What makes the new Ukrainian craft bread book 'Baking Bread' so compelling

Creative Publishing has released Baking Bread | Випікання крафтового хліба в Україні, a book dedicated to bread, flour and sourdough. The volume chronicles the professional journeys of Ukrainian bakers, their stories and their devotion to the craft. The book is authored by publisher Lucia Bondar and food researcher Yuliia-Avrora Ohorodnyk.

This comprehensive study of Ukraine’s baking culture features 24 contributors, including well-known bakeries such as Marchuk Khlib, Spelta, Bakehouse, Zaverytailo, DOU, Flora Fermented, as well as the baking program at the Marigold restaurant led by Ihor Mezentsev. The book also includes contributions from individual artisan bakers.

In addition to personal stories, contributors shared 50 original recipes. These include a variety of breads — with flaxseed, porcini mushrooms, tomatoes, apples — as well as buckwheat, onion and molasses breads, among others. The editors also devoted attention to traditional Easter bread (paska), wedding bread (korovai), and pastries such as hand pies, buns and bagels.

The geographical scope of the research covers a wide range of regions in Ukraine, including Bukovel, Lviv, Kyiv, Ternopil, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Bucha, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipro, Kropyvnytskyi and Lutsk. The book also features traditional Crimean Tatar recipes recreated by Lerane Khaibullaeva at her establishment, Krymskyi Dvoryk, in Lviv.

The publication includes expert articles that provide historical context:

— Botanist and researcher Oleksii Kovalenko writes about spelt and other grains. The oldest evidence of spelt cultivation originates from Ukrainian territory.

— Vadym Nazarenko, a food history expert, provides historical insight into the development of baking in Ukraine, with special attention to Ukrainians’ ceremonial bread — paska.

Many of the book’s illustrations, including the cover image, were created by food photographer Dmytro Bakhta.

The book is now available for preorder on Creative Publishing’s website.