Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook

I think this is my first time ever writing a review on Amazon... that’s how much I love this book!I rarely buy or use cookbooks anymore, but I’m a bit of a slavophile and love to cook, and wanted to delve into Russian cuisine. I’ve made 9 different recipes from this book so far, and they’ve all turned out exceptionally well. You can tell the authors put a lot of time into testing the recipes, because each thing I’ve made has had such a perfect balance and depth of flavors. I’m that person who usually feels the need to tweak most recipes (add way more garlic, less sugar, etc) but I wouldn’t change a single thing about any of these recipes so far.I disagree that the recipes are complicated or call for hard-to-find ingredients: they all seem quite simple, in fact, which is why I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by how flavorful and complex they all taste!My favorite so far has been the pork and prune stew... but on the other side of the spectrum, the bulgar pilaf with garlic tahini sauce was also superb.I also appreciate the lack of photos- it shows that it can stand on the merit of its recipes, rather than the allure of overly-romanticized, digitally altered food pics.

My wife is Russian. She started going through this book putting sticky notes on pages where there was a recipe that she remembered. Soon every page had a sticky note. I said let's just make everything, and so we are. The recipes are very good. It is very easy to have authentic recipes because in the Soviet Union there was a certain sameness in ingredients. For example, in the US cooks can use white sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, agave syrup, and a host of others. In the Soviet Union there was sugar. We can use russet potatoes, red, gold, fingerling, purple. In the Soviet Union there was potato. Variations were provided by techniques or maybe some variation in herbs. So a good cook was someone who could take the same ingredients that everyone else used and make them somehow special. This book actually achieves that.

This cookbook held Many more recipes and information than I thought it would. It was very informative about food, and even Vodka :) all quite different that what I'm familiar with. The recipes were inspiring and I'll definitely be trying some!

One of the things I like about this cookbook is that the recipes are easy to follow and don't require a whole lot of strange spices I don't have. I've been enjoying the 'vegetable dish' section a lot. A good greenbean recipe with lots of onions and uses eggs, an eggplant stew that I enjoy despite how much I despise eggplant... things like that.I borrowed it from my library and enjoyed the book enough to buy it.

Normally I refuse to buy cookbooks without photos, but I had to have this one because there are so few Russian cookbooks, especially that venture beyond the Ukraine and the north of continent. My husband is also Russian, has traveled all over the continent and is always telling me about food his grandmother cooked, food he ate in Uzbekistan and Georgia, etc. The recipes are not difficult, in fact, quiet simple. They are delicious and, especially the Georgian and southern Russian recipes, have an exotic character (to me who cooks japanese, vietnamese and latin american dishes). The book also has lovely antidotes about the food and recipes and in the end, I feel like it has dispensed with all the art-photography of old pots and pans, flowered doorways, etc. to give a straight forward cookbook of 400 recipes (instead of 25 with 20 pretty pictures that costs $35)! Other than the awesome recipes, this book has taught me to stop buying cookbooks for their pretty covers and see how many recipes there really are inside.

Every recipe I have made from this has been wonderful! And given the broad range of cultures represented in this single, stunning book, it is a great go-to for a variety of different cuisines. I have spent time in Russia and the Baltics, so a lot of the dishes from there bring me right back. The ones from the Caucasus and Central Asia just look so delicious and tasty! I haven't had time to tackle some of those.In recent years I have gotten away from buying cook books because I don't use them enough. They seem to have only one style of food. This one still hasn't even made it to my shelf because I keep using it because it is great for everyday cooking and weekend cooking when I have more time and fits so many different moods.

I've had this book for more than 7 years now, and it's moved around the world with me - twice. The recipes I've tried have been authentic enough to pass muster with the Moscow natives I've made them for. A few recipes are more complex than the ones my Russian friends make, and my book is now covered in notes, but for the most part, the instructions are simple and easy to follow. I love the historical notes and stories scattered throughout the book. They make for fun reading while I'm waiting for dough to rise or choosing a menu item. I love this book so much that if I had to narrow my (extensive) cookbook collection down to 2, I would choose this book and my old-school (1960's) Betty Crocker Cookbook.

The cookbook came in great condition, brand new, and full of recipes! I was surprised at how many recipes there were, and there's even little menu plans and tidbits about regional history and origins of foods. Would recommend!

For whoever liking cooking and exploring flavors - recommended ! Also with the price - it’s just worth it and must have on the shelf

more than a mere cooking book! A book to make you think about the Soviet Union, the Russian Revolution and what the end of the Soviet Union meant to us. A book that made me wonder about many things I took for granted. and by the way, tried some recipes and they were excellent1

Over 400 recipes from all the different parts of the old USSR. Provides a fascinating insight into the distinct cultures and traditions too. An excellent travel read as well as cookery book although at over 600 pages and text book size you wouldn't take it on holiday. Recipes are straight forward and use American cup measures.

I was very pleased to find this copy after I read Anya von Bremzen's latest, Mastering the Art of Soviet CookingMy grandmother had The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, endorsed by Stalin , and I have been impressing all my friends with the Kulebiaka fish pie after reading the recipe again