| One of the best culinary things about marrying into my wife's family is the Ukrainian food we get at Christmas – and in particular, my mother-in-law's cabbage rolls. My normally reserved father turns into a rapacious gourmand around the steaming, redolent pot, reliving his Saskatchewan youth by heaping his plate.
But notwithstanding the hordes of Saskatchewan expatriates (or Sask-patriates) in Calgary, most people have to cook Ukrainian food for themselves or rely on relatives – it's almost impossible to find good perogies and cabbage rolls in a restaurant. Luckily, deep in the industrial district northeast of Chinook Centre is a tiny hole-in-the-wall place, Ukrainian Fine Foods (540 Cleveland Cres. S.E., phone 287-8884), that pumps it out weekdays at lunch. (They also have a stall in the Crossroads Market, which serves a more limited menu.)
Ukrainian Fine Foods serves meals cafeteria-style on paper plates with plastic cutlery. The chairs and tables are scattered and there's a Pepsi fridge full of Mason jars of borscht the middle of the room. But no one's there for the décor– instead, they're lined up for soul food straight from the old country.
The selection features borscht, perogies, cabbage rolls, kolbassa and a daily special for each day of the week (including roast pork on Mondays and turkey with dressing on Fridays). The parking lot is full of pickup trucks and panel vans that disgorge hungry tradesmen. Ukrainian Fine Foods serves some of the best home-style food I've had in a while.
A group of four of us descended for lunch recently, including my two cultural representatives, Sask-patriates, who grew up with this food. Both pronounced it authentic and top-quality. The cabbage rolls are large (about two inches across and three inches long) with a beef and rice filling, and are covered with tomato sauce and then steamed. This makes the cabbage tender, and the filling moist and slightly crumbly. The perogies (they're all cheese at the restaurant, but you can get buckwheat, fruit or potato to take home) are also homemade – they're boiled rather than fried, as light as perogies can be, and come with steamed onions and sauerkraut. This food is unbelievably time-consuming to make – anyone who makes it for anyone other than immediate family is going to heaven for sure.
And the borscht? Well, the borscht is made by someone who knows how to make soup – the beets have a lovely deep flavour, the broth is intensely seasoned and for total decadence you can add a dollop of sour cream.
But here's the best thing about Ukrainian Fine Foods: the price. You get six perogies, a monster cabbage roll and a bunch of kolbassa for $5.85, and a small bowl of borscht for $2.50. The four of us were stuffed (including one of our group who ate two cabbage rolls – and he's from Toronto) for $30 including drinks. There’s also a frequent eater program, so if you eat nine meals, you get the next one free.
So far, Ukrainian Fine Foods counts as my undiscovered restaurant of the year.
AND MORE GOOD VALUE:
Winners in Deerfoot Mall may seem like a crazy place to buy food stuff, but most times you can find something really good at a deep discount. Last week you could get a Le Creuset dutch oven, which regularly retails for $230, for $179; a Teflon roasting rack for $5; a Peugeot salt grinder for $12; and best of all, Laguiole steak knives from France for less than cost. The stock changes every Thursday, so Thursday evening is the best time to troll for deals. |
Copyright ©2003 FFWD. All rights reserved.