We have already talked about the best recipes of Italian and French cuisine, and now it’s time to talk about another of my favorite cuisines – Russian. We all know the taste of Russian cuisine from childhood, and, as often happens with what is close and familiar, sometimes we belittle its merits. Meanwhile, Russian cuisine, although it is not among the most popular, cannot but be called great.
It is clear that it is unlikely that it will be possible to surprise someone who is reading this text with Russian cuisine, so I went a different route. This selection includes those of my favorite Russian dishes that I want to cook not “for show” or out of necessity, but because it’s delicious.
Fish solyanka
Traditional Russian cuisine may not be very elegant, but one thing cannot be taken away from it: few people have come up with such a wide variety of fermentations, soakings and pickles. It is not surprising that all this abundance was not only consumed in its original form, but also became the basis for hot dishes, cabbage soup and soups. And the fish soup that you get as a result of these simple efforts will not only be an excellent first course, but also a miraculous hangover breakfast.
Mushroom Julienne
During the rest of the year, champignon comes to the rescue: in julienne this, in general, nondescript mushroom is completely transformed and performs quite worthy.
Rabbit in sour cream
The rabbit has a discreet but important role in world gastronomy: wherever these animals are found, there is its own rabbit dish, special and original. In Russia it is a rabbit in sour cream. And the Russian clay pot is an eloquent answer to the question why our rabbit in sour cream tastes the best.
Curd cheesecakes
Cheesecakes are a universal dish that is probably prepared in every home from time to time. If you like to have a hearty and well-arranged breakfast, you, of course, have your own only correct recipe for making curd cheesecakes.
I don’t mind, I’ll just share mine – nothing special, just a recipe for delicious cheesecakes that you will turn to again and again. Why? There is simply nothing extra in this recipe. Fresh cottage cheese, an egg, a little flour, a pinch of love – and tender, delicious cheesecakes are ready.
Pies with eggs and green onions
I put carrot pies in first place: its sweetness mixed with deep, chthonic intelligence gave birth to a combination of flavors that was simple to the point of disgrace, but was instantly addictive. As a child, of course, I didn’t understand this, but simply thought pies with carrots were tastier than pies with cabbage, which, however, I also loved very much and was ready to eat by the dozen.
Pies with eggs and green onions also occupy an important place in my personal hit parade. And even though now that I have grown up, it is not possible to eat pies regularly, and baking has been declared almost outlawed, branding it with all imaginable and unimaginable sins. Well, okay, okay, let’s not do it every day. But sometimes it’s possible, right?..
Fried potatoes with mushrooms
But this potatoes fried with mushrooms is a simple thing, but no less narcotic than any other pate or quiche: it’s hard to stop until you’ve eaten it all. Take good wild mushrooms, and not some kind of champignons, otherwise it won’t be fried potatoes with mushrooms, but sheer profanity.
Pozharsky cutlets
According to popular legend, Pozharsky cutlets appeared by accident. Perhaps Pozharsky cutlets require a little more effort than regular ones, but it’s worth it.
Buckwheat porridge with mushrooms
Cooking buckwheat is a simple matter: add water and cook, just don’t be offended later that the result turned out faded and tasteless, like in a hospital cafeteria. Correct, high-quality buckwheat porridge is a serious matter, it is a thing in itself and almost the crown of all Russian cuisine.
It requires a responsible and thorough approach, but also rewards a hundredfold; You yourself will understand this when, after eating one bowl of porridge, you reach for the second. We won’t reinvent the wheel, we’ll just try to prepare buckwheat porridge in an ordinary home kitchen the way it was prepared in Rus’ from time immemorial, with wild mushrooms.
Real okroshka
No matter how offensive it is to admit it, in Russia they have completely forgotten how to cook okroshka. In most cases – whether in the home kitchen or in a restaurant – instead of an invigorating, piquant, refreshing summer dish, they will bring you an incomprehensible mess with doctor’s sausage, drenched in sweet kvass.
Meanwhile, preparing real Russian okroshka is no more difficult, but the result is a real delicacy, no worse than such wonderful summer soups as gazpacho, tarator or vichyssoise. It’s a shame, really – the third millennium is upon us, and we still pour kvass on Olivier, and it’s good if there’s no mayonnaise.
