RUSSIA

CHRISTMAS IN SIBERIA

One Christmas I took the great Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia. It had been high on my bucket list and the 9 700 kilometres of railway track did not disappoint.

Halfway through the journey I found myself in Siberia. Dog sledding on Christmas Day seemed like an excellent idea and, not wanting to miss out on anything, I opted for the longer 10-kilometre trail. The outside temperature was –38 °C, and for a girl from South Africa that meant frozen mascara!

I suited up and Jurie, the sled owner’s son, took the reins while I worked the break. They gave me a two-minute lesson, but it did not take me long to fall off the back. As the pack rounded the first corner in the valley, the alpha female decided to go left and the rest went right. Chaos ensued, with dogs everywhere and poor Jurie screaming for me to stop the sled. Of course, he spoke only Russian. The Alaskan cross Siberian huskies are rather aggressive and a massive fight erupted. Eventually we managed to pull the pack together, get me back on the sleigh and set off for a shortened trip. By that time I was frozen to the bone. As we limped into camp, Jurie’s sister Natasha came running out with a cup of hot chocolate laced with a sneaky tot of vodka!

They hustled me into the reception hut where I flopped down in front of the fire, so happy to be warm. It was only then that I looked up at the space on the mantelpiece and saw the beautifully framed certificate and medal that read: ‘World Championships Gold Champion, 2006’.

The previous year Jurie’s dad had won gold for an event of 200 kilometres raced across the frozen tundra with the very same pack of dogs I had just entertained, his prize and joy. It turned out that during the off-season he would let tourists take the dogs for a spin to keep them fit and help pay for the huge food bill. I simply called for another ‘special hot chocolate’ and the DVD of my own ‘world record attempt’.

Rita’s breakfast slice

I spent the most remarkable Christmas with Rita and her family in her little gingerbread house in the Siberian lakeside village of Listvyanka. By the time we stumbled out of bed on Christmas morning, Rita had cooked a simple breakfast of baked cheesecake served with strong black coffee. Her English was limited but I managed to scribble down the recipe as best I could.

400 g flaky or puff pastry, thawed if frozen
2 × 250 g tubs smooth cottage cheese
60 ml (¹⁄₄ C) sugar
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 230 °C. Grease a 20 × 30 cm loose-bottomed, fluted, and rectangular baking tin or similar size ovenproof dish.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use it to line the base and sides of the prepared tin. Prick the base with a fork. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 °C.
Mix the cottage cheese, sugar, salt and eggs together until smooth. Spoon the mixture over the cooked and cooled pastry base and bake for 30 minutes or until the custard is set. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving as a breakfast dish.

Serves 4–6.

VARIATIONS

Add 50 g Gorgonzola cheese to the egg mixture before baking. Omit the icing sugar dusting at the end. Serve with fresh figs and bacon or with stewed fruit, whole fig or grape preserve, or freshly sliced mango.
Omit the icing sugar. Spread the completely cold cheese slice with crème fraîche. Top liberally with fresh rocket, smoked salmon and a few capers. Season well with freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of Maldon salt and a sprinkling of lemon juice. Garnish with dollops of crème fraîche.

TIPS

• Use 400 g readymade flaky or puff pastry from the supermarket for this recipe. If using puff pastry as a base, remember to prick the pastry with a fork to release the steam and to prevent the pastry from rising during baking.

• This recipe calls for smooth cottage cheese and not cream cheese.

Trans-Siberian beef stroganoff

I travelled with friends from St Petersburg to Beijing by train. It took three weeks with stops. None of the passengers or staff spoke any English so we were left largely to our own devices. The last carriage was the opulent dining car, which offered an elaborate menu in Russian, cooked up by a bored chef who made the bar his headquarters. Stroganoff seemed like a familiar option and we soon fell into a regular pattern of cheese and salami for breakfast, large quantities of Bloody Mary the rest of the day, and a simple stroganoff for dinner. If you wanted rice or noodles, you had to order it as an extra. There is no such thing as a free lunch in Russia!

