Olena Teliha's Noodle Soup




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By William W. Lawrence

The beautiful poet, Olena Teliha, was born Elena Ivanovna Shovgeneva in the village of Ilyinskoe, near Moscow in Russia where her parents spent summer vacations. Her father was a civil engineer while her mother came from a family of Russian Orthodox priests. In 1918, Olena moved to Kiev with her family, when her father became a minister in the new Ukrainian National Republic government.

There they lived through the years of Ukrainian Civil War. When the Bolsheviks took over, her father moved to Czechoslovakia, with the rest of the family following him in 1923.

After living through the rise and fall of Ukrainian National Republic, Olena became interested in Ukrainian language and literature. She attended studied history and philology in a Ukrainian teacher's college In Prague There she met a group of young Ukrainian poets in Prague and started writing poetry herself. She was also a wonderful cook renowned as much for her chicken noodle soup as her poetry.

Her associates looked forward to having their clandestine meetings at her house because they knew she would be serving her famous soup.

After marrying, she moved to Warsaw, Poland, where she lived until the start of the Second World War. In 1939, like many of the young Ukrainians with whom she associated, Olena became a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, within which she became an activist in cultural and educational matters. In 1941, Teliha and her husband Mykhailo Teliha (who she met and married in Czechoslovakia) moved back to Kiev. There she expanded her work as a cultural and literary activist. She headed the Ukrainian Writers' Guild and edited a weekly cultural and arts newspaper called "Litavry". A lot of her activities were in open defiance of the Nazi authorities. She watched her closest colleagues from the parent-newspaper "Ukrainian Word" ("Ukrayins'ke Slovo") get arrested and yet chose to ignore the dangers. She refused to flee, declaring that she would never again go into exile.

The brave writer was finally arrested by the Gestapo and executed, aged 35, in Babi Yar, a ravine near Kiev along with her husband. In the prison cell where she stayed, her last written words were scribbled on the wall: "Here was interred and from here goes to her death Olena Teliha".

Her favorite dish was chicken noodle soup.

For this recipe you will need:

1 (3 lb) roasting chickens
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
Serve over cooked homemade noodles

1. Cover the chicken with water in a stock pot and bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, skimming the protein foam that forms.
2. After the foam has subsided, add the bay leaf; simmer uncovered, for 2 hours.
3. Remove the chicken and allow to cool.
4. Remove the bayleaf with a slotted spoon and discard.
5. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the stock and simmer for another hour or until the vegetables are tender.
6. Once the chicken is cooled, remove skin and bones and discard; add the meat to the stock.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Add the parsley; stir.
9. Serve with egg noodles.

Note: I like to serve the noodles separately and let each person ladle the soup over their noodles. I find that if you mix the noodles into the soup, it eventually sucks up all the broth.

Ukrainian Egg Noodles

4 eggs-well beaten
4 tbsp. water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

Mix egg and water; add enough flour until doughy. Separate into two balls Flour surface; roll out thin. Dry for about one or two hours. Cut into 2 1/2 to 3 inch strips and spread to dry. Place strips on top of one another and cut about an eighth of an inch wide. Toss to separate the noodles and drop into simmering water. Cook for about ten minutes or until al dente and drain in colander. Place desired amount of noodles into bowl and ladle soup over them.

Bon Appetite

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