It has been many months since I posted new content or an update to the Feastern Europe website. I’ve had a draft post titled “Russian pancakes” pending publication since early this year. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February and resulting war initially stopped me in my tracks. The conflict has made me rethink how I want to approach things on the site going forward. I’ve always pointed out the varying names for dishes in the relevant Eastern European languages and I often struggle over which cuisine to categorize them under. The cuisines and recipes featured here are so closely connected that sometimes it seems that making distinctions between them is pointless.
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the challenges of this for me as the people there struggle to maintain their identity and right to exist as a nation. Does it matter whether I label borscht as Ukrainian or Russian? Yes! It does. Though not everyone will agree with the labels I choose. For the better part of a year this has paralyzed me from adding any new content. I’ve also had a ton of other changes in life that have made working on the site difficult.
I’ve decided that I’m not going to let these concerns hold me back any longer.
It is monumentally saddening and disheartening to watch the news these days. Instead of letting the war paralyze Feastern Europe, I want to continue the work to celebrate the food and people of the region. Unlike famous symphony orchestras that felt compelled to ban works by Russian artists, I won’t strike any mention of Russia from the site or stop posting “Russian” recipes. But I think I’ll shift the focus to highlight some of the other cuisines for a while. It seems the most respectful way forward.
So “Russian pancakes” will have to wait on hold while I produce some content celebrating other countries. I’ll get around to finishing it eventually…and by then we can only hope this despicable war will have ended.
Feastern Europe Website Update