BRIDGEPORT — Fortuna’s Catering Co. usually offers standard catering fare such as macaroni salad, lasagna and chicken parmigiana. But customers can also place orders for chicken Kiev, beef stroganoff and stuffed cabbage to show support for the Ukrainian people as the country continues to resist the Russian invasion.
Kristin Ferrarese, head chef at Fortuna’s, said food is a way for residents to show their support for Ukraine.
“It’s a double feel good,” she said. “You get to have something delicious and you’re doing something right.”
The catering company recently announced a sale on Ukrainian dishes, with the proceeds going to the World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides food to refugees around the world. The organization is currently providing food to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Offering Ukrainian food to customers and donating the proceeds is her way of helping from the other side of the world, Ferrarese said.
Customers must place their catering orders by March 10 to participate.
A post on the company Facebook page announcing the special deal cited the company philosophy of “approaching food with love.”
“We have always shown our love through food. We believe the best way to understand a culture is through their food and the love around those tables,” according to the post, which also cited World Central Kitchen volunteers going into a war zone to cook for people in bunkers and at home, cut off from food supplies.
The menu includes classics such as chicken Kiev, borscht, and beet and horseradish salads. The orders can feed four to six people and include sides such as salads and rolls with butter and a hope for peace, the post stated.
Fortuna’s usually doesn’t offer these menu items and is more well known for its Italian cusine, she said, but she’s had experience with different types of ethnic cuisine. For example, Ferrarese has done an Oktoberfest-themed menu in the past.
Ferrarese also has personal experience with Eastern European cuisine. Her best friend in high school was Polish.
“We learned as teenagers, how to make the golumpkis and the perogies and all of that,” she said.
But there were some items that were trickier to master, she said. Chicken Kiev is a well known dish, consisting of a chicken filet filled with cold butter, dressed with egg batter and crumbs then baked or fried. When served, the butter is supposed to ooze out.
Cooking it right was a challenge, according to Ferrarese.
“The one that was interesting is the chicken Kiev. Because you actually have to put cold parsley butter inside of the chicken. So you have to cook it the precise amount of time so that when you cut it open, the butter just drains out,” she said. “So the chicken will be perfectly cooked. But the butter won’t be cooked into the chicken. It’s definitely a timing one, but when it’s done right, it’s awesome. Because then you get that yummy buttery sauce to dip it in.”
However, most of the menu items she said, were simple to make and she said a lot of Ukrainian food shares similarities with other countries in the region such as Poland, so there wasn’t much of a learning curve.
She said she was motivated to do whatever she could to help after hearing stories of people fleeing their homes for their lives.
“I think about those families that are being displaced for just one man’s greed. And it’s so upsetting, and especially to think they just grabbed one bag and left their house and they didn’t know what was happening next, let alone where they were going to eat,” she said. “It just makes you lose sleep at night.”
So far, Ferrarese said Fortuna’s has been getting positive feedback and orders. She didn’t rule out making some of the items permanent additions to the menu.
And she said this isn’t the last time Fortuna’s will raise money and awareness.
“I just hope if our fundraiser resonates with people where they want to not only make a donation but get to try out the food of the Ukrainian culture, that they feel like we’re the place they can go through that and feel like they’re fully immersed in helping in some way,” she said. “And that this won’t be the last time we’re helping out the community. We’re always looking for ways locally and globally to reach out.”
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