Extra Bites: Olia Hercules
Strong Roots
This week on Cooking the Books, Olia Hercules tells us the story of Ukraine through four generations of her own family in her memoir, Strong Roots.
It’s an extraordinary read, and here she shows us some of the photographs from the family album. Meet her mum and dad, little (now bigger) Sasha, her grandparents, strong-backed matriarch, Lyusya and the James Dean lookalike, Viktor, and the food that is the glue that keeps the stories coming.
From left to right: Olia and family in Lyubymivka village, under the walnut tree; Olia and Sasha in her parents’ garden, Kakhovka; Apricots in summer kitchen, Lyubymivka; Liusia, Zhenia and Olia; Petro and Olga, Olia’s parents; Olga and Olia, 1985; Viktor Mardarenko circa 1937, Olia’s grandfather; Olia’s mum Olga and grandmother Liusia, 1960; Viktor Mardarenko, Olia’s grandfather, 1939.