Dining a la Russe

Above is pictured a Bliniy, one of the most popular dishes in Russian cuisine. It's sort of like a crepe/pancake folded over several times, with some sort of filling - it can be either sweet or meaty - stuffed inside. This particular one is an Apple Bliniy from Chainaya Lozhka.

This naturally raises the topic of what else I've been eating while I'm over here...better get comfortable; I could go on for quite a while.

Sir Winston Churchill once famously remarked that Russia was "...a mystery inside a riddle, wrapped in an enigma." He failed to mention that it was also slathered in about fifty kilos of butter. You see, the Russians love their butter, to the point where they will add it to foods that were never, ever meant to be buttered. I can understand butter on toast, or perhaps in an omelet, but in SOUP??? That's just wrong.

And speaking of omelets, Marina Vasilevna has made some of the strangest ones I've ever seen in my life...I can understand cheese and ham and even peppers in an omelet, but spaghetti and meatballs makes no sense whatsoever. Although the fried chicken-and-potatoes omelet she made the next morning was, if anything, even more ridiculous.

Marina Vasilevna also just cooks way too much...she routinely serves borsch in bowls that are nearly the size of my head, along with a healthy portion of sour cream. And by "healthy portion", I mean about a pint of it. Because it isn't just the butter; Russia takes their love of dairy products to a whole different level. I will freely admit that the yogurt here is fantastic, but I can only take so much butter in my food before I start to literally feel my arteries clogging.

I could go on and on, (for instance, I have yet to discuss the primacy of the cucumber and potato in Russian recipes) but I think I'll spare you the details for now. Maybe tomorrow.