Vyriv Kvasha

Olha-Maria Franko was the youngest daughter of the priest Teodor Bilevych and Olha née Bazylevych. Dziunya, as the child was affectionately called, was born in the village of Vyriv in the Kamyanets district (now the Kam'yanka-Buzka district of Lviv Oblast) on July 23, 1896. Grandmother loved to recall the grand household where her mother kept everything running smoothly and with grace. The constant bustle, the aromas of various dishes, the many guests — little Olha adored it all. Whether on feast days or ordinary weekdays, the house was cozy and full of good food. It is most likely from those times that the recipe for Vyriv Kvasha has come down to us.

Kvasha is a very ancient Ukrainian dish — a Lenten food that was accessible, hearty, and inexpensive. It was prepared from two parts rye flour and one part buckwheat flour. After fermentation, it produced something resembling a kissel (a thick, starch-set fruit jelly). As a dessert, sweet Kvasha was served with fresh berries, or in winter with dried fruits. A saying went: "When the Kvasha turns out well, the girl will find a husband."

Kvasha is mentioned in the works of I. Kotlyarevsky: "…As a starter, koulish and kasha, lemishka (buckwheat porridge), zubsti (fried dough bites), poutrya (fermented barley porridge), Kvasha…" and again: "…How he crumbles noodles made of paper for the army, how he makes us Kvasha from ink and teterya (rye porridge)…" — Hulak-Artemovsky. Nechuy-Levytsky wrote: "…Once, without asking Orysia, the servant had set the Kvasha to ferment and placed the pot on the stove…"

In the village of Ryashky in the Chernihiv region, this traditional dessert was added to the list of Ukraine's intangible cultural heritage in July 2024.