Ukrainian immigrants big culinary influence

Trick question: How many early settlers to Saskatchewan came from Ukraine? Answer: None.

At the height of Prairie settlement, prior to the First World War, the country of Ukraine did not yet exist.

According to Settling Saskatchewan by Alan Anderson, these settlers spoke different dialects and identified with their local regions.

“Ukrainian Canadians first considered themselves primarily as Galicians, Bukovinians, Ruthenians, and so on, and secondarily possibly as Austro-Hungarians, Poles, Russians, Czechoslovaks or Romanians. Only gradually did a common identity as Ukrainians emerge.”

Just as ethnicities crossed borders, so did their cuisines.

Perogie is a Polish word. The Ukrainian name for this popular dumpling is varenyky.

Cabbage rolls (holubtsi in Ukrainian) were common among many cultures that settled Saskatchewan, from Croatians at Kenaston to Hungarians at Esterhazy to the Jewish colony at Edenbridge.

While we primarily think of borscht as Ukrainian beet soup, other cultures make it, too, some without beets such as Mennonite summer borscht with sorrel and sausage. The correct Ukrainian spelling is borshch.

In 2011, the national household survey found that, in Saskatchewan, 13.5 per cent of people claim Ukrainian heritage, 24.9 per cent English and 28.6 per cent German, including Mennonites and Hutterites.

So, why does Ukrainian cuisine loom so large in Saskatchewan? Why do we associate cabbage rolls and not Yorkshire pudding with community suppers and raise funds by selling frozen perogies and not German maultaschen?

And why do these delicious cinnamon crescents, associated with generations of babas, go by the very un-Ukrainian name of scuffl For step-by-step pictures, visit my food blog HomeForDinner.blogspot.com.