A Week of Russian Cooking

It's been a little over three weeks since I'd returned from my study abroad trip to Russia. Everything's still a blur of devoutly painted religious frescoes and other lovely works of art, walking alongside buildings and structures that are much older than the country I was born in, rows of little old ladies selling tchotchkes, far too many tourists blocking the flow of foot traffic with their cameras and awkward poses, and folks who were stuck in Russia after missing the Captain Hook impersonator convention. Only one thing is clear to me: there is a massive hole in my heart (and stomach) that can only be filled with Russian food.

I didn't know what the food would be like in Russia before I went there. I knew about borsch and I figured that Russian cuisine would mostly involve meat, dairy, and potatoes, but I didn't learn the specifics until my first meal in Novgorod:


Lesson #1: Russian salad is neither leafy nor green. It's creamy and probably contains meat and potatoes in some form.


Lesson #2: Soup is always served with a dollop of sour cream.


Lesson #3: Dairy in Russia is different enough from dairy in America in that it doesn't bother me to eat something made almost entirely of cream and cheese after eating the previous two courses.

I left my first meal satisfied. All of the other meals I ate with my study abroad group were just as satisfying. When I was scavenging for food on my own, I was mostly happy with what I found. Now that I'm back home and have finally gotten used to it being dark at night, I barely know what to do with myself. I cooked a meal or two from scratch and they were good, but I'm craving Russian food. Nothing tastes as good as blini in the morning, pelmeni for dinner, or any sort of Georgian food served any time I can have it. Now is the time to relive the culinary joy I had in Russia!

I went to my local library and checked out two cookbooks:



On the left is The Russian Heritage Cookbook by Lynn Visson and on the right is The Classic Cuisine of Soviet Georgia by Julianne Margvelashvili. These cookbooks will be my primary sources on my culinary quest to recreate the food I enjoyed in Russia. Will my pale recreations be any good? Who knows!

I figure I should choose a few recipes to work on before I actually start this project (especially since I'm starting tomorrow). I'll start with pelmeni tomorrow and work my way to more complicated recipes as the week progresses. I'm thinking of making golubtsy, chicken kiev (I have a bet to settle with myself), khachapuri, and perhaps some small salady sort of thing I could eat in the mornings. I'd really like to make chakokhbili (Georgian chicken with herbs), but I need a special spice for it that I'm unsure I'll get in the mail before the beginning of next month. If I can get the Russian name for the Novgorodian chicken in a pot (depicted earlier in this post), I'd like to cook that as well.

I'm ready for a week of Russian cooking! My afternoons will finally be put to good use.