Antonovka Apples are large-sized apples weighing up to 1 ½ pounds (700 g.) Mostly grown in Russia, they have green skin ripening to yellow, and white flesh inside with a tart taste. Though rare for an apple, Antonovka Apples will reproduce true from seed 90% of the time. The tree is very large, flowering with…
Russian Food
Arag
Arag is made from distilled Koumiss. It ends up as clear and as strong as vodka. History Notes The Soviets tried (and failed) to stamp out the practice of making Arag.
Beef Stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff is a dish consisting of thin slices of cooked beef and sliced mushrooms, cooked by sautéing in butter, then mixed into a sour cream sauce. The beef used needs to be from a good, tender cut, such as tenderloin. It shouldn’t be cooked for too long or it will get tough. In modern…
Borscht
Borscht is an Eastern Europe soup. The recipes vary wildly, because every country, region, duchy or dale brought its preferences to the pot — and threw them in. Needless to say, each variation has its proponents who slag other variations as not being worthy of the name Borscht. Some people attempt to define the styles…
Caviar
Caviar is fish eggs from one of several species of sturgeon fish. In fact, it’s the law in the United States and France that whenever the word caviar is used by itself, the fish eggs being marketed must be from a sturgeon. If the eggs are from another species of fish, the name of that…
Elena Molokhovets: Russian Food Writer
Elena Ivanovna Molokhovets is Russia’s equivalent to the U.S.’s Fannie Farmer and Britain’s Mrs Beeton. She wrote “A Gift to Young Housewives”, a cookbook which also gave directions on household management.
Hermitage Restaurant
The Hermitage Restaurant was a famous restaurant in Moscow operating for over 50 years. All the Russian greats, from Turgenev, Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky to the Czar ate there. Le beau monde came there for glittering suppers after ballet and theatre.
Kalach Bread
Kalach is a yeast-risen bread made throughout Eastern Europe. There are many variants of Kalach Bread. Russia In Russia, it is a loaf made of white flour formed into the shape of a ring. The word Kalach came to mean any kind of white bread in Russian. In Arkhangelsk, on the White Sea, bakers boiled…
Kasha
Kasha is a prepared form of buckwheat popular in eastern Europe, particularly Russia. To make it, buckwheat kernels are hulled, toasted, then cracked into coarse, medium or fine grains.Kasha can be served as a cooked breakfast cereal, or as a side dish as you would rice or bulgur wheat. Cooking Tips Kasha can be simmered…
Koumiss
Koumiss is a fermented milk drink. It is mostly made from cow’s milk, though it was originally made from horse’s milk, and some stables in Russia still produce it as a side-business. The starter used is a combination of fungus and yeast. Koumiss from a previous batch can be used as a starter, if it…
Kvass: A low-alcohol Russian fermented drink.
Kvass is a alcoholic drink made in Russia. It ends up as a foggy liquid with yeast suspended in it, and has a very low alcohol level. In households, the most common way to make Kvass was to toast rye bread or dry it out in the oven, and soak it in water allowing it…
Lucien Olivier
Life and Times Lucien Olivier (1838–1883) was a chef trained in classic, French haute cuisine. It is unclear whether he was French or Belgian born; there is very little material available on his life. He spent his career in Moscow. With a business partner, Yakov Pegov, he founded the famous Hermitage Restaurant in Moscow in…
Pirozhki
Pirozhki are one of the Russian versions of Polish Pierogi. Instead of being simmered in water to cook them, they are baked (or fried), stuffed buns. They are usually half-moon shaped. Savoury ones might have fillings such as meat, mushroom, rice, onion, chopped egg, cabbage, etc. Sweet ones might have fruit, jam, quark cheese, etc….
Russian / Olivier Salad
Russian Salad, aka Olivier Salad, is a bound potato salad with many variations.
Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower Seeds © Denzil Green Sunflower Seeds come from the large centres of the huge flowers called Sunflowers. Less than 25% of sunflower seeds harvested commercially are sold for use as seeds per se; these are the larger, stripe-shelled seeds. The majority of the seeds, which are small and black, are pressed for oil. Seeds…
Vesiga
Vesiga is marrow taken from the spinal cord of the sturgeon fish (the European sturgeon, not North American ones also called by the same name.) It is dried whole and long, so that it looked like an opaque white ribbon, and is gelatinous. It was used in upper class Russian food, and was considered a…
Vodka
Vodka is a clear form of spirit alcohol traditionally made and drunk throughout Eastern Europe. It has no colour, and is not aged. Vodka can be made from a mash of beets, grain, or potatoes. In Russia and Poland the best vodka is considered to be made from rye; in Sweden and the Baltic States,…
Zakuska
A Zakuska is a Russian hors d’oeuvre. It can be something as simple as bread with a piece of fish or flavoured butter on it before a simple meal, or it can be an astounding collection of hot and cold items served before big, fancy meals. Such vast displays are rare outside restaurants given that…