Russia's favorite foodsAAUW International Gourmet 
See recipes below country description! We meet at the Lauper home - please prepare your recipes for ten. No alcohol will be served at this house. Dinner begins at 6:30. Menu:
Russians like authentic beverages, like mors (a berry drink). Also, tea (with sugar and lemon) is popular.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country that extends over a large part of northern Eurasia. Its government is a semi-presidential republic, and it comprises of 83 federal subjects. The Russian Federation, in fact, was established after the termination of the Soviet Union, which occurred in 1991; however, it continues to be recognized as the legal personality of the Soviet Union. Here are some more interesting facts about Russia. Comprising of 6,592,800 square miles, or 17,075,400 square kilometres, and extending over an eighth of the land area of the Earth, Russia is the world’s largest country. It also is the 9th largest in the world in terms of population, with 142 million people. It stretches across 40 percent of Europe and the entire region of northern Asia. Russia spans 11 time zones and contains a wide range of landforms and environments. Geography - Russia covers an area of about 17 million sq. km. (6.5 million sq. mi.); about 1.8 times the size of the United States. Their cities include the following: Capital--Moscow (pop. 10.4 million). Other cities--St. Petersburg (4.6 million), Novosibirsk (1.4 million), Nizhniy Novgorod (1.3 million). The terrain consists of a broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains (Caucasus range) along southern borders.
 Kompot (traditional berry drink) also called Mor
1 lb assorted berries (for example, strawberries, red bilberries, blueberries, raspberries, black currant, or a frozen mix is a good choice too)  Pickled Mushrooms recipe Ingredients : 1.5 kg small mushrooms, 4 c boiling water, 1 1/2 tb salt Pickle: 3/4 c sugar , 3/4 c vinegar, 1 3/4 c water, 10 peppercorns, 3 bay leaves Method: Wipe dirt of mushrooms with damp paper towel.Cook mushrooms over medium heat in boiling water with salt for 15-20 mins and until they are on the bottom of the pan. Place in sterilized jars. To make pickling: Boil water with spices for 30 minutes. Add salt and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Add vinegar and bring to boiling. Pour hot pickling over mushrooms. Close the jars. Keep in the fridge for 3 days before serving. 
 More information on Russia: Russia is known as the ‘lungs of Europe’ since it has the largest forest reserves in the world, and the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by it is second only to the rainforests in the Amazon. These forests of Russia provide large amounts of oxygen not only to Europe but also to the world.
There are also thousands of inland water bodies and rivers in Russia, which makes it one of the largest surface water resources in the world. Amongst these, Lake Baikal is the most prominent, being the most capacious, purest, and deepest freshwater lake in the world. It alone contains more than one-fifth of the surface fresh water of the world. The River Volga is the most prominent and famous amongst the 100,000 rivers of Russia. Apart from it being Europe’s longest river, the Volga has played a major role in the history of Russia.
Herring in sheepskin coat (seledka pod shuboy) – small pieces of the pickeled herring mixed with small amounts of boiled beets, carrots, potatoes and sour cream. Make a small amount of this using one jar of herring and a small amount of each beet, carrot, and potatoe. Mix with sour cream and serve on cracker or toast. Pickled Cucumbers 
Ingredients: 5 kg cucumbers, 1/2 kg onion, 1 kg fresh red bell pepper, 200 g parsley, 200 g celery, 300 g dill, 200 g garlic, 200 g horseradish root, 5 l water, 1 l vinegar, 400 g salt, 400 g sugar, 20 g black pepper Method: slice cucumbers 1/2 cm thick and soak them in cold water for several hours. Peel onion and chop into rounds. Seed red pepper and cut into strips. Chop greens. Cut horseradish roots into cubes. In well washed jars, put chopped cucumbers and red peppers, put greens, horseradish and chopped onion in the top. Melt sugar, salt vinegar in the boiling water. Pour marinade in and sterilize the jars in a boiling water for 15 minutes. Cork up and cool down.  Salmon caviar (ykra) – red or black. Traditional Russian appetizer. Black one is far more expensive. Usually served on ice. Russians prefer to eat toasts with butter and caviar - we will serve it that way (buy small rye bread for toast).
Sauces — Soured cream (smetana) – served with most of the soups and fresh vegetables Borstch – the famous Russian soup made of beet (and sometimes meat), usually served with sour cream. 
