Introduction

I come from a large family (7 total kids). My paternal grandparents are from Ukraine who emigrated to the US in the early 1900’s. (As a 17-year-old boy, my grandfather hiked across Europe to Amsterdam in order to catch a boat to America). Some of my fondest and longest lasting memories are from the summer visits to my grandparents' home in Kansas City, Kansas. The celebration of family almost always centered around the dining room and the kitchen. My grandmother would make some of the old-world dishes for us (Holubtsi, Pierogi, Borscht just to name a few). But the one dish that we all loved, and that is still being served by my siblings and I, is Povitica – an Eastern European Nut Bread.

The Story Behind the Dish

Povitica is a traditional holiday nut bread served most often during the Christmas and Easter holidays. My grandmother brought this recipe with her from Ukraine and would make it for her husband and her children every holiday. As her children grew, married, and started families of their own, my grandmother would share the recipes with the new, expanded families. My mother in turn, taught me and several of my siblings the recipe. As the years pass, the recipe is continually handed down to the next generations. My siblings’ children (and mine) have learned the recipe and are now teaching their children how to make it. Starting with my grandmother and moving through the generations, this recipe has been on the holiday tables of five generations of Jaremko’s spanning over 100 years.