I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
following books:

Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
Bremzen: Please to the Table
Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine

I've seen suggestions that Molokhovets is sometimes imprecise and
calls for ingredients that are not readily available in North America,
but I'm neither surprised nor concerned about that, and the historical
perspective interests me. However, if one of the other books is just
plain better, I'd like to know it.

Grateful on any observations on the foregoing titles.

In article >,
(Rory) wrote:

> I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
> wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
> following books:
>
> Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
> Bremzen: Please to the Table
> Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine

Please to The Table has an excellent reputation. I do not know it
firsthand.
--
-Barb (www.jamlady.eboard.com updated 10-16-03; check the PickleHats tab, too.)

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 15:11:30 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
(Rory) wrote:
>
>> I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
>> wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
>> following books:
>>
>> Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
>> Bremzen: Please to the Table
>> Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>
>Please to The Table has an excellent reputation. I do not know it
>firsthand.

I have & use "Please to the Table". it is quite authentic & not
exclusively Russian. If I had a complaint, it would be that the prep
methods are quite involved. The authors almost turn the process of
boiling water into a 5 step experience. Once you get past that, it is
very good.

"The Art of" struck me as a gilt edged version of the above and I did
not spend the money to buy it. As I recall it was a fifty dollar bill
here in Calgary. HTH.

Harry

Harry Demidavicius wrote:

> On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 15:11:30 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
>
>>In article >,
(Rory) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
>>>wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
>>>following books:
>>>
>>>Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
>>>Bremzen: Please to the Table
>>>Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>>
>>Please to The Table has an excellent reputation. I do not know it
>>firsthand.
>
>
> I have & use "Please to the Table". it is quite authentic & not
> exclusively Russian. If I had a complaint, it would be that the prep
> methods are quite involved. The authors almost turn the process of
> boiling water into a 5 step experience. Once you get past that, it is
>>
> Harry
>
>
You certain it wasn't ghosted by Julia!!!!!
--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener

at Thu, 06 Nov 2003 20:49:17 GMT in <3f673d6c.0311061249.724a0553
@posting.google.com>, (Rory) wrote :

>I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
>wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
>following books:
>
>Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
>Bremzen: Please to the Table
>Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>
>I've seen suggestions that Molokhovets is sometimes imprecise and
>calls for ingredients that are not readily available in North America,
>but I'm neither surprised nor concerned about that, and the historical
>perspective interests me. However, if one of the other books is just
>plain better, I'd like to know it.
>

Volokh is pretty definitive, as far as being as authentic as realistically
possible, comprehensive in recipe selection, and written with sufficient
consideration to what's feasible in terms of ingredients and equipment in
the USA. Bremzen IMHO is a close second, another good reference but if I
could have only one I'd choose Volokh.

Molokhovets certainly has the most uncompromisingly Russian outlook, which
gives it the feel of authenticity. The imprecision and bizarre ingredients
go with the territory, and if you're a good cook, you probably will have
minimal difficulty in adapting the recipes. On imprecision, it's usually a
bad idea anyway to follow proportions and temperatures to the letter,
unless it's a pastry-baking recipe. If you're looking for a purely
utilitarian, everyday-practical book, I'd probably lean towards Volokh. But
if not, then Molokhvets will be equally good.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Rory wrote:
>
> I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
> wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
> following books:
>
> Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
> Bremzen: Please to the Table
> Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>
> I've seen suggestions that Molokhovets is sometimes imprecise and
> calls for ingredients that are not readily available in North America,
> but I'm neither surprised nor concerned about that, and the historical
> perspective interests me. However, if one of the other books is just
> plain better, I'd like to know it.
>
> Grateful on any observations on the foregoing titles.

I've used the latter two books. They are fine for me. However be warned
that I mentally fill in the blanks in any cookbook. If there are
egregious errors in either of them I can't recall offhand.

Haven't see the first one, but it does sound interesting.

I've heard good things about "Please to the Table" but can't remember
exactly what or where I heard them.

