Russian cuisine has yet to really gain a place at the world's top table. Despite a surge in deluxe Moscow restaurants, encouraging top chefs to put their own signature on classic dishes from borsch to caviar, the old images of queues and food shortages have been hard to shake off. Then, in this health-conscious era, a reputation for heavy, hi-carbohydrate, calorie-packed dishes hasn't exactly propelled staples of Russian food into the global food industry.
But all that could be about to change, thanks to an American dietician. Dr Jonny Bowden is committed to promoting the healthiest available natural foods and caused a stir with his guide to the "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth." Realising that many of these foods were ridiculously obscure and hard to buy, he later produced a shortlist of readily-available, often overlooked sources of valuable nutrients. And, at numbers one and two, were those great russian staples beetroot and cabbage.
His hot list became a smash hit in the US, becoming one the New York Times' most widely read items of 2008. So what's so great about beets and brassica?
Beetroot: described by Bowden as ‘the red spinach,' it's rich in folate and betaine which combine to reduce the risk of artery damage and heart disease. At the same time that distinctive red pigment has been linked to lower cancer rates in laboratory mice. But there's a word of warning - cooking beetroot reduces its potency. Instead of slurping down the borsch, for maximum effect use it in a salad.
The traditional Russian beetroot salad (salat iz sviokly) has the grated root mixed with garlic and mayonnaise. Popular additions include walnuts, apple or prunes - another one of Bowden's top 10 foods. Other alternatives include the shuba salad, with fresh herring under a creamy layer of beets, potatoes and more mayo or the ever-popular vinegret, where it joins carrot, potato, gerkin, cucumber and peas.
Cabbage: if ever a veg had an image problem, the humble cabbage with its associations of institutionalised slop is surely the one. Overcooked and foul smelling school dinners hastened its departure from many kitchens. Yet in its raw crunchy state it is both healthier and more appetising. With just 22 calories in a cup of chopped cabbage, it's a great part of a weight-control diet. Moreover, those calories pack a real nutritional punch at the same time, most notably thanks to high level of cancer-fighting sulforaphane.
The classic Russian cabbage dish is the soup ‘schi,' but if you have a bit of time and want to avoid cooking out some of those nutrients, a pickled cabbage and carrot combination works well. Arguments rage over the best recipe, but the purist's form involves one part grated carrot to four parts grated cabbage, mixed with salt and pummelled to draw the juice from the vegetables.
The mixture is then pushed down hard into a jar filled to the shoulders, and allowed to ferment in a cool room for three days.
WHERE TO TUCK IN
Another big advantage of these old favorites is that they're not expensive. Whether eating in or eating out, they're easy to find and cheap. Good starting points include Moscow's vegetarian restaurants, such as Jagganath (Ulitsa Kuznetsky Most) where bowls of various salads can supply a quick dose of what's needed. Beet lovers might also stop off at the Prime Star sandwich chain, where a beetroot and cream cheese salad goes down well. Supermarkets tend to stock pre-prepared salads, or the ingredients to make your own, while most markets will have somebody selling a pickled cabbage mixture, often home-made.
His hot list became a smash hit in the US, becoming one the New York Times' most widely read items of 2008. So what's so great about beets and brassica?
Beetroot: described by Bowden as ‘the red spinach,' it's rich in folate and betaine which combine to reduce the risk of artery damage and heart disease. At the same time that distinctive red pigment has been linked to lower cancer rates in laboratory mice. But there's a word of warning - cooking beetroot reduces its potency. Instead of slurping down the borsch, for maximum effect use it in a salad.
The traditional Russian beetroot salad (salat iz sviokly) has the grated root mixed with garlic and mayonnaise. Popular additions include walnuts, apple or prunes - another one of Bowden's top 10 foods. Other alternatives include the shuba salad, with fresh herring under a creamy layer of beets, potatoes and more mayo or the ever-popular vinegret, where it joins carrot, potato, gerkin, cucumber and peas.
Cabbage: if ever a veg had an image problem, the humble cabbage with its associations of institutionalised slop is surely the one. Overcooked and foul smelling school dinners hastened its departure from many kitchens. Yet in its raw crunchy state it is both healthier and more appetising. With just 22 calories in a cup of chopped cabbage, it's a great part of a weight-control diet. Moreover, those calories pack a real nutritional punch at the same time, most notably thanks to high level of cancer-fighting sulforaphane.
The classic Russian cabbage dish is the soup ‘schi,' but if you have a bit of time and want to avoid cooking out some of those nutrients, a pickled cabbage and carrot combination works well. Arguments rage over the best recipe, but the purist's form involves one part grated carrot to four parts grated cabbage, mixed with salt and pummelled to draw the juice from the vegetables.
The mixture is then pushed down hard into a jar filled to the shoulders, and allowed to ferment in a cool room for three days.
WHERE TO TUCK IN
Another big advantage of these old favorites is that they're not expensive. Whether eating in or eating out, they're easy to find and cheap. Good starting points include Moscow's vegetarian restaurants, such as Jagganath (Ulitsa Kuznetsky Most) where bowls of various salads can supply a quick dose of what's needed. Beet lovers might also stop off at the Prime Star sandwich chain, where a beetroot and cream cheese salad goes down well. Supermarkets tend to stock pre-prepared salads, or the ingredients to make your own, while most markets will have somebody selling a pickled cabbage mixture, often home-made.
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