Comforting recipes of Soup, Stew, and Solace, from Eastern Europe

Lozhka

Perhaps no single object captures the soul of Eastern European cooking better than the humble spoon. At once cutlery and cooking tool, it embodies simplicity, generosity and abundance. It is the first utensil we are fed with as infants and the one that carries us through a lifetime of meals – familiar, comforting and enduring.Lozhka (the Slavic word for “spoon”) celebrates the dishes most closely bound to this symbol of nourishment: soups, stews, dumplings, porridges and sweet comfort bowls. Bringing together 80 seasonal, affordable and flavour-rich recipes, Alissa Timoshkina – author of the acclaimed Kapusta – offers a definitive guide to the food that warms Eastern European kitchens and hearts. From Ukrainian borsch and Bulgarian tarator to Hungarian pörkölt, festive sweet soups and creamy breakfast porridges, these recipes showcase a cuisine that is vegetable-forward, low-waste and deeply satisfying.Drawing on her Jewish-Ukrainian-Russian heritage, Alissa blends authentic family traditions with accessible, modern cooking. More than a recipe collection, Lozhka is a cultural journey – an exploration of how a single spoonful can carry history, memory and comfort across generations.

Alissa Timoshkina is a food writer, historian and campaigner, best known for the multi-award-winning #CookforUkraine initiative and her cookbooks Kapusta and Salt & Time. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue and The Economist, and she is a regular voice on BBC radio, podcasts and at major food and literary festivals.

Alissa Timoshkina

Alissa&lsquo;s recipes speak to my stomach. I am especially a lifelong fan of cabbage, and her cabbage chapter is fantastic.

Alissa turns the cabbage clich&eacute; on its head in this joyful celebration of Eastern European cooking. Come for the food and stay for the stories&mdash;every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book.

Kapusta is a word that&rsquo;s close to my heart, as it brings to mind my favourite dish of young cabbage cooked in buttery dill. The book is just as warm and inviting. Alissa&rsquo;s writing soothes the soul and her recipes always inspire. Kapusta is filled to the brim with beautiful, imaginative recipes that have the power to revitalise the kitchen, comfort the spirit and shine a fresh light on the world of Eastern European food.

Just like the vegetable for which this book is named, Alissa&rsquo;s recipes are always full of layers: of flavour, of history, of intention. Kapusta will fill your heart with gladness and your belly with buckwheat.

If the measure of a cookbook&#39;s success is whether it inspires you to try the recipes then&#160;Kapusta&#160;goes one better. It is a book of plenty, a meal in itself.

Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe

"Come for the food and stay for the stories &ndash; every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book."&#160;&ndash; Yotam Ottolenghi 
 
 "A rare cookbook that engages our thinking and delights our senses."&#160;&ndash; Olia Hercules 
 
 "This book is just as warm and inviting and shines a fresh light on the world of Eastern European food."&#160;&ndash; Zuza Zak 
 
A culinary journey across Eastern Europe,&#160;Kapusta&#160;celebrates the humble vegetables that have shaped some of the most vibrant culinary traditions in the world. Focusing on five key vegetables to the region &ndash; cabbage, beetroot, potato, carrot and mushrooms &ndash; it&#160;honours a philosophy of cooking that has affordability, seasonality, sustainability and, above all, great flavour at its heart.&#160;With chapters on dumplings and pickles and ferments as well, you&rsquo;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 P&acirc;t&eacute;, 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.

Alissa Timoshkina

Praise for Kapusta

Alissa‘s recipes speak to my stomach. I am especially a lifelong fan of cabbage, and her cabbage chapter is fantastic.

Alissa turns the cabbage cliché on its head in this joyful celebration of Eastern European cooking. Come for the food and stay for the stories—every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book.

Kapusta is a word that’s close to my heart, as it brings to mind my favourite dish of young cabbage cooked in buttery dill. The book is just as warm and inviting. Alissa’s writing soothes the soul and he ...

Alissa‘s recipes speak to my stomach. I am especially a lifelong fan of cabbage, and her cabbage chapter is fantastic.

Alissa turns the cabbage cliché on its head in this joyful celebration of Eastern European cooking. Come for the food and stay for the stories—every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book.

Kapusta is a word that’s close to my heart, as it brings to mind my favourite dish of young cabbage cooked in buttery dill. The book is just as warm and inviting. Alissa’s writing soothes the soul and he ...

Alissa‘s recipes speak to my stomach. I am especially a lifelong fan of cabbage, and her cabbage chapter is fantastic.

Alissa turns the cabbage cliché on its head in this joyful celebration of Eastern European cooking. Come for the food and stay for the stories—every curious cook will take a leaf out of this book.

Kapusta is a word that’s close to my heart, as it brings to mind my favourite dish of young cabbage cooked in buttery dill. The book is just as warm and inviting. Alissa’s writing soothes the soul and he ...

Books by Alissa Timoshkina

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