Why all of New York buys sausages according to an ancient Ukrainian recipe

While some complain that business has stopped, others are working hard. How the pandemic crisis is going through COVID-19, one of the Ukrainian stores in New York, says the video of the publication "Voice of America".

Ukrainian business in New York is mainly concentrated in the area of ​​the so-called Ukrainian village. This is the southeastern part of Manhattan. It was in this area that Ukrainians settled and started business after the Second World War.

One of the most popular stores owned by a Ukrainian is Yulian Bachinsky's. Manhattan residents have been shopping here since 1970.

Since its opening, this store has gone through many crises.

However, the greatest damage was caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said the general manager Andrey Ilnitsky. According to him, the capacity with which they now operate is about 50-60% of the pre-crisis period. He believes that the situation is unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future.

The recession did not happen immediately, the store manager said. On the contrary, at first a huge number of people visited the store. The reason for this was the massive closure of restaurants in the city. But later New Yorkers adapted to the new reality and began to cook at home. “And for this we need meat, chicken, veal, all the products that we have,” noted Ilnitsky.

Despite the epidemiological situation in the city, Bachinsky's shop did not close for a day. The health status of workers is closely monitored here, their temperature is measured daily. “Because it’s a risk: if one person gets sick, then we all go to quarantine,” explained the store manager.

Almost all shop employees are Ukrainians. One of them is Anton Tikhansky. He monitors the products and guards the secrets of sausage production. It should be noted that the recipe was brought from Ukraine by the founder of the store, Yulian Bachinsky. It was he who built the shop 50 years ago, and since then, little has changed in it.

Bachinsky is also one of the main donors of the Ukrainian village and the public. In particular, he donated funds to the church, as well as for the construction of the "Ukrainian Museum". Today Bachinsky is 97 years old, and due to his venerable age, he transferred the management of the store to Ilnitsky and Tikhansky. Every week, under their leadership, workers process tons of meat into sausages and ham. The latter is brought from ecological farms.

Several years ago, in order to develop the business, the store began to sell, in addition to meat, dishes of Ukrainian cuisine. “We started with pancakes, then we began to cook cabbage rolls, cook cabbage, cook salads,” said the manager.

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Christopher is one of the regular customers in Bachinsky's shop. He has been coming here for 50 years - that is, since the opening. “This is a unique place. There is nothing like this around, ”says Christopher. - Although when I first settled here, there were many similar shops. Therefore, I love him very much. "

Today, most of the store's customers are American. And in the region itself there are much fewer Ukrainians now than before. “All new customers find us through social networks,” said the store manager.

The Bachinsky store management hopes that from September they will return to their previous production volumes. The most active days of work fall on holidays, when the shop workers process up to a ton of meat every day.

Despite the difficult economic situation in connection with the pandemic, Ilnitsky is positive. “While everyone is complaining, we get to work. We must support business, we must work, "he summed up.