Baked & Spiced · Varenukha
Varenukha (Poltava Spiced Spirit)
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This drink appears in the folk tales of Poltava-born writer Nikolai Gogol, whose Christmas Eve story set in a Poltava-region village captures the same fruit-and-spice household brew still made in the region today.
Varenukha is a dark, syrupy spiced spirit made by sealing horilka with dried apples, pears, prunes, raisins, honey, and warming spices inside a clay pot and slow-baking it in the oven. It's poured warm in small glasses, thick with stewed-fruit and caramel flavor, traditionally served to honored guests at Christmas.
Why it's made this way: The drink took shape in the villages of central Ukraine around Poltava in the 16th century, and its strong association with Poltava-region folklore has kept it tied to this part of the country ever since.
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