Customer Reviews (2)

Cook Book
I ordered this cookbook for someone else because I had one and she really wanted one also.Not only did you have it in stock, but it coast less than the one I had originally purchased.The delivery time was very good too.

Awesome Recipes!
I bought this book at a reduced price from a book store.My absolute favorite recipe in this book is the one for apple pancakes.While there is some food history listed here, the standout for this book is the step-by-step instructions with photographs.This cookbook can be enjoyed by everyone from the novice to the professional. ... Read more

Product Description
This Collection of Original Essays gives surprising insights into what foodways reveal about Russia's history and culture from Kievan times to the present. A wide array of sources - including chronicles, diaries, letters, police records, poems, novels, folklore, paintings, and cookbooks - help to interpret the moral and spiritual role of food in Russian culture. Stovelore in Russian folklife, fasting in Russian peasant culture, food as power in Dostoevsky's fiction, Tolstoy and vegetarianism, restaurants in early Soviet Russia, Soviet cookery and cookbooks, and food as art in Soviet paintings are among the topics discussed in this appealing volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent collection of essays on a big theme
These essays -- by a roster of accomplished contemporary scholars of Russian Studies -- are wonderfully accesible and informative. Readers with interests in folk culture and history, Russian studies (history, literature, whatever) and/or culinary history will feel like they've struck gold. The thirteen scholarly pieces, some with a few illustrations, cover a wealth of topics (see table of contents above)-- consistently well. It's anything but dry; Pamela Chester's article on the relationship between (state-) tormented poets Marina Tsvetaeva and Osip Mandelstam (and their uses of food as symbol and, tragically, their deprivation of it, later) is heartbreaking. Peasantry, the gentry, and the Eastern Orthodox church; brilliant fussbudget Tolstoy's vegetarianism is in here; the uses of food in the writing of Dostoyevsky; fasting and food fashions; Catherine the Great (hardly any tastebuds; hearty interest in 'presentation'); the new Soviet state with its ambitious dreams for the citizenry, and the ultimate cynical mess that resulted. Food as power, class marker, moral symbol, and solace. The roots of asceticism (Orthodox church).Unfortunately, Jewish life and gulag life has been omitted, and a careful list of the prices of foodstuffs in St. Petersburg in Catherine's time is all rubles and kopeks... so I couldn't tell what I might have been able to afford.. What's here, though, is very good. I'll look for Volume 2.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Art of Russian Cooking
A selective collection of the best Russian recipes of the past and present.

To the Russian people, eating and drinking are not just a matter of refuelling but a vital expression of their nature, their tradition, their way of life. All through Russian literature writers have written lovingly, lyrically, about food and drink. In Russia great eaters have always been admired and great hosts revered.

Small wonder, then, that Russian cuisine is one of the most exciting in the world -- as diverse and varied as the country itself. And in this marvelous collection of Russian recipes of the past and present you'll find dishes of every type: Pheasant with Oriental Sauce from the East . . . Russian Apple Pie from the West . . . Kisel (fruit juice pudding) from the North . . . Chahohbili Chicken from the ancient kingdom of Georgia in the South. These are just samples! For some other tempting details, please see the back of this dust jacket. ... Read more

Product Description
Katish, round as a plum and neat as a pin, arrived in Los Angeles as a Russian emigre in the 1920s. As Wanda L. Frolov remembers, her house was brought to life by this humble genius of the kitchen, whose English was unpredictable and whose love of company (especially that of the downtrodden) was unstoppable. Soon Katish was nourishing the bellies and the souls of a happy throng with her blini and pilaf, her shashlik and borscht. On the side, she brokered marriages and started bank accounts for new emigres, presiding over all from her spotless pastry table.

Katish offers deliciously simple Russian country cooking enveloped in a warm and cheering narrative, tender as the crust of Katish's own piroshky. It includes Katish's Cheesecake, one of the most beloved recipes ever published in Gourmet magazine.

Amazon.com Review
Katish, first published in 1947 and now reprinted in the Modern Library Food series, tells the tale of the plump, rosy-cheeked Russian émigré who was hired as a family's live-in cook in Los Angeles during the 1920s. Katish brought with her not only savory recipes, but a cheery determination that was as nourishing as her blini and borscht. Told from the viewpoint of her employer's daughter, Katish is a bemused but also tender account of the life and times of the unstoppable cook who brokered marriages and started new bank accounts for fellow émigrés, while offering dozens of recipes for the dishes she produced. The narrative reveals both a personality in full flower and a time and place in which the American domestic scene still supported live-in help and three square meals a day, enjoyed at a common table.

