World Food Market Tour Photo Essays

World Food Market Tour: European Foods w/Irina Vodonos

Sometimes walking into a grocery store featuring products of another country can be overwhelming. This is the first in a periodic series in which I'll be visiting a grocery store with a native chef to ask them about the products and foodstuffs.

This one: Russian & Eastern European food at the European Foods store with native Russian chef Irina Vodonos of Moscow Gourmet Kitchen.

This was my first attempt, and when editing the photos, I realized I was a little more attracted by interesting packaging than maybe thinking about a more cohesive approach to a menu or cooking project. So I might have ended up taking more pictures of the more interesting or unusual (to me) products than maybe the most traditional or common foodstuffs. I learned a lot from editing the photos and hope I'll be a little better for the next shoot.

Nevertheless, I hope it's still an interesting look into Eastern European cuisine. Irina has provided a wealth of information that I was excited to learn about, and I hope you will too!

European Foods Store

The store featured in this shoot is European Foods, located at 13520 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133.

Gregory, the store's owner, was so gracious and hospitable. Irina and I were in the store for over an hour, and he allowed us to shoot and talk as much as we needed. He even gave us each a free cabbage piroshky! It was delicious.

In addition to selling prepared foods, they also make food for sale and do catering. There were lots of excellent smells coming from the kitchen in the back.

If you are looking for some authentic Eastern European foods, I highly recommend you check out European Foods.

My Guide: Irina Vodonos of Moscow Gourmet Kitchen

My guide was Irina Vodonos of Moscow Gourmet Kitchen. She offers private cooking classes and dinner parties.

I took Irina's Russian Salads and Appetizers class through the Seattle Free School and I can vouch that her food is delicious.

Irina was gracious enough to give me so much time, answered all my many many questions, and also helped me with a lot of follow-up information after the fact when my voice recorder and memory failed to recall as much as I'd hoped.

If you have the chance to take a class with Irina (her next class is with the Seattle Free School on March 20 - Borscht 2 Ways!) don't miss it!

Check out her site, blog, and recipes.

Grains

Irina says: "Millet [top]: Usually cooked as porridge, either sweet (cooked w/H2O, milk & sugar & eaten at breakfast) or savory (cooked w/just H2O & salt & usually served alongside meat stew)."

"Kasha [bottom] (in Russian, "kasha" means any kind of porridge/hot cereal, not just buckwheat):

As a side dish, typically paired w/meat (e.g., a stew or with kotlety, a kind of bun-less hamburger) or perhaps chicken, never fish.

"Additional uses for cooked buckwheat include mixing w/cooked elbow macaroni & sauteed onions to make a dish known in US by Yiddish name, kasha varnishkes; stuffing it into vareniki (small pierogi- or tortellini-like dumplings); or mixing it w/tvorog (soft cheese similar to farmer's), raw eggs, & perhaps some sugar & baking until set & browned on top. The resulting dish is called krupeinik…

"I remember eating it a lot in our school cafeteria & at summer camps…usually topped with some sweetened condensed milk. It actually wasn't as bad as it might seem! :)"

Pickled Mushrooms

Irina and her family moved to the States when she was 12, and it was a few years before she had an opportunity to return to Russia. I asked her what foodstuff she brought when she returned to the states from that first visit back, and it was a jar of pickled mushrooms.

It was not this brand, but the same variety of mushoom which she hadn't seen here. It looks like the variety is the Suillus luteus, called Slippery Jack, Sticky Bun, or Buttery Ones (maslyata/маринованные). Irina noted this is a more common kind of mushroom in Russia, and porcini/Boletus (Beliy Grib/белые грибы) is a more prized variety.

Irina says: "In Russia, fresh mushrooms are commonly used in soups, fried or stewed with potatoes, sauteed in sour cream, or used to fill pies. They can also be preserved by drying or pickling. Dried mushrooms are then soaked in water and used the same way as fresh mushrooms. Pickled mushrooms are usually served as an appetizer or condiment. They are also a traditional pairing with vodka (as are other kinds of pickled and salted foods)."

