The one stample of Swedish cuisine does, in fact, seem to be the meatballs and lingonberry sauce. The lingonberry is plentiful in Sweden. IHOP’s Swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce is actually surprisingly authentic. The Swedish pancakes (crepes) are similar to the French crêpes. The traditional pancake in Sweden is served with whipped cream and jam, and that is how they were served at the House of Sweden (we had strawberry jam). They can also have savory fillings.

According to Wikipedia’s smörgåsbord:

The members of the Swedish merchant and upper class in fourteenth-century Sweden and Finland served schnapps table
(brännvinsbord), a small buffet presented on a side table offering a variety of hors d’oeuvres served prior to a meal before sitting at the dinner table. The most simple brännvinsbord was bread, butter, cheese, herring and several types of liqueurs, but smoked salmon, sausages and cold cuts were also served. The brännvinsbord was served as an appetizer for a gathering of people and eaten while standing before a dinner or supper, often two to five hours before dinner, sometimes with the men and women in separate rooms. The smörgåsbord became popular in the mid-seventeenth century, when the food moved from the side table to the main table and service began containing both warm and cold dishes. Smörgåsbord was also served as an appetizer in hotels and later at railway stations, before the dining cars time for the guests. Restaurants in Stockholm at the 1912 Olympic Games stopped serving smörgåsbord as an appetizer and started serving them instead as a main course.

We had the requisite open faced sandwich, which is so popular in Scandinavian cuisine, except the Swedish sandwich was topped with meatballs. We also had some hot dogs; unlike American hot dogs, these were thinner and much longer. They did not fit inside the bun and were served with mustard. These are called falukorv, and a large traditional Swedish sausage made of a grated mixture of pork and beef or veal with potato starch flour and mild spices:

The history of Falukorv reaches back to the Falun copper mine during the 16th and 17th centuries, where ox hide was used for ropes and some of the meat remaining after slaughter was used for sausages. The sausage was based on the Lyoner sausage; the recipe, in which the meat is smoked and salted, was probably brought to the region by Germans working in the mine.

The tradition of preparing the meat in this way was revitalised in the late 19th century by the butcher Anders Olsson, whose initiative led to the development of the modern Falukorv, which uses a mixture of pork and beef or veal. Falukorv has enjoyed high popularity since then.

The designation Falukorv received protection in Sweden in 1973. (Wikipedia – Falukorv)

The most interesting item we tried was the Princess Cake, also known as the Prinsesstårta. We bought a large slice of this cake, which is layers of white cake with whipped cream, jam and then a layer of marzipan that was sprinkled with powdered sugar. According to the Wikipedia Princess Cake entry: ”the original recipe first appeared in the 1930s ‘Prinsessornas Kokbok’ cookbook, which was published by Jenny Åkerström, a teacher of the daughters of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland. The cake was originally called ‘Grön tårta’ (green cake), but was given the name ‘prinsesstårta’ or ‘princess cake’ because the princesses were said to have been especially fond of the cake.”

We also learned was that Swedish Fish really are Swedish. The candy was made by a Swedish candy company called Malaco. They decided to start exporting to the North American market in the 1960s and 1970s and created Swedish Fish and Swedish Berries. The original color was red with a unique flavor, perhaps lingonberry. However, in Sweden they are called “pastel fish” (pastellfiskar), are paler in color, and more translucent. The are less sweet and more fruit-flavored, and also come in a licorice and salty licorice flavor.

The 2011 Finnish Christmas Bazaar was today at the Unitarian Church on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland. We were surprised to find the place completely packed, and encountered a lot of Finnish-speaking people. We didn’t know there was such a large Finnish community in the area. There were lots of Christmas items to buy and a small cafeteria serving Finnish food, which was mostly open-faced sandwiches, breads, and pastries.

There were several open sandwiches we tried, including a sandwich with lox, a sandwich with salami, and a sandwich with herring. When we looked up Open Sandwiches on Wikipedia, we saw that Finland was mentioned as a one of the countries that favors these, along with all of Scandinavia:

The Scandinavian open sandwich (Danish: smørrebrød, Norwegian: smørbrød, Swedish: smörgås) consists of one piece of buttered bread, often whole-grain rye bread (Danish: rugbrød, Swedish: rågbröd), topped with, for instance, cold steak, shrimps, smoked salmon, caviar, hard boiled eggs, bacon, herring, fish fillets, liver pâté (Danish: leverpostej, Norwegian: leverpostei Swedish: leverpastej), and/or small meatballs. This is typically complemented by some herbs and vegetables such as parsley, cold salad, thinly sliced cucumber, tomato wedges and/or pickled beets etc. on the same slice of bread. A condiment, such as mayonnaise, or mayonnaise-based dressing is also often included in some form. An old traditional replacement for butter on a piece of bread with herring is pig fat. There are many variations associated with the smørrebrød/smørbrød/smörgås and there are even special stores, cafés and restaurants (especially in Denmark) that specialize in them. In Finland the sandwich is called voileipä which also means “butter bread” and the Finnish rye bread is ruisleipä.

We enjoyed the liberal use of butter on the sandwiches. We also smelled like herring for most of the afternoon after eating the sandwiches. The sandwiches were presented in a pretty way, so we liked that.