The book also traces Katish's Americanization: her first acquaintance with California markets and American butchers; her first car and electric refrigerator; and an American proposal. Punctuating the narrative are Katish's recipes for her special Russian Cheesecake, Pelmney (meat-filled dumplings served with sour cream), Easter Babka, and the hot yeast rolls and cinnamon buns that excited the marriage offer. A final chapter presents a small recipe collection "taken from Katish's own notebook" that includes a superlative Chicken à la Kiev. The recipes delight, but it's Katish's story, told with a keen eye for the life and times of a domestic celebrity, that makes the book a treasure. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Food fantasy in the mid 1940s?
This is an almost identical retread of "Clementine in the Kitchen", published 4 years earlier in 1943.Substitute a Russian cook for a French cook, and a well-to-do Los Angeles family for a well-to-do Boston family, change the menu ethnicity, and mix the characters around a little bit.The modern reader is left to wonder if the pinacle of food fantasy in the mid '40s was to have a foreign cook whip up daily fare of exotic cuisine.Where food magazines are concerned it's not enough to write up the food, it must be presented wrapped in a little story.If you take a cursory glance at the present day's glossy of Bon Appetit or Saveur, the recipes are usually tied up in some familial gathering and shot on location, with the photo editorial telling a story or admonishing you on how to serve your dish: clan gathering at Scottish retreat or mid-skiing al fresco picnic in the winter.In the 1940s the de rigeur back story appears to be exotic food presented to a an American family by the surrogate motherly hands of a live-in cook with bubbly personality and quirky ESL charm.Were Americans xenophobic eaters unless gently eased into strange food by the aspirational stories in wealthy trapping from Gourmet magazine?

The recipes are interwoven with the stories, usually given as "take a pound of mushroom and sautee until slightly browned, etc."Oh, and mushroom and sourcream abounds!Anyone with access to a repository of modern recipes will not need the recipes given in this book, although, once in a while, something will surprise you with its uncommon name and preparation: pelmeny (savory beef-filled half-moon raviolis), vareniki (like pelmeny but square and filled with sweet black cherries), tvoroshniki (cottage cheese enriched with egg and flour then deep fried.)The standard Russian and eastern European fare (blini, chicken a la Kiev, baba, pirogue), no doubt exotic and intriguing to the 1940s readers, are comparable to modern recipes.

The stories wrapped around the recipes are cute, but written with considerably less charm, verve and soul than "Clementine in the Kitchen".From a literary perspective, "Katish" is not the equal of "Clementine".One gets the feeling that the stories are a crutch written in service of the recipes, rather than an independent narrative of which recipes are a small part.I could do without the recipes, and on considerations, without the Russian emigre stories as well.That leaves me to wonder what part does this book have in the Modern Library Food series: other than a Russian lilt and dubious historial scenery, there's not much here.

Russian recipes
This is an excellent book, telling a marvellous story with authentic Russian recipes liberally sprinkled throughout the text. Thank you.
Brian

Unusual Novel/Cookbook
Wanda L. Frolov wrote for Gourmet and Better Homes & Gardens during the 1940s & 1950s. This delightful novel/cookbook follows the adventures of Katish, a Russian refugee who settles in Los Angeles and becomes the cook for a middle-class household. Although some of the humor is a bit dated, it still is a very enjoyable read, and the recipes are great, too. (Katish's cheesecake still remains Gourmet's most requested recipe.)

In the original 1947 edition, Frolov noted that Katish was in fact, a fictional character, but said, "Strangely enough, most people seem to want to hear that it is all true exactly as set down. Well, perhaps I see their point: One doesn't look for fiction in a cookbook."

(...)
Buy the book!

delightful literary cookbook
Katish is the nickname of the young Russian widow who is taken in by Wanda Frolov's mother as a cook in 1920's Los Angeles. Wanda, the author, and her brother lived with their widowed mom. As a middle-class California family, hiring a cook was an extravagance for them, but Wanda's aunt talked them into doing it. In the 1940s, when she was grown, Wanda wrote the chapters of this book as a series of articles in _Gourmet_ magazine. They were later gathered together as a book in 1947. Now the Modern Library Food Series has reprinted this delightful literary cookbook for a new generation of reader-cooks. Like many things culinary, these memoirs have improved with age.

The story of the book revolves around the cultural differences created as Katish and her Russian immigrant friends interact with an American middle class family of the 1920s. It is a heart-warming story in which both sides profit from the relationship. _Katish_ is a delightfully amusing glimpse into the culture of the time and is populated with warmly portrayed friends, relatives and situations.

