Food Around The World

We’d like to share a small update with you.

Alongside this channel, we’ve launched a new documentary channel called Quiet Mountain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G_fu...

Here on Food Around the World, nothing changes — we will continue to release new films in our familiar format, focused on natural sounds and quiet atmosphere.

On Quiet Mountain, we’re revisiting some of our most loved stories from the past — including films published 3–4 years ago — and presenting them in a new way, with calm voice-over narration. This narration helps answer questions, share background, and add context that many of you have asked about over the years.

You can now choose how you want to watch:
– some days, simply immerse yourself in sound and silence here
– other days, listen to a documentary story on Quiet Mountain

We invite you to subscribe to the new channel and be part of both spaces.

We’d also love to hear from you — please tell us in the comments what you’d like to learn or hear more about in future narrated films on the new channel.

Thank you for being with us.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,864

Food Around The World

This evening, a new film will be released about a family living in the mountain village of Samakova, high in the Carpathians.

Before the film goes live, we’ve prepared a long-form article on our website. It includes selected frames from the upcoming video and gently addresses many of the questions viewers often ask in the comments — about daily life, children, work, distance, and what it really means to live this far from everything.

You can read the article here:
👉 mountainquiet.com/a-quiet-life-in-the-carpathian-m…

If this way of life resonates with you, you’re welcome to subscribe to the site’s newsletter. Subscribers receive early notifications about new films and updates.

We’ll also be publishing unique, quieter materials on the site — deeper stories about life in Samakova, as well as stories about Katya and Maria that won’t appear on YouTube.

The website is meant to be a slower space.
If that feels right to you, you’re very welcome there.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,899

Food Around The World

The Vertical Silence: Why a Wall Street Titan Traded Manhattan for the Carpathian Peaks

There’s a new story on our site today.

It’s about a man named Nikola, who traded the roar of Wall Street and the endless pace of Manhattan for a life in the Carpathian Mountains — a life shaped by sun, wood stoves, sheep, and silence. Long before he found calm in those peaks, he felt the weight of a life measured in speed and numbers. Now his days begin with frost on the window, not notifications.

This article gives you a deeper look into his journey — not just what he left behind, but how he rebuilt his world with his own hands, how the seasons became his rhythm, and how a quiet life can teach a different kind of resilience.

You can read the full piece here: mountainquiet.com/the-vertical-silence-why-a-wall-…

If you’ve ever wondered what it means to truly slow down, to step outside of the machine and live by your own clock, this one is for you.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 718

Food Around The World

Want to know what our next video is about before it goes live?

We’ve started publishing articles on our website ahead of each new film. For example, a new video with Maria will be released later today — and the article about it is already available.

If you’d like to discover the story first — and then watch later — you can visit the site here: mountainquiet.com/

On the site, you’ll find a quiet, detailed piece about the upcoming video: what day it follows, what happens, which traditions and routines appear, and why certain moments matter. There are screenshots from the film and written observations that don’t exist inside the video itself. It’s a way to understand the story first — and then, in the evening, simply sit back and watch it unfold without words.

We chose this approach because our films are intentionally silent. Many of you ask about traditions, daily work, and small details you notice on screen. Rather than explaining these things inside the videos, we now place them on the site — calmly, separately, and without rushing the film.

Each new release on the channel will now have:

a dedicated article published before the video

context, details, and background not shown on screen

additional photographs and observations

You’ll also find deeper stories about Maria, the mountain family from Samakova, Katya, and others you’ve met through our documentaries, as well as a growing section of essays about quiet life and living with less noise.

If you’d like to discover the story first — and then watch later — you can visit the site here: mountainquiet.com/

You can also subscribe to the site’s newsletter to be notified when a new article goes live. The videos remain the same. This is simply another way to stay close to the stories.

— Food Around the World

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 2,879

Food Around The World

A Promise to You: Keeping It Real in an Artificial World

Dear friends,

We need to have an honest conversation with you about the future of this channel.

We live in an era where technology can do incredible things. The temptation is everywhere. Truthfully, we could easily use AI right now to generate breathtaking drone shots over the mountains, create "perfect" cinematic lighting for Maria’s mornings, or smooth out every wrinkle and rough edge in our footage. It would be faster, cheaper, and conventionally "perfect."

We thought about it long and hard. And then, we made a firm decision.

We will not do it.

We are choosing the harder path. We are choosing to keep our videos exactly as they are—sometimes imperfect, sometimes raw, but always 100% real.

