If anyone has kept the human cost of the war in Ukraine front and centre in my mind over the last 18 months, it’s Olia Hercules, a chef whose cookbook, Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine And Beyond, first introduced me (and countless others) to the likes of garlicky Pampushky, zelenyy borscht and dried fruit punch spiked with brandy and star anise back in 2015.
From last winter onwards, the Kakhovka-born, London-based chef has turned her Instagram over to updates about the conflict, interweaving political missives (when we speak, the Kakhovka dam has just ruptured, with disastrous consequences) with personal posts about the beauty of her mother country: mini essays about shopping for sour cherries and sweet melons on the side of the road in Voznesensk; studies of Ukrainian artists such as Polina Rayko and Tetjana Pata; videos taken of her family swimming in the waterlily-filled Dnipro River floodplains or roaming the sun-dappled pine forests surrounding her hometown.
But the 39-year-old is, of course, the furthest thing from a hashtag activist. Together with Russian chef Alissa Timoshkina, it’s the aptly named Hercules who founded the Cook for Ukraine movement within 48 hours of Putin’s invasion – raising millions of pounds to date. When I speak with Olia on a balmy June morning, her face is strained in the wake of the Nova Kakhovka incident, but she is, once again, turning her mind to the things she can do to help. This week, she and Timoshkina have launched The Ukraine Hub, a series of pop-up workshops in London that displaced Ukrainians will be able to attend free of charge, with ticket sales from non-Ukrainian guests helping to support future programming.
Part of the inspiration behind the project? Hercules’s own immediate family. “My mum is in exile – she left with my dad last April – and she ended up in Berlin. So, okay, she’s living in Germany, she’s doing a language course, but I could see how lonely she was. Losing everything – your home, your friends, your work – it’s so isolating. And so I thought, what if I offered some classes? In Ukrainian cooking, yes, but also other workshops. One of the things that’s helped me the most over the last year is doing things with my hands; it’s so therapeutic.” With the help of Timoshkina – whose support for the Ukrainian cause has been as indefatigable as Olia’s own – the pair began tapping into their considerable personal network to see who might be willing to host pop-ups, and were almost overwhelmed by the response.
This summer will see Carousel host not just dumpling-making classes with Hercules but also lessons in Baltic cuisine with Zuza Zak, Greek cuisine with Despina Siahouli, and Persian cuisine with Sally Butcher. Cosmos & Plums, meanwhile, will be offering floristry workshops at The Flower Factory, Laurie Nouchka will be teaching meditation at Studio Feast and Christine Lewis will be introducing guests to the wonders of natural fabric dye at The Piano Factory. “Since we started Cook for Ukraine, as hard as it’s been on an emotional level, the logistics of organising have been absolutely smooth, because not a single person has said no to getting involved,” says Alissa. “I’ve been in the cultural sphere for 20 years now, and I’ve never worked on anything where, within two hours of putting in a request, people have come back to say, ‘Yes, I’m on board.’ It’s just incredible.”
Despite only being announced a few weeks ago, many of The Ukraine Hub’s workshops have already sold out. Hercules and Timoshkina plan to add more in-person dates shortly, however, as well as launching digital classes for those outside of London. The dream, though, is a permanent bricks-and-mortar space where Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike could gather. “We would love to have a physical site where people could come together, like a home away from home,” Alissa enthuses. “And, just as importantly, to serve as a place where we could support Ukrainian culture. There is so much beautiful literature, amazing crafts, cool fashion… All of it deserves to be highlighted – and protected.”
Sign up for classes at The Ukraine Hub here, and donate here.
