A day with shepherds!

A day with shepherds by Anastasiya Zolotarev

Photo by Anastasia Zolotarev We hiked all day through hills and forests for this cheese and local shepherd in Transcarpathia! Definitely the hardest journey I've ever made to taste incredible cheese! We were greeted by the shepherd and his friends and family and then had an impromptu feast of wood fired pork rilette, raw onion (spring onion), bread, salo, a stew of goat (I think from memory) which I assume was also cooked in their milk because it was quite creamy AND vodka. And fresh milk and whey and cheese. This is what makes a meal so special and it was one of the best in my life. Firstly it was unexpected, secondly the hospitality from the shepherd and his family, thirdly the food was all made from scratch (I'm sure the vodka was too), fourthly we hiked up steep hills and walked through old Ukrainian forests, fifthly it was just so delicious. Can't wait to share more of this story and more from my latest trip in Ukraine on my blog! @experienceukraine