A Taste of Russia: Okroshka

Russia has had a difficult time building a culture with the tsarist and Soviet expansion. Many older generations only know of the Soviet cultural experience, because the Communist Party controlled and shaped daily life and social practices. Today many minority cultures are developing by reinventing their ethnic pasts. Russia is known for its philosophy, architecture, food, politics, etc. A very important symbol in Russian culture is Moscow's Saint Basil's cathedral with its colorful cupolas representing the country's long Orthrodox history. Many postcards, calenders, and posters are filled with images of the beautiful Saint Basil's cathedral. Many older cities like Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, and Yaroslavl reflect Russia's complex and violent histories using architectural styles of Baroque, Renaissance, and Neoclassical. In the more urban cities are huge public parks where people spend time walking around, talking, playing chess, or reading. To unite the many ethnic groups, Russians speak in metaphors talking about soul dusha, which refers to the many ethnic groups uniting under a single multinational identity. Since the end of the Soviet repression, many holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Russian Independence Day are celebrated. Russian cuisine hasn't changed, its foundations began long ago with different kinds of meats, fruits, vegetables, and rich stews and soups. For lunch, soups like okroshka are eaten with cabbage, potatoes, and ground meat cutlets. There are 3 types of soups: hot and cold. Okroshka is a cold soup that can be made with kvass (bread-based drink) or sour milk that is mixed with vegetables, meat, and fish. When making okroshka you put in a neutral tasting vegetable and a spicier vegetable such as a green onion to give it more flavor. Here is a variation recipe on okroshka that is a perfect for a warm summer day since there are no substitutes for kvass:

Ingredients:

1 cup meat, cooked
1 cucumber
2 eggs, hard boiled
3 onions, green
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup sour cream
4 cups apple cider

It is served with ice cubes in it. Dice meat. Peel and dice cucumber and eggs. Slice green onions. Combine first four (4) ingredients. Mix together sugar, mustard, sour cream, and cider, and beat well. Add beef mixture and chill. Serve sprinkled with dill. Enjoy!

sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cuisine,
http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Russia.html,
http://www.dailymunch.com/recipe-collection/soup/okroshka.html

A Taste of Canada: Fusion cuisine

Canada has been hit by a recession just like America and many people can't afford to eat in a high scale restaurants, but that doesn't mean people want to stop going out. So instead they find restaurants that are cheaper and taste just as good. Many Canadians are turning to Asian fusion restaurants with a casual atmosphere and that give great value for their money. Asian fusion restaurants combine different cultural foods like Japanese and Caribbean or Japanese and American. A more fancier and expensive fusion restaurant like the famous Gastropod is closing down to be replaced by a more simple and inexpensive Thai restaurant called Maenam. Despite the recession many Asian fusion restaurants are thriving, especially in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver is known for being the melting pot of many cultural cuisines, especially Asian because of its close location to Asia. Owner of a hot dog stand, Noriki Tamura shows how Asian fusion food is growing by selling his Japadogs. Japadogs combine hotdogs and add an Asian twist with its delicious toppings. Another popular Asian fusion place is The Lion's Den Cafe that serves Japaribbean (Japanese and Caribbean) food. The laidback atmosphere, cheap prices, and exceptional quality of food in both the hot dog stand and The Lion's Den Cafe are what restaurants need to have in order to keep their customers during the recession.

source: http://thethunderbird.ca/2009/04/08/cheap-fusion-rides-out-the-recession/

A Taste of Germany: Staple Foods

In Germany, staple foods used in many regional specialties are meat, vegetables, spices, and wheat. The most popular meat consumed is pork, but other types like chicken and beef are used commonly too. Schnitzel (breadcrumb roasted pork or veal), Sauerbraten (sour roasts), Bratwurst (pork or veal sausages), and Frikadellen (meat patties) are delicious meat dishes that people eat for lunch or dinner. One specialty meat in Germany are sausages, there are over 20 kinds of sausages and are all spiced differently to give each a unique and tasty flavor. Sausage recipes can range from pork liver sausages, veal sausages, mini sausages, even blood sausages. Meat dishes are always accompanied by some kind of vegetable dish with carrots, potatoes, spinach, broccoli, white asparagus, and many kinds of cabbages. Vegetables can also be used in stews, but mainly as a side dish. Most vegetables are boiled in salt water, but some can be fried or mashed like potatoes or onions. Spices and herbs are a very important part in cooking because it gives food that unique flavor. Fresh parsley, thyme, chives, juniper berries, basil, sage, and oregano are commonly used spices and herbs in Germany. German food isn't very spicy, but can be when making mustard for sausages and using horseradish. Another important ingredient used in breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert cooking is wheat. Wheat can be used in cakes, bread rolls, sandwiches, basically most Germans eat food with wheat more than once a day. Bread is made in Germany everyday with over 17,000 bakeries and about 6,000 types of bread, depending on the type of wheat used. Wheat bread is usually mixed with rye flour to make breads such as Pumpernickel and Westphalian that have a special sweetish taste. Visitors should make time to try Germany's wide variety of foods that can be delicious for vegetarians too. Here is a recipe to make rotkohl (red cabbage) that goes great with meatballs, boiled potatoes, or buttered spatzle (German noodles):

