I know I might have complained just a smidgeon about Russian food, but I feel the need to add that when done right, Russian food can be absolutely delicious. Today we had another "master class" like the ceramics class we took a couple weeks ago. This time, it was on Russian cooking! We watched as a master chef (who we later learned is one of the best chefs in Russia... I think he might even have a cooking show) prepared borsch and blini.
You've probably already heard of these Russian foods - they're two of the most common. I had never actually eaten borsch before... and man, was it delicious! Borsch is soup made of (in the order that I saw them go in the pot) cabbage, potatoes, beets, tomatoes, carrots, fried onions, meat, and seasonings including pepper, red pepper, garlic, bay leaves, and dill (Russians love dill). Borsch is usually eaten with a dollop of сметана = smetana = sour cream. Above, you can see my delicious bowl of homemade borsch and dream of its deliciousness. I've had a sore throat for the past few days, and that soup felt mighty good going down.
We also had blini, which are the Russian version of crepes. We watched the masters make a few then we each tried our hand at it... The instructors made it look so easy! My blini was not entirely round but had only one little tear in it, so I considered it a success. At the end of the cooking lesson we were all served an early dinner of the borsch and some blini that had been made earlier and filled (then rolled). One was filled with rice and meat, one with barley and mushrooms, and one with творог = tvorog = kind of like Russian cottage cheese, but creamier.
It was a fun time, and delicious! I'm still full from it. I dare you to have a better dinner than I did today!
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