Week in Russian Kitchen: Go local with Our Products, get ready for freegans

Try Our Product

From June 9-19, Moscow is hosting a unique festival dedicated to the traditional Russian way of life, which includes, of course, traditional Russian food! Visitors to any of the 33 “Nash Product” (“Our Product”) festival sites can sample local treats while learning about Russian history.

Guests to the festival can taste typical Russian sweets prepared following ancient recipes (including the renowned Kolomna pastila and baranki) along with traditional dishes and drinks given a modern upgrade by Moscow restaurateurs. The mouth-watering delicacies on offer include colored blini made from  spinach, beets and nettles; smoke-cured fish prepared on site with herbs and garlic; boiled corn with spiced butter; rendered pork fat; bear and roe deer meat; and sweet and salted turnips. There will even be farm fast food — dishes made from goose and chicken meat in as little as four minutes following a special low-temperature technology.

Every product used at the “Nash product” festival comes from Russian farms, and the available menu will change depending on the response of the guests to the offerings.

The festival locations can be monitored in real-time mode using the “Okno v gorod” (“Window to the city”) service.

Could you become a freegan?

Have you ever heard of freegans? People who follow this lifestyle are committed to sustainable living and food sharing, and many believe that supermarkets contribute to food waste by throwing out goods that are still edible even if they can’t be sold (due to having damaged packaging, for example).

Freegans believe that the world’s current economic and ecological situation makes throwing such food away improper and immoral. While supermarkets are obliged to dispose of food that cannot be sold, some sympathize with the freegans, dumping the products in a way they can be scavenged.

In the near future, Moscow freegans plan to create a map of the food dumps where they can source food. Freeganism is closely connected with the food sharing movement, which is also growing in Russia.

Come to St. Sweetersburg

Source: Lori / Legion-Media

Russia’s northern capital has now acquired the title of sweetest Russian city, according to the Center for Confectionary Market Studies. The production of cookies, cakes and candies in St. Petersburg has increased by 19 percent since the beginning of 2016. Visitors can find a wide variety of cookies, waffles, gingerbread and filled cakes to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Although there has been a decline in the amount of cake sold, there has been an uptick in sales of candies, pastries, bar chocolates and candy sticks.

According to the statistics, each year every resident of St. Petersburg consumes 14.3 kg of hard candies and 14.1 kg of chocolates and other confections (including marshmallows, gummy candies, halva, nougat, caramels and meringue.

These numbers really shouldn’t be surprising considering the deeply-rooted tradition of Russian confectionery!

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