Varenyky eating champion crowned in New York City (05/29/05)

Varenyky eating champion crowned in New York City

by Andrew Nynka

NEW YORK - They're called sliders for a reason. But if there was ever any doubt about how easy it is to eat them, several hundred onlookers watched in amazement recently as a trim Ukrainian man polished off several hundred in less than two minutes during a varenyky eating contest here in the East Village.

Oleg Zhornitskiy, a 39-year-old immigrant from Odesa, Ukraine, ate 200 of the potato-filled dumplings, entertaining a crowd of some 200 people who came to watch the inaugural competition, held at the Ukrainian National Home, on a cool Saturday afternoon on May 21. The winner received a trip to Ukraine with the airfare and hotel expenses covered.

But what stunned the crowd and the organizers of the event was that Mr. Zhornitskiy devoured the varenyky (also known as pierogies) in one minute and 35 seconds.

In fact, Mr. Zhornitskiy's performance was so stunning that he even baffled the contest's organizers, who originally planned to give all six competitors eight minutes to eat as many varenyky as they could. But Mr. Zhornitskiy, a trim man who said he weighs about 175 pounds, finished his portion and calmly stood up after little more than a minute and a half, effectively ending the competition well before the allotted time had expired.

Still griping a handful of varenyky, 17-year-old Lesyk Myskiw, the runner-up, looked on in disbelief at the end of the contest to see the winner's arms raised triumphantly.

But it was before the contest ended that people in the crowd, many of whom began the competition seated, quickly rose to their feet and surged forward for a clear view of the action.

Hunched over platters filled with buttered varenyky, the six competitors jammed pierogies into their mouths by the handful.

Mr. Zhornitskiy, however, had the advantage of experience. In 2001 the Brooklyn, N.Y., native won an eating competition of pelmeni (Russian dumplings, similar to varenyky, but smaller and often filled with meat). During the varenyky competition he seemed to swallow handfuls at a time, pausing at points for only brief sips of water.

The remaining four competitors - Eugene Evans, Artur Gevorkan and brothers Nicholas and Gregory Bohdanowycz - looked shocked by Mr. Zhornitskiy's performance. In effect, the Brooklyn man ate at a pace of just over two varenyky a second, though the dumplings were smaller than traditional varenyky.

Andrij Sonevytsky, head chef at the Ukrainian National Association's Soyuzivka resort, said the average size of a varenyk is about 2-2 1/2 inches long with a weight of 2-3 ounces. The varenyky used during the eating contest were closer to 1 1/2 inches long and appeared to be about half the size of a regular varenyk.

Either way, Mr. Zhornitskiy effectively ate 100 full-size varenyky in 95 seconds, Mr. Sonevytsky said. "That's amazing. But tell him he's lucky I wasn't around," the Soyuzivka chef added, alluding to his own varenyky-eating prowress.

The inaugural event was produced and run by Artemes, an entertainment and production company, which in previous years ran the pelmeni contest, as well as ice cream and gefilte fish eating contests.

The company, which paid for the winner's trip to Ukraine, said it planned the eating contest with the idea of a food trade show in mind. Indeed, sponsorship banners and products from various Ukrainian food companies could be seen throughout the Ukrainian National Home's second-floor hall.

The competition's main sponsor, a new Ukrainian vodka company called Shustoff, provided t-shirts for the competitors and vodka for the guests, who paid a $15 entry fee to watch the competition and sample the assorted foods.

Among the evening's other sponsors were Chumak, which makes a variety of canned products; and the Kurowycky Meat Market, which provided kovbasa, kabanosy and salo for those people who were not saving room in their stomachs for the varenyky-eating competition.

"In the end, it's all about the food," said Artemes Chief Executive Officer Volodymyr (Wolf) Birman.

"We're starting a new trend in the Ukrainian community and I think this is something worthwhile," said Jaroslaw Kurowyckyj Sr., whose son now owns the Kurowycky Meat Market. "The Ukrainian downtown has not yet seen something like this," he said of the eating competition.

The event included a small cultural presentation of Ukrainian dancing and songs, a lunch for the guests and short speeches from a variety of people. Among them were Consul Andrii Olefirov of Ukraine's Consulate General in New York; Bruce Solomon, who represented New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr.; Jeff Gottlieb, a special assistant to New York State Assemblyman Brian M. McLaughlin; and Andriy Lastowecky, the manager of the Ukrainian National Home.

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