Why? Because the life we show you—the rural life of the mountains, the hard work of the family, the quiet solitude of Maria—isn't perfect. It's messy, it's difficult, and it wears down your hands. To polish it with AI would be a lie. We believe that real life, with all its flaws, is beautiful enough on its own. It doesn't need an artificial filter.

Think about food. Years ago, "organic" was just normal food. Today, real, unprocessed food grown by human hands is almost a luxury.

We feel the same thing is happening to video. "Handmade" content—videos shot by real humans, capturing unscripted moments, real sounds, and genuine emotions—is becoming rare. It’s getting harder for channels like ours to survive in the overwhelming flood of AI-generated noise that algorithms seem to love.

This is our manifesto: Food Around the World is, and always will be, a 100% Human-Made zone.

But we cannot protect this quiet corner of the internet alone. If you value this authenticity—if you come here to escape the artificial world—we need your help to keep this "slow," real content alive.

Every like, every comment, and every time you share our videos, you are casting a vote for reality. You are telling the world that human stories still matter.

Thank you for trusting us with your time, and for being part of our real family.

With respect and gratitude, The team at Food Around the World.

#100PercentHuman #RealLife #SlowLiving #CommunitySupport

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 545

Food Around The World

🎥 A new episode with the family will be released today (07.01.2026) at:

Release time:

• Kyiv — 18:00
• Berlin / Paris / Rome — 17:00
• London — 16:00
• Istanbul — 19:00
• New York — 11:00
• Toronto — 11:00
• Chicago — 10:00
• Denver — 9:00
• Los Angeles — 8:00
• São Paulo — 13:00

Simple Family Meals

Breakfast: Winter Sandwich with Cheese & Ham

Ingredients:
• Toast bread — 4 slices
• Cheese — 4 slices
• Ham — 4 slices
• Pickled cucumber — ½
• Butter — 10 g

Preparation:

Spread butter on the bread.

Add cheese, ham, and sliced cucumber.

Cover with another slice of bread.

Toast covered for 3–4 minutes until warm and golden.

Lunch: Homemade Dumplings

Ingredients:
• Flour — 500 g
• Water — 200 ml
• Egg — 1
• Ground meat — 500 g
• Onion — 1

Preparation:

Knead the dough.

Mix ground meat with finely chopped onion.

Shape the dumplings.

Boil for 4–5 minutes after they float.

Thank you for being with us 🤍

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,491

Food Around The World

🕯️🍲 A new episode with Maria — today

Today we’re sharing a new episode with Maria.
A quiet winter day in the mountains — everyday life, simple food, handmade candles, and the slow rhythm of winter.

The episode will be available today.

Release time in different parts of the world:
• 8:00 AM — Los Angeles
• 11:00 AM — New York, Toronto
• 1:00 PM — São Paulo
• 4:00 PM — London
• 5:00 PM — Berlin, Paris, Rome, Warsaw
• 6:00 PM — Kyiv

You’re welcome to watch it together with us as it’s released.

🥔🍲 Recipes from today’s episode

In this episode, Maria prepares simple winter food — the kind that has long been part of everyday life in the mountains.

Potato Pancakes with Dried Forest Mushrooms

Ingredients:
• Potatoes
• Dried porcini mushrooms
• Onion
• Egg
• Flour
• Salt and black pepper
• Oil for frying

The mushrooms are soaked, chopped, lightly fried with onion, and mixed into the potato batter. The pancakes are fried slowly until golden.

Thick Bean Soup with Smoked Meat

Ingredients:
• Dried beans
• Smoked meat or ribs
• Potatoes
• Onion
• Carrot
• Garlic
• Bay leaf
• Black peppercorns
• Salt

The beans are soaked overnight and cooked slowly with smoked meat. Vegetables are added gradually, allowing the soup to become thick and warming.

These are not festive dishes, but everyday food — meant to nourish, to warm, and to last through winter.

We’ll be glad if you watch the new episode together with us and share your thoughts after it’s published.

1 month ago | [YT] | 3,414

Food Around The World

🎄 Happy New Year from Food Around the World 🤍

As we say goodbye to this year, we want to thank every one of you for being with us — for watching, commenting, and supporting our channel all over the world.

From our entire team, and from all the families and people whose lives we share on this channel — we wish you a peaceful, warm, and kind New Year.