The most interesting item we tried was the Karelian pasties, which is a pretty dish consisting of potato encased in a rye shell topped with egg. We thought it was unusual and yummy. Wikipedia describes it as:

The oldest traditional pasties usually had a rye crust, but the North Karelian and Ladoga Karelian variants also had wheat alongside of rye to improve the baking characteristics of the available rye breads. The common fillings of this era were barley and talkkuna. The 19th century first introducedpotatoand buckwheat as new fillings, and later due to trade, also rice and millet.

Nowadays in the most familiar and common recipe the pasties are made from a thin rye crust with a filling of rice. Butter, often mixed with boiled egg (egg butter or munavoi), is spread over the hot pasties before eating.

In addition, we sampled some glögi, which is Finnish mulled wine. It was delicious and served wit slivered almonds and raisins. For dessert we had joulutortut, which is a star-shaped Finnish pastry filled with prune preserves. There is a recipe for it online.

We tried to get a variety of everything we could find, since we were really only familiar with goulash as being Hungarian. The first item we tried as an open-faced sandwich served on rye bread. It had a type of pimento cheese spread, slices of salami, sliced bell peppers, and sliced pickles. We read that this type of dish is a common Hungarian breakfast food. Salami is popular in Hungary and they make many varieties.

We also ordered some main entrees. These included the infamous Hungarian goulash and a bean soup, served with sour cream. The Budapest Tourist Guide describes goulash as:

Authentic gulyás is a beef dish cooked with onions, Hungarian paprika powder, tomatoes and some green pepper. Potato and noodles (csipetke in Hungarian) are also added according to some recipes. Hungarian goulash is neither a soup nor a stew, it’s somewhere in between. Though in Hungary it’s considered rather to be a soup than a stew, so look for it among Soups on restaurant menus. If cooked in the proper way goulash has a nice and evenly thick consistency, almost like a sauce. In Hungary gulyás is eaten as a main dish; noodle or pastry dishes, especially the ones made with cottage cheese (túrós csúsza, túrógombóc, strudel) go down well after the heavy soup.

Our soups came with noodles (nokedli or galuska), which were similar to spätzle and a liberal dollop of sour cream.

The entrees came with túrós csusza, which was noodles with cottage cheese, chopped bacon, and sour cream. Chew.hu notes:

Along with mákos tészta (poppy seed pasta), túrós csusza (“TOO-ROS CHOO-SA “) is a Hungarian pasta dish that non-Hungarians are likely to find somewhat outlandish. In addition to heaps of túró (curd cheese), túrós csusza is usually topped with plenty sour cream and cubes or strips of greasy bacon.

We actually found it to be similar to a cross between a carbonara and an alfredo. This is a very traditional Hungarian dish. There’s a recipe for it on Best Things Hungary. Along with this, we were also served szekely kaposzta, which is a traditional stew made of cabbage, sauerkraut, and pork. There are recipes for it online, and it is a perfect winter dish. Our other entree was white rice topped with tomato, which was rather bland.

They had a wide variety on desserts and we received somloi galuska with our meal and ordered palacsinta. The somloi galuska is best described by Eastern European Food at About.com (which also includes a recipe):

This decadent Hungarian trifle recipe is known as somloi galuska (shom-loh-ee gah-LOOSH-kah), and is made with three different-flavored sponge cakes, pastry cream, raisins, walnuts, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

The traditional presentation is to scoop three balls of this dessert into a bowl or on a plate, dollop with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate sauce. A modern presentation is to cut it into squares so the different layers are evident. Rum is traditionally used in the simple syrup and chocolate sauce, but it can be omitted.

Ours did not have raisins, but did have chopped walnuts, whipped cream, and rum in it. It was definitely decadent, especially after all the other heavy food.

The palacsinta was a filled crepe. These can also be eaten with savory fillings, but ours had strawberry jam, apricot jam, and nutella garnished with whipped cream. We read that this is very traditional.

By the time we left, the whole building was packed and their was dancing and a big party happening.

For Oktoberfest, Old Europe had a variety of Bavarian dishes, including weisswurst with pretzels. As it turns out, pretzels are traditionally German (unlike other cuisine that’s actually invented in America). They have existed in Germany for centuries and was brought here by German immigrants. However, the hard pretzel is an American culinary invention and was invented in 1850. Pretzels are so popular that the annual United States pretzel industry is worth over $550 million and the average American consumes about 1.5 pounds (0.7 kg) of pretzels per year (see “Pretzel“).

Weisswurst is a veal sausage that is rarely served outside of Bavaria. In fact, the sausage helped coin the term “weißwurstäquator”:

Weißwurstäquator is a humorous term describing the (supposedly) very different culture and dialect of the southern part of Germany, especially Bavaria, and the rest of the country. The term refers to the fact that Weißwurst is a favorite dish in Bavaria, but seldom served in the other regions.

We also had some beer and some delicious dishes, including weiner schnitzel. According to Wikipedia:

There is a debate as to where schnitzel originated. Some say it appeared in Vienna during the 15th or 16th century. One hypothesis is that it could have been brought to Austria during the Battle of Vienna in 1683 by Polish and German troops. According to another hypothesis, it was introduced in 1857 by Field Marshal Radetzky, who spent much of his life in Milan. The term Wiener Schnitzel itself dates to at least 1845. Variants of this dish are common around the world.

