A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality [Paperback]

Darra Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1991

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine, layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes rich historical and cultural context. With over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-Honey Filled Pies, A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

"This is simply the best and most complete book on Russian cooking in English." -- Suzanne Massie

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Goldstein... manages to make Russian cuisine dance. It's hard to imagine anything that might have been left out of this delightfully comprehensive collection." --Publishers Weekly

"It is not suprising that Goldstein, a Williams College professor who later founded the food studies journal Gastronomica, is particularly literary in her books on Russian and Georgian food, placing zakuska (grand appetizer buffets) and dacha (summer house) picnics alike in the context of Russia's great writers. But cerebral as she can be, her prose is rooted in hands-on kitchen advice: 'There are a few basic rules to follow in laying a zakuska table, not the least of which concerns the shape of the table itself. It should be oval or round and placed away from the wall, so that all foods are accessible to all guests at all times.'" --Slate Magazine

"The imaginative range of the selection would be enlightening in itself even without the multitudinous snippets from Chekhov, Gogol and Oblomov. First rate." --Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

More than 200 recipes from the traditional cuisines of Russia, all adapted for American cooks.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (August 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060973854
• ISBN-13: 978-0060973858
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,738,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A taste of culture too!, June 12, 2000

By 

John T. Suhr - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality (Paperback)

This is a great book on the food of Russia and the culture also. All to many times we seem to channel Russian cuisine into a few simple dishes. Granted the few simple dishes we view as "Russian" are grand and quite tasty, we tend to shove aside the rich culinary history this country has and the peoples grand capacity to share and truly enjoy food and life. Many times it has been written of the sharing and emphasis of food and being together to enjoy it in other european cuisines, however Russia tends to be overlooked in the cloud of past paranoia of the political state of the land. Ms. Goldstein gets beyond that and makes it clear that food is the binding stuff of a country and of people just as it is in this country and all around this globe.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done!, July 15, 2001

By 

T. Davignon "taniafoto" (NEWTON, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality (Paperback)

Having spent a lot of time working in the former Soviet Union, and trying to reconstruct many of the wonderful and interesting dishes from various republics, I was delighted to find a book that "translated", "a pinch of this and a gram of that" into something I could understand and make with products available to me here in the US. I recommend this cookbook to anyone who has tried food from Eastern Europe, enjoyed it and wants to bring it up to our standards. The book is so popular with my friends that I keep giving it as a gift. However, I do feel the title "A Taste of Russia" is not "politically correct", since the dishes are from many of the 17 former republics of the Soviet Union, Russia being only one of them.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good cookbook, April 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality (Paperback)

This is a great cookbook. A lot of time & work was put into it. However, some of my favorite Russian recipies are missing from this book. I would recommend "The Art of Russian Cuisine" for those of you who are interested in food that Russians cook daily or for holidays.