COOKING THE RUSSIAN WAY

Introduction

Russia is a country of enormous proportions, from its vast forests to its long history. It is also a country of enormous diversity, with a great variety of landscapes, cultures, and traditions. These factors have helped to produce a unique cuisine. Russians love to eat, and Russian cooks are proud of their specialties. Although food has not always been plentiful in this land of wide expanses and long winters, gourmet chefs and grandmothers alike have learned to use the resources at hand to create tempting dishes. In the winter, potatoes, root vegetables, and hearty breads provide hot, filling meals. Russia’s seas and long rivers offer a plentiful supply of fish, and Russian cooks also make good use of meat and dairy products in their dishes. Fresh fruits and vegetables are savored in the summer and are carefully preserved to be enjoyed when cold weather arrives. From refreshing cold salads to steaming hot blini, the cuisine of Russia is as varied and interesting as it is delicious. Borsch (beet soup) is a Russian classic that adds color to any table.

The Land

Russia stretches across eastern Europe and northern and central Asia. It is the largest country in the world—more than one and a half times the size of the United States—and many different landscapes and climates exist within its boundaries. Parts of northern Russia reach above the Arctic Circle and do not see the sun for six months of the year, while balmy southern regions almost never have snow.
Located on the European Plain, western Russia is the country’s most well developed and populous area. Except for the Caucasus Mountains in the south, the region is made up of flat plains and low hills. The Volga River runs southward through the region to the Caspian Sea, and the area contains most of the country’s major cities, including Moscow (the national capital) and Saint Petersburg. The western plains are also home to most of Russia’s industries.
Separating European Russia from Asian Russia, the Ural Mountains run the length of the country from north to south. East of the Urals lies wintry Siberia, a huge, sparsely populated area that stretches to Russia’s eastern seacoast. Siberia is divided into the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, and the East Siberian Uplands. Siberia is also divided into several different zones based on climate. The far northern reaches of Siberia are tundra—a harsh, cold zone in which much of the land is permanently frozen. South of the tundra is the taiga, a vast forested region. Still farther south lies the steppe, a wide grassland that contains Russia’s most fertile soil. Siberia is watered by the Ob,Yenisei, and Lena Rivers along with other smaller waterways. Lake Baikal, in south-central Siberia, is the world’s deepest freshwater lake.

The History

Russia’s history spans more than one thousand years. An ethnic group called the Slavs began to settle in the region in about the A.D. 500s. The Slavs established the first Russian state, called Rus, during the 800s. Internal unrest and foreign invasions troubled the young nation for centuries. But in 1547, Ivan IV—also known as Ivan the Terrible—became the first of a series of powerful leaders called czars who would rule Russia for almost four hundred years. The czars gradually purchased and conquered territory until, by the reign of Peter the Great in the late 1600s and early 1700s, Russia had grown into a large and powerful nation.
The 1800s were a time of great political unrest in Russia. The workers and the middle class were unhappy with their terrible working conditions and the extreme inequalities in Russian society. In January 1905, workers made a peaceful march on Czar Nicholas II’s Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg to demand reform. The czar’s troops fired on the crowd, killing and wounding hundreds of peo-ple.Violence broke out all over the country as Russians protested this massacre, which came to be known as Bloody Sunday. The czar was forced to agree to some reforms, including the establishment of an elected Duma, or parliament, but it wasn’t enough to stop the brewing revolution.
In 1917 Nicholas II stepped down from the throne under heavy pressure from revolutionaries. A few months later, a group called the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, violently seized control of the nation. The Bolsheviks changed the group’s name to the Communist Party Congress and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union, in 1922. The USSR eventually grew to include Russia and fourteen other republics. Under the control of the Communist Party, the USSR became one of the most powerful nations in the world.
After World War II (1939–1945), relations were strained between the Soviet Union and noncommunist nations such as the United States and its European allies.This period became known as the Cold War.The USSR’s international relationships began to improve during the 1980s, but its internal stability weakened as republics within the USSR began to call for independence. By the end of 1991, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and Russia, officially called the Russian Federation, had become an independent nation once again.

