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Originally Posted by petrus.vanholst ".... 2. Prejudice towards the Slavic world as you point out: Then there is the eternal Western European (Germanic / Latin) superiority complex / prejudice towards the Slavic world. That disregard still persists up to this day ..... "end quote - Wow! Germany 1939? Germanic superiority complex? I absolutely disagree with that. Maybe it's your problem to mix food and prejudice hehehe! It is simple Mediterranean cuisine is healthier and easy to do. I can make delicious spaghetti alla puttanesca or spaghetii al Tonno (tuna) in 20 minutes. Now, for example, a recipe from Poland for Bigos (Hunter's Stew) or Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls). Work requires a lot of time and ingredients. Yes, it is tasty, but.... not too healthy. Or maybe a good idea is open a restaurant with fusion: best of East and Central European cuisines mixed up with Mediterranean and Asian cuisines
Western Europe is the face of the Europe to the world, as a result France, Spain, Italy, Germany etc. Opaques the rest. That means that when people outside Europe think of Europe they imagine Western Europe.
Add to that the fact that Western Europeans are largely indifferent towards Eastern Europe or have silly stereotypes of the region as this place full of poor commies in terrible countries dreaming of moving to the West.
I remember when I went to Eastern Europe on holidays and my plane was supposed to leave at 6am so I had to be at the airport around 4am. My taxi driver asked where I was going and when I told him where, his reply was "Oh terrible flight, so early and full of Eastern European brick layers and hookers.
Eastern Europeans, their culture, literature, food, history has always been disregarded.
OK. and now ask people who live in the countries occupied and plundered by Spain, France and Great Britain during the colonial times and bombed by Germany during the war what they think of Western Europe. BTW now European Union aims to equalize living standards throughout Europe.
By answering the op question and also the question of all the cuisines of Eastern Europe more broadly, not just the four countries mentioned by the op I think poster petrus.vanholst who expressed his thoughts in a rather straightforward style in some ways may have been not so very far from the truth. Maybe. At the same time, I acknowledge that this issue is highly debatable, and i also think that national cuisines are constantly changing, are not carved in stone and have borrowed many traditions from each other, from here and from there both in the past and today.
I also like the cuisines of exotic countries, although I am quite ignorant in this area, because cuisine has not been a priority among my interests. Thus i am not a food snob and am unable to distinguish Cambodian cuisine from Laotian cuisine and Mexican one from Honduran one, what an ignoramus I am.
The traditional cuisine here owns influences from German and Russian cuisine and there is probably something there that is not found elsewhere. I personally like these old-fashioned eggs stuffed with mayonnaise, potato salad and roast pork, but also rice pilaf and pelmeni (this dish originally came not from the Russians, but from the Udmurts), which are sold here in stores available in ten or maybe more different types and are considered a kind of convenience food. But I'm absolutely not offended if there's someone who doesn't love this stuff.
Bread. Russians panic-buy bread, when there's an economic crisis. They don't panic-buy potatoes or rice.
It's not bread or potatoes Ruth - it's buckwheat.
That's what they *panic-by* in Russia,( Ukraine too,) so the government even makes a statement in this case that "we have plenty of buckwheat in storage, so no need to panic.")
It can be other grains of course, but buckwheat is number one in popularity I think, because it's very versatile ( plus very healthy, and can be kept for long time) that's why it's in demand in Russia.
One of those staples in Russian cuisine, the kind of staples that I greatly disliked.
The other one would be what's referred to as "Vinegret" - probably #2 common salad after "Olivier" ( Russian) salad.
Yet another honorable mention on my hate list as part of the "healthy Russian diet" is Kefir.
P.S. Bread went down the hill in Russia by the way.
Now it's full of some chemicals comparably to Soviet times, when they used the old Imperial recipies/standards I'm sure.
I don't even bother trying to find my favorite "Borodinsky" in the Russian stores any longer.
We have German Pumpernickel in the local store ( I stress it again - German-made, because American-made "Pumpernickel" is a joke.)
So German pumpernickel differs in texture from "Borodinsky," but taste is fairly close, so this will do.
And I don't even want to talk about the white bread in Russia.
Seattle went in for Uzbek restaurants a long time ago. One started out as a Russian restaurant (the food was awful), and the owner eventually hired an Uzbek cook. That's how it all started. Seattle has a sister city relationship with Tashkent. That helps. But after the early 90's, a number of piroshki shops popped up. With all the Russian immigration of that decade, the Uzbeks are now vastly outnumbered.
