Russian food equivilants

[aikorob]

Hey Guys,
  I am starting to lay some groundwork for N.'s arrival; and since she is kind of a picky eater, I want to figure out the grocery situation.
  What are some of the substitutes for your wives' favorite foods? Is buttermilk reasonably close to keffir?   I know there is no replacement for salo (especially the chocolate covered kind) :yech:   She doesn't like caviar so I am safe on that one   Anything other suggestions?
  I have scouted the Russian stores in Atlanta; but I would rather not have to drive there for everything. I know everyone's taste is different: I am just looking for acceptable substitutes.

[ConnerVT]

Buttermilk == kefir?  No.  American pasturization makes converting whole milk to kefir difficult, even with adding a good culture to it.  Check out several markets, as some dairy farms are beginning to distribute it.  We can now buy it in one of the local supermarkets here in VT (I think they ship it from the midwest).

Cottage cheese -- Light'n'Lively Low Fat cottage cheese is as close to Russian as you will find in the USA.  Lower water content and small curd (My wife thanks Jetrim for that one).

http://www.red-caviar.com/ is a good source for, obviously, red caviar.  Located in Washington state, they process with traditional Russian methods (but skip the less save handling, like lead soldered cans).  I know your lady doesn't like caviar, but just trying to be complete.

Magic Hat Hocus Pocus is a wheat ale brewed in Vermont that tastes very similar to Kvas, especially if it has been sitting in the cooler after all of the ice has been long gone...   

Ham steak has been a good one for us (AAMOF, I just had it for lunch!).  Other meats that have been a hit here have been pork loin, turkey cutlet, and many things found at our local wholesale fish distributor (they also have a small resturaunt and fish counter).

Don't just look for Russian markets.  Many of the foods from Bosnia, Poland, and other nationalities overlap.  Broaden your search to "European" markets, and you may be surprised what you find.  The woman who ran the local 'Russian Food Store' sold out (and the new owner lost their lease!).  But there are two markets run by Bosnians, and one run by an Armanian, all which have items that
are similar to those found in Russia.  Salt fish and a close cousin for salo have been purchased by us there.

[aikorob]

We happen to have a Romanian engineer, and German tool maker, I have been picking their brains already as you suggest.
I tried to make a note of familiar brands while I was over there, so at least that could be a starting point. I know the cosmetics should not be a problem; I saw quite a few known brands in the shop windows.

[Vaughn]

  With fresh fruits, vegetables and quality meats
in such abundance in the USA, I'd say 90% of your
problems are solved. My wife goes wild when your
Georgia peaches are in season, they're the best.

Things discovered here that she loves: cantaloupe,
cream cheese, blackberries, and shrimp. Still, we
make trips to the Euromarket but less frequently now.

ConnerVT, thanks for the tip on that kvas substitute...

Vaughn

[aikorob]

One of N's favorite foods is apples. I felt like I was listening to Bubba and his shrimp dishes when she started listing the ways she prepares them. Fortunately, the N. GA mountains are full of orchards, so I am sure we will make many weekend trips there in the fall. I have already plotted all of the fruit and vegetable stands nearby as well

[KenC]

I think it is Dannon that distributes a semi-liquid yogurt drink that is close to Kefir.  We have also been finding the real kefir in Albertsons and Ralphs here in CA.  There is also a huge middle eastern market here that carries a lot of Russian product for some reason.  You just need to keep your eyes open.
KenC

[jb]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd shy away from laying in a store of Russian foods.  Somehow, some way, sooner or later, your going to have to introduce your wife to American supermarkets and American foods.  She is going to find fault with everything American anyway, even those foods which closely resemble what she gets at home.  It's just part of the culture shock process and finding something to good eat is going to be the least of your worries. 

I'd just take her to your local market where you ordinarily shop, and let her loose.  I think you'll be pleasently surprised at how quickly she'll get past that hurdle.  Now,,, teaching her to drive a car and get her Drivers License will be a horse of a different color.  You will have more important things to deal with than what's for supper.

[catzenmouse]

Oh Boy! Ain't that the truth! 

Ken

Maybe it's just me, but I'd shy away from laying in a store of Russian foods.  Somehow, some way, sooner or later, your going to have to introduce your wife to American supermarkets and American foods.  She is going to find fault with everything American anyway, even those foods which closely resemble what she gets at home.  It's just part of the culture shock process and finding something to good eat is going to be the least of your worries. 

I'd just take her to your local market where you ordinarily shop, and let her loose.  I think you'll be pleasently surprised at how quickly she'll get past that hurdle.  Now,,, teaching her to drive a car and get her Drivers License will be a horse of a different color.  You will have more important things to deal with than what's for supper.