The Food

Many traditional dishes in Russian cuisine are based on the simple but hearty cooking of the peasants of prerevolutionary Russia. Bread, a longtime staple, remains one of the most important and most loved foods in modern Russia. Borsch is another food that was handed down by the peasants. It is a soup made from beets and any of a variety of other ingredients, including cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, and meat.
Russian cooking also has roots in the food favored by the nobility of prerevolutionary Russia.The most striking characteristic of this cuisine was the amount of food served at one time. An upper-class dinner featured course after course of rich, delicious food, beginning with substantial zakuski, or appetizers. Zakuski were usually made up of a wide array of Russian foods, from pickled vegetables and caviar (fish eggs) to smoked fish and hot pirozhki (stuffed pastries). The main meal often included meat, poultry, and fish, as well as soup, salad, cooked vegetables, and a rich dessert. Although very few modern Russians eat on such a large scale, many traditional dishes, such as beef Stroganoff and Russian salad, are still favorites, and serving elaborate zakuski is still a popular custom.
Russian dining grew more diverse during the Soviet era, when many traditional foods from the other republics of the USSR became favorites of Russian cooks. The former southern republics of Armenia and Georgia, for example, contributed chickpeas, pine nuts, and cracked wheat to the national cuisine. Typical dishes such as shashlyk (grilled lamb on skewers), dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat), and baklava (a rich pastry made with honey and nuts) also made their way into Russian cooking.
Farther east, the former republics in central Asia, such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, introduced plov, a mixture of rice, lamb, and spices that is similar to the pilafs served in the Middle East. Diners in Russia soon included many of these tasty treats on their own menus. A wealth of delicious fruit, including figs, grapes, peaches, apples, cherries, and melons, is also an important part of the cuisine of this region.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, foods and restaurants from Europe and the United States also appeared in Russia. But Russia’s traditional cuisine is still served every day by native cooks, and with the recipes in this book you can prepare some of these delicious classics yourself.You’re sure to love the many flavors of this vast and varied country.