She continues, "A 'fun fact' about maslyata: they are slightly poisonous and can cause stomach upset if not prepared properly. Fresh maslyata are boiled and the water is changed at least once before they can be used in a soup, fried, sauteed, etc. I am not sure if they need to be subjected to similar treatment before being pickled or if the vinegar renders the poison harmless."

Pelmeni

EuroFoods makes/sells pelmeni (пельмени). Irina notes they came to Russia via Siberia, probably originating in China. Pelmeni are larger than tortellini, but smaller that pierogis or pot-stickers. The filling is usually raw, with the wrapping dough being as thin as possible, & the proportion of filling to dough usually higher than those others. (Here's a recipe on RussianFoods.com.)

There are also other dumplings called vareniki that are popular in Russia and the Ukraine. Irina says The vareniki are shaped similarly to pelmeni, but are larger and are filled either with cooked meat or with vegetarian fillings such as mashed potatoes (often mixed with sauteed onions), cooked buckwheat, tvorog (farmer's cheese), or pitted cherries. (Epicurious has a version that has apricots and walnuts. Not sure how authentic that is but it sounds tasty!)

Here are Irina's recipes for both!

Some interesting pelmeni tidbits from Wikipedia:

"In Siberia, they are traditionally frozen outdoors in winter & treated as preserved food. Hunters…[carried] sacs of frozen pelmeni with provisions as easily cooked non-perishable food."
"[In Russian/Ukranian food stores] packets of frozen pelmeni are usually labeled 'Siberian pelmeni' because of Siberian practice of storing/transporting them frozen."
Now, “store-bought pelmeni are considered a kind of fast-food…associated w/students/bachelor lifestyle, like instant ramen."
1952 Soviet poster of factory-made pelmeni lower right.

Spice packet translates "Seasonings for Cookings of Pelmeni.” Irina wasn't sure how to use it; spice mixtures aren’t usually used in cooking broth.

Spice Packets

On the left is khmeli suneli, a Georgia spice mixture containing a variety of herbs and spices like "coriander, dill, basil, bay leaf, marjoram, fenugreek, parsley, safflower or saffron, black pepper, celery, thyme, hyssop, mint, and hot pepper."

On the blurry right is a spice packet of adjika, also Georgian. It contains "hot red peppers, garlic, and herbs and spices such as coriander, dill, blue fenugreek (which is only found in mountain regions such as the Alps or the Caucasus), and walnut in the Abkhazian variant." This particular brand actually happened to contian the khmeli suneli but Irina said this isn't typical, they are usually thought of as two separate spice mixtures.

Irina said that when her father was in the military service, he was often served a soup that had tasteless chunks of fat floating in it. Luckily, he had friends from Georgia who had a supply of adjika, and the spice helped make the meals palatable.

Irina hadn't used these spice mixtures herself but suggested one "might try them in a soup or vegetable stew, sprinkled over roasted vegetables, or to season an omelet or fried eggs."

Prepared Soups

Irina and I chatted about our respective culinary backgrounds, which, for me, includes a relative lack of one. She noted this cultural difference was still surprising to her, as most women in Russia were just raised to know how to cook, even if it wasn't necessarily a passion or interest.

Because of this grounding in cooking things from scratch, these kinds of prepared soups aren't something that Irina has eaten or would typically buy as she would more often cook such things from scratch. She thinks they might be another young person/student type of food, or a dish for US immigrants who don't have time to cook from scratch but have a hankering for a taste of home.

If you are interested in learning to make authentic borscht from scratch yourself, see her FREE Seattle Free School class in March.

Young Walnut Preserves

These young walnut preserves are actually more a Armenian or Georgian foodstuff, but are still eaten in Russia. They have a more fruit-like texture than nut. They appear to be eaten with fresh cheeses in Armenia, but in Russia, would have been eaten with a spoon while sipping tea. One Seattle food blogger gave them a try a few years ago; she was not a fan. I'm still curious and might give them a shot.

Tkemali

Wikipedia: "Tkemali...is Georgian name for cherry plum, as well as a sauce made of cherry plums. Tkemali is made from both red & green varieties of plum. The flavor of the sauce varies between sweet & pungently tart. To lower the tartness level, occasionally sweeter types of plums are added during preparation. Traditionally the following ingredients are used besides plum: garlic, pennyroyal, cilantro, dill, cayenne pepper & salt. Tkemali is used for fried or grilled meat, poultry & potato dishes much like ketchup is used in the West.”

