Fundraiser: San Jose’s ChefCentury will make, deliver special Ukrainian meals on July 22

To support the ongoing relief needs of the Ukrainian people, the San Jose culinary venture ChefCentury will prepare a fundraising Ukrainian feast for home delivery to most parts of Santa Clara County on July 22.

Leading the kitchen effort will be chef Brad Kunkel, whose family has Ukrainian roots. “I’ll cook some of my favorites and use some of my mother-in-law’s recipes,” Kunkel said.

The meal will feature individual portions of five courses:

Chicken Kyiv: “A perennial favorite from both Russia and Ukraine, we add this to affirm that we should be celebrating our commonalities as people, not warring with one another,” Kunkel writes in the menu description. “Chicken breast stuffed with Swiss cheese, rolled in panko and parmesan, and baked. What’s not to like?”

Cabbage rolls: Known as “holubsti,” this version will feature a mixture of ground meat (turkey), onion and spices rolled in a cabbage leaf and baked with a tomato and sour cream sauce.

Varenyky: Kunkel said his dumpling recipe is the Ukrainian Mennonite version. This will be prepared with homemade farmer’s cheese, wrapped in dough, boiled, then fried in butter and served with an an onion and sour cream gravy.

Ukrainian vegetable salad: “Cucumbers seem to show up a lot in our traditional food,” Kunkel writes. The salad will also include sweet peppers, tomatoes and a ranch-style dill dressing.

Mlyntsi: For the blintz dessert, the kitchen will fill thin pancakes with a sweetened cottage cheese mixture and top them with berry sauce.

The special Ukrainian meals will cost $30 for one meal, $50 for two. Ten percent of proceeds will go to the United Nations’ World Food Program to assist refugees.

Orders must be placed by July 20.

Free delivery of the hot meals will be offered on Friday, July 22 (between 1 and 5 p.m.) to Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Stanford and Sunnyvale.

If customers prefer, they may pick up their meals at the ChefCentury commissary kitchen, 1505 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose.

To order, email [email protected] or phone 408-709-5877. Find more information at www.chefcentury.com.