Scratch Russian Cuisine

Place an order for fried clams, and they are likely to come with Tartar Sauce. Go to a bistro, and you might find Steak Tartare on the menu. How did these two vastly different foods come to be associated with the Tatars – or Tartars, as English would have it? 

The English word “Tartar” comes via the Latin. Because the Romans considered the Tatars – the Central Asian Turkic nomads – savage, they inserted an “r” in their name, thereby linking them with Tartarus, or Hell. Even in our day, the idea of barbarism underlies the names of these foods. 

In the case of Steak Tartare, legend holds that the fierce horsemen of the Golden Horde tenderized their meat by packing it under their saddles. When they reached their destination, they retrieved the meat, now so tenderized from the saddle’s friction that they could eat it raw, as befits barbarians. In fact, there is no historical evidence that the Tatars ate raw meat. More often than not, they boiled meat for soups and stews, as they still do today, or placed it on skewers to grill, or minced it to fill rounds of dough that they fried. Nevertheless, the myth lives on. 

As for Tartar sauce, the Tatars were certainly not eating mayonnaise in the fourteenth century! Tartar sauce entered the culinary lexicon only in nineteenth-century France, as sauce tartare. Although medieval European sauces were often concocted of eggs, oil, vinegar and herbs, the name probably refers to the piquant flavor of pickles and vinegar that assaults the tongue. It also lends exoticism to otherwise bland mayonnaise.

If Tartar Sauce and Steak Tartare have nothing to do with the Tatars, what, then, is Tatar cuisine? The foods of the various branches of Tatars, including those in Kazan and Crimea, all share a common ancestry in Central Asian cuisine. The centerpieces of any Tatar meal are meat and dairy products. Mutton and horsemeat are the favored meats, while the dairy comes in many forms, including yogurt, curds, and an array of refreshing, lightly fermented beverages like airan. Baked and fried pastries are also well loved, from simple pies stuffed with meat or vegetables, to the dramatic gubadiya, layered with farmer’s cheese, rice, minced meat and onion, hard boiled egg, raisins, dried apricots and plums. A slice of gubadiya provides an extravagant display of textures and colors, not to mention wonderful taste.

Soups are another mainstay of Tatar cuisine, particularly flavorful meat and fish broths (shulpa) and various types of tokmach or noodle soup. From China, the Tatars borrowed pelmeni (dumplings), which they fill not only with minced meat, but also with cheese, cherries, potatoes, and hempseed. “Bridegroom pelmeni” tested a girl’s skill: if she was able to roll out the dough very thin and shape it into tiny dumplings, she was considered suitable for marriage. Pilaf, another festive dish, derives from the Uzbek Turkic tribes. Kazan-style plov calls for boiled lamb, beef or horsemeat, which is stirred into the rice along with carrots, onions, raisins and dried apricots. 

As in other Eastern cultures, hospitality is paramount at the Tatar table, and guests rule supreme. Special treats include chek-chek (fried balls of sweet dough drenched in honey) and various kinds of sherbet (fruit drinks sweetened with honey or sugar). In 1722, Peter the Great is said to have experienced Tatar hospitality firsthand when he celebrated his fiftieth birthday at the house of Ivan Mikhlaev, a wealthy Kazan merchant. Lavishly dressed servants brought out course after course of roasted meats, fish, pies, and sweets. Since Islam proscribes alcohol, the food was washed down with tea – the only aspect of the meal that must have been difficult for the hard-drinking monarch. At a Tatar meal today, tea is still served Eastern style, in shallow cups without handles, made purposely small so that the tea will not grow cold before the cup is refilled.

The next time you taste Tartar Sauce or Steak Tartare, you can think of the Tatars and their rich history – but do remember that their table is anything but uncouth.

Peremech

These juicy meat pies are the Tatar equivalent of hamburgers. Enjoy them hot from the skillet. 

Dough

2 eggs

1⁄2 cup sour cream

6 tablespoons light cream or half and half

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar 

21⁄2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 pound boneless beef chuck, with only a little fat

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil for frying

To make the dough, beat the eggs until light, then beat in the sour cream, light cream, salt, sugar and flour. Knead until smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate overnight before using.

To prepare the filling, grind the beef, onion, garlic and salt finely in a food processor or meat grinder.

Next, prepare the meat pies. Working with one quarter of the dough at a time (leave the rest in the refrigerator), roll out each piece into a 12-inch rope. Cut each rope into six pieces, then roll the pieces into balls between the palms of your hands. Flatten the balls slightly and, on a floured surface, roll each ball out into a round 31⁄2 to 4 inches in diameter.

Spread 1 tablespoon of meat mixture on each round, leaving 1 inch around the edges.

To shape the pies, gather the dough in little pleats all the way around the patty, using an upward, folding motion. The result should be a round, flat pastry with a hole the size of a quarter in the middle. As each patty is made, place it on a linen cloth and cover with another cloth so that the pastries do not dry out.

Pour vegetable oil into a large skillet to a depth of 1⁄2 inch. Heat it, and, once it is hot, add the peremech, a few at a time, hole side down. Cook the meat pies for about 15 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.

Makes 2 dozen meat pies.

From A Taste of Russia