Diverse and indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people to St. Maarten from all over the world piques our interest. To this end, we are on a quest to find where it comes from, if it is used for celebrations, if it is exotic to some but normal food to others. Anything to do with keeping the body and soul nourished with what is produced from good old terra firma is what makes the world go around.
Russia.
Russian culture has evolved through several millennia. It was in the Fourth Century AD that the first mention of the area we now know as Russia can be traced back to. The people that lived there were apparently “the first tribal union of Eastern Slavs (Volhynians and Buzhans.) The following century marked yet another tribal union of Eastern Slavs, the Polyants, in the middle basin of the Dnieper River. This period claims the first written evidence about the "Rus" and "Rusah". In 558, the Avars battled and won over the Slavic tribe of Dulebs, marking the subsequent series of victories and defeats, as well as a broadening of these Slavs' nation over a long phase lasting around three hundred years.”
Tribal battles across much of the land involved the Kievan Rus, Mongols, and Tatars through the next centuries. “The culture of the Slavic tribes on the eve of the ancient Russian state was marked with the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Cyril and Methodius in the middle of the 9th Century. The Russian language has become a source of cultural history, being at that time very similar to other Slavic languages.”
“Until the early thirties of the Thirteenth Century, the Mongol-Tatars engaged in wars in China and Central Asia, strategically explored the future theatre of military invasions, and collected information on the political situation and economic and military capabilities of European countries.”
Genghis Khan's troops swooped in and took many of the Russia principalities; they were easy to grab because these principalities were all competing with one another and not defending the territory.
The formation of Russian land began near what today is the city of Moscow. “Moscow took over the organization of a nationwide struggle to overthrow the yoke of the Golden Horde. The final stage of the unification process took about 50 years during the reign of Ivan III (1462-1505), and first years of the reign of his successor Vasily III (1505-1533).”
Then during the following hundred years Russia gradually took possession of “Scandinavian kingdoms in the Northern and North-western borders and in the lower reaches of the Volga River, the Northern Caucasus, and Siberia.”
It was Peter the Great that began grandiose reforms in Russia; these reforms continued long after he had passed on. He worked on reform of government and administration, industrial and trade and finance reforms. He also oversaw a huge amount of military reform and changes in foreign policy of the state, education and culture and church. By the end of all this Russia was in a firm position of the great European powers.
Arts and cultural reforms also took place that by the late 17th and early 18th Centuries the formation of the "Moscow Baroque" style, as well as the development of Church architecture was well under way.
A socialist revolution took place in 1917 and then followers fell in with the communist ideas of Karl Marx and the ideology of the Russian revolution leader Vladimir Lenin took over. The Soviet Union lasted 70 years in what was once the Russian Empire. One of the good things, during the existence of the Soviet country, was the raised educational level through access to a free education system compulsory to all the population.
However, through all the high levels of achievements in industrialization, developing light and heavy industry, metallurgy and high-tech industries, space shipbuilding (manned space expeditions) the countries ideological issues dimmed which led to a decline in the economy in the mid-1980s. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and the country's development changed even more dramatically than in the times of Peter the Great until the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1992.
We read in the papers and see online that Russia these days is engaged in severalcontroversial military endeavours in Eastern Europe and the Middle East
Always, the world over through the centuries, one man heading a team/pod/group who want ultimate power and the rest of the population who want peace and enough prosperity to feed and clothe their families.
Through the centuries the food folk fed their families changed little and in Russia the foods from back then may be cooked and served in a more refined fashion today but essentially not much has changed.
In traditional Russian cuisine there are three basic variations of meat dishes that will always be popular.
- large boiled pieces of meat cooked in a soup or porridge. These are repurposed in second courses when they could be set in a gelatine stock.
- offal dishes of liver, tripe etc are baked in pots together with cereals
- whole poultry or parts of bird as well as various cuts of meat are roasted in the oven.
There are records that by the 16th century affluent households were into sausage-making and spit-roasting along with the stews and roasts.
Boiled, steamed and baked root vegetables as well as mushrooms were added to the porridges and cereals that were cooked as side dishes for the meats. And as mentioned last week, pickling of every kind of food became the norm in the Russian cuisine.