Our New Year episode with Svitlana and Dmytro’s family is now available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYeyM...

Below, by your request, we’re sharing the New Year table of Svitlana and Dmytro’s family — simple, honest dishes they prepare every year at home.

NEW YEAR TABLE — SVITLANA & DMYTRO’S FAMILY

Olivier Salad (Classic Family Style)

Ingredients:

* Potatoes — 5–6 medium
* Carrots — 2
* Eggs — 5
* Boiled sausage or cooked chicken — 350–400 g
* Pickles — 3–4
* Canned green peas — 1 can
* Mayonnaise — to taste
* Salt — a pinch

Preparation:

1. Boil potatoes and carrots in their skins, cool, peel.
2. Boil eggs hard, cool.
3. Cut all ingredients into small, even cubes — this is important for texture.
4. Squeeze excess liquid from pickles.
5. Add peas, salt lightly.
6. Mix with mayonnaise — enough to make it juicy, but not heavy.

📌 Family tip:
Olivier always rests in the fridge for at least 2 hours so the flavors come together.

Herring “Under a Fur Coat” (Layered Beet Salad)

Ingredients:

* Herring fillet — 2
* Potatoes — 4–5
* Carrots — 2
* Beets — 2–3
* Eggs — 4
* Onion — 1 small
* Mayonnaise — to taste
* Salt

Preparation:

1. Boil or bake all vegetables, cool completely.
2. Dice herring finely.
3. Chop onion very small (optional: rinse with hot water).
4. Layer in this order:
* Potatoes → mayonnaise
* Herring + onion
* Carrots → mayonnaise
* Eggs
* Beets → generous layer of mayonnaise
5. Let rest overnight in the fridge.

📌 Carpathian style:
Beets are grated not too fine — the salad should have texture.

Homemade Caesar Salad (Simple, Family-Friendly)

Ingredients:

* Chicken breast — 2
* Iceberg or romaine lettuce
* Cherry tomatoes
* Hard cheese (Parmesan or similar)
* White bread — for croutons
* Garlic — 1 clove
* Oil (olive or sunflower)

Sauce:

* Mayonnaise or yogurt — 3–4 tbsp
* Garlic — ½ clove
* Lemon juice
* Salt

Preparation:

1. Fry or bake chicken until golden.
2. Cut bread into cubes, toast with garlic.
3. Tear lettuce by hand.
4. Mix everything just before serving to keep it crisp.
5. Add sauce and cheese.

📌 Family version:
No anchovies — mild and kid-friendly.

Smoked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

* Chicken thighs — 2–2.5 kg
* Salt
* Paprika
* Black pepper
* Garlic
* Mustard (optional)

Preparation:

1. Marinate at least 4–6 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Smoke using fruit wood (apple wood).
3. Medium heat, 1–1.5 hours.

📌 Carpathian rule:
The smoke aroma is the main ingredient.

Country-Style Potatoes (Smoked or Baked)

Ingredients:

* Potatoes — 2–3 kg
* Oil
* Salt
* Paprika
* Garlic
* Rosemary or thyme

Preparation:

1. Cut potatoes into large wedges.
2. Mix with oil and spices.
3. Bake or smoke together with meat.

📌 Village principle:
Simple. Filling. Plenty.

Thank you for welcoming us into your homes and hearts this year. Stay with us — more stories, food, and real life are ahead.

🤍Food Around the World

1 month ago | [YT] | 2,265

Food Around The World

Dear friends, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! From our entire team, from Maria, Katya, and the families whose lives we share on this channel — thank you for your support, kindness, and heartfelt messages throughout the year.

You are not just viewers to us. You are part of a warm, thoughtful community that gives meaning to these films and helps them continue.

We would truly love to hear from you.

Please tell us in the comments:
— what would you like to see in the new year
— which stories feel closest to your heart
— whose life you would like to explore more:
Maria, Katya, or the family living high in the mountains
— what moments of daily life, traditions, or simple routines you find most meaningful

We carefully read your comments and often use your ideas when creating new films.

Thank you for being with us.
May the new year bring warmth, peace, and light into your homes

With love, our team

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 822

Food Around The World

Merry Christmas to all of you!

We want to wish you a warm and peaceful Christmas — from Maria, from all the families whose lives you see on this channel, from Katya, and from our small filming team.

Thank you for being with us, for watching with care, and for the many thoughtful comments you leave under our films.

