A culinary journey across Eastern Europe, Kapusta celebrates the humble vegetables that have shaped some of the most vibrant culinary traditions in the world.
Focusing on five key vegetables – cabbage, beetroot, potato, carrot and mushrooms – the book honours a philosophy of cooking that has affordability, seasonality, sustainability and, above all, great flavour at its heart. With chapters on dumplings and pickles and ferments as well, you’ll find a diversity of dishes which exemplify the Eastern European culinary DNA.
Recipes are accompanied by beautiful photography and include a range of both meat-based and vegetarian dishes such as A Cabbage Strudel, both Vegan and Beef Borsch, Potato Babka, Pierogi, a Tzimmes Carrot Cake, Bulgarian Mushroom and Walnut Pâté, and a range of sauerkrauts.
Kapusta bursts with original recipes and shines a spotlight on the whole kaleidoscope of little-known culinary cultures and history from across the extensive region.
"Come for the food and stay for the stories – every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book." – Yotam Ottolenghi
"A rare cookbook that engages our thinking and delights our senses." – Olia Hercules
"This book is just as warm and inviting and shines a fresh light on the world of Eastern European food." – Zuza Zak
Published: 4th March 2025
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number of Pages: 224
Dimensions (cm): 25.6 x 19.8 x 2.7
Weight (kg): 0.96
KAPUSTA
Hello! I am Alissa, a London-based food writer and historian specialising in Eastern European food culture. Originally from Siberia, I come from a family with a Ukrainian-Jewish lineage, whose history forms an important part of my culinary writing. Having lived in the UK since the late 1990s, I have initially studied film gaining a PhD in the field of Soviet film and Holocaust history. However, my love of cooking pulled me away from an academic career, and I launched an immersive dinning experience project, called KinoVino in 2015. In 2019 I wrote my debut cookbook ‘Salt and Time: recipes from a Russian Kitchen’, alongside a new series of supper clubs and culinary classes exploring food and history of Eastern Europe. My recipes are featured in The Guardian, Red Magazine, Olive Magazine, The Independent and House & Garden amongst other leading UK publications. While my events have been highlighted in Vogue, Elle, TimeOut, and I’ve been shortlisted for the Young British Foodie Awards in 2017 and my book has been nominated for the Guild of Food Writers Awards in 2 categories as well as for the Julia Child award in the USA. I’ve also had the honour of being listed at number one of the new voices in food by the Observer Food Magazine in February 2019, and having my cooking named a new trend for 2021 by Waitrose Magazine.
I was working on my 2nd cookbook dedicated to a culinary journey in search of indigenous communities on the Trans-Siberian Express, when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Putting an end to my new book project, the invasion inspired an idea for a global fundraising campaign, which I launched together with her Ukrainian chef friend, Olia Hercules, and the team behind #CookforSyria, a few days after the war broke out. Since its inception #CookForUkraine attracted over 300 restaurants in the UK alone, an innumerable support on social media globally and helped raise over £2.5 million for Ukraine. The project received The Champions of Change Award from World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The Editors Choice Award at the 2022 Observer Food Monthly Awards.
