Russian Food, Yum or Yuck

[Vincenzo]

Recently, I met a Ukrainian girl and was invited to her house. Her mother has been married to a white retired man for 12 years.

The mother served a nice table with delicious soups, salads, cutlets, etc. The "daddy" didn't come down. Suddenly, the girl went out and brought boxes for him from an Italian restaurant.

I was surprised. I personally can eat any food unless it's too spicy. When I go to Mexico, I always try something new, and it's always delicious.

I asked questions. The girl said that when her "daddy" came to Odessa, he didn't touch any food that her mother cooked. She had to go with to the nearest McDonald's. Though, a hamburger is essentially the same Russian cutlet with fried potatoes.

[ML]

I would opine that something like 80% of FSU food is not that much different from  the standard fare eaten by many USA families in the Midwest area.  Yes, it has different names, but not much different in reality.

Even borsch is not that much different from some forms of vegetable soup.  Yes, beets may not that be common in our soup, but it only  adds a little different color and is a rather mild tasting ingredient.

The 20% of the food that is different can cause some problems for those with particular tastes or who are adversely affected by individual ingredients. 

Most of the gals I have been with have been accommodating to me by eliminating those ingredients that cause trouble for my sensitive stomach.  However a few have recoiled in horror at the thought!  And many have said their mother's would be very indignant at the thought of altering a recipe.

On the other hand, each and every FSUW I have been with (and their teenage children) have simply loved some of my own recipes which are mostly of the Italian variety (although Sandro probably wouldn't agree).   A couple of my recipes are now used at least once a month by several families.

[Faux Pas]

I would opine that something like 80% of FSU food is not that much different from  the standard fare eaten by many USA families in the Midwest area.  Yes, it has different names, but not much different in reality.

I agree. Different variants but essentially the same ingredients. I love most Russian dishes but there's some I find mighty distasteful. Having eaten many Russian meals prepared by a number of different Russian/Ukrainian women I find it is quite okay to not like something but, it is a bit of an insult to not at least taste it. I'm not a very picky eater and most generally if someone takes the time to prepare food, I will try to eat it even if I know the chances are it won't appeal to me.

[Doll]

I love to cook but have no luck with my husband- he never touches anything Russian (food). My first year here was a nightmare .
Then I turned this "minus" into "plus"- nice things would "sit" in the fridge safely
One more thing- when I am mad at him, I cook only Russian food

[Gator]

Let us stand back and examine this subject without any biases based on the fact that we like RW.  I offer the following evidence:
 
Exhibit A:

The girl said that when her "daddy" came to Odessa, he didn't touch any food that her mother cooked. She had to go with to the nearest McDonald's. Though, a hamburger is essentially the same Russian cutlet with fried potatoes.

Have you eaten a Russian McDonald's burger?  I do not like McD burgers in America.  I abhor Russian McD burgers.  They are swimming in mayonnaise, and the mayonnaise is light on vinegar and lemon juice.  Yuck!  So for this man to not eat mama's cooking but eat a Russian McD burger is a contradiction or says this man has no taste.
 
Exhibit B
Then again, maybe this Russian mama cooked as bad as my fraternity brother's mother.    He thought the college cafeteria food was great, far better than he got at home.  Listening to our comments he realized his mother was a bad cook.   
 
Exhibit C
To conclude this definitively, I offer the following fact. When choosing a restaurant with friends, comments will range all over the place:  "Let's do French,"  "Would love some high end Mexican," "We haven't had Thai food in weeks," "Just a steakhouse," "Italian, I want pasta,"  "There is a new Indian place,"  "The German house always has great dark bread and beer," "BBQ," "The Chinese have a new menu item, Orange Duck," etc. etc., etc., etc., etc.   "Russian" is never mentioned.   Why?  Eastern European food is bland.  Case closed.
 

[Doll]

Eastern European food is bland.  Case closed

Easy! EE food is bland for you, case is closed for you.

[Vincenzo]

  Why?  Eastern European food is bland.  Case closed.

Any healthy food is bland and void of sweeteners, artificial taste enhancers, fat, etc.
That's why people don't order it at restaurants.

Do the Japanese eat sushi every day? No!
When I visit the Japanese supermarket nearby, the food court has no sushi at all. The Japanese order fish with rice, noodle soup, and vegetables.

Here's a tray with Tonkatsu that I like to order. It looks healthy, and the Japanese are skinny and live until 90.


These are Russian cutlets.

[Gator]

Easy! EE food is bland for you, case is closed for you.

...and bland to those in the restaurant business.

[Gator]

When I visit the Japanese supermarket nearby, the food court has no sushi at all. The Japanese order fish with rice, noodle soup, and vegetables.

Here's a tray with Tonkatsu that I like to order. It looks healthy, and the Japanese are skinny and live until 90.

Vincenzo, I congratulate you for your diet choices.


IIRC the Japanese (in Japan) have the lowest obesity rate in the developed world (an America among the highest rate).  Plus the Japanese diet (not Diet as that is another matter) is rich in fish oil, good for the heart.

Your photo shows how the Japanes eat with their eyes (small, well presented portions).  And the cuisine is not bland to me.  Not as tasty as other Asian cuisines, yet still satisfactory.   
 
 
 

[SANDRO43]

Any healthy food is bland and void of sweeteners, artificial taste enhancers, fat, etc.

Not necessarily :

Although it was first publicized in 1945 by the American doctor Ancel Keys stationed in Salerno, Italy, the Mediterranean diet failed to gain widespread recognition until the 1990s. Objective data showing that Mediterranean diet is healthy first originated from the Seven Countries Study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_diet

One of our simplest pasta dishes - spaghetti aglio e olio (i.e. with garlic & oil) - is as bland as the amount of garlic one uses in its preparation .

