July 10, 2007 (Part II) || Food, Anyone?

This is a topic I've long wanted to discuss, and yet I feel like I should wait until the very end of the trip, because I keep experiencing new and exciting dishes on a weekly basis!

To start with, Russians certainly treat dining as a different experience; they typically eat light dinners and breakfasts, saving their big meals for lunch time (like many Europeans). The idea of hospitality is central to a Russian household, and it is therefore a necessity to encourage guests to eat as much as possible. Part of me wants to point out that maybe this stems from a collective memory of time when food was much harder to come by, and so forcing food on guests is understood to be the ultimate gift. In either case, it's really hard to make your hostess stop at one, two, three, FOUR scoops of whatever it is that's for dinner. Traditionally, as well, Russians have appetizers (which are typically delicious) followed by a first course of soup, and a second course, or main meal. I have only had a cold drink here once, when Masha told me to try the "Cold Tea" at a local diner--and this is considered an exotic drink. In Russia, all drinks are hot; along with other superstitions, most Russians believe that you increase your chances of catching a cold or getting a sore throat by drinking cold beverages. So, predictably, I've drank mostly tea at home--breakfast, lunch, dinner, 11 o'clock at night--which I've had to fortify with copious amounts of milk (I just don't do bitter too well). Also, Russian meals stretch on for as long as possible, and each dish is served as it's made, which makes eating out an interesting and lengthy experience.

As for my personal experience, the food here has been delicious--always fresh. The freshness of the food (we all hope and are trying to convince ourselves) cancels out all the butter and oil with which its prepared, and the copious amounts of mayonnaise or sour cream that is added to everything (salads, soups, pancakes, you name it--we joked once that after vodka, sour cream is the most important part of a Russian's diet--keep in mind also that sour cream is MUCH different over here). For breakfast, I am typically forced to eat a container of yogurt, a piece of bread with cheese, a hard-boiled egg, kasha, and a cup of tea. I eat lunch at school most times, and therefore get served my big meal at night--always a giant bowl of soup, followed by a meal of lots of vegetables and a little meat, and typically some kind of starch. I've had borsht, schii, chicken soup, mushroom soup, sausage soup, potato soup (some of these are my unofficial names) and others, I'm sure... and I've loved them all, with and without sour cream. Of the more interesting dishes I've been served are the following: an omelette with green onions and boiled noodles strewn in it (we ran out of bacon); pasta with red caviar (makes a tasty supplement for Ragu); vegetables and rice with small hot dogs (regarded as standard and good meat). However, none of this compares to what they were serving the Iowa students at the hotel/dorm. One day we were all eating in the same cafe (in the same building) when Nate brought over a plate to our table. "Wanna try some?" They were hot dogs sliced down the middle with a little bit of cheese wrapped inside, wrapped with bacon. "What are these?" "THIS is what they think we eat." We all just cracked up laughing, and some of us had a bite. Like Nate said, "The first day I thought 'Hey, these're pretty good,' but after day 4 I couldn't handle them anymore."

Well, I didn't get myself as much time as I ought to have; but I think this is a small taste of what things have been like, food-wise, over here. Everyone's got fun stories about what their host families think Americans eat, and everybody has stories where they're eating who-knows-what, but it's absolutely delicious.

PS. There's only been one dish that I didn't like here--some fried dumpling with grapes we had for breakfast--other than that, even the weird stuff's been great. And for those of you (ahem, NANA) who had to pay me a quarter to try something new when I was a kid, rest assured that those days of such picky eating are long gone.