Holidays and Festivals

The Russian fondness for food is especially apparent during holidays and festivals. These occasions give friends and family the perfect excuse to gather for reunions, parties, and special meals, and Russian cooks prepare delicacies to satisfy even the most robust appetites.
Most Russians belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, a branch of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and observe church holidays throughout the year. In ancient Russia, many festivals were held in honor of nature, the seasons, and the harvests. When the old festivals were incorporated into church celebrations. During the Soviet era, the government discouraged church holidays and worship, but many people in the USSR adapted celebrations of national and political holidays to include some of their treasured religious traditions. In modern-day Russia, people are once again allowed to celebrate religious holidays, and their customs combine the heritage of the past with modern practices.
Easter, or Paskha, is by far the most important holiday on the Orthodox calendar. Easter Sunday usually falls sometime around April, but the holiday season begins much earlier. During Lent, the period before Easter, most Russian Orthodox Christians fast, excluding meat and dairy products from their diets. To prepare for Lent, Russians celebrate Maslenitsa, also called Butter Week or Pancake Week. Held the week before Lent begins, this festival is a time for sleigh rides, bonfires—and lots of eating. The traditional treats for Maslenitsa are blini, thin pancakes served with plenty of butter. Other favorite toppings include caviar, smoked fish, sour cream, and jam. In ancient times, this carnival-like holiday also represented the coming of the end of winter. Burning a scarecrow in a bonfire was a popular custom, representing the heat of the sun melting the snow and ice of winter.
As Easter draws near, Russian cooks spend as long as a week preparing a feast for the occasion. Two special desserts, the kulich (a tall, sweet bread made with nuts and dried fruit and topped with a white glaze or frosting) and the paskha (a rich cheesecake, traditionally formed into a pyramid shape) appear at almost every family’s Easter dinner. These and other sweets are set out on the table the night before Easter, along with a tempting array of cold appetizers and main courses. Blini, cheese, cold meats, and smoked fish may be just a few of the choices. The traditional Easter table also displays flowers and greenery, bowls of hard-cooked, decorated eggs, and a figure of a lamb made of molded butter.
Near midnight, Russians head to church to attend Easter Mass. Many cooks bring along the kulich, paskha, and other items of therthodox religion took hold in Russia in the A.D. 900s, many features of the next day’s meal to be blessed by the priest. The long church service reaches its climax when the priest carries a cross down the aisle and out the church doors. The congregation follows, singing, and the procession circles the building three times. At last Easter has begun. Family and friends offer each other the customary Easter greeting of three kisses on alternate cheeks and hurry home, eager to begin the feast that awaits them. Hot dishes such as spicy sausage, roast lamb, veal, or ham are added to the spread already laid out on the table, and everyone digs in.
In the Orthodox calendar, the first day of the new year, January 1, comes before Christmas, which falls on January 7. During the years of Soviet rule, New Year’s celebrations absorbed many Russian Orthodox Christmas traditions, and the new year continues to be a bigger and more festive holiday than Christmas in many modern-day Russian homes. Many families decorate a pine tree with ornaments and candles. Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden visit households on New Year’s Eve, leaving gifts and goodies for children. Adults celebrate the occasion with parties and special delicacies, and on New Year’s Day families gather around the table for a big holiday dinner.
Christmas (Rozhdestvo) is celebrated a week later, beginning on Christmas Eve. For many families, the only meal of the day follows the Christmas Eve church service. This special late-evening dinner is usually meatless, but as many as twelve delicious courses of vegetables, grains, and fish may be served. A special favorite is kutya, a dish made with steamed, sweetened wheat mixed with raisins and nuts. Families attend church again on Christmas morning, often bringing fresh branches of cherry blossoms, grown from indoor trees, to adorn the icons (religious paintings). Back at home, families sit down to share another large meal. Like the Easter dinner, this meal breaks a fast. For the first time in four weeks, meat and dairy are part of the menu, and at least one main dish of pork, goose, duck, turkey, or chicken is usually on the table. Pirozhki and pelmeni (stuffed dumplings) are also common Christmas dishes. The decorated tree is still in place for everyone to admire, and groups of carolers go from house to house, sharing songs and snacking on sweets offered by their hosts and hostesses. Sleigh rides, dancing, and fortune-telling are other popular pastimes during the Christmas holiday.
Russia also has populations of Jews and Muslims, who, like Christians, have more freedom to celebrate religious holidays than they did during the Soviet era. The Jewish holiday of Passover falls in March or April. Russian Jews observe the traditional Passover meal with dishes such as matzo (a special unleavened bread), chicken pilaf with apples, and gefilte fish (patties of chopped fish with onions). Russian Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic year. The dates of Ramadan change each year, but the end of the month is always celebrated with Eid al-Fitr, a great feast for which cooks prepare an array of tasty rice, vegetable, and meat dishes.
Russians around the country also mark seasonal festivals and events. In ancient Russia, one celebration honored the return of skylarks from their winter migration, a sure sign of spring. People sang songs to welcome the birds, and cooks baked sweet rolls in the shape of larks. Although few people observe the festival anymore, Russians with a sweet tooth can often find the rolls in their local bakeries around March. In the countryside, many rural villages observe agricultural celebrations, from apple and honey harvests to festivals in honor of the local livestock. Throughout the year, and all around the nation of Russia, people come together to mark special occasions with friends, family, and food.


By Gregory Plorkin in 'Cooking the Russian Way'- Lerner Publications Company A division of Lerner Publishing Group  U.S.A., 2003, p. 7-17. Edited and adapted to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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