Chef Olia Hercules invites us into her London home to reflect on her country’s rich culinary heritage and the power of food in even the darkest of times.

She opens her well-stocked kitchen cupboards and fridge to reveal the varied flavours, colours and scents of a cuisine she says is often wrongly dismissed as being ‘beige’ or boring.

Ruth Alexander joins Olia and her Russian friend and fellow food writer, Alissa Timoshkina, to discuss the close ties between their nation’s traditional dishes, and the importance of the two women’s own personal friendship.

The conversation was recorded on Tuesday 8 March; 12 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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(Picture: Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina. Credit: BBC)

Producer:

Sarah Stolarz