A year on from winning the Champions of Change Award for their work with Cook for Ukraine, friends Alissa Timoshkina and Olia Hercules have used their 50 Best grant to open a community space and cookery school in London
Just a week after the explosion of the Kakhovka dam that flooded her hometown in early June, Olia Hercules was teaching a cookery class in London, bringing together local food lovers and Ukrainians displaced by the war to learn about Ukrainian food and connect with each other. It was the first of a series of classes teaching cookery, arts, crafts and even meditation as part of Ukraine Hub, a follow-up to last year’s Cook for Ukraine initiative that will provide much-needed comfort to some of those affected by the conflict.
“We had a particularly heavy week because of what happened with the dam and my hometown – it was devastating,” says Hercules, author of Ukrainian cookbooks Home Food and Mamushka. “Seeing people and giving quite a few of them a hug felt like a really positive thing that happened that week.”
She adds that people from different regions of Ukraine attended the class. “It was nice to see everyone interacting and sharing stories when we were eating, especially positive stories about their hosts. It’s nice to see they’re settling in okay to the UK.”
Alissa Timoshkina and Olia Hercules created #CookforUkraine in 2022 to help people in need
That’s exactly why Hercules set up Ukraine Hub with her friend and fellow cookbook author, Alissa Timoshkina: to build a sense of community for those who have had to flee their country since the war began in early 2022. “It can be a really lonely place when you lose everything and you come to a new country and you don’t know anyone,” says Hercules, who still has family in Ukraine. “Once we hopefully roll it out and get some British people on board as well, it will be nice to see those interconnections between Ukrainians and people who are from here or living in London.”
Ukraine Hub’s other purpose is to help educate people about Ukrainian cuisine and culture, which Timoshkina explains are often conflated with those of Russia. “We always wanted to create something that would challenge that and help people understand more about what Ukraine is,” says Timoshkina, a Siberia-born freelance food writer, chef, podcast host and curator whose great grandmother was Jewish-Ukrainian.
With classes taking place at different venues across London from June to August, Ukraine Hub offers free places to displaced Ukrainians and paid places to everyone else, raising money to reinvest in the project while providing fun, community-building experiences. There are culinary classes to learn more about Ukrainian, Romanian, Vietnamese and Persian cuisines, as well as flower workshops, drawing and meditation, and even drumming for adults and kids.
The duo established Ukraine Hub using the funds received from their Champion of Change Award
Champions of Change
The initiative is an extension of Cook for Ukraine, the project set up by the two friends when the war began last year. Raising more than £2 million for relief efforts in Ukraine via direct donations and food-related events, the project also encourages people to share Ukrainian dishes and recipes on social media with the hashtag #CookforUkraine. Thanks to their efforts, Hercules and Timoshkina won the Champions of Change Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, a prize that included a significant donation towards what would become Ukraine Hub.
“It wouldn’t have been possible without the money [from 50 Best],” says Hercules. “I’m not sure we’ve got enough energy to do that kind of fundraising.” Timoshkina adds that the Champions of Change fund also gave them the structure to formulate their concept: “They required us to set a business plan, a very specific proposal, that really helped shape what ideas we had floating around. They were absolutely fundamental to the project.”
The space aims to foster a sense of community within the Ukrainian diaspora
While the 50 Best money allowed Timoshkina and Hercules to set up Ukraine Hub, their goal is to raise further funds in order to open a permanent school that will help more people over time. “We’d like to add a retail element,” says Timoshkina, who met Hercules 20 years ago when they were both studying in London. “There are so many amazing Ukrainian arts and crafts people, plus vintage folklore and books, so we want to have an educational, cultural corner where people can come, browse, learn and buy stuff while supporting Ukrainian artists and artisans, and just keep going with the classes.”
The pair are also planning to set up online classes that will be available to people all over the world, and they continue to raise money through their Cook for Ukraine fund. They would like to hear from chefs who might be interested in offering either their restaurant as a space, or their time and expertise, to help build Ukraine Hub into a long-term support for the community.
How you can help:
- Donate via Ukraine Hub
- Sign up for classes in London via Ukraine Hub
- Follow @ukrainehub.uk to be the first to know about online classes
- Get in touch with the team to offer your restaurant or partner with Ukraine Hub
- Keep up the conversation about the conflict. “Just keep talking about us and don’t put it on the back shelf,” says Hercules
Ukraine Hub features classes including cooking, drawing and meditation
Take a closer look at some of the classes on offer through Ukraine Hub in London:
16 July – Romanian cuisine with Irina Georgescu
@irina.r.georgescu
Irina Georgescu is a Romanian food writer and author of two cookbooks. The class will take participants through three traditional dishes: cheese pies called merdenele, lettuce soup served with a sliced omelette, known as ciorbă de salată, and a main course of pepper and tomato stew, called tocană, served with cornmeal dumplings.
30 July – Middle Eastern cuisine with Noor Mourad
@noorishbynoor
Noor Mourad is a Bahraini-born chef who works for the Ottolenghi group and has contributed recipes to cookbooks including Ottolenghi’s Flavour. Expect Arabic, Persian, Indian and Bahraini flavours to make an appearance during the class.
6 August – Vietnamese cuisine with Uyen Luu
@loveleluu
Uyen Luu is a writer, cook, photographer and food stylist who runs Vietnamese cooking classes and supper clubs from her home. Take a look at her Instagram for a taste of what’s to come.
Follow @Ukrainehub.uk or visit ukrainehub.uk for more information.
Discover Timoshkina and Hercules story in the video below:
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