As each food is discussed in the narrative, the recipe is listed. They are easy to follow and delicious. The recipes are a wonderful introduction to Russian family cooking. Breads and rolls, soups, desserts, side dishes, and main dishes are all well represented. Sadly, there is only one salad and one beverage (a delightfully rich hot chocolate). Thirty of the recipes contain meat or meat products. Thirty five are ovo-lacto vegetarian (many with butter and sour cream). Only nine are animal-free vegan recipes and six of these contain alcoholic beverages. An interesting aside is that, for a Prohibition-era story, there are surprisingly many recipes with alcoholic beverages. Dieters should be warned that most of these recipes are rich in flavor, but also in calories. However, there is a delightful fruit juice pudding called Kissel that can be made fat-free.

Read it for the story or read it for the recipes. Either way you are in for a treat.

Culinary trip down memory lane
This is a lovely slice of Americana, in addition to a quirky story of a Russian immigrant and a collection of divine recipes. The flow is perfect, with the recipes jumping in right when a dish is described. It took me back to my summer in Russia and I can't wait to try more of the dishes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Yay for Russian Cookbooks!
It's a good recipe book. Some recipes vary from ones that my mother has known all her life, but I guess different people have different tastes.
The shipping was great, also. Arrived within a few days. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not even worth a footnote.
This is a terrible cookbook. The two stars are for providing nice background information on the countries as well as selecting appropriate recipes.

What else is there? You ask? Adaptation. The recipes have all been adapted to the tastes of an American palate of the 1970's. Items I have never even seen in a traditional Bulgarian kitchen such as whipping cream and cornstarch are used in recipes. Sour cream is used as a substitute for yogurt. Revolting! These don't make Americanized versions of recipes (such as making Banitza with cream cheese instead of soft Bulgarian cheese) they just make a mess! Why bother making an ethnic cookbook at all if you're going to ruin things?

There are much better books on this same Danube travel and cuisine theme. The Blue Danube Cookbook by Maria Kozslik Donovan, is one of them but I'm sure you can search out others. ... Read more

Product Description
Centuries of mysterious Russian history have produced a unique Russian cuisine. Generations of Russians experimented with new spices and ingredients that came from different parts of the world. Russian Cuisine gracefully combines recipes of two different continents--Europe and Asia--to create unique, immense flavors.

Peter the Great; Ivan the Terrible; Kathryn the Great; and Nicolas the Second, the last Russian Czar, were all gourmets. Kathryn the Great used to have fifty-course dinners just for everyday meals. Her holiday menu could have up to five hundred different dishes just for one dinner.

Most of the unique and extraordinary recipes that constitute Russian Cuisine are approximately five hundred to six-hundred-years old. However, all of the recipes are still commonly used in contemporary Russia.

Product Description
Alla Sacharow's passion for Russian cooking springs from her devotion to her native land. For this unique collection she has assmebled 450 recipes, chosen from among thousands, and creates a culinary tour of her homeland. More than 130 full-color photos illustrate the recipes and the art of presentation, and reflect both the Russian countryside and Russian culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Eat until you drop...!
The collection of excellent and delicious recipes from the heart fo the Rus is very well presented. I have owned this book for a few years now, and literally worn it out! It covers not only the food preparation butethnicity and socio-cultural views of the people who prepare and eat thisfood as part of their cultural environment. A well written book and a easyguide to use. ... Read more

Product Description
Poland, Russia and the Ukraine are countries famous for their inventive use of simple, fresh ingredients. This book is a comprehensive and fascinating collection of recipes that have been gathered from this region, which stretches from the Baltic Sea in ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Excelent cookbook for Polish, Ukraine, and Russian dishes
This is an excellent cookbook for Polish,, Ukrainian, and Russian dishes.There are plenty of color photos and clear recipes.This book would make a good present for someone who is interested in Eastern European cooking.
While the book is somewhat short, having only 70 recipes, the recipes are very good and they are of somewhat higher quality than the normal peasant fare that most Slavic-American families use from the turn of the twentieth century.I would also recommend "Cookin Russian in America" as well as a good, standard, Polish cookbook.

overall worth it.
It has some very good recipes, ranging from easy for a beginner to eastern european cooking to more complicated dishes that can please even the pickiest of palets.The varietys of foods from breads and soups to desserts and main courses were delightful.Other than being a thin paperback I was overall impressed and have actually mentioned it to many friends and associates. ... Read more

Product Description
Author Leda Voropaeff spreads a lavish banquet table, and with legendary Russian hospitality, serves the secrets of her cuisine in Russian-American Feasts. Under the author's tutelage, the reader's palatte will soon be speaking Russian. Many of these culinary treats are the offspring of a Russian-American union, and others culled from her heritage are as authentically Russian as the jewels in the Kremlin Museum. Pelmeny soup, for example, is a thirteenth-century acquisition from the Mongols. Strictly American are the noncholesterol substitutes, such as appetizers like Zakuski (little bites) to accompany vodka. Red Caviar Mousse, anyone? Romanoff Salad Bowl and Russian Dressing are direct imports, of course, and then there is Chicken Kiev. All of these are among the gastronomical delights awaiting discovery thanks to detente. ... Read more

