Anna Makievska, founder of Bakehouse artisan bakery in Kyiv, Ukraine, knows adversity firsthand. Her bakery – which is part of the larger Good Wine company and has the largest production of artisan sourdough breads in Ukraine – had its warehouse full of ingredients and stock destroyed by Russian shells. But this did not slow Anna and her team down. They scavenged for flour and other ingredients and have continued to bake day and night throughout the conflict. Inspired by the resilient spirit of Anna, the recently released book Knead Peace: Recipes from the world’s best bakers in support of Ukraine (edited by Andrew Green; Kyle Books, 2023) is a unique collection of savory and sweet recipes for all varieties of baked products, from sourdough breads to cakes, pies and cookies. There are recipes from baking luminaries such as Max Blachman-Gentile of Tartine Bakery (Everything Sourdough Bagels); Roxana Jullapat of Friends & Family Bakery (Buckwheat & Honey Cake); Greg Wade of Publican Quality Bread (Vanilla, Chocolate & Raspberry Babka); Yotam Ottolenghi of Ottolenghi (Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles); and Richard Bertinet of The Bertinet Kitchen (Far Breton). A donation for every copy of the book sold in the U.K. goes to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal of the Disasters Emergency Committee. As Anna puts it, “Baking connects good people and lets them understand each other, no matter what language they speak.”
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