Feedback with Olia Hercules

Photo by Joe Woodhouse

Feedback with Olia Hercules

Born in southern Ukraine in 1984, Olia relocated to Cyprus aged twelve. After studying Italian language and International Relations in the UK, she settled in London, delving into journalism after earning her Master’s degree. Post the 2008 financial crisis, she shifted her career to pursue her passion for cooking.

Olia's debut book Mamushka, a cookbook celebrating family recipes spanning Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan sold over 150,000 copies worldwide and was translated into ten languages. She also earned the title of Observer Rising Star in 2015.

Following the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022 alongside her friend Alissa Timoshkina, she launched #CookForUkraine. Their initiative has raised over £2 million for UNICEF, Legacy Of War Foundation, and Choose Love. Recognised as Champions of Change by 50 Best Restaurants, they established Ukraine Hub, offering free workshops for displaced Ukrainians in the UK, ranging from cookery to intuitive drawing. Last year she received a Special Award by the Guild of Food Writers for #CookForUkraine, the award was presented to her by Delia.

What food always reminds you of your childhood?
Anything with dill I think, it just transports me immediately. We use it in many dishes, and I even joke with my friends, I always say ‘Dill is life!’ Here dill is associated with fish, but for us it’s very different, it’s everywhere in salads, on top of broths, we make a paste with dill and garlic in the south of Ukraine, so that flavour I think whenever it’s present it takes me back.

Do you grow your own dill?
I’ve been trying to grow dill for years and I keep failing, once I did have Mammoth dill which grew but ever since I haven’t had any success, it just gets eaten by the lovely slugs and snails. Luckily, I have a very good local Polish shop and they have really big bunches of dill which I presume they import.

Do you have a current favourite restaurant or type of restaurant?
I do yes, in fact, I have two and I guess they are the same type. 40 Maltby Street for a fancier kind of meal, and Towpath. I like both because you can definitely tell the food is made by chefs who know their stuff and it’s all technically beautiful.  If you close your eyes and eat it, it tastes like a really skilful grandmother could have made it. Their food doesn’t lose that emotive connection to what food should be like, they use good, seasonal ingredients and there’s no ego in there, it’s not about the chefs it’s about making those ingredients shine and that’s my favourite type of restaurant.

What food or ingredient could you not do without?
Back to dill!  I think dill fronds are entwined with my neurons!  Another thing I couldn’t live without is bread. I imagine in horror if one day I found out I was coeliac that would be awful, I just can’t imagine life without really good homemade bread. I make it almost every other day, there’s just so much joy in it.

What was the most memorable meal you can remember eating?
There are loads, but the one I keep going to, particularly in the past two years, is the summer of 2015 and we are at my late grandmother’s house in her village in the south of Ukraine near my hometown. I have a big extended family, my mum is one of 6 children, and we got together after she died and sat outside on a table underneath an old walnut tree, there was loads of food and drink. It was a muti-generational affair, and it was beautiful. It wasn’t just about eating and getting together to catch up, it was about going back in time and all the stories were coming out from the 1920’s onwards! It started at about 1 in the afternoon and ended in the early evening when the crickets and frogs started singing.

It’s 9 years since your first book Mamushka was published, were you surprised at how well it was received in the UK?
I was!  Ukrainians like many nations who have lived under colonial rule for a long time have this national complex almost of self-worth. We don’t necessarily believe in the value and worth of our culture of our food, people would think our food is just cabbages and potatoes and that’s it. So, when I wrote Mamushka I kept thinking ‘You must show the colour, you must show all of the herbs!’ I was hoping it would do ok, but I didn’t think it would sell as many copies as it did. Since then, I have written three more books Kaukasis (a cookbook on Georgian and Azeri cuisines), Summer Kitchens (on regional Ukrainian cuisine) and my latest - Home Food.

Can you make dumplings in your sleep!?
Yes, I think I can…! I have a video of me making dumplings when my son Wilf, was very little. It was for a fundraiser, and I didn’t have any childcare, so had to do the prep for a dumpling evening while I was looking after him, and I have got him in a sling holding him with one arm and with the other rolling the dumplings, so yes, I think I could make them in my sleep.

Is there something in particular you always keep in the fridge?
Yes, there is. There is always a plastic water bottle containing unrefined Ukrainian sunflower oil, although for the past two years it hasn’t been possible so at the moment I have a bottle of Georgian oil, which is very similar to Ukrainian. It is another one of those quintessential flavours and ingredients that does things to me and evokes emotions. It’s almost as strong as sesame oil and tastes of toasted sunflower seeds, it’s amber in colour very different from the refined oil we use for cooking, in Ukraine we use it as a finishing oil to dress salads or dress ferments.

What would be your last supper if literally anything was available to you and where would you eat it?
I think it would be the lunch I described before under the walnut tree. There would definitely need to be tomatoes, thickly sliced, big tomato steaks, and they are so good with just a little bit of salt on top they’re so delicious, and potatoes of course. Loads of pickles from the cellar, fermented cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines and a speciality of the south of Ukraine. Homemade egg noodles Ukrainian style, mixed with slow-cooked goose, very simple but a family special. I’d be eating it with all my family who are scattered all over the world now. My friend made her own wine, which was very good so we would drink that. In the south of Ukraine it’s almost Mediterranean and every single house that has an outside space would have a courtyard that’s completely covered by vines and everyone grows grapes and many people make their own wine. I miss them very much.

Olia runs online cookery classes and workshops, you can find out more here

Olia's father Petro, is an Engineer turned Minesweeper Designer, navigating the challenges of displacement with a practical and positive mindset. Having left his hometown in 2022, Petro is now leading a team of co-worker, specialists and volunteers to create a minesweeper prototype that addresses the pressing issue of landmines in Ukraine. You can read more and donate to The Legacy Of War Foundation here.