Ingredients
1 small or medium head of red cabbage
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup sugar (more to taste)
¼ cup white vinegar (more to taste)
salt and pepper

Peel the outermost leaves off the cabbage and discard. Chop the rest of the cabbage coarsely, as if for a chunky coleslaw. Meanwhile, fry the bacon over medium heat in a large cooking pot. Once the bacon is cooked but not crisp, add the sugar and onions and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the sugar is slightly caramelized. Stir in the cabbage, apple, onion, bay leaves, sugar and vinegar, as well as generous amounts of salt and pepper. Cook on medium for several minutes until the ingredients are heated through, stirring constantly to prevent anything sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot and reduce heat to medium low. Allow the cabbage to cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage should still be very slightly tender-crisp. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly; you may find that for a larger head of cabbage, more sugar and vinegar will be required.

Serve the rotkohl steaming hot. Enjoy!

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine,
http://recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/rotkohl

A Taste of Germany: Drinks

In Germany, beer is a huge part of their culture, along with some non alcoholic beverages. Many centuries ago, beer was made at home by various tribes and later was made by brewmonks and brewnuns. Beer wasn't produced in large quantities until feudal lords created institutionalized brewing to earn money. Now there are over a thousand breweries and over 5,000 brands of beer to choose from. When beer is being produced, it must follow the German purity law where you can only use barley-malt, water, and hops to make beer. Much of German beer is ale, which is made by fermenting the grain marley for 3 to 4 weeks, until later lager became popular in Germany around five centuries ago. Different kinds of ale can be Weizen, Koelsch, Altbier or beer can be mixed into coke or fruit syrups. Lager is different than ale becauseof the yeast used and its fermented at lower temperatures, resulting in a stronger taste. Another popular type of beverage is wine and the majority comes from Rhine that are best known for white and red wines. Some common non alcoholic drinks are coffee and many kinds of soft drinks. Some of these soft drinks are Apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling water), Spezi (coke mixed with orange flavored drink), and other fruit juices mixed with carbonated water. Germans usually drink coffee for breakfast with some bread or during the afternoon with a slice of cake.



sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/history.html

A Taste of Germany: Oktober Fest

Oktober fest originated in 1810 as a wedding celebration of Prince Ludwig and Princess Theresa of Saxony. The celebration was held in fields that were in front of the city gates, which were later known as "Theresa's fields". It was an exciting night filled with dancing, music, horse races, and beer. This celebration became so popular in Munich that it was held in late September and ending around the first week of October. Today, Oktober fest has grown to over a million people all over the world and has spread to many other countries like Canada and America. There are many new and entertaining things to do like go on a carnival ride, taste all the different kinds of German foods, watch performers, dress in traditional costumes, drink lots of beer, etc. People can also go into tents, where different beers and wines are served. Traditional Oktober fest food is various kinds of sausages, roasted chickens, potato dumplings, red cabbage, dampfnudel (a steamed cake served with sweet vanilla sauce), and beer. If that isn't enough to fill you up, there are many snack foods such as soft pretzels, cotton candy, potato salads, sugar-glazed almonds, steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick) to enjoy. Here is an easy recipe to make a favorite meat roll called rouladen that eaten as an Oktoberfest snack:

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

German stone ground mustard, to taste

1/2 pound thick sliced bacon

2 large onions, sliced

1 (16 ounce) jar dill pickle slices

2 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 cups water
1 cube beef bouillon

Cut the flank steak into thin filets; about 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Generously spread one side of each filet with mustard to taste. Place bacon, onions and pickle slices on each filet and form into a roll. Use string or toothpicks to hold the roll together. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Place the rolls in the butter and saute until browned. Pour in 2 1/2 cups of water and add the bouillon cube; stirring to dissolve the bouillon cube. Simmer the rolls for about an hour. Enjoy!