[RacerX]

http://www.red-caviar.com/ is a good source for, obviously, red caviar.  Located in Washington state, they process with traditional Russian methods (but skip the less save handling, like lead soldered cans).  I know your lady doesn't like caviar, but just trying to be complete.

Which one of their offerings have you tried?  We love bilinis and caviar, but usually stuff our suitcases with a dozen cans or so of the high-buck black variety on each return trip not wanting to appear as a caviar importer to the customs dudes. The red seems to go much better with bilinis, though.

A RW who doesn't like caviar: I'm speechless!

[aikorob]

 Conner--she may not be a RW at all--she doesn't like any kind of fish!!!!

Guys, I wasn't planning on having a vat of keffir, or a freezer of pelmini. I know she will have to learn to negotiate Kroger, Publix, and WalMart. What I was after was trying to establish a "starting point". For instance--Blue Plate mayo is closer to Brand X from Ukraine than Hellman's, or Minute Maid is the closest juices to Brand Y.
Every one has their "comfort foods" , and I think anything that will alleviate even a molecule of stress will be helpful. As y'all keep pointing out, there are more than enough serious things to be concerned about.

[catzenmouse]

The good dark bread, lots of fruit, kashi, fresh vegetables, Cik (Birch Tree Juice), good chocolate, soushki (kind of like a sweet pretzel without salt) are a few things that I can think of off the top of my head.

Ken

[jb]

Kashi is hard to find, we have found a sort of roasted barley at the Sun Harvest Health Food store that is a close substitute.  Sold in bulk for cheap,,, even better.  Quaker Oats will not do the trick.

[catzenmouse]

We're lucky as far as kashi is concerned as there is a Russian grocery store a few blocks from us that has it and a few of the other things we like. You are right, it is not something you pick up at your local grocery store.

Ken

[David1963]

My wife likes the cans of condensed milk.  That seems to be a substitute for something she like in Ukraine.

[Noleman]

I started laying the ground work early on my trips to visit my Fiancee' by sending over a couple of large boxes of different types of food ( all non-perishables ) for her and her son to try while I was there. Some they liked, and some they did not.  And I have actually had requests from them to send over some of those that they did like while we wait for the I -129 to go through.

[snowtree]

Hey Guys,
  I am starting to lay some groundwork for N.'s arrival; and since she is kind of a picky eater, I want to figure out the grocery situation.
  What are some of the substitutes for your wives' favorite foods?

Such a kind heart! Such a good person you are! I think your life will be the only happiness and love! To think about even food for your wife - it's something! Don't worry! There are so many different types of food here for every taste. I found this is a wonderful selection. I am from FSU. My first year here I liked and preferred the Russian food. However, than more I have lived here, I prefer the American food, specially greens, fruits, veggies, berries - all year around! It's a wonder to have these fresh things all year and every single day! Be sure, she will be happy!

[KenC]

Snowtree,
Welcome to our forum.  What part of the fsu are you from?
And what part of the United States do you now live?
KenC

[KenC]

aikorob,
Snowtree hit on something we all missed: fresh fruit! And lots of it! After 7 years here, my wife still cannot get enough of fresh fruit, especially berries.
KenC

[aikorob]

Ken,
I am fortunate in that I used to live near the State Farmer's Market near the airport; so I know my way around the vendor's there. I am sure a weekly, or bi-weekly run there will become a habit. The quality is much better than WalMart, Kroger or the other big chains. There are also several Whole Foods warehouses as well as other international markets on the north side of ATL--if it grows somewhere; it will be sold in ATL.

[KenC]

aikorob,
Once your lady gets her feet on the ground don't be surprised if she does most of her shopping at Wholefoods.  My wife searches out natural or organically grown vegedtables and fruit along with natural non-hormonal meats and poultry.
KenC

[jb]

Fresh fruits and veggies are always on the grocery list around this house.  My wife goes nuts over melons, peaches, strawberries, and cherries when they are in season.  However, during the off season she finds the quality of hothouse grown stuff to be less than wonderful.  This is especially true of tomatoes.

Some of what the new immigrant RW will see on the supermarket shelf will be strange to her, for example, my wife knew what broccoli was, but was completely unfamiliar with it's near cousin, cauliflower.  Fresh sweet corn-on-the-cob was another delightful discovery for her as she'd only ever seen corn come from a can, which was not of good quality.  I don't think she even had a clear idea of what an ear of corn really looked like.  They will know all about squashes, tomatoes, green beans, pumpkins, and cucumbers.  Having a wide selection of salad makings is probably the single most important fresh items on the list.  I do believe most RWs could exist on salad.  My wife often has salad for breakfast.  I can say for certain I've eaten more green food in the 5 years we've been married than I had in my entire previous existence.

