In my case, my family heritage is already Ukrainian. So cooking the foods and being aware of my <em>Ukrainianness </em>is part of who I am, because it's part of my family. I notice that in a country like Canada, a lot of people will state that they're "Italian" or they're "Scottish". They say it confidently as though they're citizens. They clearly aren't <em>from </em>there, and neither are their parents or grandparents. But knowing that the lineage takes them back there seems a lot more interesting. It takes a lot of honesty for a Canadian, who has had family here for generations to just say "I'm Canadian". Sure, they'll say it to a border guard who quizzes them about citizenship, but in everyday conversation, you'll hear a lot of people embellishing where they're "from". Sometimes they'll even hyphenate the original country with Canada, for example: "I'm an Italian-Canadian." That's almost always reserved for people who were born in Italy who come to Canada and obtain Canadian citizenship, but you'll hear everyday Canadians saying it who were born and raised here.
But there are other people who fall in love with a country or culture and take it on in their personal lives. I had a friend who loved all-things-Mexican, yet he himself was of Dutch origin. He learned Spanish, cooked Mexican foods, and began researching Mexican issues (for fun). He was basically a Canadian with a Mexican soul, as he loved it there so much.