Olesia Vehanska: 'Ukrainian vegan cuisine is a separate evolutionary stage'
The chef of Kyiv's vegan restaurant 'Zerno' explains why veganism is not a 'Western fad' but the heritage of Polissia peasant cuisine.
'Ukrainian traditional cuisine is predominantly vegan,' Olesia Vehanska, chef of Kyiv's Zerno, opens the conversation. 'Polissia peasants ate meat three times a year — at Easter, Christmas, and a wedding. Everything else — kashas, soups, vegetables, legumes. That is veganism, only then it was called „fasting“.' Olesia defended her degree at the London gastronomic university and returned to Kyiv in 2019.
Zerno is the first fully vegan venue in Kyiv that does not try to be a 'meat restaurant for vegans'. The menu is consciously fully plant-based: amaranth kashas, stewed pumpkins with beans, baked carrot with forest mushrooms. Pricing 550-850 UAH per guest. In parallel Olesia runs the 'Vegan Polissia' programme reconstructing traditional plant-based recipes of the 18-19th centuries. 'In 20 years there will be no „vegetarian“ and „meat“ venues,' she says. 'There will simply be venues with quality food. Veganism is not a diet, it is part of humanity's evolution.'
