Borsch. Sekretnyi ingredient

Produced in 2020, before the full-scale invasion by Russia, this upbeat Ukrainian documentary follows culinary personality Yevgen Klopotenko through many regions exploring how each prepares Ukraine's iconic dish - and their are vast differences.

The film is populated by colourful and varied chefs and borsch makers - some professional and most regular folks with traditional recipes they serve up with local wisdom.

Klopotenko's quest also showcases the very varied regional settings and peoples of Ukraine - from a small mountain village to old-world cities such as Lviv and Odessa to a cafeteria near the Chernobyl power station.

The result is a tempting array of gastric delights and evidence of Ukrainian's varied culture and character. A skilled presenter, Klopotenko is a wonderful guide. The film does touch on conflicts with the Russian invasion - as a segment on Crimean borsch was filmed in Kyiv due to the Russian occupation of that region - and the broader war (2022 invasion) inevitably casts a shadow over these regular people who just want to be left alone to cook and be with their families.

I recommend this film because Yuliy tried very hard to develop this recipe of his own about borscht and sat around thinking up recipes all day - it's very hard work. The film shows their own borscht recipes and how it is prepared. Yuliy had an assistant, Evgeniy, and they made and tested these recipes together. They had a KamAZ, so when they couldn't, they worked on recipes in a KamAz. But when they had free time they went to their favorite borscht factory.

This film is very popular and interesting, I have never seen such a meaningful and interesting film. That's why I think it's worth watching such a wonderful film about Yuliy and Evgeniy and their joint factory, where they produce different borscht recipes.