One of the most enjoyable aspects of travelling to a new country is trying their local cuisine.  Ukraine has a wonderful variety of foods, adopting aspects of Russian, Romanian, Tatar, and Middle Eastern cuisine, and infusing it with their own local tastes and specialties. 

Much of Ukrainian cuisine greatly resembles Russian dishes, and they are often called similar names, with a few exceptions.  The centerpiece of a good Ukrainian meal is always some kind of meat.  Ground beef cutlets, breaded fried chicken, and grilled fish are common main dishes.  Don't expect anything spicy - at most, a dish will be accentuated with salt, cream, and dill, which are meant to help enrich the meat's own flavor.  One Ukrainian specialty you might get to try is holodets, a concoction of chicken and vegetables trapped in a jelly made from the chicken's own bone marrow. 

There are also many bread and grain based dishes.  The most delicious Ukrainian treat is blinchiki, crepes stuffed with cheese, meat, or fruit, then fried and often covered in cream.  While many restaurants serve them, it's best to get a kind grandmother to bake you a whole tray full; it's hard to eat just one or two!  Pelmeni is another traditional Ukrainian dish.  These little dumplings can be filled with potatoes, meat, vegetables, or fruit, and may be served plain, with cream, or in a soup.

The surrounding countries and Ukraine's internal minority groups have also had quite an impact on what Ukrainians eat.  Many Tatar dishes, such as chebureki (flat fried dough filled with meat or goat's cheese) or plov (fried rice with nuts or raisins) are quite common, especially in the southern areas of Ukraine.  In western Ukraine, restaurants will often have more Polish-influenced cuisine, such as sausage or saurkraut stew, or Romanian dishes, like mamaliga (corn meal served with cream or fried fat).

Holiday meals or any other special occasion are served with a fair amount of ceremony.  The tables will be covered with as many elegantly presented dishes as possible until, as the saying goes, "the table is breaking."  You're allowed to start eating even before everyone else is served, but by no means should you start drinking until everyone is ready!  Alcohol accompanies almost any important meal, and there are quite a lot of traditions and rules attached to it.  Each drink is preceded by a toast.  As the guest you may at some point be asked to make a toast.  Feel free to give it in English, and then end your sentiments with Na zdrovya! (Russian) or Budmo! (Ukrainian).  Never toast with water; this is bad luck.  If you don't want to drink, fill your glass with juice or soda to toast along with everyone else; that's completely acceptable.

If you're lucky enough to be in Ukraine during a holiday, do whatever you can to get invited to a family dinner!  Holidays are often accompanied with special seasonal foods and traditions.  New Year's Eve is always a long night of eating and drinking, and probably will involve dancing and fireworks as well.  During Christmas, celebrated in January, there's the special dessert kutya, made with grain, nuts, and fruit.  But the biggest religious celebration is on Easter.  Usually starting in the early morning there's feasting and drinking.  Eggs are decorated and then smashed in a game of "egg war," and everyone shares the traditional Easter cake, the paskha.