Olia Hercules for Strong Roots: A Ukrainian Family Story through War, Exile and Hope

A discussion on Food & Conflict with delicious Eastern European tasters from the cookbooks of Olia Hercules & Alissa Timoshkina.

'It is the roots that keep the trees from falling during a storm. Olia Hercules tells us that the same is true for people and nations' - SERHII PLOKHY

I am writing this story without knowing its end: it begins long before I was born and will continue long after I die. I am writing this story to help myself heal and to make you understand.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules decided it was finally time to tell her story.

Strong Roots is the story of a century in Ukraine told through four generations of one extraordinary family. It takes us from years of Russification, to Olia's grandmother's deportation to snowy wastelands under Stalin, to her Aunt Zhenia's school protest, to her own parents' flight from Ukraine when their town was occupied in 2022.

This is an ode to the land, to ideas of home and belonging, and to family stories and recipes passed down the generations - the tang of sour cherries, the best way to make borsch. It is an account of resilience in the hardest of circumstances.

Strong Roots brims with hope and grief. It lays bare the compromises and betrayals of generations struggling and surviving through war, peace, invasion and exile. It is an uplifting reminder of how much the human spirit can endure when born from a land rich with strong roots.

Olia will be interviewed by fellow food writer and founder of #CookforUkraine, Alissa Timoshkina.

Olia Hercules was born in the South of Ukraine. She studied Italian language and International Relations at the University of Warwick. After spending a year in Italy, Olia settled in London, pursuing a career in journalism. She would later quit her job as a film business reporter to pursue her dream to cook for a living. Dedicated to researching food culture and culinary traditions of countries less explored, Hercules is the author of the award-winning cookbooks Mamushka, Kaukasis and Summer Kitchens.

Alissa Timoshkina is a food writer, cook and historian specialising in Eastern European food culture. Born in Siberia, Alissa's heritage is Ukrainian-Jewish and Polish on her mother's side, and Ukrainian, Russian and Belorussian on her father's side. She is the founder of multi-award winning global fundraising campaign #CookforUkraine, which since its inception has raised close to GBP2.5 million. She is the author of Salt and Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen, which was a finalist in the Guild of Food Writers and the Julia Child Awards. Alissa lives in North London with her partner and their two children. Kapusta is her second book. @alissatimoshkina.