Counterrevolutionary Cooking Methods

This message detected in bourgeois site not to be mentioned by true champions of people:

"Congratulations to Mr. Gary Wivott on great feature BBQ article in this week's Lerner neighborhood paper (at least in neighborhood). Leah Zeldes wrote very comprehensive article on Mr. Wivott and Qing techniques, including photos and recipes.
Of particular interest to board is brief paragraph deriding garbage served at Twin Anchors!
Congrats to Mr. Wivott and Kudos to Ms. Zeldes"

All glory to comrade Stalin. Let us not speak of counterrevolutionaries.

Where is censor on bourgeois site?
A.A.Antonov

Drastvitya Tvarishi,

Goodness knows you ask such provacative questions.

Regards,
Yekaterina Karlovna

Dear Yekatarina Vtoraya,

Comrade Anton Antonovich has asked me to pass along the following message to you and all the members of the Chicago Soviet:

"Comrades,
Please forgive recent outburst but I suffer from brain-cold and withdrawal from serious pelmenyi addiction which makes me hallucinate. I have therefore decided voluntarily and all on own initiative to check into efficiently run State mental hospital in sub-Arctic region, where also my allergies will be treated."

Poor chap...
A

P.S. Who is Mr. Qing?

"withdrawal from serious pelmenyi addiction which makes me hallucinate"

Oy to have enough pelmeni to become addicted! You must truly come from the worker's paradise. So please hint how do your comrade likes it served:

- with butter and sour cream, is he a Moskovite?

- with vinegar and butter, is he from Gorky?

- with a fresh tomato salsa, is he from the Ukraine?

Oy to be like a rich Soviet woman again! Remember, Soviet women shopped on average 15 hours a week procuring food for their families because there was so much to buy. Poor American women spent only 90 minutes a week because their is so little to buy. Oh the workers paradise is simply gone with the wind. Sniff <giggle>

Katya

Dear Katya,

Comrade Anton Antonovich claims to be from Novgorod and to be ultimately in part of Swedish Viking stock (the original "Rus"), but then he is patently mad. Nevertheless, we are friends and both excessively fond of dumplings, potstickers, pelmenyi, pierogi, maultaschen, ravioli, culingiones etc. etc. etc. Anton and I have tended to opt for the Muscovite preparation, feeling that it somehow brought us closer to the Kremlin and Comrade Lenin, but I must say that the other two dressings you mention sound great (though Anton claims his doctor has proscribed all Ukrainian food). Most foods that are red are, to my mind, good.

To turn to grub (this is, I believe, new party approved technical term), have you had the pelmenyi at Russian Tea Time and if so (a) were they satisfactory? (b) were they dressed in the dominant style of the capital ? I haven't been there in years but when last there, I had them and, as best I can recall, they were with sour cream and butter and were pretty darn good. But that was a dog's life ago.

Any other Russian places around town worthy of a visit (especially for pelmenyi)?

A.

P.S. I have fond memories of shopping in East Berlin back in the good old days... What a splendid assortment of tinned meats! Comrade Honecker was a true leader.

"To turn to grub (this is, I believe, new party approved technical term), have you had the pelmenyi at Russian Tea Time and if so (a) were they satisfactory? (b) were they dressed in the dominant style of the capital ? I haven't been there in years but when last there, I had them and, as best I can recall, they were with sour cream and butter and were pretty darn good. But that was a dog's life ago."

I was once at Lenin's home town of Ulyanovsk on the Volga River. I suspect they are the vinegar-butter-black pepper crowd.

Actually the best place I know for pelmeni is at Chez Katja. Though it has been over a year since I made any. One of these days, I will whip up some enthusiasm to make more.

I don't remember having Pelmeni at Russian Tea Time, though it is likely what I ordered a long time ago. I had Pelmeni at Zhivago in Skokie about 18 months ago. I think they have been spooked by Americans who just cannot tolerate anything swimming in butter. They also did not offer sour cream until I asked, then they smiled knowingly and fetched it.

Truthfully, you can go to a Russian food shop and buy factory made Pelmeni for less than $2 a pound. Boil them in salted water until the float to the top, then put any condiment you like. They may not be as good as homemade, but it does hit the spot for very little money and time.

I have been advised of a new Russian restaurant in the NW suburbs. I will checking soon and will advise, I promise!

By the way, some of the Russian breads in the local market taste like what you get in Moscow.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy,
Any recommendations for Russian shops, either in the city or up Skokie way?
A

P.S. By the way, to any and all: Should this kind of discussion of things Russian be on the "European" board? Should I repost this post there? I'm not really sure yet how to deal with the categories here. Any help from moderators and other knowledgeable and interested parties would be helpful-- I'll look on "Site Talk" for instructions.

what planet are you guys from, again???

dicksond wrote:what planet are you guys from, again???

The red one, I'd say

Just a quick update about two points.

1) In the two years since Comrade Anton Antonovich Antonov posted (without registering, mind you), he has successfully completed reeducation (with a major in anger management) at a state-run sanatorium and is coincidentally being released today. He sends "greetings and wishing-wells to all former friends and enemies -- I know how to find you." Amata and I hope to have a celebratory dinner with him at Valois ('see your food') this weekend.

2) On the pelmenyi front, the only ones I have had since the LTH Revolution were frozen ones we got at the Georgian bakery, Argo, on Devon.* They were pretty good but if anyone knows of a source for ones they think are better and especially for fresh ones, please let us know in time for International Day of the Dumpling, which -- as you know -- is coming up soon.

Schastlivyj pelmen vam vsem!
A happy pelmen to you all.

Antonius


* Argo, Inc.
Georgian Bakery
2812 West Devon Ave.
Chicago, IL

They carry factory made pelmeni at Ann's Bakery on Chicago and Leavitt. You have to ask for them at the deli, they're in the back, frozen. A friend claims he had freshly made ones from the deli, but he's also Russian and it seems the staff is generally more friendly to him as a result. I've always felt as if they were only tolerating me when I've shopped there, as I'm not Eastern European at all.

Ann's Bakery
2158 W. Chicago Ave.
773.384.5562

Liubov lived in Chicago for quite a few years, but went back to Kiev last summer. I miss her *sniffff*. Once when I was home recuperating from something or other, she came to my door with a BIG bag of Russian goodies she got at

Eurostyle Deli
4861 Oakton
Skokie
847-329-1430

including pelmenyi that she told me to boil and then drown in butter and sour cream. I've been there since, and there is a large selection of pelmenyi to be had from the freezer [I remember there being potato and beef, but I'm pretty sure there were more]. Also, a nice selection of smoked fish.

I'd be curious to know if Yekaterina Karlovna has been to this store, since she has the great experience with Russian food. I'm sad I can't get her and Christina [as Liubov, that nice Jewish girl, wanted to be called in the U.S.] to compare notes.

Giovanna

[No praise for Stalin from me, even in jest. Remind me to tell you about how I managed to go on dates with no fewer than TWO modern-day admirers of Joseph Djugashvili....]