What in the heck is a Mamushka?
Depends upon whom you believe.
At its most basic, Mamushka is an archaic Russian term of endearment for “Mother.”
Culturally, Urban Dictionary says it is a literary reference to a bit made famous in The Addams Family movie in the 1990s. That bit of humor featured what Gomez called the dance of brotherly love (a knife dance, no less!) that he claimed the family was taught by the Cossacks and brags that the family danced the dance at Waterloo. (Love that image!)
Other sites suggest it is one of those Russian doll “things” where one motherly-looking doll fits into the other and on and on.
Whatever.
In this case Mamushka is a cookbook and a very good one at that. The author is Olia Hercules, a Ukrainian-born chef based in London, who wrote the book to showcase the cooking traditions of her nation and to celebrate the strong women in Ukraine and in her life. If you’re wondering what the word Mamushka means in Hercules’ usage, she explains that she and her brother fell in love with the silly Mamushka scene in the Addams Family movie.
This recipe from Hercules’ book for Ukrainian Garlic Rolls (pampushky) has garnered quite a bit of attention of late as people across the world grasp for ways to relate to Ukraine’s people and their unfolding tragedy.
Hercules, along with Russian food writer Alissa Timoshkina, has created a grassroots entity to raise funds for the Ukrainian Resistance. Working with UNICEF-UK here, they have created #CookForUkraine. Like the earlier #CookForSyria (which raised more than one million pounds for Syrian relief with UNICEF), #CookForUkraine partners with supper clubs, bake sales and cookbook sales to raise funds and raise awareness of Ukraine’s plight.
In a piece in The Guardian, Timoshkina was quoted as saying: “It might be confusing, at a time like this, to see all these beautiful pictures of food being circulated, but food is an important tool for education, a basic thing that everyone can relate to. What better way to learn about people than through their food?” Here is a link to the full article: Guardian Interview with Hercules and Timoshkina.
And so it was that I decided to give the recipe a try. It’s everything I wanted it to be–over-the-top garlicky, pillowy in texture, an indulgent (and comforting) treat for tough days in a tough world. Pampusky, often served with beet borscht, translates to “plump woman.” It is easy to see why that name was chosen.
Here is the recipe as I adapted it in my kitchen. Hercules’ book is sold out right now in its hardback edition, but Kindle editions are widely available through your local bookstore on on Amazon here. You can also find her recipes in The Guardian here and this particular recipe can be found in a column she wrote on Nigella Lawson’s site here.
Ukrainian Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
- 1 t. superfine sugar
- 1 C. plus 3 T. warm water
- 2 1/2 C. white bread flour
- 1 1/2 t. fine sea salt
- 3 T. sunflower or grape seed oil
- 1 1/2 T. garlic (crushed)
- 1/2 bunch parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 egg (beaten-to glaze)
Directions
- Step 1 The night before you plan to bake your rolls, make this mixture to use as a “starter” for your bread. Mix sugar and yeast in one cup of warm water. Add half the flour (1 1/4 C.) to the yeast water and mix. Cover this mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to proof. The next morning the flour mixture should have risen nicely.
- Step 2 The following day, add the remaining 1 1/4 C. flour and the sea salt to the starter mixture from your refrigerator. I needed to add a bit more water (3 T.) to the dough, so you may as well in your kitchen. Knead the mixture in your stand mixer with the dough hook attachment or put the dough on a hard surface (slightly floured) and knead by hand. You want the dough to be smooth after you have kneaded it and you don’t want the dough to be too sticky.
- Step 3 Divide the dough into eight pieces and roll into balls. Oil a 9-inch round cake pan and arrange the eight pieces of dough in the pan. Cover and let the rolls proof until they are doubled in size.
- Step 4 While the rolls are proofing, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Step 5 While the rolls are proofing, prepare the garlic oil mixture you are going to use to top the rolls when they are baked. Put the oil into a small bowl. Add the crushed garlic to the bowl along with a pinch of salt. Stir in the chopped parsley and then set the mixture aside to allow the flavors to marry.
- Step 6 When the rolls have risen, brush them with beaten egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes in a 425 degree F. preheated oven.
- Step 7 When the rolls are baked and browned on top, remove from the oven and brush generously with the garlic-parsley infused oil.
