I recently went on a shopping spree. Not for clothes or furniture, but for food. Russian food. Living far from a major, metropolitan area, I do not have access to some of my favorite Russian treats, like tvorog (farmer’s cheese), sour black bread, smoked sturgeon, and pryaniki (gingerbread). So, with credit card in hand, I set off into the virtual world of my computer.
The first store I visited was RussianTable.com, where I happily discovered nostalgia-filled candies like Mishka kosolapyi and Belochka. Russian Table helpfully lists the ingredients in each item on sale, along with nutritional information. The site was easy to navigate, and there’s even a place for buyer feedback. “Anton” made me look again at the otherwise unappetizing-sounding “big sprats in oil”: “Ya ochen liublyu shproty,” he wrote.
Although it carries delicacies like seaweed salad, RussianTable did not prove a good source for bread. For that I turned to Russianfoods.com, where I could choose from among Borodinsky, Orlovsky, Kiev, Russian Rye, Ukrainian, Homemade Rye Bread, Kishinevsky, and Brooklyn Kosher. This site offered other perishable specialties as well, such as syomga, cold-smoked “captain fish” (a.k.a. sea bass), tvorog, and prostokvasha. An appealing touch was a link called “Classics,” where you can read excerpts from Oblomov, Fathers and Sons, A Hero of Our Time, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, Dead Souls, and Arkady Averchenko’s “A Poem About a Hungry Man.” Russian Foods also sells pelmeni and paskha molds for making some of the most classic Russian foods.
Of all the sites I visited, skazkarussianfood.com had the most sophisticated presentation. It soon became clear that this store caters not just to Russian taste, but to Russians with taste, with cheeses ranging from Gouda to Emmenthaler and a wide selection of coffees and teas (anyone for Peter the Great black tea or Catherine the Great cherry?). I especially loved the assortment of breads: Tashkent’s Traditional Bread, Samarkand’s Bread, Kishinev’s Gray Bread, Tel-Aviv Bread, Black Bread “Nikolas II,” and three different types of Latvian bread: Druvina Farmer Rye bread; Sency Maize Latvian Dark bread; and Rudzu Klona. Skazka’s shipping policies are not friendly, however: this was the only site with a $30 minimum order, and the shipping cost nearly as much as the products themselves. They also took forever to arrive.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that Amazon.com is in on the provisioning act, too. Type in “Russian food,” and up pops chesnochnaya (garlic) sausage and mini Russian blini. You can also buy Nevskaya smoked sausage and basturma, seasoned dried beef. I still haven’t figured out why Supercritical Stress Advantage Softgels were listed among the various caviars— no doubt to alleviate the stress of making so many decisions.
A more personal touch was provided by novobazar.com, from which I ordered fresh Vologodskoye butter, two types of tvorog, and some bryndza-style cheese. A banner at the top of the site proclaimed: “We’ll send you something for free if you give us an honest smile … Just kidding, but we’ve got great chocolates to make you smile!!!” Smile I did, but only after nearly a month had passed from the time I placed my order. This store was the slowest of the lot, but my products, including a last-minute splurge on pomegranate juice from Georgia, were well worth waiting for. They even arrived in an attractive reusable thermal bag.
If, like me, you can’t find Russian products nearby, pay a visit to these online stores. Just allow plenty of time for delivery.
Machanka
(Ukrainian-style farmer’s cheese)
You can dress up your store-bought tvorog with scallions and cream. If you don’t want to order online, you can try the recipe with farmer’s cheese or quark, a German tvorog taste-alike, both of which are usually available at organic or specialty food stores.
1⁄2 pound tvorog
1⁄2 to 1 cup heavy cream
1⁄4 cup chopped scallions
1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
Salt to taste
Mix together all of the ingredients. Use right away or chill.
The amount of cream needed depends on the consistency of the tvorog, which should remain thick enough to spread. Eat machanka by the spoonful or spread it onto slices of black bread.
Serves 6 (or more, if used as a sandwich spread)
Adapted from A Taste of Russia
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