In addition, we had a dish with fried pretzel dumplings and potato pancakes with apple sauce. Our other traditional dish was the Rheinischer Sauerbraten (marinated beef, topped with a sweet and sour raisin sauce, and toasted almonds served with), which is considered the national dish of Germany and has an ancient history:

Several sources believe sauerbraten was invented by Charlemagne in the ninth century AD as a means of using leftover roasted meat. Saint Albertus Magnus, also known as Saint Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is also credited with popularizing the dish in the thirteenth century. Julius Caesar has been assigned a role in the inspiration for sauerbraten as he purportedly sent amphoras filled with beef marinated in wine over the Alps to the newly founded Roman colony of Cologne. According to this legend, this inspired the residents of Cologne to imitate the Roman import. While quite common, these claims are largely unsubstantiated.

We also asked for extra dumplings and spätzle on the side. Spätzle, a German noodle, which is more like an egg noodle and dense and irregular in shape. We learned that spätzle‘s origin is not unknown:

Various regions claim to be the originators of this noodle. Written mention of Spätzle has been found in documents dating from 1725, although medieval illustrations are believed to place this noodle at an even earlier date. Today, in Europe spätzle are largely considered a “Swabian speciality” and are generally associated with the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The leading German producer is Herrman, which produces approximately 13,000 tons per year. The estimated annual commercial production of spätzle in Germany is approximately 40,000 tons, which does not include spätzle made by individual households and restaurants.

According to Old Europe‘s website, they will have a new winter menu:

The winter solstice is met with our wild game menu. Venison, Wild Boar and Hassenpfeffer join savory cabbage, home-made soups and the tradtional hot-mulled Burgundy called “Glühwein” to warm the body and gladden the heart.

Armenian food has a lot of elements that might already be familiar to many from other Ottoman cuisines. Items featured at the festival included lamb and chicken kebab (served in platters off the skewer at the festival, these kebabs were prepared in bite-sized chunks), hummus, cheese pies, dolmas, and baklava.

Advantour describes one key element of Armenian food: the importance of meat and diary:

Armenian Cuisine is as ancient as its history, as the land it is standing on. Armenian

culinary traditions are over 2000 years old. The abundance of meat on Armenian tables is the result of the most ancient development of cattle breeding in Armenian uplands which led to such a variety of livestock and poultry. Cattle breeding was also the source of various dairy products – basically brine-ripened cheeses as well as sour-milk products which serve as the basis for traditional Armenian dishes and beverages.

We ordered stuffed peppers (stuffed with ground beef, rice, vegetables, herbs, and spices), tepsi boreg (baked pastry made of phyllo dough filled with feta cheese and shredded mozzarella), khadayif (dessert made with shredded phyllo, sweet cheese, and simple syrup), and kurabiya (four-based cookie shaped like a diamond or the letter “S”). They also offered eech (bulgur salad), kebab, hummus, yalanchi (stuffed grape leaves), Armenian style green beans, and more.

Stuffing is apparently a feature of Armenian food, according to Armenian Cuisine on Wikipedia, which notes:

In addition to grape leaves, Armenians also stuff cabbage leaves, Swiss chard leaves, eggplants, zucchini or squash, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, various meats (particularly organ meats), whole fish, apples, quince, and even cantaloupe.

We really enjoyed the tepsi boreg, which also seems to be common in Turkey since we found a lot of Turkish sites referring to it. This is a cheese pie filled with feta, but the pastry is also soft and almost lasagna-like in the middle. It was cut as a rectangle. Our other cheese pie, the triangle boreg, was filled with muenster and had a crispy phyllo crust. We probably have never met a cheese pie we don’t like.

The food festival had an impressive spread of desserts. Since one of us has a prohibitive nut allergy, we ended up only getting those desserts that did not contain nuts. This included choreg, which is brioche-like bread that was filled with cheese. It wasn’t sweet, but was more savory. This was also available in a twisted variety and this bread is common in the Ottoman Empire countries and is often served at Easter. We sampled a cookie called kurabiya, a sweet and simple cookie which reminded us a lot of Greek kourambiethes and other Middle Eastern cookies we’ve come across. Finally, we also tried khadayif (or kanafeh), which we’ve also seen in the Middle East (especially during the end of fasting at Ramadan). This one had cheese in it and was soaked in syrup and topped with vermicelli noodles. We would have liked to try some of the other desserts, which looked very interesting and unique, but were prohibited by their nut content.

The festival ends on Saturday, Oct. 22, so we recommend going to St. Mary’s, if possible, because this might be the only place to sample Armenian food in the area.

There will be more Russian Bazaars this October, including the Russian Bazaar at St.  Nicholas Cathedral on Massachusetts Avenue near Embassy Row. It will be held October 15 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and October 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This festival will also feature food from the Ukraine, Georgia, and Serbia (and a rummage sale). We’re planning on going, since it is hard to find Ukrainian, Georgian, and Serbian food here (at least from what we have researched so far).