Poultry and fish will be familiar to her, expect to see her cut fresh salmon fillets into thin strips and salt it down to make "salty fish". In my experience, beef in it's many forms and cuts, will be a challenge to a RW's cooking skills.   Dairy products are the things which will probably be the most difficult for her to cope with.  Milk here is pasteurized and homogenized and must be kept cold. This is closer to raw milk, in Russia, they actually cook the milk and sell it unrefrigerated.  They even have something they call "brown milk", which looks more tan than brown, I have no idea how that's done, just that it tastes like crap.   My wife has a packet of some kind of fungus cultures in the freezer which she uses to make her own cottage cheese from regular whole milk.  It's not bad if you salt and pepper it enough, but I find it rather bland otherwise.  She loves it.

Frozen Ravioli stuffed with cheese is a good substitute for pelmini, instead of smearing it with spaghetti sauce Italian style, just boil it until tender, drain it, and then brown it in a skillet with butter.  This is something she will understand easily.

If you are like most men who marry a Russian woman, you will do quite a bit of the cooking for the first year or so until she becomes confident with new foods.  Do not be surprised if your new RW wife doesn't want to try to cook new things, it's probably not that she doesn't want to try it, she just doesn't want to be responsible for screwing it up.  When my wife first got here she was totally put off by my stove because all the oven temp's were listed in Fahrenheit instead of her customary Celsius, to overcome this problem I created a Excel table showing the temperature conversions in 10 degree increments and posted it in the kitchen.  She very quickly became confident with the stove and was soon baking pies just like home.  Like everything else, getting a new RW wife adapted to the American kitchen requires you to be a little innovative and creative.

Don't worry too much, you'll do fine.

[ConnerVT]

I have to chuckle.  At least 30% (likely much more) of our supermarket bill is spent on fresh fruit and veggies.  I've probably bought more fruit and vegetables (and ground pork) in the past two years than I did in all of the time before I met my wife.

Buckwheat (groats) are also a regular buy at our house.

I'm very fortunate, as my wife is an excellent cook.  Her mother has been a well respected professional (traditional Russian) cook for 30 years.  Much has rubbed off on my wife, being the eldest daughter.  One of the strange things I've hauled intercontinentally in the past is one of those cast metal pelmini cutters, to make the small (hexagon) dough circles for homemade pelmini.

I was asked which of the red caviars from my link above is best?  It would depend on your taste.  The caviar in the jars tend to be larger and more firm than the canned.  But all are good, and there really isn't much of a price difference.

[snowtree]

Snowtree,
Welcome to our forum.  What part of the fsu are you from?
And what part of the United States do you now live?
KenC

Thank you for your kind welcome!
I should say, I like your forum! I like to read such intelligent and interesting stories  such a smart, precise, so realistic and sometimes funny. I found some things about myself too.
I had lived in Ukraine, Russia and Moscow, near Baltic Sea and traveled a lot of around  on the FSU.
I live in the center of Midwest here.

[Jet]

Some of what the new immigrant RW will see on the supermarket shelf will be strange to her, for example, my wife knew what broccoli was, but was completely unfamiliar with it's near cousin, cauliflower.

Lil knew cauliflower, but considered it part of the cabbage family  ???

In my experience, beef in it's many forms and cuts, will be a challenge to a RW's cooking skills.

About the only time I get to see beef on the table anymore is in a restaraunt  except for the very rare occasion when I can talk her into meatloaf

Like everything else, getting a new RW wife adapted to the American kitchen requires you to be a little innovative and creative.

One of the most helpful links on our computers turned out to be http://www.convert-me.com/en. It is in English and Russian and converts just about anything you can think of to any standard you can imagine. (very helpful in the kitchen for mass, volume, and temperature conversions)


ohh, and WHATEVER YOU DO, hold off on intrducing her to Sushi for as long as humanly possible!  You will have an "addict" on your hands in no time...

[Bruno]

ohh, and WHATEVER YOU DO, hold off on intrducing her to Sushi for as long as humanly possible!  You will have an "addict" on your hands in no time...

Sure ???

Introduce her to Nyataimari ( body Sushi ) and i am sure that YOU will become "addict"...

http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=ysm201&noresize=1&nostamp=1&quality=70