Ukrainian Pizza

My everyday in the office can range from doing a lot of nothing (but I make it productive by researching recipes on how to dry fruit at home, or grant research and leadership games if I am feeling extra productive) to going out to the center and getting signatures on a petition requesting the government to actually implement programs that support the health and welfare of individuals living with Hepatitis (I just handed out balloons owing to the language barrier, but everybody else was getting signatures!). And speaking of, did you know that yesterday was the International Day for Hepatitis? I didn't until they gave me balloons to hand out.

But of course, we had to celebrate our success getting signatures by having soda and pizza in the office afterwards. So let me just tell you about Ukrainian pizza.

~The sauce is red mayonnaise. And there is a lot of it.
~From the choices we got yesterday, let's highlight 3 variants*
1. Cheese, Olives, Tomatoes, Corn, Chicken and pickles
2. Cheese, Chicken, Corn and Tomatoes
3. Cheese, Salami, Hot Dogs, and Whole Lemon Slices (rind included)-- My favorite.

Now, I know what you are thinking- DELICIOUS! Yup, exactly.... No, seriously though, I do indeed like it. The lemon one is really good- it just is different then anything I have ever eaten. And in stealing up the nerve to eat that whole lemon slice, I realize, what is really the difference between lemon and pineapple on a pizza? And after all, there are more vitamins in the peel anyhow. So chomp-chomp!!

What I got a personal kick from was the fact that the condiments available for your pizza here are mayonnaise and ketchup. Lots of it. In fact, please smoother your pizza in them. If you'd like, please feel free to add salt and pepper to it too. So essentially forget Parmesan or red chile flakes.

Then, now try and answer the question, "Do you like Ukrainian pizza?" Because somehow, trying to explain that "Yes, you like it but it is different than pizza in the States" just doesn't translate. If they were put side-to-side: Ukrainian pizza vs American Pizza you wouldn't even think they are attempting to be the same food category.

*Variants is my chosen word here because since Ukrainians learn British English, the word "choices" is a unfamiliar, and frankly uncomfortable, word for them. And I just like using it because I feel that it makes me sound more sophisticated. (Plus it becomes another word in my British English vocabulary, along with "wellies" and my British spelling of things- colour/color, grey/gray etc etc).