Ottawa professionals host National Kovbasa Tasting Competition

by Roman W. Zakaluzny

OTTAWA - It wasn't long after the end of Lent that Ottawa Ukrainians participated in an orgy ... of kovbasa eating.

More than 100 people crammed into Ottawa's Ukrainian Orthodox church hall on May 15 to take part in the fifth annual National Kovbasa Tasting Competition, organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Ottawa.

The garlicky odor greeting people as they entered indicated that this year's competition was the largest the association had ever hosted.

"Every year it's gotten bigger," said association member and organizer Nina Romas. "In fact, this year we're swamped with kovbasa."

Attendees paid money to pack the hall for a brief panel on real estate tips - the business portion of the evening. Yet all waited in anticipation for part two of the evening, when they got to taste, then vote, for their favorite kovbasa in three different categories: traditional, ham-based and specialty. Twelve suppliers from 10 cities representing six Canadian provinces had entries in all or some of the categories, and all wanted a spot in the top three.

J.J. Pawlak's Ottawa delicatessen has supplied sausages to the competition for four straight years. He admitted that after every competition, he experiences an increase in business at his store, adding happily that his meat has been scored highly in past years. "So far, we are lucky," said the transplanted Pole, adding that there's not much difference between German, Polish or Ukrainian kovbasa, just in who is making it.

He hoped for a win in all three categories. "Our specialty kovbasa is the hot Cajun. And we brought a traditional sausage, which I cannot find, or maybe it is already eaten," laughed Mr. Pawlak.

During the taste-testing, attendees were entertained by jazz pianist Natasha Guiller, and were able to quench their thirst with Slavutych beer from Ukraine, one of the event's sponsors. In addition to the bountiful piles of pork there were plates of pickles and bread, but attendees were confused as to their purpose.

"I think it's to cleanse the palate between kovbasas," said Lidia Jenzjowsky, 22, who was attending her first kovbasa competition.

"It's to offset the cholesterol in the kovbasa," contradicted organizer Orest Dykyj, in between mouthfuls of sausage. "Just to make a sort of a fuller flavor." When asked what he used to rinse his own palate, Mr. Dykyj answered: "the Ukrainian beer."

Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike participated in the competition, despite the fact that the highly spiced sausage may have been relatively new to some of their diets.

"I've had sausage before, but not this range of different types all at once" said Dawn Wong, an IT worker from Ottawa. "I'm making my rounds now."

"My boss's wife is Ukrainian, and we have a Ukrainian intern in our office, so there's a lot of Ukrainian influence around," said Terence Scheltema, also from Ottawa. "It sounded like a good night, so I came. And it's been absolutely enjoyable."

Mr. Scheltema knew exactly what he was looking for in his kovbasa. "First of all, I like a low-grease content. I love sausages, but I hate greasy ones. I was looking for something that was very clean to the palate, that didn't leave much of an aftertaste, and that just passed through with a nice flavor and didn't hang around."

Asked if the garlic in the kovbasa was perhaps a little intense, he answered "not at all," but added that he "feels sorry for the person who's not eating kovbasa tonight."

Prof. Oleksiy Babenko of Kyiv was in Ottawa briefly for a conference and stopped by to see for himself what the event was all about.

"Kovbasa this good cannot be found in Ukraine," said the scholar, speaking in Ukrainian. He added that he liked the evening's format of business first, then entertainment.

According to Ms. Romas, the event was a success, and promises to be even more popular next year. She had a warning, however, for the professional and business association of Toronto.

"We've heard that there are agents in Toronto who've heard about the success of the National Kovbasa Tasting Competition, and we'd like to advise them that [Ottawa] is its home," said Ms. Romas. "The [association] in Ottawa has all exclusive rights. They can do anything else - they can do holubtsi. They can do varenyky. But they can't touch kovbasa. It belongs to us."

For more information about upcoming events in Ottawa, readers can visit the professional association's website at www.infoukes.com/ucpbaott.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 30, 2002, No. 26, Vol. LXX

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