Also: “Tkemali should not be eaten on spaghetti." Noted!

I bought a bottle, haven't used yet. Took a sample of it & it has a tangy, fruity flavor (more the bright flavorful side of that profile than just sweet) w/surprisingly harmonious undercurrent of dill. (I don't normally think of dill as something that would pair so well with fruity tang, but it works.)

Mustard

Russian mustard is spicy, as evidenced by the expression of the babushka'd woman on the bottle, hope you can tell in the blurry photo!

Irina says: In case you're curious, the Russian words directly above "gourmet mustard" translate to "mother-in-law's mustard," even more specifically, the Russian word "tyoshcha" means the mother-in-law on the wife's side (the wife's mother). There are lots of Russian jokes about the often-tense relationship between men and their mothers-in-law, and the product name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to this relationship. This particular manufacturer also makes a horseradish sauce called "mother-in-law's horseradish."

Mayo

Russian mayonnaise (which they call French) is also a little spicy. Irina notes it "has a somewhat bolder flavor than American mayonnaise" and that "it is also thinner, with a consistency that is similar to cake batter."

The 67% refers to fat.

I have no idea if this analysis of the Russian market for mayo is truly accurate, & it appears to have been translated by a machine, but I still found this somehow interesting enough to include regarding the Russian love of mayo:

"Mayonnaise in Russia is the universal seasoning added practically everywhere – in salads, soups and the second dishes, at preparation of sandwiches and sauces. Overwhelming number of Russians (about 90%) use mayonnaise at preparation of food [and] consume this product practically each day. On the average consumption of mayonnaise in Russia is [2.5 kg per person per year]. The Russian market of mayonnaise is one of the largest in the world."

Baltimore

Another brand of mayo (above) and close up on the brand name (below). It translates to "Baltimore." Irinia said that Russian food companies will use foreign-sounding names and words (also evidenced by the "Mikado" brand of mushrooms) as marketing devices.

Prepared Foods Fridge

The store also has cold salad/deli type offerings. I know one of my challenges w/cooking new cuisines is to not know what the end result is supposed to taste like. If you can't make it to Irina's classes, this case would be a handy way to try some real Russian cooking w/a bit less $ than a full trip to a restaurant.

винегрет="Vinaigrette" which refers to a beet salad, not just dressing. (Here's a recipe.)
паштет печеночный=Liver Pate
голубцы=Stuffed (Cabbage) (Here's a machine translation of a recipe.)
перец фаршированный=Stuffed Peppers (Here's a recipe)
баклажаны по-армянски=Armenian Eggplant
венгерский гуляш= Hungarian Goulash
котлеты по-киевски= Chicken Kiev
борш - Borscht

Olivier Salad

This is the Olivier Salad, probably the most popular salad for Russians. Check out this post by Irina, it includes some background on the dish itself and the recipe. It is especially amusing to see what the original version included (grouse! caviar!) when you consider its current more egalitarian/accessible version!

Seaweed Salad

Here are Irina's notes on this seaweed salad, a product she picked up to bring home:

"It can be eaten straight out of the package/can & has a slightly salty & seaweedy taste (for lack of a better term). Even though it comes lightly seasoned with oil, salt, sugar, black pepper, bay leaf, something acidic (like vinegar & citric acid) & perhaps other spices, it tends to be a bit on the bland side, so people usually dress it up with more seasoning &/or mix it with other ingredients.I usually add more salt, sugar, vinegar, black pepper, & vegetable oil to give it more flavor, & sometimes add chopped raw onions &/or hard-boiled eggs. If you add raw onions, the salad will be especially tasty if you let it marinate for a while so the onions can soak up some of that vinegar & other seasonings.

"When we lived in Russia, my dad bought large frozen blocks of the same kind of seaweed that comes in the cans, boiled it, then pickled it with vinegar/oil/bay leaf/salt/sugar/black peppercorns/cloves/onions, it was delicious."

