Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia

by Polina Chesnakova

Recipes with Love from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Beyond is Polina Chesnakova’s third cookbook, a love letter to the food of her childhood. Born in Ukraine to Russian and Armenian parents from Georgia, she grew up cooking and eating at the hip of her mother and aunts.  

From Georgian tkemali (sour plum sauce) and Armenian gata (butter pastry) to Ukrainian varenyky (dumplings) and Russian golubtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls) and medovik (honey cake), Chesnok showcases over 110 vibrant regional recipes. Essays, stories, and profiles of the amazing cooks in her life are peppered amongst recipes as diverse as the communities from which they blossomed and the immigrant experience they were subsequently passed down in.

Chesnok paints a potrait of the Soviet diaspora through food, and is for the children of that diaspora, but it is also for anyone looking to expand their palate and pantry and learn the rich history of a people through their most cherished recipes and traditions. 

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have I looked at a book of recipes I have absolutely no cultural association with and felt this at home. It's a graphic-design and food photography stunner, and I want to try all of it (though some recipes still intimidate me - but so does my grandmother's cooking skill).

***I received a digital copy from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.***

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soviet food is so much more than you may think and no one is better than Polina to dispel those myths and show you the diversity and delicacy of these cuisines. The food in this book is beautiful, comforting, approachable, delicious, and full of history. Multiple recipes have already become repeat favorites at my house - like the simply named Mushroom and Buckwheat Chicken Soup, or the Tvorog (farmer's cheese) that is cheap and easy to make at home and transforms into all kinds of treats, like Syrniki (think cheesecake meets pancake, but better than both IMO). I'm loving Polina's family's twists on classics that my mom and grandma make (Borsch, I'm looking at you 😍), and expanding my own view of what Soviet food means.

[MAYA QUARTZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I wanted to love this cookbook, as the photos are absolutely stunning and the author's personal stories about her family are genuinely touching, I found it to be an overwhelming experience in practice. The recipes seem authentic and well-researched, but they are decidedly not for beginners. The instructions for many dishes are dense, with multiple complex steps laid out in long paragraphs that are difficult to follow at a glance while cooking. I found myself lingering over recipes but ultimately feeling too daunted by the lengthy directions and specialized techniques to attempt them. This is a beautiful book to read as a culinary travelogue, but as a practical kitchen guide for the average home cook, it falls short.