Wikipedia tells us that the panini (the Italian word for sandwich) is, in fact, Italian in origin. The Italian sandwich is also made from a loaf of bread (ciabatta or rosetta) cut horizontally and filled with salami, ham, cheese, mortadella, etc. It can also be served hot or pressed. In Central Italy, it is often filled with porchetta (slices of roast pork). Wikipedia also relates this about the penetrance of the Italian sandwich into the U.S.:

Although the first U.S. reference to panini dates to 1956, and a precursor appeared in a 16th-century Italian cookbook, the sandwiches became trendy in Milanese bars, called paninoteche, in the 1970s and 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants, particularly in New York, began selling panini, whose popularity then spread to other U.S. cities, each producing distinctive variations of it.

During the 1980s, the term paninaro (slang for a maker and seller of panini, or his shop), was extended to its patrons, as well. It was used to denote a youngsters’ culture typical of teenagers supposed to eat and meet in sandwich bars such as Milan’s Al Panino and then in the first US-style fast food opened in Italy. Paninari were depicted as fashion-fixated, vain individuals, delighting in showcasing early 1980s status symbols such as Timberland shoes, Moncler accessories, Ray-Ban sunglasses and articles from Armani, Coveri, Controvento. So they were lampooned in the Italia 1 comedy show Drive-in by Enzo Braschi. A track entitled “Paninaro” appears on Pet Shop Boys’ albums Disco and Alternative.

We like the idea of a sandwich as a status symbol.

What’s Cooking America relates that the Italian sandwich has been claimed to be invented by many people. In the U.S., the sandwich became popular during the 20th century due to the spike in Italian immigration. Many Italians worked in New England as pavers, railway workers, longshoreman, etc. They claim that:

Giovanni Amato, an Italian immigrant, started selling fresh baked rolls from a pushcart to his fellow Italian immigrants working on the docks of Portland, Maine. At the workers’ request, Giovanni added a little meat, cheese, and fresh vegetables, and the “Italian Sandwich” was born. Nobody knows the precise date of the first Italian Sandwich, but Amato’s sandwich historians say it had happened by 1903. By the 1920s, Amato had opened a sandwich shop on India Street. In the 1950s, people would line up outside the shop to get their Italians, and Amato’s would sell 5,000 sandwiches on Sundays.

Wikipedia also confirms that this type of sandwich was brought and popularized in the U.S. because of Italian immigration. The name of the sandwich varies widely depending on region:

Other names

• Blimpie (shaped like a blimp) From the Hoboken, New Jersey founded chain, Blimpie.
• Bomber (shaped like a bomber plane)— Upstate New York
• Cosmo (cosmopolitan)—North Central Pennsylvania near Williamsport
• Filled Roll—New Zealand
• Barb Mills, (Ham and provolone cheese, baked)—North Central Pennsylvania, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania in the 50′s and 60′s
• Grinder (Italian-American slang for a dock worker)—New England, Inland Empire of Southern California.[4] Called grinder because it took a lot of chewing to eat the hard crust of the bread used. In parts of Pennsylvania, the terms grinder and hoagie are both used, with the term grinder referring to a sandwich that has been heated. In eastern Massachusetts a Grinder is a toasted sub, for example the sub is toasted in a pizza oven.
• Hoagie—Southern New Jersey and South-East Pennsylvania – Usually denotes lettuce, tomato and onions included.
• Italian Sandwich—Maine and other parts of New England.
• Poor boy—St. Louis
• Po’ Boy—Louisiana
• Rocket (shaped like a rocket)—various areas.
• Continental Roll Australia[18]
• Sous-marin—a variety popular in Montreal
• Spuckie (Italian-American slang for a long roll)—Boston, Massachusetts (used particularly in Italian immigrant neighborhoods)
• Sub—New Jersey, Massachusetts
• Torpedo (shaped like a torpedo)—New York, New Jersey, other areas.
• Tunnel—Various New England areas.
• Spiedie Southern Tier of New York, especially Binghamton.
• Wedge (served between two wedges of bread)—Prevalent in Yonkers, New York and other parts of Westchester County, New York, The Bronx, lower Fairfield County, Connecticut, and portions of Upstate New York.

Cassoulet

It’s Bastille Day! We are celebrating it by eating at Bastille, a cute and cozy restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. It is a little pricey, but sometimes we have to splurge. We didn’t really think much of French food…until we came here and everything was delicious. We ordered a bean cassoulet, and it so rich, hearty, and tasty, it upset our notions of French food – which centered around fish. What we learned is that French food, like much cuisine, is very regionalized. According to the Wikipedia entry on French cuisine, in Toulouse, Quercy, and Aveyron harricot beans are extensively grown, which are used in cassoulets. It’s actually a pretty old dish:

During the 15th and 16th centuries, French cuisine assimilated many new food items from the New World. Although they were slow to be adopted, records of banquets show Catherine de’ Medici serving sixty-six turkeys at one dinner. The dish called cassoulet has its roots in the New World discovery of haricot beans, which are central to the dish’s creation, but had not existed outside of the New World until its exploration by Christopher Columbus.

