Kreplyky (креплики, cabbage-and-bean dumplings)

The filling is nearly colorless at first, pale cabbage and pale beans, and then the onions catch in sunflower oil and everything changes. The cabbage goes glossy and sweet, the beans break just enough to hold it together, and black pepper wakes the whole bowl. This is fasting food, yes. It is not punishment.

Kreplyky are folded small, smaller than most varenyky, because they belong to the kind of table where people eat by the bowlful. The dough is simple, flour and hot water, soft enough to roll thin but strong enough to keep the filling in. My aunt would write, "make them neat," which is a terrible measurement and also perfectly clear once you've made the first twenty.

The one thing that decides the dish is the onion oil. Sweat the onions slowly until the smell changes from sharp to sweet, then spoon them over the boiled dumplings at the end. If you stir all that sweetness into the filling too early, it disappears. Let it sit brightly on top, with dill, where everyone can see what kept the fast generous.