Monthly Archive for March, 2010

Spring and Spicy Stew

Published
by
elena
on March 20, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

On the first day of spring, when the snow piles in St. Petersburg, Russia, are reaching up to the second floor windows, I’d like to offer a recipe for chanakhi, a spicy stew, perfect for both cold and warm weather.  Why is it that a favorite Russian dish, if you ask a Russian, almost always turns out to be a Georgian recipe?   Russians love Georgian food – unlike Russian dishes, it is spicy and bursting with flavor.

Ingredients: 1 lb of lamb cut into 1-inch cubes; 1,5 lbs of potatoes cut into pieces of any shape; 1/2 lb of tomatoes cut in half; 3/4 lb of eggplant chopped in cubes; 1/2 lb of cut string beans; 1 chopped-up onion; fresh cilantro

Preparation: Put the lamb and all other ingredients into a ceramic casserole, salt and pepper generously, pour in 2 cups of water, cover, and place into an oven for 1 1/2-2 hours.  Serve in the same ceramic dish.

I often turn this recipe into a soup, using the same ingredients but making it in a pot on top of the stove.  The lamb goes in first and cooks in 6-8 cups of water for about 45 min.  After that, you can add bay leaf, peppercorns, and all the rest.

All my friends and family (none of whom is from Georgia) have different recipes for chanakhi.  My sister, for example, never puts in tomatoes.  My friend Irina adds chickpeas.  My friend Anya adds a spoonful of adjika, or any hot sauce.

Does anyone out there have a different recipe for chanakhi, perhaps an old family recipe?   Or even better – do you have an interesting recipe you always thought would go to the grave with you?  I would love to hear stories of Russian meals that were special, funny, or meaningful to you and your family.  Please write them in the comment space after this post.  I also would love to hear from any of you who were born in Russia or went there as a visitor and might have interesting experiences you would like to share.  Thank you.  Spasibo!

International Women’s Day

Published
by
elena
on March 8, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day that used to be marked in red on our Soviet calendars, a day when branches of pussy willows sprouting little balls of fuzz – the first puffs of spring – migrated from kiosks scattered all over the city to the hands of men, who carefully carried awkward bunches on the tram and the metro back home to their wives.  In schools, the last period on March 7 was canceled, so that the boys could clumsily produce pencil sharpeners and pocket combs out of their bags and hand them to the girls, the future international women.

At home, the day was devoted to chopping, baking, and stewing, with heavenly aromas of food floating out of kitchens onto apartment building landings.  Women in aprons raced between refrigerators and stoves, as men in slippers lounged on divans with a Pravda article and a glass of beer next to the pussy willows they had brought a few hours earlier.  At night, when zakuski and the stews were ready and arranged on dishes allowed out of the cupboard only on major holidays, beer glasses were replaced with vodka shots to toast the beauty, talent, and endurance of women.  The women, in the meantime, raced between the kitchen and the divan, which now served as a bench for the table brimming with food.  Men made toasts and told jokes.  “What is the difference between the East and the West?  In the West, there is everything in the store and nothing on the table.  In the East, there is nothing in the store and everything on the table.”  We knew nothing about the West back then, but the part about the East was staring us in the face.  At the end of the night, after bending over a bathtub full of dirty plates, women could finally stop racing and drink to the day devoted entirely to them.