Russian Travel Guide

GEOGRAPHY OF TASTE. TAVRANCHUK WITH CABBAGE STEAK

People usually think of Old Russian cuisine as extremely plain. The expression shchi da kasha – pishcha nasha (shi and kasha are our fare) seems to illustrate the simplicity and monotony of the food people ate in those times. But this is not the case. Many dishes that don’t seem to be around much anymore have gone out of fashion because people no longer cook in Russian stoves. One such dish is Tavranchuk -- meat or fish roasted in a pot in the stove or oven. Host of The Geography of Taste Vladimir Pavlov has decided to revive this gastronomic masterpiece, with a little culinary tinkering, and adapt it for the modern day. Our chef will prepare veal stewed in cherry beer, and will serve it with cabbage steak! On Russian Travel Guide!

Коллекция Russian Travel Guide. Природа. Сестрорецкое болото

The geography of taste. Shchi with nettle, trout, and spinach sour cream

Shchi is the pride of Russian cuisine, and there’s nothing else like it in the world. It’s a very old dish, with roots going back at least 1000 years. You can tell where it ranks in the hierarchy of Russian cooking from the numerous mentions in folk adages and proverbs: "Look for us wherever there is shchi”, “It’s not like trying to eat shchi with a bast shoe”, or the perennial favourite, “Like teaching your wife to make shchi”. For hundreds of years shchi was the most important dish – and often the only dish – on the Russian peasant table. At the same time, shchi was also part of royal feasts. Cookbook author William Pokhlebkin counted 24 variations – not just recipes – of shchi that had come about over the many centuries of its history, from “empty” shchi to “rich” shchi. Shchi varied by region, local lifestyle, and time of year. Host of The Geography of Taste Vladimir Pavlov offer...