Oh god, I hate sour cream. My loathing of mayo was converted by Kewpie, age and whipped schmear have softened my cringe at cream cheese, and my avocado aversion was annihilated by a single bite of guac. But I think I will always hate sour cream. It is neither sour nor cream, and it is horrid.
Mom Please did not make me hate sour cream any less, but they did make me want Ukrainian more.
They make so many dumplings, soft-and-chewy-wrapper, plump little tortellini-shaped Pelmeni. These have a firm filling of a lean ground chicken sweetened by onion aromatics.
Flatter, wider Varenyky have a cordlike closure, a change-purse containing a viscous liquid of sour cherry and some mint to freshen the gooey fruit.
Both are lovely, both are beautifully crafted, a credit to any culture. But they are incomplete without the sour cream. This loathsome emulsion adds fluid where there is only solid, smoothness to coat the bumps of cherries and chicken, blandness to soothe the salt and temper the tart. It's objectively delicious all together, if it didn't have to be sour cream.
This Deruny with Salmon is so pretty but it will cost a pretty penny. A round of three stacked potato pancakes are lightly fried and topped with a rosebud of perfectly-cooked, super-tender salmon, warm fatty fish and carbs topped with a cooling tzatziki that lightens things up a bit.
Medovik is a multi-crepe honey cake, layers separated by a sour cream frosting that I don't detest. The fruit gives it some sweet and tart notes, and I like that it's not overly sweet.
I know I slammed the sour cream, but there's nothing wrong with this traditional pairing. The problem lies within my palate alone. A wise restaurateur once said "you send wine back because it's bad, not because you don't like it", and there is not a single thing I ate here that I didn't truly love. The food is lovely and it's a strong statement that I enjoyed it despite the sour cream.
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