sources: http://www.vistawide.com/german/oktoberfest/oktoberfest.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/German-Rouladen/Detail.aspx

A Taste of Germany: Schnitzel and Kartoffelsalat

Germany, a country in Central Europe, has had a long-lasting culture before the rise of the nation-state (country that has defined borders and people that are the same ethnically and culturally) and is presently a representative democratic republic. Ethnically, Germans are the majority but Germany is the 3rd largest home to international immigrants in the world, bringing different cultural customs and foods. One popular past time is playing or watching football and tennis. When visiting Germany, always make eye contact and shake a person's hand when meeting others to be polite. Visitors don't need to know German to get around, even though most Germans speak the native language German, over 60% know a 2nd language. Another popular thing Germany is known for is their literature and philosophy, which has always been admired by people around the world, especially in America. Famous philosophers like Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, and Gadamer have been the creators of radical ideas such as communism, existentialism, postmodernism etc. Music and and architecture has also flourished beautifully with many Renaissance and Baroque paintings; Germany furthermore pioneered the ever growing genre of music called trance. This creativity has been influenced by social and political changes, even in German cuisine. German cuisine varies on each region, which are Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Meat, vegetables, and bread is very common in all these regions. One very delicious meat dish called schnitzel (fried and breaded veal or pork) is eaten for lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day in Germany. Lunch time is around 12 or 1pm, where many stores will close for a couple hours so people can eat at home or at a restaurant. Schnitzel is eaten with a side dish such as potato salad or meatballs. Here is a recipe to make Schnitzel with Kartoffelsalat (potato salad) as a side dish:

Ingredients:

4 veal fillets (approx each 200g)
salt and pepper
2 tbsp flour
3 eggs
150g breadbrumbs
butter, lard or cooking oil

Flatten the meat with a rolling pin or meat hammer. Season with salt and pepper and then coat in flour.

Coat in beaten egg and then coat in breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a pan and then fry the Schnitzel on both sides until brown and the meat is cooked through. Approx. 4 mins on both sides.


Kartoffelsalat:

Ingredients

8-10 salad potatoes
1 onion
1/2 cup of warm meat broth
white wine vinegar, sunflower oil and salt to taste
pepper

Steam the potatoes in their skins until tender. If you have any potatoes from the day before, even better as they are easier to slice. Scrape them and let them cool slightly until just warm.

Chop the onion finely.

Slice the potatoes thinly with a potato slicer or a vegetable knife. Place in a large bowl.

Add the onion and enough warm meat brothso that the potatoes are quite moist but not sitting in broth! and leave to soak for an hour.
Lastly add enough sunflower oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Again I can`t give exact quantities but I suggest that you start off with a couple of tablespoons of each of the oil and vinegar and then add more to taste.

Mix thoroughly. The potato salad should not be too dry, but quite moist.

Enjoy!

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Germany,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine,
http://www.tasty-german-recipe.com/wiener-schnitzel-recipe.html

A Taste of Nicaragua: Snacks

Cheese is an important part of Nicaragua's food, they cook it fried, baked, or make it into creamy string cheese. A special type of cheese dish is quesillo, which is made in Nicaragua's villages Nagarote and La Paz Centro. Quesillo is a soft creamy cheese. You can use quesillo in a tasty combination of onions and sour cream wrapped in a toasted tortilla. Many street vendors sell quesillo as a snack, the most popular places are in Leon and Managua. Some history on the city Leon is it was founded by the Spanish conqueror Francisco Hernandez de Corbaba in 1524. When the city was threatened with the eruption of a volcano in 1610, people fled to where the location of Leon is today. Leon has many colonial buildings, churches, streets, and monuments, where visitors can see the beautiful architectural work of Nicaragua. Another key ingredient used in many Nicaraguan's cooking are plantains, which are related to bananas, but are larger and different in taste. Plantains are very starchy, making them great for cooking, specifically when frying or baking. Most Nicaraguans fry unripe thinly cut plantains into chips called tostones that are served with some cheese. When plantains turn yellow with dark spots, they are made into a dish called maduro, which has a sweeter taste than a regular plantain. Here is a simple recipe for maduros:

Ingredients

4 maduros (sweet bananas) peeled
3 cups milk
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place maduros and milk in a bowl and boil until tender. Add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, boiling for another 5 minutes. Place it in a dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Enjoy!

Next week will be on Germany! Have a great weekend.

sources:
http://www.nicaragua.com/recipes/,
http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/14-nicaraguan-fruits.html