What is okroshka? The honest answer is: a cold soup made with kvass, diced vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and whatever cooked meat you have on hand. That description does not do it any favors. Cold soup with fermented bread drink sounds like something you’d need to be gently convinced to try. The Russians have been eating […]
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Eastern European baking traditions have never been just about dessert. In the villages and cities of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the countries surrounding them, the oven was the center of the home. It heated the room. It dried herbs. It baked the bread that fed the family through winter. And when there was something worth
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Koreiskaya morkovka is one of those dishes that raises a question the moment you hear the name. “Koreiskaya” means Korean in Russian. But if you’ve spent any time in Korea, you’ve probably never encountered this salad there. It doesn’t appear on Korean menus. It isn’t part of Korean culinary tradition in any recognizable way. So
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Boise catering for weddings tends to follow a familiar script. A pasta bar. Carved beef or rubber chicken. A salad with tongs. Three dessert options on a tiered tray. It’s fine. Everyone eats, the tables get cleared, and by the following weekend nobody remembers what they had. Imagine instead your guests still talking about the
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Pirozhki are small, hand-sized pastries filled with savory or sweet fillings, baked or fried until golden, and eaten without utensils, without a plate, and often without slowing down. Think of them as Russia’s answer to the hand pie except they’ve been around since the 15th century, traveled from Siberian villages to street corners across the
Is Kazakhstan Russian? Most people assume the answer is yes. It isn’t. And the difference matters a lot more than most people realize, especially when it comes to the food on Alyonka’s menu. Kazakhstan Is Its Own Country Kazakhstan is a large, landlocked nation in Central Asia, bordered by Russia to the north, China to
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Most people have eaten beef stroganoff at some point. A school cafeteria, a church potluck, a box from the grocery store with a packet of seasoning inside. Most people have not eaten real beef stroganoff. The real version and the shortcut version share a name. That’s about where the similarities end. Here’s where the dish
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A Winter Kitchen in Almaty Picture a kitchen in Kazakhstan in the middle of winter. The whole family is gathered around the table, rolling dough by hand, folding and pinching the edges of pelmeni one by one. When the trays are full, someone carries them outside to freeze in the cold air. No freezer needed.
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The best places to get a picnic in Boise are easy to find. The city has the weather for it, the greenbelt for it, and more than enough good parks to make an afternoon outside worth planning. What most people don’t plan is the food. You end up at the grocery store an hour before,
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Catering for corporate events in Boise doesn’t have to mean another sandwich tray. You know… the ones with the little triangle sandwiches on a plastic platter, the same pasta salad, the cookies wrapped in cellophane. Nobody says anything because it’s fine. It’s just fine. But if you want to wow the attendees of your next
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