Smoked Fish

Here are Irina's notes on smoked and salted fish: "The fish can be presented in different ways...Cheaper fish, such as salted herring or smoked mackerel, is often served cut into chunks with the bone in and eaten with your hands or with a fork and knife. Fancier fish (or cheap fish served on fancier occasions) is often filleted and cut into smaller pieces or sliced. This is true for salted or cold-smoked fish; hot-smoked fish, regardless of how 'fancy' it is, is usually served cut into chunks because it is flaky and doesn't lend itself to slicing."

It's typically served and eaten with vegetables like "raw onions, parsley, and/or tomatoes and cucumbers."

Caviar

This is not the best picture, but in the locked case is red caviar with the black sitting on top.

Sprats

Sprats are a popular canned fish in Russia. This was another product Irina bought for herself to take home, including clearing out the last few tins of the pate! I bought a tin too but haven't tried yet, will update when I have. Here's what Wikipedia has to say: "The fish itself is known for its smooth flavour and is often mistaken for baby sardines."

Actually, mainly the meat featured is on this page. We did not get into that too much, but as you can see, there is a big selection of sausages and other meat products.

Lifeway Kefir

Irina noted that Lifeway, a company based in Chicago and started by a Russian immigrant, is a big producer of Russian dairy products. The store has both plain and flavored kefirs.

Butter

Irina says: "On the left (plastic tubs with brown lids) is chocolate-flavored butter [Leslie's note:!!!!!!!!!]- a favorite with Russian kids! I make it at home sometimes by mixing regular softened butter with cocoa and powdered sugar. SO GOOD spread on a slice of fresh bread! In the middle is regular butter, which is similar to European butter (i.e. higher fat content and denser than American butter). On the right is a low-fat butter-like product, the English name (which you can barely see) reads 'The Slender Cow'."

Okay WHY IS CHOCOLATE BUTTER NOT MORE COMMON IN THE UNIVERSE?? USA, get with the program!

Farmers Cheese

Here's what the store itself has to say about these cheeses:

"Dry curd cottage cheese is a high-protein, sugar-free cheese. It is known by different names throughout the world. In some regions, it is called farmer cheese while in other areas it is called baker cheese. We proudly carry 7 types of dry curd cottage cheese! Wonderful for baking! Delicious for breakfast! Perfect with honey or jam!"

Irina will have a post soon on how you can make your own, check back on her site, and I'll update this with a link once it's up.

Viola

This processed cheese spread is actually a product of Finland, but Irina said it was as a favorite as a kid.

Sulguni

Here's Wikipedia's description of this Georgian cheese: "Pickled Georgian cheese from the Samegrelo region. It has a sour, moderately salty flavor, a dimpled texture, and an elastic consistency; these attributes are the result of the process used, as is the source of its moniker 'pickle cheese'. Its color ranges from white to pale yellow. While the smell is not universally appealing, the flavor is rewarding. Suluguni is often deep-fried, which helps mask the odor. It is often served in wedges."

Georgian Wines

These Georgian wines sometimes come in these charming terracotta-looking clay bottles. The Georgian wines also are labeled with the dryness/sweetness level, so if you don't know the variety you can still take a stab at the right pairing for your dish.

beer.jpg

The blurry photo on the left is of Baltika (Балтика) brand beer, which Irina said is like the Bud Light of Russia. She is not a fan.

The other picture features a beer in the style called Zhiguli/Zhigulevskoye (жигулёвское) (which, again, is a style, not a brand name). She feels this particular style is one of the better kinds of Russian beers.

I found this tidbit on that beer: "The original brand was named Viennese Beer (as of - beer from Vienna), but in 1934 Soviet authorities renamed it to 'Zhigulevskoye Beer' to eradicate a bourgeois name.

Kvass

Kvass is a fermented and very mildly alcoholic beverage made from rye bread. It's been a popular drink in Eastern Europe since "ancient times," and is sold from street vendors (as in the Wikipedia photo in the lower right). It's currently being marketed as "a patriotic alternative to cola."

The store sells a concentrate to be mixed with sugar and water. To make it entirely from scratch, here are some recipes.

