The life of book and film characters can become a part of regular life. Now the fans of Felix Austria novel by Sofia Andrukhovych and future fans of Maid-in-Law movie will have an excellent occasion to learn more about their cooking secrets, and the treats prepared by protagonists Stefania and Adela will easily make it to your festive table. Galicia Treats cookbook has been compiled based on a bestseller by Sofia Andrukhovych Felix Austria (Vydavnytstvo Staroho Leva publishing house) and its screening, Maid-in-Law by FILM.UA Production.
In this book the readers will find recipes from Galicia cuisine by a well-known culinary blogger Pani Stefa, gorgeous pictures and movie stills. Besides, you will be able to add your own recipes, ideas and notes to the book as there are separate pages for that. Galicia Treats cookbook will be published in Vydavnytstvo Staroho Leva in early December.
.jpg)
The novel and the film immerse the audience in the atmosphere of Galicia in late 19th and early 20th century, in particular through a particularly colorful poetics of cuisine, food shopping and cooking. The names of Galicia dishes are truly musical: karmanadli, andrutas, galyaretka, Christmas borsch with kreplyky, tsvibak, etc. All the recipes are presented in the form of letters of an experienced housekeeper to her niece Sofia. In these letters she teaches the young woman to cook and serve various dishes in the most exquisite way. A legendary culinary blogger Pani Stefa (Galicia cuisine researcher Marianna Dushar) helped with the recipes for the cookbook.
Galicia Treats cookbook is a great opportunity to create your own special recipe book: to keep family traditions or even to start new ones. Signature dishes, amazing treats, culinary inventions and tricks, recipes inherited from your closest family – all this is more than just food. “Galicia cuisine in 11 letters – is that possible? Probably not. However, it is hard to imagine cooking in Galicia home without a mushroom soup or rose rohalky. I would really love for this correspondence to be continued – maybe somebody will find notebooks with records of their great-grandmother and finally bake that pie with apricots the smell of which has stayed with them through the years… And then they will write down several of their own signature dishes in this notebook. And this circulation of secret knowledge won’t break,” says Pani Stefa (Marianna Dushar) when telling about the work on the cookbook.
.jpg)
“When we started working on Maid-in-Law we immediately understood that cultural heritage of Galiciain those times was so rich that it is impossible to fit it in just one movie. Cooking is just one of the available facets, but it is essential. A family dinner wasn’t just about having a meal. It was the climax of the day with its own rituals during which people communicated in the family circle and strengthened their family ties. At the same time, the recipes were a valuable treasure older women shared with their younger relatives and those passed them farther down the line. It is this succession that we are trying to preserve and showcase in the most efficient way. And projects like this cookbook allow us to talk about creating a real universe around Felix Austria and its screening, Maid-in-Law,” said Nadia Zaionchkovska, producer of Maid-in-Law romantic fantasy feature.
The elegant classics shown on the pages of the novel in combination with special gastronomic experience will allow everyone in the audience to create their unique culinary story. Galicia Treats cookbook is a chance to see that cooking in Felix Austria style is possible!
Felix Austria, a bestselling novel by Sofia Andrukhovych, was first published in 2014. In this story two young women are trying to ultimately grow up against the backdrop of 1900’s provincial town in Eastern Austro-Hungary. And on January 16, 2020 a romantic feature Maid-in-Law by FILM.UA Production based on the novel will be premiered on cinema screens.
Synopsis: The story starts in Stanislaviv (currently Ivano-Frankivsk) in the second half of the 19th century. Doctor Anger loses his wife in the fire but manages to rescue two girls: his own daughter Adelya and the daughter of housekeepers Stefania. In a moment of despair, the doctor decides to bring them up together.
25 years pass. The girls have grown up and are still inseparable though Adelya is now married. As for Stefa, she tends to the house and drowns her passion in cooking. But they still don’t understand who they are to each other: sisters and friends or a maid and a mistress. In the kaleidoscope of love and jealousy, double-entendres and secrets the boundary between reality and fiction disappears altogether. Elegant outfits, sophisticated dishes and endless promenades… What will happen when the illusion will start dispelling and reality will come into the foreground instead?
Project producer: Nadia Zayonchkovska
Screenwriters: Alina Semeryakova in collaboration with Sofia Andrukhovych
Director: Khrystyna Syvolap
DOP: Oleksiy Lamakh
Art director: Oleksandr Batenev
Costume designer: Lesya Patoka
Makeup artist: Maria Kolomiyets
Casting director: Alla Samoylenko
Cast: Marianna Januszewicz, Alesya Romanova, Roman Lutsky, Oleksandr Kobzar, Sergiy Volosovets, Ada Rogovtseva, Kateryna Kukhar, Yevhen Yanovych, Natalya Vasko, Irma Vitovska, Vazha Goderdzishvili, Sebastian Cybulsky, Yasin Faradzhallakh, Maryna Koshkina.
Produced by: FILM.UA Production with the support of Ukrainian Government and Ministry of Culture
CGI/VFX: POSTMODERN Digital
Distributor: Volha Ukraine
Premiere: January 16, 2020
