«I was 8 years old when I went to Italy for the first time. Italian recipes has influenced my cuisine so much. At the age of 16 I cooked pasta with garlic and oil for the first time. My heart started beating so much and I realized that I wanted to be a chef». It is curious to think that the most famous Ukrainian chef started its work from Italian cuisine. Chef Yevhen Klopotenko’s career began at a very young age first as a bartender, then a waiter and then again as a manager until he took part in the MasterChef Ukraine contest which earned him the victory and the launch towards a great career as a cook.
Nowadays, chef Klopotenko is 36 years old. In his 9-year career he has become one of the most famous Ukrainian chefs who have influenced Ukrainian gastronomy and lifestyle.
«Now everything has changed». Chef Klopotenko doesn’t seem sad, he tries to tell his experience with a smile, joking and showing confidence in his work and his experience in Kiev. However it is easy to imagine the dramatic experience he had lived. «It was very late in the night when the war began. I think 4.30 a.m. My first thought was for my sister and her children who didn’t have a car to escape. So, I immediately started driving. We didn’t know what to do, we were watching the news and I was trying to figure out a way to be useful». And that’s what he does.
Chef Yevhen Klopotenko decides to make his kitchen available to his people. He moves to the west of Ukraine to refugee camps and begins to cook for the Ukrainian people. In the railways, he offers comfort with a meal, some hot tea or just a hug. «I wanted them to know that there are no people who are famous or not. We are all the same, especially in this situation. We are all fighting the same enemy».
Chef Klopotenko has two restaurants, one in Kiev and one in Lviv. «In my restaurants, people can come and eat for free. I don’t want them to feel like poor people, I treat them just like all my clients». A simple yet fundamental gesture during a time when food is so important. «I used to cook with particular products, never seen before, because I wanted to let the Ukrainians try new products. Now I try to use local products, to help the Ukrainian farmers».
«My goals have changed. I wanted to bring nouvelle cousin to Ukraine. I had so many plans, I wanted to go to America and meet new chefs and recipes. Since the war began, I have started to react based on the needs of the people, their will, their desires. I’ve created some fun recipes to distract Ukrainians and others that can remind them their home, their tradition, to be able to be near them through food. I didn’t leave my country because I knew I wouldn’t be helpful anywhere else».
Even today, chef Klopotenko cooks for refugees, for those who stayed and those who had to stay, for those who are fighting, for those who live in the dark most of the time and under attack at least once a week: «the problem are not the bombs or the darkness, it’s the absence of Wi-Fi!» he jokes, but with a grain of truth. Being without the internet means being without external contacts, without information, without knowledge: it really is like being in the dark.
«I just wanted to thank all the Italians for the support they are showing us. Without them I would have never started cooking. My message is this: although food is love and has no borders, when there is war this changes. There are borders and there are barriers, there is lack, there is hunger. Food can save lives, it did for me and I try to do it for the Ukrainian people».
Read also: «La cucina per salvare il mio paese»
