About this Pre-Recorded Class:

What’s on the Menu:
Homemade Varenyky Dough
Potato and Cheese Varenyky

We keep thinking that one day, we’ll have taught you to make every dumpling in the world. But then we realize that there’s yet another one that hasn’t yet been featured at the Milk Street Cooking School. Whether you’re playing dumpling bingo with us or just taking your first foray into this home cooking sub-category, you’re in good company. Join guest teacher Olia Hercules, most recently the author of “Strong Roots: A Memoir of Food, Family and Ukraine,” for a pre-recorded cooking class about one of her most comforting and deeply rooted recipes: Ukrainian varenyky. You’ll learn to make a simple egg-enriched dough either by hand or using a mixer. As it rests, you’ll prepare Olia’s favorite filling of mashed potato, crumbly cheese and scallion. We start by shaping simply half-moon varenyky, then move on to more elaborately braided, pleated and bundled variations. Then, you’ll learn why varneyky are best when they’re both boiled and fried, resulting in a creamy interior and golden brown exterior. As we cook, you’ll learn about regional variations of varenyky within Ukraine, their history in the region and why they hold such a special place in Olia’s heart.

About Olia: Olia Hercules was born in Kakhovka, Ukraine. She trained at the Leiths School of Food and Wine, then worked in restaurants, including Ottolenghi, and as a recipe developer. Her first book, Mamushka, won the Fortnum & Mason Award for best debut cookbook and was followed by Kaukasis, Summer Kitchens and Home Food. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olia co-founded #CookforUkraine, which has raised over £2 million. She lives in London.

What's Included: You will receive a .zip file that includes the cooking school video as well as PDFs of the recipe instructions.

How to Download: After you purchase your Milk Street Cooking School Video, you will receive an email from the Milk Street Store with the subject line "Your Cooking School Video is Ready for Download." Within this email there is a link that will direct you to a download page, click download now to download the .zip folder. To unzip the folder, double-click the zipped folder to open it. Please note: your video download file will have an approximate size of 500 MB.

Dumpling Classes

Milk Street Digital Class: How to Eat Dumplings in Hong Kong

Milk Street Digital Class: Dumplings the Ukrainian Way: Varenyky with Olia Hercules

Milk Street Digital Class: Kyrgyz Dumplings with Anna Ansari