Tovchanka (товчанка, mashed potato and beans with poppy)

Poppy seed is the surprise here. You expect potatoes and beans to behave themselves, soft and pale and sensible, then the poppy goes under the pestle and releases that nutty, almost milky smell, and suddenly the whole bowl changes its mind.

Tovchanka comes from the verb tovchty, to pound, and that is the one why that decides the dish. You don't whip it. You pound boiled potatoes and tender white beans together while they're still warm, with onions softened in unrefined sunflower oil and poppy seeds bruised enough to wake them up. The texture should be silken but not baby food, with little bean skins and poppy specks reminding you this came from a pantry, not a packet.

Aunt Nadia wrote only, "pound until it sounds right," which is comedy if you're reading it cold and perfectly clear once the spoon starts making that thick, soft thud against the bowl. Add enough cooking liquid to loosen it, enough oil to make it shine, enough salt that the beans stop tasting shy. Make a big bowl. There is no tradition of a small one.