Here is a great cookbook that not everyone is familiar ….”Classic Russian Cooking” by Elena Molokhovet … A gift to young housewives. Originally published around 1861, this book was held as ‘decadent’ and viewed as a curiosity during much of the Soviet regime where the variety of foodstuffs were limited and seasonings nearly non existent.
Today this book stands out as one of the truly marvelous additions to modern cooking , providing wonderful glimpses into an age gone by where time, effort and quality made a difference in cuisine!
Obviously, before I dived into the cookbook, I thumbed my way to find:
Beef Stroganoff with Mustanrd (Govjadina po-strogaonovski, s gorchiseju ) which contained the central themes of every Stroganoff …although much simpler… with ‘allspice”, sour cream and “Sareptskaja” mustard! This type of mustard is also known as Indian Mustard or Brown Mustard (Brassica Juncea) and can be found growing in the United States and considered , interestingly enough , a ‘weed.’
This is certainly a cookbook that won’t break the bank as you can probably pick it up for 20 – 30 dollars on Amazon.
One common criticism of Elena’s recipes was that they ‘contained too many ingredients and required too much time in preparation.” However, I did not find this the case, unless you unfortunately prefer one of those 30 meals in 30 minute books.
This is for someone who enjoys exploring another time…
Roger Freberg