25 ml (1¹⁄₂ Tbsp) butter
25 ml (1¹⁄₂ Tbsp) oil
500–750 g beef fillet or sirloin, sliced into thin strips
250 g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Extra 60 g (¹⁄₄ C) salted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
15 ml (1 Tbsp) cake flour
15 ml (1 Tbsp) Dijon mustard
2.5 ml (¹⁄₂ tsp) smoked Spanish paprika
125 ml (¹⁄₂ C) dry white wine or water
250 ml (1 C) thick sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh parsley to garnish (optional)

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet, heavy-bottomed saucepan or wok over medium–high heat. Sauté the beef strips for 3–5 minutes until just cooked. Do not overcook the beef. Add the mushrooms and sauté briefly until cooked. Remove from the saucepan and set aside.
Melt the extra butter slowly in the saucepan without letting it separate. Sauté the onion gently for about 5 minutes until caramelised. Stir in the flour, mustard and smoked paprika. Cook for 1 minute to make a thick paste. Slowly whisk in the wine and cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated. Simmer gently, stirring continuously for a few minutes or until the sauce has thickened considerably. Season to taste.
Return the meat and mushrooms to the saucepan, heat through and serve at once with ribbon noodles. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over the top.

Serves 4.

VARIATIONS

This stroganoff recipe is fantastic made with venison fillet. Use kudu, nyala, impala or springbok. Marinate the fillets for 24 hours in a mixture of 500 ml (2 C) buttermilk, 3 cloves crushed garlic and 25 ml (1¹⁄₂ Tbsp) crushed green peppercorns. Slice the fillets thinly before proceeding as for beef stroganoff.
Use black mushrooms instead of button mushrooms.
The wine can be replaced by 125 ml (¹⁄₂ C) water for an alcohol-free dish.

Tsar Nicholas’ chocolate fondant puddings

I wanted to create a decadent dessert to remind me of the opulence and beauty of old Imperial Russia. This seemed like a fitting tribute to royalty.

300 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa content)
50 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
190 ml (³⁄₄ C) sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
90 ml (6 Tbsp) cake flour
15 ml (1 Tbsp) cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Place a large baking tray on the top shelf of the oven to heat up. Butter six dariole moulds or small ceramic ramekins with butter. Make sure they are well greased. Line the base of each mould with a circle of greaseproof paper, cut to the same size as the base; you don’t want the paper coming up the sides.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave oven for 1 minute on high, taking it out to stir every 20 seconds or so. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water. Be careful that no steam or water comes into contact with the chocolate. Stir until smooth, and then leave it to cool slightly.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the salt and vanilla essence.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined. Slowly mix in the melted chocolate. Spoon the slightly thickened mixture into the prepared moulds.
Remove the preheated baking tray from the oven and evenly space the moulds on the tray. Bake immediately for 8 minutes. If you are baking the puddings straight from the fridge, bake for 12 minutes.
Turn out the puddings onto individual dessert plates and remove the greaseproof paper. Serve immediately with ice cream or cream.

Serves 6.

VARIATIONS

Chilli chocolate puds: Use 70% ‘Chilli’ chocolate, and add a pinch of chilli flakes and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the melted chocolate before adding it to the eggs and flour.
Orange chocolate puds: Use 70% ‘Orange’ chocolate, and add 5 ml (1 tsp) grated orange rind to the creamed mixture.

TIPS

• Prepare everything in advance and leave the mixture in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Then simply remove and bake, from the fridge to the oven.

• Use only the best imported chocolate for these puddings because they need to have a very high cocoa content. This will make all the difference.

Liquid chocolate vodka ‘mousse’

Vodka is the lifeblood of Russia. They say the cheaper brands are so strong that one drink can blind you. Drinking in Russia seems to be a national pastime and it was not uncommon to see old ladies drinking vodka from juice glasses at breakfast. Charl Marais, my travelling companion, loved the idea.

