Alissa Timoshkina was brought up on a “beautiful diet” of Ukrainian and Russian dishes. Growing up, she remembers her great-grandmother – a Ukrainian Holocaust survivor who emigrated to Siberia following the second world war – pounding lard and frying vegetables to make a hearty beetroot borscht (Ukrainian soup).
Now the Russian chef has joined forces with her Ukrainian best friend, Olia Hercules, in a show of unity in the face of war. The London-based pair, both 37, are the force behind Cook for Ukraine, an initiative that uses food to raise awareness about the conflict and funds to support the humanitarian effort.