Perhaps the best known Russian dish is Pelmeni. This traditional Eastern European dish is much like a ravioli. Usually a thin flour and egg dough is filled with minced meat of pork, lamb, beef, or any other kind of meat, along with various spices, pepper, onions, and garlic.By the late 19th century, they were a staple throughout urban European Russia.
Pelmeni means "ear-shaped bread." In freezing Siberia, the pelmeni were made in large quantities and stored outside through the severe winter months. Today pelmeni are often prepared just before cooking and eating. The prepared pelmeni are tossed into boiling in water until they float. The prep can take a while, but the cooking takes 2–5 minutes. Served with butter or sour cream, mustard, horseradish, and vinegar these are delicious. Similar to Chinese pot-stickers the pelmeni can be fried until golden brown after boiling.
Pelmeni belong to the family of dumplings. The Ukrainian variety of dumplings are filled with mashed potatoes, farmer's cheese, or cherries. The main difference between pelmeni and other kinds of dumplings is in their shape and size. The typical pelmeni is roughly spherical and is about 2 to 3 cm in diameter. Most dumplings are elongated and much larger.
In Russia the making of pelmeni has been refined down to an art. One can buy a device known as "pelmennitsa" This is a round aluminium plate with a number of holes surrounded by ridges. A sheet of dough is placed over this and filling is dropped into the indentation. The dough sags into the hole under the weight of the filling, another sheet of dough is placed on top and a wooden roller is used to press the dough layers together.
Pierogi are similar to pelmeni in that it is a dough with a filling. Pierogies are open or closed, are sweet or savoury.
Meatballs, small pan-fried made from pork and beef and sometimes chicken or fish.
Beef Stroganoff is a dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream. This popular dish first appeared in the mid-19th-century Russia
Shashlyk are like Shish kebabs, the meat slices are often on the skewer alternated with pieces onion.
Kholodets are jellied chopped pieces of pork or veal meat with some spices added. The meat is boiled in large pieces for long periods of time, then chopped, boiled a few times again and finally chilled for 3–4 hours. Served with horseradish, mustard, or garlic sour cream.
Recipes
Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
750 g beef cut into strips (use good steak meat)
2 TBL flour
1 onion large
1 garlic clove crushed
300 g mushrooms sliced
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TBL water
1 cup beef stock (use beef cube in boiling water)
3 TBL tomato paste
2 tsp cornflour
300 ml sour cream
Method
Toss meat in flour
Brown meat in a well-greased pan, set meat aside
In the same pan sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms
Add salt, pepper, water, stock and tomato paste
Bring to the boil
Add meat, turn down to a simmer
Simmer covered 5 minutes
Add cornflour, stir until it comes to a boil and thickens
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 5 minutes
Remove from the heat and stir in sour cream
Pelmeni - While I am not suggesting everyone take a short cut, those who just can’t work up the courage to make the dough and form it into pelmeni could use round wonton wrappers instead.
Ingredients
Filling
½ lb. minced beef
½ lb. minced pork
2 onions finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bay leaves and peppercorns
2 TBL butter, sour cream and chopped parsley
Dough
3 cups flour
1 cup cold water
2 TBL cooking oil
1 tsp salt
Method
Dough: Mix all the dough ingredients in a bowl and knead until a smooth dough ball forms, +- 10 minutes
Cover, set aside to rest
Filling: Mix minced meat, finely chopped onion, pressed garlic together and season with salt and pepper
Mix well
Divide dough into 4 equal portions
Roll each portion out ⅛″ thick on a lightly floured non-stick surface
Using a cutter of 2 1/2inch diameter cut out circles of the dough and place ½ teaspoon of the filling on each circle
Make a half moon shape by folding the edges together - seal pressing tightly
Then turn the two ends in an overlap and seal together as well
Repeat with remain filling and dough
As each pelmeni is finished place on a well-floured cutting board - make sure they don’t touch each other.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add bay leaves and peppercorns
Place pelmeni in boiling water
After they float to the top, cook for about 5 more minutes
Remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl
Add butter and mix to coat pelmeni
Serve garnished with sour cream and fresh parsley.
