|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Purty plemeni. Part 1.
Dining on the trainCommunism never proclaimed itself incompatible with fine dining, but the two never learnt to coexist peacefully. The Great October Revolution, the Civil War, Stalin's purges changed the environment to benefit lest gastronomically concerned citizens. The last Russian gourmet was seen in 1930s in a Siberia camp, savoring delicious vitamines-rich beverage made out of pine needles. WWII took care of what was left of the national cuisine. After four years of bread-and-water diet the population wasn’t too picky in its choices. One day I was on the train from California to Illinois escorting my girlfriend's mother, who didn't speak any English. Anna (the name is thoroughly changed to conceal identity) prepared for the trip as a well-traveled Russian, which is to say she packed a bag of Chinese noodles that would keep us stuffed all the way to Chicago. You only needed to add some broiled water to the stock. (Later we learnt that the full board was included in the tickets, but it was later.) Now she asked me to go in the lobby to get some kipyatok (the Russian word for broiling water.) Kipyatok is available for free on the Russian railroads since the Civil War, when it was considered the prime cure from typhus. I had some doubts regarding availability of kipyatok on American trains, because I never heard that typhus was widely available in the US either. I went to the lobby and of course, there was no tank with free kipyatok, only a tank with free coffee. "Let's go to the dining car and ask for kipyatok" - suggested Anna. I painted a picture of us in the dining car pouring kipyatok into our cups with noodles... Dining car workers dying from laugh... Us making our way back through five or six wobbling cars... "Why don't we just use coffee?" -- I asked out of despair. She agreed momentarily and didn’t even smile. She was born in the year Hitler invaded Russia. I expected caffeinated noodles to be barely eatable, but they were pretty good. Perhaps railroad coffee doesn't have that much coffee in it. Burda recipesWhen in the prenatal stages of perestroika Burda, the woman magazine, penetrated impenetrable Soviet borders, we learnt that thousands of fruits, vegetables, species and other unclassified forms of food exist we never heard about. Burda's recipes were read like fairy tales. "National Geographic" in your kitchen they were. And they had wonderful pictures too! The only problem with these recipes was you couldn't find anything you could actually cook. There was a joke about how you prepare Burda's food. "Read the first line of the recipe. Now read the last line. Skip everything else." It worked all the time. "Broil one liter of water. ... Add some salt according to your taste." In the same time the Soviet press started to publish more practical recipes of stchi made out of nettle, which plant, unlike cabbage, grown in abundance in any deserted urban park. That was when I started to suspect that social progress in my home country went a bit too far. This topic shall be further explored in the "Purty plemeni. Part 3" entry.
Reply |
Permalink
Re: Purty plemeni. Part 2
Map, this is such wonderful stuff to read -- I enjoy and learn from every word. Thank you for taking the time...
Comment from EFH on March 29, 2006 7:21:48 AM PST
That is a nice story very well told. Coming from the country that originates "Burda" -and, being a man, having ignored and disregarded it for as long as I can remember- I can honestly say that if we had known it had such an impact in Russia, we might have taken it easier during the 80s.
But speaking of the train ride from SF to Chicago, it is a GREAT ride, to be recommended to anyone who can take the time. If you book sleeping accommodations, you're automatically a first-class passenger, and get all meals for free on board. And that is fantastic food; nothing at all like what you usually get on trains (or airplanes, yech). Do it once, as long as Amtrak still exists.
Comment from Ulf on March 30, 2006 2:10:06 AM PST
It can't have been so bad, as they are now selling books about sovietic cooking in Germany: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3442546109/qid=1143873577/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/028-1406051-7651710
Also we have shops for russian food. Gerd & Igor know that its better to open some windows of the office after enjoying this sibirian sanosa thing.
