Salat z Kurkoyu ta Ananasom (салат з куркою та ананасом, chicken-pineapple salad)

The pineapple is the shock. Sweet, yellow, unapologetic, straight from the tin, it lands among poached chicken, grated egg, cheese, and mayonnaise like somebody opened the window in a room full of sensible people. Grandmothers tutted at it, children stole it from the bowl, and then everyone went back for seconds.

This is celebration food from the years when a tin could feel like a present. It belongs to birthdays, name days, office tables, and flats where the good plates come out but nobody pretends the mayonnaise isn't from a jar. The trick is balance: the chicken must be gentle and well salted, the pineapple well drained, the cheese sharp enough to answer the sweetness, and the dill there because Ukraine does not leave a salad naked if dill is available.

Aunt Nadia wrote one version on graph paper with only "boil the chicken, cut everything, not too wet" for instruction, which is both useless and completely correct. Too much pineapple syrup makes the salad sloppy. Drain it until it sounds right in the sieve, then fold lightly so the pieces stay themselves.

Make a big bowl. This is not a salad for one polite spoonful; it is enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian standing by the fridge after the party.