Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook
by Anya von Bremzen, John Welchman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anya von Bremzen, John WelchmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-01-11
ISBN: 0894807536
Number of pages: 688
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Book Reviews of Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook
Book Review: Familiar Russian & Ukrainian tastes and expanded horizons
Summary: 5 Stars
This cookbook is the most-used of any in my home. Having lived in Crimea (in southern Ukraine) with and amongst Russians, I find myself reading Anya von Bremzen's _Please to the Table_ for sheer pleasure and nostalgia. I infinitely prefer it to _The Art of Russian Cuisine_ by Anne Volokh. Although I admire Volokh's work as comprehensive, the results from her recipes taste less like the cooking I ate in my my own and my friends' homes on a daily basis, and more like the mediocre food I ate during rare hotel and restaurant meals. I also find _The Art of Russian Cuisine_ lacking in many dishes that were staples of home cooking and entertaining in my milieu.
In _Please to the Table_, I found the recipes for dishes that I know well to be very authentic indeed. I'd like to address specifically one criticism I saw here in a review, that von Bremzen uses paprika in her recipes. The reviewer wrote that "Paprika is not an ingredient which is traditionally used in Russian cooking. It is the spice of Central Europe (Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, etc.)..." True that Hungarian paprika is not a traditional ingredient of pure Russian cuisine. However, I disagree that it is inauthentic. First, this cookbook covers most of the former USSR, including the western republics such as Moldova and Ukraine, where influence from Central Europe shows up in the food. Second, the great home cooks I knew used what they called red pepper ("krasnij perets") more often than black pepper, and the red pepper where _I_ lived tasted much more like a mixture of hot and sweet paprika than like cayenne, which is what you get in the U.S. if you buy something called simply "red pepper". If von Bremzen's recipes called for "red pepper," then the recipes would taste spicier and much less authentic than they do. For myself, I care less about pure theoretical cuisine than recreating a powerful feeling of warmth and belonging which I associate with the tastes of my life in Crimea. My main authenticity gripe is that no authors (including von Bremzen) advocate the use of unrefined sunflower oil (available at Russian and Ukrainian shops), the rich aroma of which definitely imparts an authentic taste to the food.
As for the nuts and bolts of the book, it is splendidly put together. Amusing and informative vignettes, mostly von Bremzen's recollections of food associations from her childhood growing up in Moscow. The recipes are clearly written. A good proportion of them have lots of ingredients, but I just arrange some ingredients ahead of time and it goes smoothly. The index is excellent. The spread and diversity of the recipes is stunning; simply thumbing through the book will show you how incredibly rich are the cuisines of the former Soviet republics. I especially love that she included all the republics because that's the way people actually eat. I don't just eat hamburgers; I also eat Thai, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Russians eat ethnic food too.
Best recipes include:
A surprisingly easy and very impressive makivnek (poppy seed roll). A fantastic, thick, meaty Ukrainian borshch. Spectacular golubtsi (more tasty, actually, than any I ever ate in Ukraine). A recipe for beliashi that actually made me cry when I tasted them, they were so perfect (I used the yeast dough recipe, though, rather than Pillsbury biscuits which she listed in the recipe). Mixed vegetable caviar that tasted exactly right. A very authentic and filling Uzbek rice pilaf. Fresh zelyonie shchi (sorrel soup). Impossibly delicious Siberian pelmeni ("Honey, where's my spare stomach? There are more pelmeni here!"). Chebureki (Crimean lamb- or beef-filled half-moon pies, fried in oil and absolutely scrumptious). A "pickled mixed vegetable salad" which, if preserved in jars with some sunflower oil, would taste exactly like the delectable home-canned "autumn salad" we depended on all winter long for something like fresh vegetables. Quick Yeast Dough, which is a revelation. Now I understand how my friends' mothers would have pirozhki ready for us an hour after they arrived home from work.
Don't miss this book, even if you have lots of other Russian cookbooks. This one has so much more.
Summary of Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook
From the robust foods of the Baltic states to the delicately perfumed pilafs of Azerbaijan, from borscht and beef stroganoff to the grains and yogurts of Georgia, Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman take Westerners on a spectacular tour of the many and varied cuisines of the fifteen former Soviet republics.Anya von Bremzen, a native Muscovite, grew up on regional cooking and has traveled extensively throughout the former Soviet Union, visiting professional chefs, touring markets, and sampling and gathering dishes. Covering eleven time zones and hundreds of recipes, Please to the Table brings to light the astounding culinary diversity of this corner of the world-and the similarities between the cuisines, too.
Here are Byelorussion Mushroom Croquettes, Armenian Stuffed Mussels, and dozens of other zakuski-the "little bites" that are the heart and soul of Russian meals. Soups from Armenian Lentil and Apricot Soup to Lithuanian Apple Soup with Apple Dumplings. Dozens of entrees including Uzbek Lamb Pilaf, Russian Salmon with Sorrel and Spinach, Azerbaijani Quail in Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce, Armenian Pumpkin Moussaka. And side dishes, salads, beverages, and desserts such as Russian Cranberry Mousse and an Almond and Pistachio Paklava. Plus vatrushki, pampushki, halushki, blinchiki, sirniki, and pirozhki. Winner of the 1990 James Beard Food and Beverage Book Award. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's Homestyle Books and the Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service. 58,000 copies in print.
Priy.tnova Apetita-good appetite!
Is there more to Russian cookery than beets, cabbage, and sour cream? Please to the Table, a comprehensive guide that takes readers and cooks from the Baltics to Uzbekistan, should absolutely bury that question. Russia alone is bigger than the U.S. and Canada combined; its people claim more than 100 different nationalities and languages. Throw in the other 14 former Soviet republics, cook a feast, and you'll sample everything from Moldavian marinated peppers to cold yogurt and cucumber soup to Uzbek lamb stew to crawfish boiled in beer to open cheese tartlets, Russian tea, and, yes, beef stroganoff--nearly every major culinary style is represented here. Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman capture the soul of Mother Russia in 400 recipes joined together with a literate overview of each culinary piece in this magnificent jigsaw puzzle of a nation. The cook will be amply rewarded, and readers will travel far and wide through flavors and feasts only dimly imagined in the West.
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