VOA新闻杂志2024--Nizhyn Pickles

Nizhyn Pickles²

Editor's note: This story is one of the winning entries from the "Teach Us about Ukraine" writing contest sponsored by VOA Learning English and GoGlobal.

My name is Liudmyla Shylova and I have been teaching English for 21 years in Nizhyn, Ukraine.

Nizhyn is a small city in northern Ukraine with more than a thousand years of history. But the city is, perhaps, best known for a small food item that can be found around the world: pickles.

If you ever taste Nizhyn pickles, you will understand why that small cucumber represents 300 years of the history, tradition, and taste of Ukrainian cuisine³.

In the 17th century, Nizhyn was a Cossack city on the border of the Russian Empire. At that time, some Greeks sailed down the Oster River to escape from the Ottoman occupation. They brought their culture, traditions and, among other things, a recipe for salting cucumbers.

The Greeks valued the rich soil of Nizhyn and grew cucumbers to make pickles. The pickling process took place in wooden barrels that were bought from Nizhyn craftsmen⁴. Their secret recipe contained spices from eastern markets and local water from the artesian springs.

The Greeks also paid much attention to the quality of cucumbers. The vegetables had to be the same size, neither big nor small. This permitted the cucumbers to be evenly salted and have a special crunch⁵.

Eventually, Nizhyn pickles made by the Greeks found their admirers among the Cossacks, local people and even the royals. When Empress Catherine II of Russia traveled south through Nizhyn, she ordered pickles to her table. The Queen of Britain was also known to feast⁶ on those crunchy cucumbers.

In the 19th century, Nizhyn pickles became popular in many European countries. Traders made a lot of money selling them to people in Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany and Great Britain.

Nowadays, Nizhyn pickles can be found on supermarket shelves all over the world.

The product has since become a part of Ukrainian culture. In 2005, a monument to Ukraine's fruit and vegetable culture was opened near the local food factory. And a Nizhyn pickle¹ was included in the list of winners of an international project on the food culture of Ukraine.

So, welcome to Nizhyn, and go ahead and taste our pickles!

I'm Jill Robbins.

1 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

2 pickles   

n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱

参考例句：

• Most people eat pickles at breakfast. 大多数人早餐吃腌菜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want their pickles and wines, and that.' 我要他们的泡菜、美酒和所有其他东西。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

3 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

4 craftsmen   

n. 技工

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• The craftsmen have ensured faithful reproduction of the original painting. 工匠保证要复制一幅最接近原作的画。

5 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

6 feast   

n.盛宴，筵席，节日

参考例句：

• After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.大吃了一顿之后，她花了一周时间节食以安慰自己。
• You shouldn't have troubled yourself to prepare such a feast!你不该准备这样丰盛的饭菜，这样太麻烦你了！