Interview with Paul Hawirko 1.5

Segment Synopsis: For breakfast, Paul ate porridge (most often), rolled oats, and ground oats that would be added to porridge. They also had eggs (boiled, fried, poached), but porridge was the most common. They didn't have fruit for breakfast in those days as fruit was more of a luxury in those days. The food was very basic. They didn't purchase bread until they moved into the city. Paul's mother baked a sourdough bread very often, with yeast being preserved after use. She made bread every week with fresh butter. Paul's mother would also make cheese from the curds (usually cottage cheese). She also made pyrohy, noodles, and soup (soup was available almost every day). The type of soup changed depending on what was available: lots of vegetables in the summer, and more meat in the off season from hunting). They also had chicken soup quite often.

Paul's family was never short on food, though he knows many families at the time were. His mother had a strong imagination when it came to preparing food. She also made salads using vegetables from the garden and leaves from dandelions. Paul's mother also canned a lot of food, like the meats (which would be boiled, spiced, and put into jars). Paul's father made a smokehouse that meat and fish could be hung in, allowing the heat and smoke from a small fire would cure and cook the food. The food would cook for a long time. All the meat would come off it and Paul quite enjoyed that meat. Paul also remembers helping his parents to make garlic sausage: beef or pork. They would keep the intestines from an animal that was killed, the meat would be ground up and stuffed salted/peppered and stuffed into the casings, and then the sausages would be smoked. Salted pork was something that also produced: the salt penetrated the fat and the fat was used for frying and other things.

Paul didn't drink coffee until he was 12 or 13. Paul's mother made sandwiches to take to school. Paul's favourite was beef with mustard on it. Before he started drinking coffee, his mother made hot chocolate in a thermos for Paul to bring to school. For other meals, Paul's family ate a lot of potatoes (mashed, fried, etc). His family also had something they called baked pyrohy which were different to regular pyrohy and quite delicious. Paul's mother also made a food that was dough wrapped in cabbage leaf. The dough would rise and it would be eaten with sour cream. She also made "lazy cabbage rolls". They churned their own butter, their own cream, and their own milk.

Segment Synopsis: Paul's sister helped, but his sisters were leaving the farm as Paul grew up. His oldest sister left when Paul was 4. Paul's youngest sister didn't help around the house much as "she had her own idea about what life was all about".

Paul's mother did not have many recipes as she did not read much English. Most of everything she did was learned from her mother. She was 15 when she was married to Paul's father (who was in his 20s). Paul's father was not a good cook as he spent most of his time in the field. When Paul's mother died at age 51, Paul and his father lived together. At that point, the two of them, out of necessity, learned how to cook. Paul's father became a very good cook as he found he enjoyed it. Paul's mother was not comfortable speaking English, though she understood it quite well. Paul's father got to the point where he did quite a bit of cooking and baking and, after he retired, became quite the chef. Paul's mother used to make borsch with pork ribs in it, and Paul's father didn't like the meat but never complained. When Paul's father started making borsch, he made it without meat.

Paul's mother also made a lot of sauerkraut in the fall. They would fill large barrels with the sauerkraut and smaller jars as well. She also used to make a mashed potato with garlic in it. Paul says it was probably a poor person's way of preparing a meal.