Our cassoulet from Bastille was traditional and typical. The traditional cassoulet is a slow-cooked stew with meat in it. Ours contained sausage and duck, as well the white haricot beans. It arrived in the standard cooking vessel and was piping hot. There are regional variations of cassoulet, although Castelnaudary, is the self-proclaimed “Capital of Cassoulet,” along with Toulouse, and Carcassonne. According to the Wikipedia on cassoulet:

All are made with white beans (haricots blancs or lingots), which have replaced the medieval broad bean Vica fava, and duck or goose confit, meat and sausages. In the cassoulet of Toulouse, the meats are pork and mutton, the latter frequently a cold roast shoulder. The Carcassonne version is similar but doubles the portion of mutton and sometimes replaces the duck with partridge. The cassoulet of Castelnaudary uses a duck confit instead of mutton. Cassoulet is traditionally topped by fried bread cubes and cracklings.

Cassoulet is so popular and traditional that you can also get canned versions in France (of course with varying quality). The cheapest, of course, substitute other meat for duck and goose.

refers to a small restaurant serving Greek cuisine, not to be confused with “tavern”. The Greek word is ταβέρνα and is originally derived from the Latin word taberna (‘shed’ or ‘hut’, from tabula ‘board’, possibly by dissimilation from traberna, from trabs: beam, timber). As Greeks have migrated elsewhere, tavernes (plural) have spread throughout the world, especially countries such as the USA and Australia. The taverna is an integral part of Greek cuisine and of Greek culture. Usually in tavernas there is, often live, Greek traditional music such as rembetiko, and people apart from dining can join in Greek dances such as zeibekiko and hasapiko.

We ordered the buffet and were immediately brought bread, extra-virgin olive oil (which looked even darker than normal extra virgin olive oil), and a cold pureed and cream of broccoli soup. Κρητική Διατροφή wrote ”that one who eats oil and bread and oily pastries is invincible to the arrows of death.” The Cretan/Greek diet is supposed to be one of the healthiest in the world. A Greek travel site explains the Cretan diet, which has olive oil as its staple and also includes wheat, vegetables, cheeses, and wine. Much of the Greek diet is ancient or influenced by the Arab world, as Wikipedia notes:

Some dishes can be traced back to ancient Greece: lentil soup, fasolada, retsina (white or rosé wine flavored with pine resin) and pasteli (candy bar with sesame seeds baked with honey); some to the Hellenistic and Roman periods: loukaniko (dried pork sausage); and Byzantium: feta cheese, avgotaraho (cured fish roe) and paximadi (traditional hard bread baked from corn, barley and rye). There are also many ancient and Byzantine dishes which are no longer consumed: porridge as the main staple, fish sauce, and salt water mixed into wine.

Many dishes are part of the larger tradition of Ottoman cuisine and their names reveal Arabic, Persian or Turkish roots: moussaka, tzatziki, yuvarlakia, keftethes, boureki, and so on. Many dishes’ names probably entered the Greek vocabulary during Ottoman times, or earlier in contact with the Persians and the Arabs. Some dishes may be pre-Ottoman, only taking Turkish names later; Ash and Dalby, for example, speculate that grape-leaf dolmathes were made by the early Byzantine period.

A few dishes are influenced by Venetian (Italian) and French cuisines, such as pastitsio, makaronia me kima, (pasta with meat) found mostly in Greece and Anatolia and Asia Minor and regions of that influence.

We tried to find the history of the cold broccoli soup, which was a thin and finely purred soup that tasted exactly like cold broccoli soup, however all we could find about it was a recipe on Greekrecipes.com for it. It seems like cold soups are common in Greece, though.

The buffet had a variety of hot and cold dishes. The entree changes from day to day, and on the day we went they served lamb. They had a garden salad, various spreads, and a Greek salad with fish and a vinaigrette, stuffed grape leaves, and olives among the items in the cold salad section. Among the spreads included a fava bean spread. The spread resembled hummus to us and seemed like it was prepared in a similar way. Also included was taramosalata, a pink spread “traditionally made from taramas, the salted and cured roe of the cod or the carp, though blends based on other forms of fish roe, particularly cod, have become more common. The roe is mixed with either bread crumbs or mashed potato, and lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil” (Wikipedia).

We were served tzatziki (thinned yoghurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, pepper, and other spices), which we learned has an interesting history inside and outside of Greece. In fact, we read that the word actually derives from a Turkish word. Ours was served as part of the buffet and we ate it with bread. However, Wikipedia notes that:

In Cyprus, the dish is known colloquially as ttalattouri (cf. tarator), and recipes often include less garlic and includes the herb mint, unlike the Greek counterpart. Tzatziki is always served cold.

In touristy restaurants, and outside Greece and Cyprus, tzatziki is often served with bread (loaf or pita) as part of the first course of a meal. Greeks, Cypriots and those from all over the Middle East use this dish as a side dish to a meal with meat. The acidity cuts the fat, thus tzatziki is also used as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros.

