Chef Frank Otte

Well it has been an up and down week here in Moscow.  I am happy all my stuff made it here this time around and will be even happier when my stuff makes it back to SFO.  I cooked my tail off this week.  I did some new dishes and some old as well.  Not many new items showed up to the kitchen this trip.  There was just not enough time to roll my sleeves up and do some good old fashioned sightseeing for new culinary things of interest. I had only a few hours notice to get on my plane and get prepped for a huge New Years Eve event.

As it turns out here in Russia this is a HUGE deal.  Us Americans party for new years but my Russian extended family showed me that is in fact A HUGE DEAL!!!!! New Year’s Eve is huge in Russia, partly because the Soviet era put the ixnay on Christmas Day celebrations. Trust me when I tell you the fireworks lasted 3 days.  I don’t mean some safe and sane sparklers; I am talking about dumb and dangerous ones on serious steroids.  I mean there where things exploding in every direction of the horizon for 3 solid days, day and night.  Good for these folks.  Party!!!! Now at least there is a GOOD excuse to drink!

Symbolic foods for the celebration include tangerines, pickles sour kraut and vodka of course. These tangerines differ from those imported from Africa or Spain, to which Europeans are accustomed. These are a different breed grown in the South Caucasus, with the peel not purely orange but with yellow and greenish spots – juicier, with a less bitter and more pronounced pine scent.

The pickles and sauerkraut are very traditional vodka condiments. Pickled items and pickles in general are very strong products of pride here in Russia.  They are brined with secretes with traditions and reflect complexity like that of a fine wine a true Russian connoisseur understands the terroir attributes and the effects of the various oak cask on the pickled item.  Apart from allspice, dill and tarragon, which are fairly common in the West, they also use horseradish, cherry and blackcurrant leaves, fennel blossoms and other herbs to make pickles; every housewife here has her own version of semi homemade pickles as well.  Also if it will fit in the barrel I think they will pickle it just about anything that will stand up to the salt is used including, whole tomatoes, whole garlic, garlic blossoms, peppers, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, olives, green beans etc etc etc.

There are also two salads that no Russian feast would be successful without.

These salads are less than exciting to a skilled western chef because most Russians go for the store-bought mayonnaise as a dressing as well as canned ingredients, which hopelessly spoils the dishes. BUT having said that they  are good and  something to be proud of.  It is my understanding that the ongoing joke is the texture of the salads.  They say if you drink to much you will end up face down in the salad so it is important to make them a soft desirable texture.  They als0 say it will be there when you wake up and  eating it will cure the hang over.

“Olivier” salad, called so after the French chef who invented it in the mid-19^th century. I am told the original salad ingredient list could be as many as 40 ingredients including grouse flesh, blue cheese and crayfish tails, the basic components are always the same: boiled potatoes, carrots and eggs, green peas, onion, pickles and cucumbers and mayonaise.  This particular party we used a sausage they called Kielbasa.  This was a big coarse bologna looking tube meat approximately 6 inches long and 4 inches around.   It is tossed with mayonnaise and the mayonnaise that is typical here is made from sunflower oil.

“Vinaigrette” salad or beetroot salad is another typical salad utilizing what is available including beets, potatoes, canned peas, sauerkraut, pickles and potentially another dozen items. Obviously, it is dressed with vinaigrette as per its name made from vinegar and sunflower seed oil and can also contain herring fillets salted with spices.

There is also another cold dish that seems to appear on good Russian feast that appears both as appetizer and main course.  It is called seledka pod shuboĭ  AKA shuba or“herring under Fur Coat.  This one I actually love.  It was made for me by two nearly 70 year old housewives that gave me my first impression of how good this simple food could be. ( I was also drunk and starving……..but I prefer to just remember how good it was)  this dish is like a big Russian 7 layer dip.  It can be made like a casserole or take on a shape like a foot ball. It is a composed layered salad made of finely chopped pickled herring, eggs, beets, carrots, potatoes and some type of dressing, either mayonnaise or a sour cream base.  The salad is frosted like a cake with obnoxious pink grated beet thick dressing.  It is delicious having a very umptious sinful mouth feel combined with many different textures and salty sweet, acidic flavors.

Other vittles that appeared on my Russian new years  where blinis with trout roe, Pelmeni dumplings made from lamb and beef, and a slew of western food from my own repertoire  that for this blogs sake seems unrelated so I will leave it out.

I was in the kitchen till 4 am. I enjoyed some Laurent Perrier Rose. I wiped a quick tear from my eye because I was missing my wife and kids. I headed back to my lonely apartment to do it all over again the next day.  At least the fireworks gave me an excuse not to sleep.

It is dumping snow outside right now. It has warmed up quite a bit it is 28f degrees outside.  The ice fishermen are hard at work, still have never seen a fish caught, not sure what’s up with that?? I just finish 30 oz of french pressed strong ass coffee and my foot is tapping.

I am dried out like a piece of jerky.  In the building I stay there are old school furnaces that have two setting on and off.  On means the room is 85 degrees plus and off means freeze your ass off! So I settle with opening the windows to let the minus 10 degree air in.  Ouch!!!!  Also flying for 20 hours has a rather bad effect on my sinus and what not. So between my chapped lips and cracked crusty sinus I am a little banged up.

I am coming home tomorrow via France and flying Air France for the first time.  I am looking forward to a new experience in their business class.  Maybe I will have a fun meal that will give us a blog to share.

I cant wait to see my family and wish them a happy new year.

I am posting some I phone pictures.  I did not bring my Cannon this time as I just replaced it after it being stolen from the airport  last time I was here. (thanks alot  douche bag!!! hope Karma finds you…….we know she will!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Frankie