sour cherry varenyky were a staple of Lena Sutherland’s childhood home in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa in the 1950s. They are a sweet version of Ukrainian dumplings that are more often savory with potatoes and other toppings. But Sutherland, owner of the recently opened Lena’s Ukrainian Kitchen in the northern English city of Hull, sings the praises of the fruity toppings.
“In Ukraine we use a lot of fruits and berries to make pies, piroshki, varenyky and pancakes,” she said. “It’s my memory of home.”
Naturally, Sutherland based her cherry varenyky recipe on one she learned from her mother. But her baking roots go back to her grandmother. Sutherland spent her preschool years with her grandparents, giving her a front seat for her grandmother’s bakery.
[jump to recipe]
“My grandmother was very good at making bread and pastries,” she recalls. “I think that’s why I always wanted to do it myself.”
But Sutherland’s culinary career was slow to take off. She first spent 25 years working as a teacher. It was at the end of this mandate that she met her future husband, Ian, an Englishman who was in the merchant navy. They moved to Hull in 1996 and she quickly turned to food. In its first month, Sutherland launched a cooking demonstration with the support of Hull City Council. It has become an annual affair with food tastings, singing and dancing.
“Every year more and more people came to this event,” she said. “And they noticed the food was good.”
This soon led to the opening of Sutherland’s first delicatessen in 1999, the eponymous Lena’s Deli.
“The only reason [I opened the deli] I was craving homemade food,” Sutherland said. “I was lucky it turned out so well.”
The deli ran for 23 years before Sutherland closed it to kick off its golden years. But the retreat did not last long. When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Sutherland wanted to support his homeland.
“When the war in Ukraine started in February, I spoke to my family, my granddaughter, my daughter-in-law, my son, and they all told me that they had sent money to help the Ukrainian army,” she said. “I thought we could do something here too.”
With this in mind, Sutherland has planned a Ukrainian fundraising dinner in early March 2022. Local businesses have stepped up to support the fundraiser; a local Turkish restaurant, Meze Bar & Grill, offered its restaurant and servers to host the event; and Sutherland said all the food was donated free by Beverly International Foods and Madina Butchers. It was such a success that they repeated the event in April, May and June. Funds raised were sent to Ukraine to support volunteers and homeland defense groups.
