, or dessert in Ukraine.
Ukraine Food and History — This book tells the story of Ukrainian cuisine by contextualizing it and presenting Ukrainian cooking as part of Ukraine’s intangible cultural heritage. The publication also investigates the potential of cultural diplomacy and contains recipes that will make you fall in love with Ukraine. This publication is part of a culinary diplomacy project funded by the Ukrainian Institute. Authors: Olena Braichenko, Maryna Hrymych, Ihor Lylo, and Vitaly Reznichenko. Published in Kyiv in 2020. This is the link to the Ukraine food and history https://ui.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ukraine-food-and-history-2.pdf
uzvar — a popular drink in Ukraine. It’s made from dried berries like pears, apples, plums, cherries, and blueberries. In the southern regions, uzvar made with apricots is extremely popular. Ukrainians dried their fruits in the sun, using ordinary or special ovens (dryers or baths).
varenyky — a traditional Ukrainian boiled and stuffed dumpling made from unleavened dough, is considered a national dish alongside borscht. They are filled with savory (potato, sauerkraut, cheese, mushrooms) or sweet (cherries, cottage cheese) ingredients and are typically served with sour cream, fried onions, or butter.