Borstch. (Photo from Kuking.Net)
It is a vegetable soup (shie) - the soup made of cabbage, potato and meat. There is also the specification called “shie postnie” –the same soup without the meat. Russian Borstch Ingredients : 3 1/2 c. canned tomatoes, 5 or 6 med.size potatoes cut in halves, 1 large carrot cut fine, 1 small peeled beet, salt to taste, 1 small onion chopped, butter, 4 c. shredded cabbage, 3/4 c. sweet cream, 1/2 c. fresh green pepper chopped, 2 tbs. fresh or dried dill 1 celery chopped fine, 2 1/2 qts. water, 1 1/2 c. diced potatoes, black pepper. Method: Put water to boil in large kettle. Add 1/2 c. canned tomatoes. When water is boiling drop in 5 or 6 med. size potatoes, chopped carrot and the beet. While this is cooking add 3 tbs butter in frying pan. When melted add chopped onion, cook until tender but do not brown. Add 3 c. canned tomatoes and let simmer with onion and butter until it is a thick sauce. Set to back of stove. Into a separate frying pan put 2-3 tbs. butter to melt. Add 2 c. shredded cabbage and fry. Cook tender but do not brown.Shred another 2c. to add later to the borstch. When potatoes are tender remove them to a bowl. Add 2 tbs. butter, mash well, then add 3/4 c. sweet cream and mix well and set aside. Add 1 1/2 c. diced potatoes to the stock and the remainder of the shredded cabbage. When diced potatoes are tender, add the onion-tomato-sauce, then add the cooked cabbage, and the potato-cream mixture. Add 3 tbs. butter to the borstch. Stir well. Add fresh chopped fine green pepper. Add 3 tbs fresh or dried dill. The more fresh dill the better the flavor. One hour later after borstch is ready, remove the beet. Borstch is ready to serve. Serve it hot. Serve with chopped garlic in your soup bowl, a dollop of sour cream on the top and a fresh piece of bread and butter... Yummy, enjoy.  Beef Stroganov recipe
Ingredients : 2 lbs Tenderloin of beef - cut into very thin strips, 10 Allspice berries- freshly ground (2 tsp. dried ground), 1/4 lb. Butter (2 Tbs. reserved), 3 Tbs. Flour, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp. dijon mustard , 2-4 Tbs. Sour cream (more as desired), Salt and pepper to taste.Method: Season tenderloin with salt and allspice. Saute' the beef in butter to desired doneness. Remove from pan and keep warm. Lower heat and add 2 Tbs. butter and 2 tbs. of the flour. Add more flour if needed. Fry lightly over moderately low heat until the roux slowly turns a golden straw colour. Gradually add the broth, whisking constantly to avoid lumping. When well blended add mustard and a little pepper. Simmer over medium heat about ten mins. Add sour cream to pan, stirring constantly until desired consistency is reached ( to cover back of a spoon). Reheat meat in the sauce taking care that the sauce does not boil. Serve the stroganoff over egg noodles (prepared as package directs). Russian Oliver Salad Reference » Wikipedia Articles The original version of the salad was invented in the 1860s by Lucien Olivier, the chef of the Hermitage restaurant, one of Moscow's most celebrated restaurants. Olivier's salad quickly became immensely popular with Hermitage regulars, and became the restaurant's signature dish. The exact recipe -- particularly that of the dressing -- was a jealously guarded secret, but it is known that the salad contained grouse, veal tongue, caviar, lettuce, crayfish tails, capers, gherkins, cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs and possibly soy beans. Other reported ingredients included truffles, cubed aspic and smoked duck, although it is possible that the recipe was varied seasonally. The original Olivier dressing was a type of mayonnaise, made with French wine vinegar, mustard, and Provencal olive oil; its exact recipe, however, remains unknown. At the turn of the 20th century, one of Olivier's sous-chefs, Ivan Ivanov, attempted to steal the recipe. While preparing the dressing one evening, in solitude as was his custom, Olivier was suddenly called away on some emergency. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ivanov sneaked into Olivier's private kitchen and observed his mise en place, which allowed him to make reasonable assumptions about the recipe of Olivier's famed dressing. Ivanov then left Olivier's employ and went to work as a chef for Moskva, a somewhat inferior restaurant, where he began to serve a suspiciously similar salad under the name "The Capital Salad", (rus: "Stolychnyj", "?????????"). It was reported by gourmands of the time, however, that the dressing on the Stolychnyj salad was of a lower quality than Olivier's meaning that it was "missing something". Later, Ivanov sold the recipe for the salad to various publishing houses, which further contributed to its popularization. Due to the closure of the Hermitage restaurant in 1905 and the Olivier family's departure from Russia, the salad could now be referred to as "Olivier". One of the first printed recipes for the Olivier salad, by Aleksandrova, appearing in 1894, called for half a hazel grouse, two potatoes, one small cucumber (or a large cornichon), 3-4 lettuce leaves, 3 large crawfish tails, 1/4 cup cubed aspic, 1 teaspoon of capers and 3-5 olives and 1 1/2 tablespoon provencal dressing (mayonnaise). As inevitably happens with gourmet recipes which become popularized, those of the salad's ingredients that were rare, expensive, seasonal, or difficult to prepare were gradually replaced with cheaper and more readily available foods, until it evolved (or devolved) into the dish we know today.
Russian Chocolate Strawberry Cake Recipe
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Their flag is white, blue, and red.The population as of January 2009 was 141.9 million. The annual growth rate (2009 est.) is -0.467% (population declining).
The ethnic groups are Russian 79.8%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 2%, other 14.4%. The religions include Russian Orthodox, Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestant, Buddhist, and other. The official language is Russian but there more than 140 other languages and dialects. The education has a literacy of 99.4%.
The health rate includes a Life expectancy (2007 est.) of 67.5 average; 61.4 yrs. men, 73.9 yrs. women.
The work force (90.152 million, 2007 est.) is production and economic services--84%; government--16%.
Make a homemade variant of the Russian Salad containing potatoes, peas, cabbage, sweet gherkins, capers, carrots, olive oil, wine vinegar, dijon mustard and sour cream, garnished with black olives. Use small amounts of all items depending on number attending the dinner.
Ingredients