Indian Tea

Irina said тот самый чай индийский translates to "That Same Indian Tea." During Soviet times, the common tea was one sold in a similar yellow box, so this tea is looking to capitalize on nostalgia for/familiarity with that tea by reassuring customers it's just like that one.

Health Tea

There is a separate section of teas that Irina said are used more medicinally than as a beverage simply to drink. She noted that in Russia, chamomile, for example, would be considered a medicinal tea that folks wouldn't normally drink for a refreshment. This particular tea is used for stomach issues. I found the box somehow especially reassuring, I think it would make me feel better even before I had the tea.

Sea-Buckthorn Preserves

Sea-buckthorn preserves. Irina noted it's a fruit she hasn't seen here. Wikipedia (where the two images on the right are from) says it grows mainly in Europe/Asia, with 90% in China.

Irina's comments: "The flavor is very tart…berries are not usually eaten unprocessed…usually either boiled with sugar to make preserves or ground up & mixed with sugar…

"Seeds have high oil content & oil is often used in moisturizing creams & ointments (…commercially produced - people don't make them at home). Pure sea-buckthorn oil can be purchased at pharmacies…used as topical medication for cracked/chapped skin/canker sores.

"Sea-buckthorn is really considered to be a medicinal plant & sea-buckthorn preserves are usually treated as a medicinal product more than a food product. I don't recall ever eating them w/tea, the way we would eat strawberry or cherry preserves, for example. Usually a couple tablespoons of sea-bucktorn preserves were mixed into boiling H2O, resulting mixture strained to remove seeds & sipped by somebody who had a cold or flu."

Sushki

Sushki (сушки). Irina says it "means 'dried things.' They are usually neither sweet nor savory - think a pretzel without the salt topping - or very mildly sweet. Sushki are popularly eaten with tea, often dipped into the sweetened tea."

Cakes

You can buy just a slice of cake, or an entire one in these colorful boxes that I am kind of in love with. The one on the left is called Golden Key (Золотой ключик) - two layers of sponge cake, light and dark, surface of the cake sprinkled with cracker crumbs. On the right is Truffle Roshen (the name of the company) (Трюфель Рошен) - two sponge cakes, w/chocolate cream; surface of the cake decorated with chocolate crumbs and patterned chocolate.

Candy

Candy!! Lots of candy in bulk, also some in boxes. One popular manufacturer is called "Red October." I liked all the kinds I bought, especially with their cute wrappers, which went over well with the young kids I was seeing after our trip. The top is Belochka/Белочка/Squirrel and has a praline chocolate center. The Kara Kum also has a praline center. The bottom is chocolate with wafers, and has the best name: Mishka Kosolapy/мишка косолапый/Clumsy Bear.

Chocolate

I loved this label from a milk chocolate bar. The image looks retro but Irina said it's actually a recent iteration.

The site News From the Eastern has a full post on this chocolate and the evolution of the previous version of the label. Here's a bit of the backstory per that site:

"Alenka (a fairly common girls’ name) is one of the most successful brands of chocolates in contemporary Russia. Described on the official website as a symbol of a happy childhood for several generations, they’re of the few Soviet products to make it through the collapse of socialism and ensuing economic chaos and still come out smiling. First produced in 1966 in Moscow’s Red October Factory following a Kremlin directive to create a new brand of milk chocolate, Alenka became a sign of the good times. Following the austerity of post-war years, the Brezhnev years (1964 – 82), when Alenka first appeared, were embraced by many as a period of relative stability and prosperity. Alenka fitted right in with this general mood and is remembered fondly by Russians of this era, as well as my contemporary Russians. The brand (along with several others) is still made by the Red October factory, which, uner a different name, both predated and outlived the Socialist experiment."

Cheesecake Snacks

These Russian cheesecake frozen desserts are another treat that Irina bought herself to take home. For a peek inside, check out this blog post from another fan of the sweet.

Store Sign

Irina says the store sign says "It's something like, 'If you want to be full, be full!' You can also phrase it as, 'If you want to have a full belly, go for it,' or something along those lines."

Good advice!

HUGE thanks again to European Foods and to Irina!