Ukrainian Chef Iurii Kovryzhenko – The Happy Prince
by Qian Leung
@ 07 Aug 2017
Originally from Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, Chef Iurii Kovryzhenko’s first job in a restaurant was as a waiter, at 17. For a while, he made sculptures made from gold, silver, or bronze, but when the financial crisis hit in 2008, the orders stopped coming. While staying in a Zen Buddhism temple, meditating, the school master introduced him to friends from the restaurant scene in Aquitaine, in south-western France. There he started as a scullery helper, and after a year, stayed on as a rotissier. Traditional Ukrainian dishes, such as potato and pork dumplings topped with sour cream, or Borsch soup made from beef bones and beetroots, tend to be hearty and filling. Chef Kovryzhenko, and others of his generation, are thinking out of the box and creating something new and never-seen-before.
If you wonder why his fingers seem to have been dyed pink, it’s because he loves working with beetroots, carrots, purple potatoes, and berries. In the summer, he has a garden in the restaurant from which he picks edible flowers, such as chrysanthemum and nasturtium, to garnish his plates. “But you must understand the taste of flowers,” cautions Chef Kovryzhenko. “For example, begonia has a sour taste. So I might use it in place of lemon for a white fish.” In the winter, he crafts blossoms from ingredients such as onions, carrots, and celeriac. The ‘petals’ taste natural – plain, even – but when eaten with the well-seasoned stewed duck, and the flavoursome beetroot cream, one can’t help but be in awe of Chef Kovryzhenko’s artistry. “For me, the appearance of a dish holds equal importance to its taste,” says Chef Kovryzhenko. “Having said that, you have to consider the flavours as well, and the chef must have a wide palette, or musical scale, of taste experience.” You must understand how one ingredient will taste with another. “Taste everything!”
Vintage Nouveau
Staroievreiska Street, 25, L'viv, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine, 79000
Tel: (380) 3 2235 6834
Images of Chef Kovryzhenko’s creations can be found
here.