Restaurant "Uzbekistan" was one of the best in terms of cuisine in Moscow back in the day - it was not easy to get there.
It looks like they still kept it around, but I am not sure about the food there.
( Some food pics here, to have a better idea what this is all about.)
I know, you wouldn't think of Russia as a "sea-food country," yet it's a fact - Russian cuisine has plenty of fish in it; cold-smoked, hot smoked, not to mention herring that is as staple on each and every table as Olivier salad and than some more.
Russians just don't talk about it, because fish is kinda part of the appetizers ( those cold smoked and hot smoked cuts,) and when it's the main dish, some Russians consider it as part of "dieting" lol, like the day is lost (unless it's some sturgeon)
We used to have some hot-smoked fish in the local stores (other than Salmon,) but it had that artificial smoked flavor to it, and then it disappeared all together.
I don't want to talk about Elyseevsky food store in Moscow - it's stolen yet again by the "new Russians" - you will never find out who exactly of them has expropriated this gem from Imperial Russia's times
( these are some pics so you'd have an idea what I am talking about,) and of course it's the place intertwined with the history of Moscow and the older generations of moscovites.
I can only admit in connection with that that I gloat big time that all these "new Russians" were not accepted by the "old money" of Europe, no matter how much they *expropriated* in Russia, (those old gems including,) and no matter how much they delivered to the Western banks.
Enough said.
However back to sea food in Moscow;
They have this big chain "Auchan" operated by the French there.
The stores are HUGE ( what am I thinking now? No, not even Wal-Mart super-centers, but something like Menards, only full of food lol.
And when you come to the fish department, the smells of ocean knock you off your feet.
Fresh fish/oysters/mussels, fresh sea-weed and all that cold/hot smoked varieties of fish ( smoked scombre comes to mind first of all, dripping with juices and real fish oil. Same with salty herring.)))
I mean you have this section in the regular food stores too, it's just in Auchan the department was so huge and overwhelming with ocean aromas.
To be honest with you I wouldn't go near battered fish that has been frozen, you can buy those fillets here too, I imagine additives have been added to them to help them 'keep'. I will usually only buy battered fish from the chip shop, it helps that the UK is a small island and that everybody pretty much lives an hour or two's drive from the coast at most so that sea fish should (though of course it isn't always) be pretty fresh, fish & chips is usually (though not exclusively) better at the seaside resorts here. I don't mean to sound like a 'food snob' though, I also eat 'other' fast foods, I can happily enough eat and enjoy a burger from Burger King, I love a kebab and adore Cornish Pasties - how unfortunate that all of these are not 'great' for the waistline!
I am not tempted by fast foods, ( may be slice of pizza here and there,) but what are "Cornish pastries"?
That's what they *panic-by* in Russia,( Ukraine too,) so the government even makes a statement in this case that "we have plenty of buckwheat in storage, so no need to panic.")
It can be other grains of course, but buckwheat is number one in popularity I think, because it's very versatile ( plus very healthy, and can be kept for long time) that's why it's in demand in Russia.
One of those staples in Russian cuisine, the kind of staples that I greatly disliked.
Also buckwheat is pretty easy to grow and works well with the Russian climate. It was domesticated in the mountains of southern China or perhaps even Tibet. So it’s a fast growing plant that doesn’t require a long growing season or high temperatures and it likes low fertility and acidic soils. In fact prior to the invention of modern fertilizers the US particularly the northeast was one of the largest producers of buckwheat, but since then they’ve switched to wheat and corn, but buckwheat persists in Russia and they produce 40% of the world’s buckwheat, with China in second at 38% and Ukraine it third at 5%.
That being said I’m too not the biggest fan of buckwheat due to it’s dry texture, but when you apply some gravy it’s one of my favorite grains, it’s got a very nice nutty flavor.
*buckwheat isn’t a true grain as it’s not a grass but is a flowering plant distantly related to sorrel
That being said I’m too not the biggest fan of buckwheat due to it’s dry texture, but when you apply some gravy it’s one of my favorite grains, it’s got a very nice nutty flavor.
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There is nothing more delicious than buckwheat with onion and beef canned meat cooked over a campfire.
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