Cuisine

Category Results

Organic Containers
May 01, 2010

Organic Containers

Where we consider the work of Alexei Venetsianov's "Girl with a Birch Bark Container" and how Russians used natural containers to preserve things like sour cream, which is this issue's recipe.

Lunch in Ages Past
March 01, 2010

Lunch in Ages Past

A consideration of the Russian notion of lunch, Zinaida Serebriakova's painting "At Lunch," and a recipe for Raisin Buns that will warm your winter day.

Feasting with Angels
January 01, 2010

Feasting with Angels

A look at lubok and its use to promote etiquette, manners and morals at the dinner table. And a recipe for Steamed Trout.

TableTop Agitprop
November 01, 2009

TableTop Agitprop

A look at how Soviet propaganda made it onto people's plates.

Southern Comforts
September 01, 2009

Southern Comforts

Boris Kustodiev's "Merchant's Wife at Tea" is the takeoff point for a discourse on revolution, nobility and fine food, in this case Rogaliki - Walnut Crescents.

Farm Preserves
July 01, 2009

Farm Preserves

While variety may be the spice of life, it is the simplest food that fosters friendship, especially when it is offered from the heart. Columnist Darra Goldstein remembers her time as a guide at a US Exhibit in Moscow and shares a recipe for salted mushrooms.

Meals from the Heart
May 01, 2009

Meals from the Heart

Sometimes the simplest foods offer the most sublime and satisfying of gustatory experiences.

Cookies for Carolers
January 01, 2009

Cookies for Carolers

Pryaniki are a time-honored cookie enjoyed at holiday time. Get yours here.

Proletarian Delights
November 01, 2008

Proletarian Delights

"Raw beets and carrots," Ninotcha said in the eponymous film, when asked what she wants to eat. "This is a restaurant, not a pasture," the maitre de responds. What an appropriate segue into this issue's recipe for a tasty beet and carrot salad...

Simple Gifts
September 01, 2008

Simple Gifts

Sorrel Soup is this issue's recipe, provided by a Moscow restaurant that believes simple is better...

Olga's Ferment
July 01, 2008

Olga's Ferment

Mead has a long history in Russian culture and, it turns out, diplomacy. Join us in a round of cranberry mead.

 

Join Our Tribe. Get Important Newsletter + Ridiculous Deals

EVENTS FOR RUSSOPHILES

Russian-Language Gallery Tour
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032

Russian-Language Gallery Tour

Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY

Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required

A Few of Our Books

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Popular Articles

Using Laughter to Cope
September 07, 2021

Using Laughter to Cope

These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show ​​some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.)

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
PO Box 567
Montpelier VT 05601-0567

802-223-4955