Day 27 ~ Russian Cusine and Boat Rides

29. July

Today was another day of fun! We took a boat ride down the Volkhov River! In class Stas talked all about the history of Russian Cuisine. Without further ado let’s get onto the food shall we!? (Can you tell I am excited?)

So, we began class by listing factors that influence any cuisine. This includes climate and geography. Most of the fruits and berries in Russia are limited to being seasonal or imported. The growing season in Russia is very short remember.
The original menu of a Pheasant would have included apples, pears and prunes. Economy is another factor influencing cuisine. Historically Russia was originally occupied by farmers. There were not a lot of meat products because cattle were important for producing milk. Therefore meat would only be eaten on special occasions, usually once a year, like holidays.

Pheasants were known for eating a lot of milk products, which is an influence of Turkey. Sour cream and many creams are very influential in Russian cooking today. That’s usually what the white glob of stuff is in a lot of my food pictures. I know in a previous post I referred to sour cream as the white stuff that looks like mayonnaise but is a little different. At that time I didn’t realize it was sour cream. That is because it has a slightly different taste than American sour cream; it’s actually not as sour compared to its American counterpart.

Anyways, Pheasants did not have a grill or frying pans, only big ovens so many things were stewed! This is why so much of Russian cuisine consists of soups and porridges.

Bread in Russia traditionally is made from Rye. It is not made with bleached flower and even today you find mostly brown bread. Bread in itself was often considered a meal. An act of hospitality was giving someone bread and salt and presently it is still considered such.

Kvas is a drink that is made from fermented bread. I have tried Kvas from a plastic bottle, as Stas calls it, commercial Kvas and I hate it. Looks but does not at all taste like root beer. It’s one of those things that you either like or dislike. It is used for the base of many soups, eating with any vegetables and with bread.
Boiled grains are another part of Russian cuisine. It is known as porridge or kasha. I’ve only had it once in Russia but it is amazing. I really liked it. It looks similar to oatmeal, and tastes similar too .It is usually brown and made of buckwheat.

There is a saying, “You can’t make porridge with him” meaning that this person is not your friend.

Rice is an imported part of Russian cuisine used for special meals. It plays an important role in the ritual meal at a wake. The food made from it is similar to rice pudding.

Vodka, everyone’s favorite part of the lecture! The name Vodka is from the diminutive name for water, diminutive meaning a nickname. It means “little water”. It is traditionally made from rye . The grain is fermented and distilled. It is filtered two – three times. Nowadays it is filtered with natural spring water.
Vodka has had an impact on the history of Russia since very early on. In the 15th century Monks created the first vodka originally for medicinal use. You might wonder why monks, well they had free time, education, and extra bread! They originally used it for herbal type medicine and eventually started drinking it.

Princes came to understand the value of vodka economically and otherwise. The State claimed a monopoly of the production and selling of Vodka and it became 1/3 of the income of the State.

From the 15-20th century there was a 100% monopoly of vodka. It’s not unfair to say that the country was built on vodka.

After Perestroika the monopoly was broken and presently there is no longer a tax on vodka. However, apparently there is talk of it being reinstated. There is a joke about increasing vodka prices:

Son: “Dad if the prices of Vodka go up does that mean we’ll drink less?” Father: “No son, we eat less.”

Another interesting fact, in World War Two soldiers received 100g of Vodka a day in their rations. If a soldier died his ration would go to the remaining soldiers. Apparently this was protocol from the 18th century until 1945. Now the Navy is the only branch who is still served alcohol, dry wine.

All of the foods mentioned so far have one thing in common; they are all untied by grain. From here we go onto traditional forest products.

The first main products of the forest are mushrooms, my personal favorite! There are three categories of mushrooms, and one of them is poisonous. Novgorod is quite safe however the south has more poisonous mushrooms and more people die. However, one still has to be careful when picking because many poisonous mushrooms have mutated to look similar to good mushrooms.

Mushroom picking is known as “White Hunting” and is a common pastime for Russians. Many Russians spend days picking and really love doing it. I feel like I would love it too!

Mushrooms can be served in various ways, commonly in soup, fried, dried for soups and sauces, or salted and marinated.

Wild berries are another common forest product. Traditionally you can find cranberries and granberries. They are used for jelly, jams and as a sweetener. Traditionally many people place berries in water and let it slowly preserve. From here the water becomes sweet and you can drink it or use it to sweeten things. Berries are one of the only sources of vitamins.

Personally I remember one day when Olga’s mom was over, she brought a huge glass jar that was filled with water and cherries. She separated the water and the cherries and the cherries were still whole but the water was like a juice. It was interesting and very tasty!

Our next topic of discussion is vegetables. A common way to eat them is either salted or marinated. Salted cucumbers are prepared with salt, water, herbs, leaves of black currents and horseradish. In Europe most things are marinated.

Rasolnik is a soup that is made from salted cucumbers. I’ve never had it.

Cabbage is a common vegetable in traditional Russian meals .It is used as a base for soups. Salted cabbage can be found in soups such as Shi, and Borsch. I have had both, and they are pretty good. In fact, the soup that I ate in Pskov was Shi.
A common tongue twister is “Tisha kasha pisha nasha” – meaning, “Shi and porridge is our meal”.

The simplest soup traditionally consisted of onion, cabbage, and water.
Potatoes only became a part of the meal in the second half of the 18th century. Pheasants initially rejected it but were ordered by the military to grow. The potato took the place of the turnip.

It wasn’t until after the 18th century that meat was eaten in pieces. Normally meat was cooked and eaten as one whole piece; you must think back to the ovens that pheasants had.