Comment from Axel on March 31, 2006 10:50:54 PM PST
TrackBack from phentermine on January 26, 2007 12:39:24 PM PST
TrackBack from lortab pharmacology on January 31, 2007 11:03:10 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap celebrex on January 31, 2007 11:12:17 AM PST
TrackBack from fioricet effects on January 31, 2007 11:33:55 AM PST
TrackBack from buy hydrocodone on January 31, 2007 11:44:28 AM PST
TrackBack from buy fioricet on January 31, 2007 11:55:35 AM PST
TrackBack from diazepam uk on January 31, 2007 12:01:54 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap levaquin on January 31, 2007 12:11:00 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone discount on January 31, 2007 12:17:50 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone online on January 31, 2007 12:24:20 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap diazepam on January 31, 2007 12:30:19 PM PST
TrackBack from diazepam discount on January 31, 2007 12:36:46 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone on January 31, 2007 12:46:11 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone on January 31, 2007 12:52:08 PM PST
TrackBack from buy celebrex online on January 31, 2007 12:59:03 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap hydrocodone on January 31, 2007 1:07:31 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap hydrocodone online on January 31, 2007 1:22:10 PM PST
TrackBack from diazepam prices on January 31, 2007 1:38:43 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone uk on January 31, 2007 1:54:15 PM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone pharmacology on January 31, 2007 2:07:23 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap fioricet on February 1, 2007 2:11:44 AM PST
TrackBack from buy diazepam online on February 1, 2007 2:31:52 AM PST
TrackBack from diazepam pharmacology on February 1, 2007 2:46:37 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap levitra on February 1, 2007 3:49:32 AM PST
TrackBack from fioricet prices on February 2, 2007 4:35:23 AM PST
TrackBack from buy fioricet online on February 2, 2007 4:47:55 AM PST
TrackBack from fioricet online on February 2, 2007 4:59:38 AM PST
TrackBack from diazepam effects on February 2, 2007 5:23:04 AM PST
TrackBack from buy levitra on February 2, 2007 5:36:36 AM PST
TrackBack from hydrocodone on February 2, 2007 5:50:14 AM PST
TrackBack from buy diazepam on February 2, 2007 6:18:29 AM PST
TrackBack from levitra online on February 2, 2007 8:24:57 AM PST
TrackBack from buy levitra online on February 2, 2007 8:39:56 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra on February 2, 2007 9:07:50 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra online on February 2, 2007 9:19:21 AM PST
TrackBack from celebrex discount on February 2, 2007 9:31:07 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap levitra online on February 2, 2007 9:47:49 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap lortab prices on February 2, 2007 9:59:37 AM PST
TrackBack from lortab prices on February 2, 2007 10:11:58 AM PST
TrackBack from buy levaquin on February 2, 2007 10:24:02 AM PST
TrackBack from lortab effects on February 2, 2007 10:36:11 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levaquin on February 2, 2007 10:48:26 AM PST
TrackBack from buy levaquin online on February 2, 2007 11:03:25 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cialis on February 2, 2007 11:44:18 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap cialis online on February 2, 2007 11:55:10 AM PST
TrackBack from cialis prices on February 2, 2007 12:05:22 PM PST
TrackBack from cialis discount on February 2, 2007 12:41:44 PM PST
TrackBack from cialis online on February 2, 2007 12:55:51 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cialis online on February 2, 2007 1:09:11 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap cialis on February 2, 2007 1:24:17 PM PST
TrackBack from klilebbo on February 5, 2007 12:01:17 AM PST
TrackBack from xtcpcgyg on February 6, 2007 12:52:29 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra online on February 7, 2007 4:24:34 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra online on February 7, 2007 4:24:34 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap celebrex on February 7, 2007 7:07:05 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap celebrex on February 7, 2007 7:07:08 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap hydrocodone on February 7, 2007 8:37:37 AM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap hydrocodone on February 7, 2007 8:37:37 AM PST
TrackBack from alprazolam prises on February 7, 2007 12:42:16 PM PST
TrackBack from alprazolam prises on February 7, 2007 12:42:16 PM PST
TrackBack from buy celebrex online on February 7, 2007 5:49:47 PM PST
TrackBack from buy celebrex online on February 7, 2007 5:49:47 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap fioricet on February 7, 2007 10:58:07 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap fioricet on February 7, 2007 10:58:08 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra price on February 8, 2007 4:13:35 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap levitra price on February 8, 2007 4:13:35 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap xenical online on February 8, 2007 9:17:50 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap xenical online on February 8, 2007 9:17:50 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap phentermine on February 8, 2007 3:33:01 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap phentermine on February 8, 2007 3:33:03 PM PST
TrackBack from buy adipex on February 9, 2007 2:31:42 PM PST
TrackBack from buy adipex on February 9, 2007 2:31:42 PM PST
TrackBack from buy fioricet on February 9, 2007 6:04:01 PM PST
TrackBack from buy fioricet on February 9, 2007 6:04:02 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap xenical on February 9, 2007 9:30:19 PM PST
TrackBack from buy cheap xenical on February 9, 2007 9:30:19 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap viagra online on February 12, 2007 8:54:40 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap viagra online on February 12, 2007 8:54:40 AM PST
TrackBack from cheap xanax online on February 12, 2007 5:20:09 PM PST
TrackBack from cheap xanax online on February 12, 2007 5:20:09 PM PST
TrackBack from buy ativan on February 13, 2007 12:25:13 AM PST
TrackBack from buy ativan on February 13, 2007 12:25:13 AM PST
TrackBack : http://radio.javaranch.com/map/addTrackBack.action?entry=1143626327244
|
| |||||||||||||||||||