Ukrainian Dumplings

These excellent Ukrainian dumplings were purportedly the writer Nikolai Gogol’s favorite food, and he was a connoisseur. In true Russian philosophical style, he is said to have mused on occasion over the inconceivability of life without his beloved vareniki. Others who have lived in Ukraine are likely to share Gogol’s sentiments: the painter Malevich, long after his Ukrainian childhood had passed, still fondly recalled boiled vareniki with cherries, slathered with sour cream and dark Ukrain