Instagram: polina.chesnakova
Pronouns: She/Her
Favorite Sur La Table Product: “So simple but I love my set of Sur La Table measuring spoons. They were reviewed by Serious Eats for being super precise and as a meticulous recipe tester, I’ve never looked back.”
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When it comes to love languages, cookbook author and recipe developer Polina Chesnakova’s is right out of the “Old Country.”
“One of the first questions [my family and I] ask each other when get on the phone or see each other is, ‘what did you eat today?’ As in, are you taking care of yourself?
Making sure that the other is nourished, physically and emotionally, is how we show our care for one another. Maybe that’s why I’ve always been drawn to cooking and sharing my family’s heritage with others—because I associate those dishes with love. “
From her early days working in professional kitchens, Polina has kept her family’s heritage and traditions at the forefront of every new
Food, as Polina explains, is not only a source of connection but a way to find comfort in the most trying times. Whether that’s mixing up grandma’s famous pie recipe for rainy days or, in Polina’s case, a traditional beet soup handed down through generations.
“My mom’s borscht! It was also always the first thing I wanted to eat when coming home from college or living in Seattle. And I’d make it during those times when I was homesick, too.
Even the smell of the onions, peppers, tomatoes and beets caramelizing down—mixed with the scent of freshly chopped dill and cilantro—transports me back to my mom’s kitchen.”
It was there, in that kitchen, where Polina’s first exposure to cooking came from, with all its loud, loving, crowded and joy-filled chaos.
“I grew up in a big, boisterous Eastern European family that emigrated from the Caucasus—two cultures that love to cook and host (especially the latter!). So, food was always a focal point in my family.
My mom and aunts (my mom was one out of 11) are the best cooks & bakers I know, so I learned a lot from them. I was a bit of a picky eater growing up and started to take an interest in food more so in high school, when I became obsessed with reading cookbooks and blogs (which were experiencing their heyday at a time) and experimenting in the kitchen.
It wasn’t really until college (both during and after) that I started to cook and bake professionally and started to hone my skills.”
Upon graduating from the University of Virginia, Polina interned with a local food publication and launched her blog—Chesnok—in 2015. But just as her culinary star was beginning to rise, Polina’s life was changed forever.
On a cold morning in mid-December 2016, Polina was on her way
to work in Charlottesville when her car lost traction, swerving off the road and up an embankment where it flipped three times. While mostly unscathed, Polina lost one of the most important tools in a chef’s arsenal: almost the full use of her left hand.
“After my accident, I tried going back to cooking in a professional setting and found that the pace was physically too much.
It was hard to keep up and my work wasn’t as technically “clean, so I was constantly doubting myself, II was also having to compensate with my good right hand—which just led to carpal tunnel. It wasn’t sustainable.
It was disappointing and there were times where I felt inferior or broken. It took a while for me to come to peace that that chapter of my life was over. It pushed me to pivot and find other ways to fulfill my passion for cooking—ultimately leading me to writing, teaching, recipe developing—and for that I’m grateful.”
Just 2 short years (and countless physical therapy sessions) later, Polina lefts Charlottesville for Seattle, where she began to write and develop recipes freelance while simultaneously working as a book seller and culinary class instructor (and later Culinary Director) at the city’s famed Book Larder.
Her recipes and work have been featured in publications like Saveur, Epicurious and Food52 as well as two previously released cookbooks: Hot Cheese and Everyday Cake. Her 3rd cookbook— “Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia,”— is set to be released later this year.
Her recipes and work have been featured in publications like Saveur, Epicurious and Food52 as well as two previously released cookbooks: Hot Cheese and Everyday Cake. Her 3rd cookbook— “Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia,”— is set to be released later this year.
And while this may not have been the destination Polina originally envisioned, she isimmensely grateful to have ended up here.
“I think the most important thing to remember is that you can’t chose what happens to you, but you do have a choice in how you respond—and that makes all the difference.
Choosing to embrace my disability and finding a way to make it work for me has allowed me not only to find inner peace but keep doing what I love.”
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