Happy Orthodox Christmas: what to eat in Russia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/-sp-orthodox-christmas-what-to-eat-in-russia

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For some, the January blues hit hard (especially for those suffering with “social jet lag”). But for Orthodox Christians, celebrations fill the first week of the new year culminating on Christmas day, which falls on 7 January.

The holy day comes a few weeks later for those of the Orthodox faith, who adhere to the Julian calendar for religious celebrations, as opposed to the Gregorian calendar followed by much of the western world.

In Russia, home to 39% of the world’s Orthodox Christians, people enjoy more days off over Christmas than any other country in Europe, starting on New Year’s Day and carrying through to Orthodox Christmas day. For cabinet ministers, however, the holidays have been scrapped this year in the wake of the economic crisis.

According to Russian News agency Itar-Tass, 87% of Russians will celebrate Christmas today, with only six per cent having already celebrated on 25 December.

But Christmas is still a novelty for many Russians; in 1917, the Bolsheviks banned religion and the attention of the masses was diverted to the New Year celebrations and the fairytale adventures for Ded Moroz, or ‘Father Frost’, the Russian Santa Claus and his granddaughter Snegurochka, meaning Snow Maiden.

According to Russian Orthodox tradition, Christmas is preceded by a 40-day fast excluding meat and dairy products. The fast is broken on Christmas Eve with a dish of sweetened cooked grain followed by a full-blown feast the next day.

Katrina Kollegaeva, co-founder of Russian Revels, which promotes Slavic cuisine in London says food is an “absolutely crucial” part of Russian celebrations.

“The shortages during Soviet times meant that people started hunting for certain ingredients that were in deficit weeks if not months before the actual event,” says Kollegaeva. “That has stayed in the psyche of most Russian people; the memory of hoarding [and] revelling in the excess has a particular flavour in post-soviet countries, it’s in our gastronomic DNA.”

Kollegaeva says the “trend for nostalgic food from the good old Soviet days has been a big hit for a few years” and that de-constructing classic Russian dishes such as ‘herring under a fur coat’ and Olivier salad is “a popular move by many restaurants in Moscow.”

So what should you eat to celebrate a Russian Orthodox Christmas? We asked acclaimed chef Maksim Syrnikov, who champions traditional Russian food, to share some of his best recipes. S Rozhdestvom!

Christmas sochivo porridge

The word for Christmas Eve – Sochel’nik or Sochevnik – is derived from sochivo, which refers to grains of wheat, lentils, peas and barley soaked in water. Sochivo is traditionally eaten following the Christmas Eve church service, and ends 40 days of fasting. It is sometimes called ‘kutya’.

One cup wheat grains

100g poppy seeds

100g walnuts

3 tbsp honey

2 litre water

Dried fruit and walnut pieces to serve

Wash the wheat. Put in a heavy-based saucepan, add 2 litres of water and cook for an hour. Drain in a sieve. Grind the poppy seeds in a mortar until poppy milk appears. Add honey, mix well into a paste and stir in with the wheat. Right before serving, garnish with dried fruit and walnut pieces. The dish should be moist so add more water if necessary.

Goose cooked under sour cream sauce

A whole goose

100g unsalted butter

50g flour

100g onion finely chopped

200g sour cream (smetana)

250g fresh mushrooms

pepper and salt to taste

Trim excess fat off the goose, cut into cubes and melt them in a pan on a hob. Cut the washed bird into your desired portions size, sprinkle with salt and pepper and fry in the fat. When the skin is crisp, remove the goose from the pan and add the finely chopped onion. Add a spoonful of flour and fry the mixture for a few minutes then add the sour cream to make a sauce. Put the sauce through a sieve, pour over the bird and bake at a low temperature until the meat is cooked through.

A traditional Archangel kozulya cookie

Kozulya is a cookie in the shape of a deer, goat or a sheep. They are traditionally enjoyed during the first days of the Christmas season.

500g flour

200g sugar

100ml water

100g unsalted butter

3 egg yolks

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom

Melt half of the sugar in a pan. When it turns a dark brown colour, add the water to dissolve the mixture to make a caramel and pour in to a deep pan.

Now add the remaining sugar and butter. Bring to room temperature and add the yolks, baking soda, salt, spices and mix well until a dough is formed. Add as much flour as necessary – the pastry should be pliable but not sticky. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 24 hrs. When it’s ready, roll the dough out to a 6-7mm thickness, cut into desired shapes and bake.

Recipes and photos courtesy of Maksym Syrnikov, translated by Svetlana Graudt