There were also other items in the buffet and possibly more spreads. One of them was a Greek salad served with chunks of marinated fish. We couldn’t figure out if this salad is traditional or not, but we did read that fish is traditionally a more common meat in Crete. We also were served feta cheese and stuffed grape leaves (dolmadakia). Feta cheese is ancient and one of the food items we found that is specifically Greek. A lot of foods common in Greece also occur in other countries that were formerly part of the Byzantine Empire, including salads, wine, and syrupy honey sweet meats (baklava?). Feta was originally associated with Crete and its storage in brine was even described in an Italian travel log in 1494. In fact, feta comes from the Italian word “fetta” meaning “slice,” which was introduced into the Greek language in the 17th century. Our feta was served in cube-like strips at the buffet. The European Union has protected feta as a “protected designation of origin product,” and has defined feta as a sheep’s milk cheese that may contain goat’s milk, but only if it makes up less than 30% of the total mixture. The curing of feta in brine is what gives feta its saltiness. Feta is also an aged cheese. Although we only had plain feta, it is often used in other Greek meals, like spanakopita (“spinach pie”) and tyropita (“cheese pie”).

The stuffed grape leaf is often listed as a “dolma” on menus. However, a dolma is an umbrella term for a stuffed vegetables common to countries formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, like Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq, the Balkans, etc. such as zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers (Wikipedia). The stuffed grape leaf dolma can be filled with either meat (which are generally served warm) or without meat (generally served cold). Ours were served cold and with olive oil and stuffed with rice and spices and had a tangy taste.

We actually ate so much of the cold salads that we almost missed the entree: the lamb dish. This dish consisted of marinated pieces of lamb. We could not figure out what this was later and what the traditional name for this dish was, but it was delicious. Alongside this dish were plain steamed vegetables and a sort of rice pilaf.

We had to pass up trying dessert and of course we couldn’t try any other entrees, however, we noticed that the meal had a large variety of traditional, Cyprian, and Cretan cuisine. We ended up trying some Greek beer. Our server suggested we try KEO, which is a medium-toned Cypriot lager. It tasted similar to a pilsner.

TOTAL: $21.31 excluding tip per person (includes lunch buffet, one alcoholic beverage, and extra bread)

The Russia House is a strange restaurant suffering from an undiagnosed multiple personality disorder, somehow caught between a European (eurotrash?) club, expensive high-end restaurant, mixology bar, and an overcrowded house party taking place in someone’s grandfather’s row house. The owners of the restaurant were (on the phone) very responsive and accommodating, but the restaurant itself on arrival was strange and disorganized. Upon entry, there was no host in sight (just a clueless bouncer) and we had to figure out how to get to where we were being seated (the piano lounge), which was upstairs. The restaurant is tall and multi-leveled, situated in a row house downtown. However, it was unclear how the different sections (or levels) of the restaurant operated. It seemed akin to a nightclub with tons of people packed in all different levels free to mill around. We were seated upstairs at a large table with leather backed chairs near the front of the restaurant. Our reservation was for 8 p.m., but by then the music was so loud that it was difficult to even talk to the person sitting directly across without yelling. The music was of the European variety, loud, and repetitive. The actual restaurant was very dark, as well, especially since the wallpaper, carpet, floors, are dark wood, wine colored, and heavily draped. We were a little thrown off by this loud and chaotic atmosphere because the website stated that:

The Russian-European elegance of the Russia House offers a uniquely warm and comfortable meeting place for anyone appreciative of its friendly and intimate coziness.

Moving on to Russian cuisine, according to Way to Russia:

Russia is mainly a northern country with long-lasting cold winter. The food should give us much energy and warmth to survive during the winter time. So, the essential components of Russian cuisine are the ones, which provide more carbohydrates and fat rather than proteins. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rarely used in food. So, the top five components of a Russian meal are potatoes, bread, eggs, meat (especially beef) and butter. Other popular foods include cabbage, milk, sour cream, curds, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, berries, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions.

Appetizers, as in any cuisine culture, and Russia is not an exception, serve as small snacks before main course. Russian appetizers (in Russian, they are called “zakuski”) were meant mainly not to provoke keen appetite but to have them with strong drinks. So, most favorite Russian appetizers were all kinds of pickles and cold meats which go best with ice cold vodka. But not only vegetable pickles were used in Russian cuisine, the abundance of sea and river food provided cooks with a wide range of various fish appetizers.

The Russia House’s streamlined menu features small plates, which are small samples of Russia’s traditional dishes, and full size portions located under the large plates section of the menu. We ended up ordering borsch, pelmini, pierogis, wild game sausage sampler, pickled herring croquette, roasted garlic beet dip, and pan seared duck breast (large plate). Wikipedia notes that soups are extremely important in Russian cuisine. In addition to the the most well-known and featured soup on the menu, borsch, Russian cuisine also features several other traditional staple of soups such as shchi, ukha, rassolnik, solyanka, botvinya, okroshka, and tyurya.

Russian soups can be divided into at least seven large groups:

• Cold soups based on kvass (a fermented beverage made from black rye or rye bread) or sour milk (a.k.a. buttermilk), such as tyurya, okroshka, and botvinya.
• Light soups and stews based on water and vegetables.
• Noodle soups with meat, mushrooms, and milk.
• Soups based on cabbage, most prominently shchi.
• Thick soups based on meat broth, with a salty-sour base like rassolnik and solyanka.
• Fish soups such as ukha.
• Grain- and vegetable-based soups.

