"russia" news and stories

This week, the Los Angeles Times Food section touches on every corner of the world:

• Zakuski is the Russian version of tapas, made just for vodka. The recipes are Spinach Pkhali, a dip, Salad Olivier, Quick Khachapuri (Georgian cheese pie), Eggs stuffed with caviar, and Smoked salmon and shiitakes on toast.
• From Japanese cuisine, there is shiso, with recipes for Broiled citrus with shiso, Italian tuna and shiso sandwich, and Angel hair pasta with fresh shiso-herb mix.
• On the restaurant scene, SIV goes Italian and gives Melograno two stars (**), while Linda Burum adds Ecuadorean at El Caserio in Silver Lake.

By now some readers of Midnight Snack have come to think of me as the food blogger who cried weird. But I'm pretty sure the product whose package you see here is one of the stranger things I've eaten at midnight or any other time. Sure It looks like a candy bar, but according to the incredibly tiny print on the back, it's actually a "Biologically Active Food Supplement <<Hematogenka Vitamin>>. The fact that it was "biologically active," came as a relief; the last few Russian food supplements I bought have been biologically inert. Actually that's a lie, I've never had a Russian food supplement before this one, and after tasting it, I don't think I'll be buying another one any time soon.

When I tore open the festive packaging, which featured an image of a mutant man-alligator, I saw five individually wrapped morsels. I unwrapped one of the dark brown chunks and popped it in my mouth. It had a slightly granular texture and supersweet taste that reminded me of my dear mother's oatmeal cookie dough before she added the oats. It all makes sense given that the bizarre bar's ingredients are: sugar, molasses, complete condensed milk with sugar, fat lecithin, salt, hemoglobin, mixture of vitamins (E-10 mg.,B11.4 mg., B6-2 mg., PP -18 mg., C-60mg.). Reading a little further I learned that "Hematogenka provides a reserve for feeding with iron." Against my better judgment I popped another chunk of the brown mystery bar into my mouth. Shortly thereafter I brushed my teeth and threw the rest of the nasty thing out.

When I read that my mystery bar contained hemoglobin, I began to think of it as a PowerBar for vampires who've awoken feeling peckish. However a quick web search revealed that such bizarre supplement-snacks are eaten by Russians. Has anyone out there ever heard of hemoglobin bars or had the pleasure of eating one?

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Sure Fabergé eggs are beautiful, bejewelled and intricate as all hell, but you when you bite into them they really hurt your teeth. Perhaps the surreal sculpted cakes from Zhanna, a St. Petersburg baker are informed by the same passion that fueled the eggmaker to the Tsars.

Lord knows they're certainly detailed enough. Among the 50-plus intricate cakes pictured on English Russia are numerous structures, including bridges, cottages, a kitchen, a Pizza Hut and the Eiffel Tower. I'm not quite sure who Zhanna's clientele is but, based on the eye chart and mouth cakes, I'm guessing it includes eye doctors and dentists.

Many of the cakes sport distinctly American imagery including a blue Reebok sneaker, a Big Mac and numerous depictions of stacks of $100 bills. [via Boing Boing]
See the jump for a few more of these insanely creative cakes.

Russkij Avangard has produced an gorgeous, award winning, Christmas package for its Fairy Tale brand ultra-premium Russian vodka. The extremely ornate, two level, stiff paper carton is decorated in an intricate, flowers and vines scroll work print, in multi-colors and embossing, with cut out arched windows. It captures a theatrical and magical theme as a showcase to present the bottle within, glimpsed through the ornate windows. The elaborate bottle makes the Christmas tale come complete with a glass Christmas tree housed within. To open the carton you twist the top level to unlock it and so letting the bottle out of its enchanted edifice. I haven't tried this spirit but this looks and sounds like a great holiday present for the vodka lover on your list. As of this time I am not sure where it is available but will update this as soon as I do.

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A few months ago, I posted about the debate that several vodka producing countries are having over what should and shouldn't be called vodka. An article in today's New York Times picks up the story. Basically, certain countries, including Finland, Sweden and Poland, contend that for something to be called vodka, it must be distilled from either potatoes or certain grains, not from things like grapes or maple syrup. These countries are seeking labeling restrictions for these "non-traditional" vodkas. BBC News reported that such restrictions could affect up to two thirds of all the vodka currently produced in non-Baltic EU countries. The NYT article also points out that vodka's history and original ingredients are up for debate, citing possible Russian, Polish, Italian and Arabian origins that may have included plums, apples or grapes.