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'Cuisines of Odesa' Cookbook Demo & Signing

with Maria Kalenska

£30
Saturday 24th
October 2026
11:30-13:30
(2hrs)
Divertimenti
Knightsbridge

IMPORTANT
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Join us at the Divertimenti Cookery School as we welcome food writer, chef and guide Maria Kalenska for a special evening celebrating her cookbook, Cuisines of Odesa: Recipes and Stories from Ukraine’s Historic City.

Born into a fourth-generation Odesan family, Maria brings the food, people and stories of her home city to life through more than 100 recipes, gathered from cooks across the Odesan diaspora. From classic borsch and pork dumplings to Black Sea turbot, aubergine caviar and sweet curd cheese syrniki, the book is a celebration of Odesa’s wonderfully diverse food culture, rich history and unmistakable spirit.

Discover the traditions, flavours and fascinating stories behind this unique corner of Ukraine, and the food that brings its people together. More than a cookbook, it’s a heartfelt tribute to a city known for its warmth, joie de vivre and wonderful sense of humour.

Maria will be demonstrating one recipe five ways. Curd Cheese Syrniki is much loved by Odesan families and friends...

Syrniki 5 Ways Menu:

Felix's Favourite Curd Cheese Syrniki - golden and tender, studded with plump raisins, kissed with acacia honey, crowned with a cool cloud of sour cream

Tiny Syrniki with Poppyseed - small poppyseed mouthfuls of tenderness, with soured cream and a jam made in five minutes

Oven-Warmed Syrniki with Baked Grapes - slowly warmed in the oven, resting beside grapes baked until they turn sweet and soft

Felicity Spector's Syrniki, English Style - a tribute by Felicity Spector. Served with prunes in Odesa Black wine from Privoz and velvet crème fraiche

Savoury Syrniki - served with Salmon and dill-scented sour cream: a quiet nod to the sea

 

What's included:

  • Refreshments on arrival and available throughout the class
  • Tasters from the demonstration for you to enjoy accompanied by a glass of wine or soft refreshments
  • The opportunity to purchase a copy of the book and have it personally signed by the authors
  • 10% discount on purchases made in store on the day of your class, including cookery classes. Excludes books, food, electrical items, gift vouchers and sale items

Maria Kalenska

Maria Kalenska is a food writer, chef and culinary guide.  Born into a fourth-generation Odesan family, Maria spent many years working in food and hospitality and this experience informed her skills and passion for food and its importance in society.  Maria’s interest in culinary education led her to open Odesa’s first cooking school which quickly became a popular place for lessons, tastings and community events.  She helped create the “Best Riedel Glass for Odesa Black” initiative to promote Ukrainian winemaking and is a founder of the non-profit charity “Bake for Ukraine”.  

 

www.myodesacuisine.com  

@mkalenska  

@mkalenska_cookbook 

You will be learning in a beautifully designed kitchen which provides a warm welcoming environment that can accommodate everything from group cookery classes to intimate chef’s tables, with the versatility to suit everyone.

Our partners have been chosen with great care, as all our equipment must stand up to the day-to-day rigours of our cookery school – much like a professional kitchen, that you can enjoy using whilst creating your own amazing dishes in class to give you the best possible experience when cooking with us.

Our classes and outstanding range of teachers will help you hone your gastronomic skills, even if you are a complete novice or a dab hand in the kitchen. We love highlighting new upcoming food trends and championing the rising stars within the culinary world.


Divertimenti does everything it can to reduce the risk of any students consuming an allergen that could cause and allergic reaction.

Please call the school to discuss any severe food allergies prior to booking a class online, we must speak to you before you visit the school if you have a severe allergy or severe dietary intolerance.

We will become as flexible as possible, where we can to remove a specific ingredient from a student’s recipe we will but we are unable to remove that ingredient for every student attending.

We handle all types of ingredients in the kitchen at Divertimenti and we are not able to completely allergen free environment, our kitchen is multi-purpose therefore this makes our kitchen unsuitable for those with life- threatening allergies, in such cases as these we would suggest getting in touch with the team to arrange a private lesson in your own home with one of our chefs. Please contact us for more information

In the unlikely event you are unable to the class you have booked for and need to cancel your booking, for a full refund we will require your cancellation via email no less than 7 days.

Once we have received your cancellation, we will arrange a booking onto an alternative class date or a full refund, sadly we are unable to make changes to bookings or offer a refund with less than 7 days of the date of your class but we are happy to switch the names on the booking so a family member or friend can take the place.

Divertimenti reserves the right to cancel any demonstration or class or substitute another presenter at any time, in the unfortunate event that a ‘Personality’ present or chef cannot attend a session you will be offered the choice of an appropriate alternative or a full refund.

Attendees must be aged over 18 to attend an adult class - we have a list of suitable young adult and teenage classes suitable for under 18’s – they must be accompanied by an adult.



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