Wikipedia has some interesting facts about cold soups, the history, and their relationship to hot soups:

Tyurya is very similar to okroshka, the main difference being that instead of vegetables, bread is used. It is rather historical meal, that was consumed during rough times (WWII, WWI, Revolution) and by poor peasants. Also, due to its simplicity, it was very common as a meal during religious fasting. Comparing to other cold soups it is based on water and rarely on milk.

Botvinya is one of the most typical cold Russian soups. It almost became extinct because it is difficult to make. Some modern cookbooks list recipes showing how to prepare it “easily” by substituting some of the ingredients, but cutting corners tends to diminish much of the authentic taste.

A full botvinya consists of three parts:

1. The soup.
2. Boiled “red” (most prized) fish (salmon, sturgeon, or stellate sturgeon), that is served separately from soup.
3. Crushed ice, served on a separate platter or cup.

The name of the soup comes from the Russian word botva, which means “leafy tops of root vegetables“, and the ingredients are in line with the name: leafy tops of young beet, beetroots, oxalate sorrel, green onions, dill, cucumbers, and two types of kvass, then some mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish as spices.

It is eaten as the first course or right after a hot soup, before the second course as an appetizer. It is eaten using two spoons and a fork: the fork is used to eat the fish, the first spoon to sip the soup and the second spoon to put ice into the soup, so it stays cold for a long time. Botvin’ya is eaten with fresh rye bread.

We had a woman from Russia along with us, and she informed us that the borsch served at The Russia House tasted as she would expect it to and that there is a lot of variation in the preparation of borsch in Russia and Eastern Europe. Wikipedia notes that borsch is Ukrainian in origin, and owes its popularity in the U.S. due to Jewish immigrant populations. Borsch usually includes a stock made from beets, although there are some kinds of borscht that do not use beets (instead sorrell or tomato). Borsch is commonly served with sour cream and white bread and in other regions (like Lithuania) can be served hot or cold. In Poland “borscht” (barszcz) may include bacon or dumplings. Unlike borsch, which Westerners most likely identify as the most popular Russian soup, in fact, shchi (cabbage soup) had been the main first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years.

We were not able to try kholodets (not on the menu), which are traditional “jellied chopped pieces of pork or veal meat with some spices” or shashlyk (featured on the large plates menu), which is a form of Shish kebab (marinated meat grilled on a skewer). We did try one of the most traditional Russian dishes: pelmini. Ruscusine.com has some interesting facts and a recipe:

Most people associate pelmeni with Siberia, and many recipes and references to the dish call it “Siberian dumplings.” Pelmeni probably did originate in Siberia, where hundreds or even thousands could be made, and then frozen and stored outside during the long winters. However, the dumplings became very popular all over Russia. They are closely kin to “pot stickers,” “pierogies,” and other similar dumplings found in many cultures.

The Russian variety traditionally is made of flour, milk, one egg, and salt. The dough is rolled out fairly thin, and cut in circles approximately two inches in diameter. The filling is usually a mixture of minced pork, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Wikipedia notes that one theory about the history of pelmini is that they were brought to Russia by the Mongols from China. Pelmini literally “ear bread” in the native Finno-Ugric Komi and Mansi languages. The ones we tried more resembled and tasted like tortellini than the pelmini we saw in photos online.  Pelmini often are put in soups. Wikipedia also describes the difference between the pelmini and the pierogi:

The most important difference between pelmeni and vareniki and pierogi, is the thickness of the dough shell — in pelmeni this is as thin as possible, and the proportion of filling to dough is usually higher. Also, the feature of pelmeni is that they do not have a sweet filling, thus differing from Ukrainian vareniki and Polish pierogi, which do sometimes have sweet filling. Another distinctive feature is that the filling of pelmeni is usually raw or uncooked, while the filling of vareniki and pirogie is pre-cooked.

We also read that store-bought and machine prepared pelmini resembles tortellini, which may account for why the pelmini at The Russia House resembles tortellini rather than the pelmini we saw online. Although, these are a lot larger than traditional tortellini and the ones we ate were standard size.

We also thought the pierogi we were served were interesting, since they came in a puff pastry shell rather than the pasta-like shell of the Polish pierogi. We couldn’t find much information on the Russian pierogi, so we think that although they were listed on the menu as pierogi, they really meant this food item:

Pirozhki (singular: pirozhok; diminutive of “pirog” (pie)) are small stuffed buns (pies) made of either yeast dough or short pastry. They are filled with one of many different fillings and are either baked (the ancient Slavic method) or shallow-fried (known as “priazhenie”, this method was borrowed from the Tatars in the 16th century). One feature of pirozhki that sets them apart from, for example, English pies is that the fillings used are almost invariably fully cooked. The use of chopped hard-boiled eggs in fillings is another interesting feature. Six typical fillings for traditional pirozhki are:

1. Fish sautéed with onions and mixed with hard-boiled chopped eggs.
2. Chopped boiled meat mixed with sautéed onions and eggs.
3. Rice and boiled eggs with dill
4. Mashed potatoes mixed with dill and green onion.
5. Sautéed cabbage.

