Londoners get taste of Ukrainian winter thanks to World Jewish Relief
Guests at JW3 use 4-D ‘virtual reality’ set-up to find out how food is prepared by the women WJR supports in Ukraine
World Jewish Relief is recreating the experience of Ukrainian food in Ukrainian climes – offering Londoners a glimpse of Ukrainian winter life from within the confines of a walk-in fridge.
The charity’s chilly supporters quite literally got a taste of the Ukrainian diet in typical sub-zero temperatures at a launch event at JW3 on Tuesday, while learning about WJR’s support for one of the world’s poorest Jewish communities.
Following its successful ‘Taste of Syria’ food event last year, highlighting the dishes of Damascus in support of refugees, the WJR menu for two weeks includes Ukrainian staples such as Holubutsi, Chicken Kiev, potato latkes and borscht.
Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up
Visitors to the JW3 community centre restaurant ‘Zest’ will now get the chance to sample Ukraine gastronomically, and see how the Ukrainian women are supported by WJR, through a special 4-D ‘virtual reality’ set up.
Often referred to as the ‘breadbasket of Europe,’ Ukrainian cuisine is heavily based on wheat and grains, and most dishes descend from ancient peasant dishes based on plentiful grain resources such as rye as well as staple vegetables such as potato, cabbages, mushrooms and beetroots.
The initiative is timed to coincide with Ukraine’s Liberation Day on 28 October, and £2 from every meal will go towards WJR’s work in the country, which becomes more urgent at this time of year, with the onset of its famously harsh winter.
“Over the last few years, the situation in Ukraine has been more basket case than bread basket,” said WJR communications director Rafi Cooper. “The civil war continues in the East and a million people are still internally displaced.”
He added: “Taste of Ukraine will enable us to raise vital funds to mean that the world’s poorest Jewish communities do not go hungry, whilst giving diners at Zest a unique gastronomic insight into the country.”
JW3 chief executive Raymond Simonson said: “We love to find ways to celebrate the vastly diverse heritage of British Jewry. So many members of our community have roots within Eastern Europe and therefore Taste of Ukraine is for many a taste of what their relatives only a couple of generations ago would have eaten.”
Listen to this week’s episode of the Jewish Views Podcast:
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
-
By Brigit Grant
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)