A Cookbook That Refuses to Give in to Russian Stereotypes
Is it possible to appreciate a country’s cuisine despite the shortcomings of its leadership?
The first time I tried to make sauerkraut, I failed. Messing up an ancient preservation technique where millions of people before me were successful has a way of screwing with the psyche. So when I came to the pickles and ferments chapter of Alissa Timoshkina’s cookbook, “Salt & Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen,” I expected to find at least one recipe for the fermented cabbage. (There are two: red sauerkraut with garlic and chile, and another with white cabbage, apple, fennel, and dill.)
“While fermentation has become very popular over recent years in our health-crazed Western world,” Timoshkina wrote in the introduction to the chapter, “the tradition of consuming fermented foods … dates back to before the Middle Ages in Russia and its appeal remains intact today.” Recipes for fermented cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and khrenovina — an effervescent tomato and horseradish sauce — round out the selection, along with Soviet-Korean pickled vegetables, her childhood obsession.
“Salt & Time: Recipes from a Modern Russian Kitchen”— nominated this week for an International Association of Culinary Professionals award — is remarkable for its selection…