Product Description
Rich in tradition as well as in taste, Russian cuisine tempts the palate with its tasty pies, hearty soups, and flavorful sauces. A Little Russian Cookbook presents a selection of both famous and unusual recipes from the many regions of Russia. Zakuski, or starters, include Borsch and Spiced Herring. Main courses feature such classic Russian fare as Beef Stroganoff and Pelmini, a Siberian dish similar to ravioli. Desserts such as Blini and Pashka, a no-cook Easter cake, round out the recipes, each of which is accompanied by a delightful illustration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A simple and true Russian cookbook
All Russian cookbooks are not created equal. This is a real simple and true Russian cookbook.Great for beginners who want to try out Russian dishes without having to read lines and lines of explanation. The recipes are very easy to follow and they are tasty. Also,this tiny book also comes with nice illustrations and looks nice in the bookshelf. A nice introductory book to Russian food ... Read more

Product Description
With over 150 recipes, this cookbook provides step-by-step instructions for creating authentic Lithuanian fare. It includes hearty favourites like fresh cucumber soup, Lithuanian meat pockets, hunter's stew, and potato zeppelins, as well as traditional delicacies such as honey liquer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Very Pleased
My mother was delighted to receive this cookbook as a birthday gift, as we know very little about our Lithuanian heritage.The fact that the traditional Lithuanian names for the dishes are not included did not bother us, as we do not speak Lithuanian.We were very pleased to find an old Christmas recipe that we had not made in years.We found many recipes that we are very excited to try.This cookbook would be perfect for someone who simply wants to get acquainted with Lithuanian cooking for the first time but cannot speak or read Lithuanian.The recipes are simple, with very simple and basic ingredients.The recipes are interesting and easy to follow, provided you understand basic cooking methods.I wasn't sure what to expect when I purchased the book for my mother, but overall we are both very pleased with what we got and are very eager to try the recipes.Don't be afraid to give this book a try.

Cooking...
It's alright, but nothing in it reminds me of my mother and grandmother's cooking. However they both used short cuts, and nothing will ever replace their style of cooking. However give it a try, it's worth it if you find just one recipe!

A good gift for a Lithuanian bride in the U.S.
I purchased this book as a wedding gift for a Lithuanian bride who has been in the U.S. for 13 years. She always talks about beet and potato soups. She was so pleased and surprised by it. She thinks there are a lot of recepies that go back to her childhood.

Very Disappointed
In retrospect, I should have gone with a Lithuanian cookbook where the author has a Lithuanian name, because I was disappointed to find that less than 1% of the recipes had Lithuanian headings. I found the recipe
"Little Ears" in this book and found it to be nothing like the Little Ears recipe I know, which would be called Ausiukés...little ears where the end product were tied up knots of dough fried in oil and dusted with powdered sugar...yummy! This was a traditional sweet for holidays like Christmas and Easter.

When I ordered this cookbook "Art of Lithuanian Cooking", I expected a real lithuanian cookbook with their proper names. If you want a real lithuanian cookbook, see if you can get a copy of "Popular Lithuanian recipes" by Josephine J. Dauzvardis. I received this cookbook from a very dear friend back in 1982. Its excellent! Anyone who has a lithuanian background and is familiar with the dishes will recognize the recipes right away, because ALL of the recipes have their true lithuanian name right before it, like Kaldunai, Zeppelinai, Kopùstú Sriuba (Sauerkraut soup), Duonoj Keptas Kumpis, Rúg`stus Pienas (Lithuanian Yogurt), and much more.

This book will probably just sit on my shelf. It only cost $10 something, so sending it back wouldn't be worth the postage.

Sincerely,
1st generation born and raised in America
Aldona Pauliukonis-Guenter

The best English language cookbook for Lithuanian cooking
I believe that "Art of Lithuanian Cooking" is the best English language cookbook for Lithuanian cooking.Whether you are Lithuanian-American and looking to strengthen your cultural ties or you are a cook looking for a few, new and different, dishes, this cookbook is a good resource.

There are relatively easy recipes that are very different from American fare, such as: Cherry Soup, Fried Carrots, and Beef with Celeriac, followed by Apple Upside-Down Cake (and coffee).And, there are some difficult recipes for the seasoned cook or one who has a Lithuanian-American grandmother to help, such as: Lithuanian Rye Bread (I am having a terrible time baking an acceptable rye bread!) or Porkupine Cake (Definiely need the grandmother for guidance on this one!).

All of the Balto-Slavic cuisines are inter-related, but each nationality has its own, unique, version of several dishes.Fair warning: few of these dishes are "fast" food. ... Read more