Carpatho-Rusyn Church in Youngstown succeeds with Chinese

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

youngstown

An unorthodox culinary experiment has turned out to be a recipe for success.

It’s a homemade Chinese meal offered Thursdays at St. Michael Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church.

Think pirogis or haluski seem more in tune with the ethnic heritage of the church? Think again.

The idea was the brainchild of the Rev. Andrew Gromm, who was assigned as pastor this January.

Father Andrew marshalled the resources at the church — dedicated members willing to help on the fund-raiser — and his wife, Yoanna, who is from Shanghai, China. She’s using recipes from her family collection and her cooking skills to benefit the church coffers.

At first, some wondered how such a project would work. John Kramer, a member since 1972, admitted he questioned what Father Andrew was thinking. He said at different times the church has held food fund-raisers with ethnic specialties. “But that died out,” he said.

“She’s very industrious and she’s introduced us to different foods,” Kramer said of Pani, a term in the Orthodox tradition used to describe the priest’s wife. “We did a lot better than anticipated.”

Kramer said he enjoys helping out and learning something new.

The church has been selling an average of 75 Chinese meals every Thursday, Father Gromm said. It offers such dishes as Five-Spice Beef and Shanghai Pork Chop with Onions. “I thought it would be a good idea because no one else was doing it, said Father Gromm, who said he is astounded at the number of ethnic food specialties in the Valley. “If you like Chinese food, you’ll love this food,” he said. Yoanna Gromm oversees the volunteer kitchen crew, which fluctuates in number and personnel weekly. Wednesday is the preparation day for the food sale Thursday. Meat is cut, then tenderized by pounding. Then there’s chopping as vegetables are prepared. The kitchen crew spends a few hours at these tasks. Other volunteers show up Thursday to help with cooking, serving and packaging take-out orders. “I try to keep it healthy,” Yoanna Gromm said, noting that it’s not deep fried.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.