Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' "A Gift to Young Housewives" [Paperback]

Elena Molokhovets (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 1998 | Series: Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian and East European Studies

"Joyce Toomre... has accomplished an enormous task, fully on a par with the original author's slave labor. Her extensive preface and her detailed and entertaining notes are marvelous." —Tatyana Tolstaya, New York Review of Books

"Classic Russian Cooking is a book that I highly recommend. Joyce Toomre has done a marvelous job of translating this valuable and fascinating source book. It's the Fanny Farmer and Isabella Beeton of Russia's 19th century." —Julia Child, Food Arts

"This is a delicious book, and Indiana University Press has served it up beautifully." —Russian Review

"... should become as much of a classic as the Russian original... dazzling and admirable expedition into Russia's kitchens and cuisine." —Slavic Review

"It gives a delightful and fascinating picture of the foods of pre-Communist Russia." —The Christian Science Monitor

First published in 1861, this "bible" of Russian homemakers offered not only a compendium of recipes, but also instructions about such matters as setting up a kitchen, managing servants, shopping, and proper winter storage. Joyce Toomre has superbly translated and annotated over one thousand of the recipes and has written a thorough and fascinating introduction which discusses the history of Russian cuisine and summarizes Molokhovets' advice on household management. A treasure trove for culinary historians, serious cooks and cookbook readers, and scholars of Russian history and culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Banned in Molokhovets's native country since the Russian Revolution, this gastronomic standard for pre-Revolutionary upper- and middle-class Russian households has been impressively translated and edited by food historian and Harvard research associate Toomre. Translations of more than 1000 recipes recall foods central to Russian life: cabbage with butter and crumbs, potato pudding, Beef Stroganov, babas , piroq , pashka . Toomre's substantive introduction presents ``not a history of Russian cooking per se, but rather an impressionistic reconstruction of household conditions.'' She charts a range of elements, from the purpose of each of the four or five daily meals and the sleeping conditions of servants to the once privileged status of the potato. Toomre also assesses the influences of foreign peoples, such as the techniques of the French and the foods of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as modern approximations for arcane measurements. Much more than a re-creation of a lost time or a rumination on changing culinary tastes, this book is an important contribution to Russian history. Illustrations not seen by PW.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Joyce Toomre ... has accomplished an enormous task, fully on a par with the original author's slave labor. Her extensive preface and her detailed and entertaining notes are marvelous." - Tatyana Tolstaya, New York Review of Books "Classic Russian Cooking is a book that I highly recommend. Joyce Toomre has done a marvelous job of translating this valuable and fascinating source book. It's the Fanny Farmer and Isabella Beeton of Russia's 19th century." - Julia Child, Food Arts "This is a delicious book, and Indiana University Press has served it up beautifully." - Russian Review " ... should become as much of a classic as the Russian original ... dazzling and admirable expedition into Russia's kitchens and cuisine."- Slavic Review "It gives a delightful and fascinating picture of the foods of pre-Communist Russia." - The Christian Science Monitor

Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (July 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253212103
• ISBN-13: 978-0253212108
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Russian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a simple cook-book, but a part of the Russian history, July 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' a Gift to Young Housewives (Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian & East European Studies) (Hardcover)

So far I did not have a chance to see an American version of Madame Molokhovet's, only the Russian one. But since probably nobody knows about this book in US, and I turned out to be the first one to review it, I have to "break the ground" and drop a couple of lines.

The original version, first published at the end of the XIXth century, had a goal to help young middle-class housewives covering a wide range of issues from hiring servants to shopping for the house. The recipes were only a part of what can be called an "encyclopedia on running the house".

During the Soviet times there was almost no opportunity to use it because it was almost impossible to buy the ingredients. However, the book was still fun to read. It gives a good picture of the Russian culture of the time.

The recipe part (of the original version) is very thorough and understandable. However, most of the dishes require considerable time, exquisite ingredients and, in many cases, help of another person. However, trying them pays off, for they help you to discover REAL Russian cuisine, very different from "chicken-Kiev" and other tourist traps.

I would recommend this book to those who love Russia, are interested in Russian culture and like to cook something very unconventional. Very curious to see the American version.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT YOUR CONVENTIONAL COOKBOOK!, December 18, 2001

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' "A Gift to Young Housewives" (Paperback)

My grandmother immigrated to Canada from Russia well over a century ago and lived to the age of 104. With her she brought many authentic Russian recipes, but alas, they remained in her head and not on paper. This cookbook comes very close to the recipes I, as a child, can remember her preparing. Yes, it is true, that some aspects of the recipes found here are lost in the translation, particularly when it comes to measurements; however, in reality, that is how my grandmother, and many Russian homemakers in her time, prepared a meal. There was no such thing as a teaspoon of this or a cup of that. Accurate meansurements would have meant nothing to my grandmother, for like many immigrants in the 1800's she had little scholastic education. Her education came from the "school of hard knocks" and life's experiences. Measurements included "a little of this a small handful of that." I can remember her placing three fingers in a small cup and when the liquid reached the top, that was how much one used. Confusing? Yes, for the traditional chef, it would be. However, as one becomes experienced with Russian cooking, the delicious recipes found here will not seem like such a challenge to prepare - trial and error is often the best way of learning.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting look into the cooking of Russia, January 8, 2003

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' a Gift to Young Housewives (Indiana-Michigan Series in Russian & East European Studies) (Hardcover)

This is such a classic that it was intended, in the past, to be given to young housewives to be a much-used reference. As such, in addition to the predictable recipes for coulibiac (fish in pastry crust), sturgeon, borscht, kasha and Russian sweets, there is a wide variety of household food preservation and preparation you just don't find in today's cookbooks. Such as--butchering a pig and then portioning out, preserving and preparing the resulting meats. NOT for vegans or the fainthearted, believe me. Also, there are recipes for improving the flavor of homemade vodka (including how to make birch charcoal for the purpose.) And how to make imitation butter from mutton fat, how to get rid of the off-flavor in butter that is going rancid.

If you are a home-brewer, this is a surprisingly good book for making such things as mead and fruit wines and liquers. One caveat for the whole book; measurements are either baffling, in Russian terminology that has no English referent, or "two wineglasses" , etc. And for brewers, it requires some basic knowledge of the process.

For cooking, there are a lot of beef and fish recipes but the borscht recipes were disappointing as there were only of few of these and there are LOTS of ways to make borscht. However, for interesting reading on food history and technique, and for some authentic Russian cooking, this book is absolutely fascinating reading.