Online they appear to be more bunlike, but the ones we were served were in flaky pastry crust. In addition to these, the blini is also traditional (which we did not try as it was only available with caviar):

Blini are thin pancakes (very similar to French crêpes) which are often served in connection with a religious rite or festival in several cultures. The word “blin” (singular of blini) comes from Old Slavic “mlin”, which means “to mill”. Blins had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun during Maslenitsa (Масленица, Butter Week; also known as Pancake Week). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox Church and is carried on to the present day, as the last week of dairy and egg products before Lent. Bliny are still often served at wakes, to commemorate the recently deceased. Blini can be made from wheat, buckwheat, or other grains, although wheat blini are most popular in Russia. They may be topped with butter, smetana (sour cream), fruit preserves or caviar.

Other traditional dishes include kotlety (a type of meatball similar to Salisbury steak), syrniki (fried curd fritters, garnished with sour cream, jam, honey, and/or apple sauce), and vatrushka (a kind of cake with a ring of dough and tvorog [cottage cheese] in the middle, often with raisins or bits of fruit, from about five inches to two and a half feet in diameter).

Fish is especially popular in Russia because Orthodox fast days prohibit the consumption of meat. Herring is also popular in Russia, especially pickled, salted, and smoked. Ruscuisine.com notes that “Russian brined herring is cured without any sugar or wine vinegar. The best herring is the one brined whole, with the head on and its innards intact. Cleaning it is actually easier than it looks. Unfiltered sunflower oil is available at Russian supermarkets. It should be dark yellow and slightly cloudy.” Our Pickled Herring Croquettes were large balls of pickled herring covered in fried breading. They still tasted strongly of pickled herring.

The Russia House also boasts a selection of caviar, including beluga, osetra, sevruga, and American sturgeon. We couldn’t afford any of this caviar, however, we did learn that Russians typically consume caviar on special occasions, despite its price. Although only fish eggs from sturgeon can be considered true “caviar,” Russians also eat black and red salmon roe. The Russia House serves all caviar with “blini, chopped Eff, minced red onion and Crème Fraiche.” We also read it is traditional to eat caviar with toast and butter.

Wikipedia has some interseting information about teh types of caviar:

This elegant and expensive appetizer is simply sieved and lightly salted fish roe (eggs). Sturgeon roe is premium and considered the “true” caviar. The four main types of caviar are beluga, sterlet, osetra, and sevruga. The rarest and costliest is from the beluga sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea, which is bordered by Iran, Russia and other ex-Soviet republics. Wild caviar production has now survived only in Iran as Russia maintains a self-imposed ban on caviar trade from wild sturgeon. Beluga caviar is prized for its soft, extremely large (pea-size) eggs. It can range in color from pale silver-gray to black. It is followed by the small golden sterlet caviar which is rare and was once reserved for Russian czars, Iranian shahs and Austrian emperors. Next in quality is the medium-sized, gray to brownish oestra, and the last in the quality ranking is smaller, gray sevruga caviar.

Russians doe consume some meats, primarily fowl, offal, and veal. We ordered the wild game sausage sampler, which included rabbit, boar, and venison. We found a reference to sausage in Russia as an upper-class dish. We also ordered the pan-seared duck as a large plate, which was tender and elegant. Although we did not try it, we decided to read up on the infamous Chicken Kiev (chicken stuffed with seasoned butter and then breaded and fried). All we could find about this is from Wikipedia, which notes that “This famous method of preparing chicken is probably not of Ukrainian origin as the name Kiev, the national capital, would imply. The Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claimed that Chicken Kiev was invented in the Moscow Merchants’ Club in the early 20th century and was renamed Chicken Kiev (kotleta po-kievski) in one of the Soviet restaurants in later years.”

The Russia House has an emormous drink menu, as well. We did not try any of the many vodkas they serve, but we did try some beer, although it has only been open from 1990. One of the featured brands on their menu is Baltika Brewery, which is the largest brewery in Russia and the second-largest in Europe. Baltika is based in St. Petersburg and they also sell beer under the Arsenalnoe, Zhiguljovskoje, and Leningradskoebrand names. They also serve a variety of vodkas from a variety of countries. Other traditional beverages we read about where medovukha, mors, kvass, and sbiten. Medovukha is an ancient drink similar to mead and mors is a type of berry juice. Kvass is an extremely common Eastern European drink that dates back to 989 made from fermented rye bread. Originially it was served during the summer, but today it is commercially packaged, served year-round, and part of a multimillion dollar industry. Commerical kvass production is akin to the manufacturing of soda pop. There is a lot of variation in home brews. Sbiten is another traditional drink served hot, which sounds similar to a cross between mead wine and mulled wine. These traditional drinks were not served at The Russia House and not being inclined to drink straight vodka, we ended up sampling their mixology cocktails or drinking beer. We found their cocktails to be fancy and delicious.

NOTE/WARNING: We do not recommend going here as a large group, as we had a bad exprrience. Although they claim they will split checks, they won’t actually do this in the restaurant. They also won’t charge more than four credit cards per party. Because of the chaotic nature of the service, they may make mistakes on your bill. For us they insisted they were right and were openly rude when we disputed the fact that we were charged for drinks we did not order. Finally, they advertised drink specials on their website that were unavailable to actually order.

TOTAL: ~$500 (for 16 people) or $31 per person