Butsyky, palyushki and galushki: what was cooked for Butter Week in Ukraine in ancient times

Butter Week is the beginning of a long cycle of traditional Ukrainian spring holidays. It has no exact date and is celebrated every year at the turn of winter and spring. The Butter Week precedes the beginning of Lent. During this week, you can no longer eat meat products, but you can still eat other foods that will be banned a week later.

In the modern world, pancakes are usually cooked on Butter Week. However, earlier there were completely different traditions that differed from one another depending on the region. Liudmyla Hlavatska explains what exactly was cooked for this holiday in Ukraine in the past in her article "Traditional Butter Week Dishes of Ukrainians of the Late Nineteenth and Mid-Twentieth Centuries" on the pyrohiv website.

The most popular dishes for Butter Week

Undoubtedly, the most popular Butter Week dish in those days throughout Ukraine was dumplings with cheese, generously mixed with butter and sour cream. They were cooked every day in every house for a dozen or more people.

But Boyky and Lemkos made "palenychky" and "bobalky" from dumpling dough. To do this, it was enough to simply separate a piece of dough and boil it in boiling water or broth, and then season it generously with butter.

"Butsyky" is another dish that can be attributed to the dishes that were common in the past on Butter Week. To make them, dumpling dough was kneaded, cut into small squares and boiled, with the opposite ends joined together. Then they were fried in butter and served with honey and sour cream.

"Paliushky" or "palyoshky" were popular in Galicia and Polissia. These are lazy dumplings made of potato dough and cheese. The dish got its name because they looked like fingers. They were cooked in boiling water and smeared with butter.