Caviar is a traditional Russian meal also. Black caviar is typically Sturgeon, and red caviar is Salmon. Black caviar is quite expensive and you can’t even buy it in Novgorod. Historically pheasants ate caviar from all types of fish. White caviar is fairly inexpensive. Caviar itself is considered a meal and some people even fry it.
Yxa “Ooha” is a type of soup that is made from sweet water fish and vegetables. You use one fish for the preparation of the stock. Then you use a second fish as the meat of the soup. To my knowledge I have never had this. I did have fish soup in St. Petersburg and it was quite delicious.

A common traditional food that I’ve eaten a lot of here in Russia is Pelmeni. It’s basically meat with Pasta and originally a Finnish meal. It looks like tortellini with meat inside of it .It was a traditional way to freeze and preserve meat. Sausage was also made as a way to preserve meat.

All of these foods mentioned so far are part of traditional cuisine. Tea, salad, chocolate and ice cream are not traditionally part of the Russian meal.

Tea arrived in Russia in the 17th century and in Europe 100 years later. “Chai” as it’s pronounced is a derivative of the Chinese name for tea. Tea came to Russia from China via the Mongols. Not only is it a drink but it is considered a meal.

It is usually a brunch and served with tea is honey, jam, candy, dry fruit, bread, and Blini. Here in Russia I usually have tea many times a day after a main meal. After breakfast and dinner I have tea with chocolates, fruits, or bread.

Russian tea is prepared thick with boiling water. I’ve never had it, usually I just drink tea from the little tea packets. Sugar and tea are traditionally eaten separate; you don’t put the sugar in the tea but eat it alongside the tea. That may be why when you order tea in a restaurant you receive sugar in little cubes on the side.

During the 18th century contact with Europe increased and changed in cuisine included the introduction of sausage, chopped meat, macaroni, and sauces. German, British and French imported cookware allowed for different and new ways of food preparation.

Salad, to my surprise, was not traditionally a Russian part of the meal. With the exception of soup traditionally nothing was ever mixed together in a bowl. Salad originated in the houses of French Aristocrats. By the 19th century salad spread to the townspeople and by the 20th century everyone was eating salad! A common Russian salad is “Olivie” which is chopped up vegetables and mayonnaise. I’ve had that a lot, it’s good!

Ice cream originally was rare and only found in big cities. In soviet times there was a state program to bring cheap ice cream to all families. The soviet Ice cream recipe came from traditional ice cream of the 1930s. Stas said that one of his relatives was a major contributor to the soviet ice cream program.

The best ice cream is made with dairy cream and natural oils and butter. The ice cream that I have had here does taste a bit different then in the United States. It is creamier and it is a little bit better. I haven’t had a lot of ice cream here however, so I can’t compare too much.

Overall, what I’ve noticed about Russian food is that all the vegetables seems a lot more fresh and taste a lot better than in America. That can be said for some of the fruit too, like strawberries. Russians prepare meals with lots of creams and dairy products, including sour cream and mayonnaise. Those two things alone are put on most dishes, or at least offered to go with most dishes. Before coming to Russia I would have never thought of putting sour cream with soup or salads. I have had a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes just cut up with salt also, so that is a big thing here. Russian soups are pretty fantastic, although I eat most of those when I am eating out; Olga hasn’t prepared soup a lot.

Oh another thing, there pastries are also a little different. Pastries and pies are heavy on bread and dough and have less fruit than in America. However, the bread has a sweetness and moisture to it that I haven’t found in American food. It is different, but it is very good. The pies from that restaurant in St. Petersburg were very sweet and moist, not dry and crumbly.

Overall I really enjoy the cuisine of Russia; I know I am going to miss a lot. It is nice having lots of chocolates and tea as well as lots of vegetables. Meat isn’t a big part of the meals traditionally, but that’s ok I prefer vegetables and fruits. I feel that I could base my personal eating habits around fewer meats since I feel like I have done that here.

So, onto the rest of the day’s events. After class we took a boat ride. I love boat rides and this wasn’t as grand as a nighttime boat ride in St. Petersburg but it was still enjoyable. We basically went down the Volkhov a little ways and then came back. From the boat we could see the Wooden Architecture Museum that we went to a few days earlier as well as St. George Monastery, which we’ve never visited.
Overall there isn’t much more to be said about the boat ride, you can check out the pictures. Most of us spent the time just talking and enjoying American music from the 90s and earlier that was playing. It was relaxing and I didn’t have to go to work! A couple who had just gotten married shared their first dance on the boat to the song, I just Called to Say I love you. Haha, I thought it was weird, gives you an idea of what kind of music we listened to.

After the boat ride I went to the university to check my emails, came home and took a nap with Shira, and spent the night having dinner and tea with Olga. Olga was cooking a lot tonight so I watched her. With tea Olga had made some bread that she fried in the frying pan like you would French toast. However, she took the bread, dipped it in milk and had lots butter in the frying pan. The bread cooked until it was a golden color and then you sprinkle sugar on it. It was pretty good!
Olga had made me a salad for lunch today that had cucumbers, corn, cheese, dill, and liver all mixed with mayonnaise. After tea Olga made these tortilla wraps. First she took shredded lettuce and then cheese and liver which she also shredded. Add grated hard boiled eggs and then added mayonnaise and sour cream. You mix all that together and spread it on the tortillas and then roll it up like a burrito.
Interesting thing is that Olga called the tortilla shells bread. I tried to look up tortilla in the Russian English dictionary, but it’s not in there. Overall, it looked good. I assume it’s for lunch tomorrow.

Until then, Love,
Sasha


Photo Link: Russia ~ Day 27 ~ Boat Ride Along the Volkhov