[Doll]

...and bland to those in the restaurant business.

It is the matter of taste.

[Vaughn]

It is the matter of taste.

True. And my experienced palate says the best Russian fare include the fabulous desserts, particularly the cakes. German and French bakeries, however, would take issue with this.

[Gator]

It is the matter of taste.

Of course, and it is special to you because that is what you ate as a kid.  Please don't be offended. 
 
I have an intersting story for you.   One friend has a lodge in a small town in south Georgia.  He invites 11 of us twice a year for a golf outing.  He has a part time cook, a black woman who must weigh 125-150 kg. 
 
One evening I was watching her prepare dinner:   pork ribs, black eyed peas cooked with fatback, collard greens cooked with fatback, tomato based sauce, hush puppies (fried corn bread), potatoes, and peach cobbler.   I see her open a 5-gallon bucket of lard to cook with (about 20 L or 11 kg)  Lard is rendered pork fat, or unseasoned salo.     Then I notice that she had an empty can in the trash.      Can you imagine my fat and calorie consumption that evening.  Hopefully she was finishing an already opened bucket and would not use all of the second.
 
The dinner was delicious, and because I was raised in the South it is similar to what I ate as kid.   Doll, the dinner would perhaps disgust you, although my RW likes such food and asks for it when she visits, calling the soul food restaurant Neegra food (yes, I caution her).  So, is it a good business idea to open a soul food restaurant in Russia?

[Doll]

Lard is rendered pork fat, or unseasoned salo

Smalets

[Doll]

So, is it a good business idea to open a soul food restaurant in Russia?

I can't see how the thread and restaurant business are connected.
Gator, there is nothing funny- every cilture has its own food which is good for certain people.
I myself hate Italian.So what?
I hate Pennsylvanian Dutch more than I hate Italian. German is "yuck" for me.
What's your point?
There is no bland food at all.

[SANDRO43]

Frying in lard rather than oil or butter surprisingly often yields lighter tasting food, but prolonged exposure may adversely affect your coronaries (see http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=3148.msg58559#msg58559) .

[Misha]

I see her open a 5-gallon bucket of lard to cook with (about 20 L or 11 kg)  Lard is rendered pork fat

She was likely using it to deep fry food. I usually buy 10 pounds of pork fat and render it myself. Food fried in lard is so much better than food fried in vegetable oils: the lard creates a thin layer on the food being fried that keeps the moisture in and almost all of the fat out. This leaves  food crispy, not greasy.

[SANDRO43]

every cilture has its own food which is good for certain people.

Probably, but food culture also depends on local agriculture, and cold countries do not offer as much variety as temperate countries .

[Daveman]

I haven't run across a Russian 'dish', i.e., cooked via a recipe that I haven't liked.  Kholodyets was a rather acquired taste to say the least, but not really bad.  I can't deal with salt fish or ikra just because of the consistency of the former, and the liquid gushing exploding eyeball quality of the latter but those aren't "dishes".  Not too overly crazy about "tongue" either... I still haven't tried green borshch just because of the, er, appearance (had the same problem trying "Split Pea" for the first time too). 


So, for my culinary taste I have to vote a hands down YUM SO FAR! 

[Doll]

Please don't be offended

I was raised in the South of Russia which is lots and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit.
No offense, but most of "American" food is weird to me.
So, tastes differ.

[GQBlues]

Yuck for me...2X. I find the food is as bland as accents by Russian-speaking folks, annoying.

[Vincenzo]

I love to cook but have no luck with my husband- he never touches anything Russian (food). My first year here was a nightmare .

Didn't you test drive him by inviting to dinner at your house when he was in your city?

What's his problem? Does he say it's not spicy and salty enough for him?

When I was in Saint Petersburg, I found a nice cafe near the Hermitage with pirogi. Very yummy! Does you husband ignore them?

[XMan]

I grew up eating southern style - biscuits, gravy, potatoes, sausage, green beans with bacon, cornbread, etc.  My mom was a great cook, but not the healthiest fare.   My diet is much more in line with Sandro's pyramid, and my favorite is making my own tomato sauce from a variety of tomatoes I grow and mix. 

That having been said, with the exception of the strange pork fat, which I had to wash down with vodka, I liked virtually everything I had in Russia and Ukraine, both home cooked and restaurant.  In fact, I found the food often to be far better in the restaurants there than the ones in the USA.  I find it interesting that most Americans I know think that borsch is awful, yet many have never had it.  I've liked every style (there must be thousands, dependent upon the cook) I have tasted save one, and that one was simply far too salty. 

Hands down, the best food I ever had was in Sochi.  Every place, including Georgian and Armenian, was fabulous.  Chernovtsy has some places that rivaled it.  I was not as enthralled with the places I visited in Poltava, Kharkov, and Kiev, but I by no means exhausted the possibilities there.

The one thing I can say that is negative is that they apparently have no understanding of what cheese should taste like. 

[Doll]

Didn't you test drive him by inviting to dinner at your house when he was in your city?

What's his problem? Does he say it's not spicy and salty enough for him?

When I was in Saint Petersburg, I found a nice cafe near the Hermitage with pirogi. Very yummy! Does you husband ignore them?

He ate everything in Moscow, though was always looking for pizza and hamburgers .
I gave up, guys. Now my younger no longer wants anything Russian.
Lucky me- I don't have to share

[Maxx2]

One more thing- when I am mad at him, I cook only Russian food

I'm liking you more and more.    RW are fun even when they are being difficult.