Lozhka: Eastern European Soups, Stews & Other Things We Eat with a Spoon

In Lozhka, award-winning writer and co-founder of #CookforUkraine, Alissa Timoshkina, celebrates Eastern Europe through one of its most humble and powerful symbols: the spoon. Blending soulful recipes with rich storytelling, she brings together history, memory, and cooking in a portrait of the region that is both deeply comforting and strikingly contemporary.

From herb-scented soups and hearty grain stews to pillowy dumplings and custard-soaked desserts, each dish carries a sense of meaning, memory, and belonging. Drawing on a wide range of traditions, including Ukrainian, Jewish, Tatar, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, and Roma, among others, Lozhka reveals a borderless cuisine shaped by resilience and generosity.

Vibrant, vegetable-forward, and full of smoky, tangy, and creamy flavors, these recipes are made for today's kitchens while honoring centuries of tradition. More than a cookbook, Lozhka is a journey through kitchens, cultures, and shared histories--an invitation to slow down, gather around, and savor the stories carried in every spoonful.

Alissa Timoshkina is a food writer, historian, and campaigner, best known for the multi-award-winning #CookforUkraine initiative and her cookbooks Kapusta and Salt & Time. Her work appears in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue, and The Economist, and she is a regular voice on BBC radio, podcasts, and major food and literary festivals.

Review Quotes:

"I couldn't love this book more". -- Diana Henry

"Just as you would tuck into a bowl of Alissa's quince borscht or linger over her boozy, chocolate- and smetana-layered trifle, I promise you will want to do the same with this deeply felt gem of a book." -- Polina Chesnakova