180 g (2 slabs) best quality dark or milk chocolate
350–500 ml vodka, in the original bottle

Grate the chocolate finely. Fill the sink with boiling water as deep as the level of the vodka in the bottle. Immerse the bottle in the hot water for a few minutes to warm the alcohol. Insert a plastic funnel into the neck of the bottle. Spoon the grated chocolate into the bottle, and then remove the funnel. Seal the bottle with the bottle top and shake vigorously until the chocolate has dissolved. Repeat the process until the vodka cannot absorb any more chocolate.
Store at room temperature. Shake well before serving as a topping for dessert or as a drink over ice.

Makes 1 large bottle.

VARIATIONS

In Russia it is possible to purchase chilli-infused vodka off the shelf. For a delicious variation of this recipe add 2–4 whole dried red chillies to the chocolate vodka. Leave to stand for at least 12 hours before serving.
Add 30 ml (2 Tbsp) orange liqueur to the vodka before adding the chocolate. Shake well.

TIP

Use only the very best chocolate with a high cocoa content. The vodka carries the flavour well and using a superior chocolate brand will prevent the liqueur from tasting artificial or like melted Easter eggs! You can, however, use milk chocolate if desired. The mixture will thicken upon standing. Do not store this liqueur in the fridge.

Borscht (beetroot soup)

Russia is the most old-fashioned country I have visited, and touring Moscow in winter is like being in a bad movie from the eighties. The pavements are frozen, the coats are fur and the smog is real. We ate at simple Russian restaurants where the food is still very traditional. Beetroot soup may be from another era, but it is still very much alive in Russia and, I have to say, absolutely delicious! I found this recipe in a magazine at the Hard Rock Café in central Moscow and have kept it for years.

Beef stock

25 ml (1¹⁄₂ Tbsp) sunflower oil
1 kg beef soup bones, with some meat on them
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick celery
1 large white onion, quartered
2 dried bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
5 ml (1 tsp) salt
3 litres water

Soup base

60 g salted butter 1 onion, finely chopped
10 ml (2 tsp) sugar
3 medium-sized raw beetroot, peeled and grated
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
60 ml (¹⁄₄ C) apple cider vinegar
¹⁄₂ medium cabbage, tough outer leaves removed, very finely sliced
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 small green pepper, finely diced
1 × 410 g can tomato purée
2 × 70 g cans tomato paste
5 ml (1 tsp) ground black pepper

Garnish

45 ml (3 Tbsp) fresh lemon juice
45 ml (3 Tbsp) chopped fresh dill
45 ml (3 Tbsp) chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
250 ml (1 C) sour cream
Tabasco® sauce

To make the stock, heat the oil in a large stockpot and brown the meat bones well. This is done to intensify the flavour of the stock. Add the remaining stock ingredients and simmer, covered, for 2¹⁄₂–3 hours. Remove any scum that rises to the top of the stock using a large slotted spoon. Strain and taste the stock. If it lacks flavour, boil rapidly to reduce further so that you are left with 1 litre (4 C). Reserve any bits of meat from the stock bones. Set the meat and stock aside in a clean bowl.
To make the soup base, melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sugar and cook until translucent. Stir in the beetroot, carrots and vinegar and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, potatoes and green pepper and sauté for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée, tomato paste and black pepper. Add any reserved meat from the stock. Add 1 litre (4 C) stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer very gently for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
To serve, ladle the soup into individual warmed soup bowls. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to each bowl and sprinkle chopped dill and parsley over the top. Season well. Drop a large dollop of sour cream into the soup and give each bowl a good sprinkling of Tabasco. Serve straight away.

TIPS

• It’s useful to make the stock the day before. Leave it to cool completely before refrigerating overnight. The fat will then rise to the top and solidify, making it easy to remove and discard. The stock will keep for up to seven days in the fridge or can be frozen for up to three months. If you are going to make a pot of stock, it makes sense to double up and freeze half.

• Should you wish to save time and use a stock cube instead, ensure that you make enough for 1 litre (4 C). Remember that stock cubes are very salty so go easy on the seasonings when preparing the soup.