Russian émigrés celebrate their holidays with really serious feasting. For them, Easter, the joyous celebration of new beginnings, is the culinary peak of the year.
Mrs. Tatiana Prujan of Silver Spring, Maryland, recalls life in old Petrograd (Leningrad, she quickly corrects herself) where several generations lived together in the family house. Preparations for feasting had to begin well in advance because after the week-long Lenten fast, when no meat or animal products of any kind could be eaten, appetites were ravenous. "Everything was very rich with cream, eggs, butter, meats, and fish," she explains. "We would sculpt a sheep out of butter, with hair, eyes... very realistic for the table. And we had a whole suckling pig with an Easter egg in its mouth. Our cakes were hard to do because the dough had to be like silk."
Now as then, after the Easter eggs have been decorated, they are inscribed with the Cyrillic letters XB, which stand for Christos voskres (Christ is risen). A special Easter cake, the kulich, which begins with a sponge that rises overnight, is worked on again the following morning. More flour, eggs, butter, raisins, almonds, candied fruits, lemon rind, and a glass of liqueur are added. It takes very strong hands to knead the stiff dough for at least twenty minutes.
The dough is then poured into a special stovepipe-shaped pan to rise again. When the dough has doubled in bulk, the kulich goes into the oven. "This is the time when everyone must be very quiet. No loud noise," says Prujan. "We hope nobody comes into the kitchen or slams a door, or that no passing vehicle will cause the kulich to fall."
When the one-foot tall, cylinder-shaped cake comes out of the oven, there are great sighs of relief. The cook covers the top with a sugar glaze and inscribes XB on the side.
Early on the Saturday before Easter, the table is set, always with a white cloth. Easter eggs are placed at one end of the table; kulich and paskha, a rich, fruited cheesecake, at the other. The family goes to church at 11 A.S., bringing the napkin-covered cakes to be blessed by the priest.
After the service, everyone goes home to the festal tables. There are so many special foods that diners eventually succumb to a relaxing nap, only to reappear from time to time for yet another helping. There is the traditional rivalry of cracking eggs together, amid wagers and good-hearted laughter. Late Easter night, the party ends.
Variety of culinary styles
The culinary skills and tastes of Russian émigrés reflect tradition passed on from generation to generation. Overall, their dishes tend to be rich in carbohydrates, but culinary styles vary greatly because of Russia's long periods of contact with India, China, Iran, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain.
Often, Russian restaurants in Europe and America feature delicacies invented in the kitchens of old Russia or in czarist-era mansions. Sour cream, dill, nettles, sorrel, and green peppers add zest to sauces and soups. The use of fresh whipped cream for sweets, smetana or kephir (varieties of sour cream) and fresh
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