Hello Reader!
My COVID-household comprises a diverse group of eaters: 2 committed carnivores; 1 person who says, "that's way too much for me" about everything except triple-cream cheese, and two fairly adventurous eaters (I'm in this group) who prefer the exotic to the mundane.
Needless to say, I'm the cook.
And it's occasionally an uphill struggle to find something that works for everyone. Ramen, oddly does, though one of us is a mushroom hater, which makes ramen not quite ramen...
Often, this group is just forced to consume recipes under development or those that have just been photographed for an article. I'm happy to say that there were no complaints about the 4 times I made them eat the recipe that ran in today's The Moscow Times: Beet Green Goluptsy in Lemon Sauce.
Goluptsy are stuffed cabbage rolls, and they have a long and very interesteing history dating back to Antiquity. I delve into the dish's history, and my own first discovery of it, long ago, on a storm-tossed sea heading to Antarctica.
[Read the full article and get the recipe here]
I hope you enjoy the article and will try my version at home...as I say in the piece, the Zen like calm that comes over me when I'm rolling them up is not to be sniffed at. This is a curious crowd pleaser for sure!
Caroline Eden's marvelous Red Sands: Reportage and Recipes through Central Asia, is exactly the book I needed to get me through another long month when my suitcases lay dusy and unused. Part travelogue, part recipe trove, Red Sands takes the reader into the heart of Central Asia for a look at a society that is transitioning even as it preserves many ancient traditons!
Olga Grushin, author of the marvelous Dream Life of Sukhanov and The Line contiues to charm and challenge readers in equal measures with her latest novel, The Charmed Wife, which gives Cinderella and many other fairytales a major reinterpretation. I'm halfway through and totally hooked!
I finally got my hands on a copy of the wonderful Zuza Zak's Polska: New Polish Cooking! What a joyful book this is! If you don't know anything about Polish food, this is the perfect introduction, and if you are already a seasoned Polish cook, you will find much in here that is creative, innovative, also excellent interpretations of the wonderful classics this expansive cuisine offers. I highly recommend it!
If you are new to this newsletter distribution, be sure to download your free copy of my Russian Classics Reinterpreted, featuring five of my favorite recipes, customized for the home kitchen.
Wishing you delicious things this week!
Jennifer Eremeeva
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I am a food and travel writer as well as a cruise ship enrichment speaker: my passion is exploring the cuisine, history, and culture of new places and writing about them here in my free bi-weekly (twice monthly) Destination Curation newsletter where I look at the intersection of history, culture, and cuisine in major destinations.
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