After the Christmas film with Maria was released, we received a huge number of questions about the food she prepares — especially the recipes. Many of you wrote that you would love to try cooking these traditional dishes yourselves.

That’s why we decided to share the recipes here, in the Community section, in a clear and practical way.

If you haven’t seen the Christmas film with Maria yet, you can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuS5d...

Thank you for your curiosity, respect, and kindness.

May this Christmas bring you warmth, peace, and quiet moments — wherever you are.

1️⃣ Kutia (Sweet Wheat with Honey & Nuts)

Ingredients:
• Whole wheat berries – 250 g
• Water – 1.5 L
• Honey – 3–4 tbsp
• Walnuts (chopped) – 80 g

Preparation:
Rinse wheat and soak overnight. Boil in fresh water for 1–1.5 hours until soft.
Drain excess water, mix with honey and walnuts. Add a little warm water if needed.
Serve cold.

2️⃣ Mushroom Soup (Clear Christmas Soup)

Ingredients:
• Dried forest mushrooms – 40 g
• Water – 2 L
• Onion – 1 medium
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Bay leaf – 1
• Salt, pepper – to taste

Preparation:
Soak mushrooms for 1 hour. Simmer with soaking water for 45–60 minutes.
Add chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
Cook another 15 minutes. Serve clear.

3️⃣ Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Meatless)

Ingredients:
• Cabbage – 1 large
• Rice – 150 g
• Dried mushrooms – 30 g
• Onion – 1
• Carrot – 1
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt, pepper

Preparation:
Boil cabbage leaves until soft.
Cook rice halfway. Finely chop mushrooms and sauté with onion and carrot.
Mix with rice, season. Roll into leaves and simmer gently for 45–60 minutes.

4️⃣ Fried Potatoes with Onions

Ingredients:
• Potatoes – 1 kg
• Onion – 2
• Oil – 4 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Preparation:
Slice potatoes thinly. Fry in oil over medium heat until golden.
Add sliced onions and cook until soft. Salt before serving.

5️⃣ Braised Sauerkraut

Ingredients:
• Sauerkraut – 600 g
• Onion – 1
• Oil – 3 tbsp

Preparation:
Rinse sauerkraut lightly if very sour.
Cook slowly with onions and oil for 40–50 minutes until soft and lightly sweet.

6️⃣ Bean Stew

Ingredients:
• White beans – 300 g
• Onion – 1
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Paprika – ½ tsp

Preparation:
Soak beans overnight. Boil until tender (1–1.5 hours).
Fry onion and garlic, add beans and paprika. Simmer 10 minutes.

7️⃣ Beet Salad

Ingredients:
• Beets – 500 g
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Vinegar – 1 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

Preparation:
Boil or bake beets until tender. Grate, season with oil, vinegar and salt.
Serve chilled.

8️⃣ Pickled Vegetables

Ingredients:
• Cucumbers or mixed vegetables – 1 kg
• Water – 1 L
• Salt – 1.5 tbsp
• Garlic, dill – to taste

Preparation:
Prepared earlier in the season using traditional salt brine and herbs.

9️⃣ Mushroom Patties

Ingredients:
• Fresh mushrooms – 500 g
• Onion – 1
• Breadcrumbs – 60 g
• Oil – for frying
• Salt, pepper

Preparation:
Finely chop mushrooms and onion. Sauté until moisture evaporates.
Mix with breadcrumbs, season, shape patties and fry until golden.

🔟 Homemade Bread

Ingredients:
• Flour – 600 g
• Water – 350 ml
• Yeast – 7 g
• Salt – 1 tsp

Preparation:
Mix ingredients, knead dough, let rise 1.5 hours.
Bake at 190°C for 35–40 minutes.

1️⃣1️⃣ Fruit Compote (Uzvar)

Ingredients:
• Dried apples – 150 g
• Dried pears – 100 g
• Prunes – 80 g
• Water – 3 L
• Honey – to taste

Preparation:
Simmer fruits for 40 minutes. Sweeten with honey after cooling slightly.

1️⃣2️⃣ Garlic & Oil Dip

Ingredients:
• Garlic – 1 head
• Oil – 80 ml
• Salt – pinch

Preparation:
Crush garlic, mix with oil and salt.
Traditionally eaten with bread.

Preparing a full Christmas table is not about excess, but about tradition.
Some food is shared, some kept, and some given away — as is customary during the holidays.

Thank you for watching with respect and curiosity.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 2,694