--
Sylvia Steiger RN, homeschooling mom since Nov 1995
http://www.SteigerFamily.com
Cheyenne WY, USDA zone 5a, Sunset zone 1a
Home of the Wyoming Wind Festival, January 1-December 31
Remove "removethis" from address to reply

Rory > wrote:

> I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
> wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
> following books:
>
> Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
> Bremzen: Please to the Table
> Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>
> I've seen suggestions that Molokhovets is sometimes imprecise and
> calls for ingredients that are not readily available in North America,
> but I'm neither surprised nor concerned about that, and the historical
> perspective interests me. However, if one of the other books is just
> plain better, I'd like to know it.

I think you have made the best pre-selection of Russian cookbooks
available in English. If you are really interested in Russian cuisine,
you should perhaps consider acquiring all three. I have both
Molokhovets (in Russian) and Bremzen, and I have seen some recipes from
Volokh's book.

Molokhovets is a Russian counterpart to Mrs Beeton, with all
corresponding advantages and disadvantages. It was first published in
1861 and republished at least 20 times until the revolution. It was the
most popular cookbook of its time by far and had a profound influence on
generations of cooks and cookbooks. This influence is still pervasive.
Like Mrs Beeton's book, it is written in the style of the time and is
indeed sometimes imprecise or assuming too much - and it does
occasionally call for ingredients that are no longer available not only
in America but also in Russia. I would say that it is an essential
cookbook if it is the historical perspective that you are after.

Recipes in the Volokh's book that I have seen are mostly very good and
authentic, but not always. For example, a black bread recipe calls for
corn syrup, which has only started to become widely availble in Russia
in 1960s. Not surprisingly for a comprehensive Russian cookbook,
several Molokhovets's recipes are included. I'm planning to buy the
book.

Bremzen's book is more wide-ranging, with recipes from all over the
former Soviet Union. The book is well-written, with infectious
enthusiasm similar to that of Patricia Wells... perhaps not such a
coincidence, considering that both are published by Workman... The
recipes and historical tidbits are mostly authentic and correct, but,
again, not always. For example, she writes that "borscht" derives from
"beet" which, as any good etymological dictionary could have told her,
is nonsense - the word derives from "borschevik" or "borschevnik",
"hogweed". At least one Molokhovets recipe is included. Unlike Volokh,
whose book was first published in 1983, Bremzen was profoundly
influenced by the late, great William Pokhliobkin's books, most of which
are unfortunately not available in English translation. Bremzen's is on
the whole a very good cookbook and I would recommend it.

BTW, it is mildly amusing that none of the authors are ethnic Russians -
all three are of Jewish extraction.

Victor

"Rory" > wrote in message
om...
> I want to purchase a book in English on Russian cuisine, and am
> wondering whether anyone has experience with one or more of the
> following books:
>
> Molokhovets: A Gift to Young Housewives
> Bremzen: Please to the Table
> Volokh: The Art of Russian Cuisine
>
> I've seen suggestions that Molokhovets is sometimes imprecise and
> calls for ingredients that are not readily available in North America,
> but I'm neither surprised nor concerned about that, and the historical
> perspective interests me. However, if one of the other books is just
> plain better, I'd like to know it.
>
> Grateful on any observations on the foregoing titles.

I use and like The Art of Russian Cooking. I find the recipes almost as I
remember them from my Russian grandmothers.

IIRC I bought it at a book fair with the soft cover for about $10.00.

It has been very useful and a good resource.

Dimitri

Thanks very much for the comments. I'm going to buy Molokhovets first
and then both of the others. Judging from Mr. Sack's comments about
Pokhliobkin in this and other threads, it's a pity that his work is
not available in English. I did a search of his name at amazon and
abebooks (the electronic used book exchange) and turned up nothing in
any language.

Correction. A search made with a slightly different spelling
(Pokhlebkin rather than Pokhliobkin) reveals two out of print books in
English, one called The History of Vodka and the other Russian
Delight: A Cookbook of the Soviet People.

Is anyone familiar with these?

Rory > wrote:

> Correction. A search made with a slightly different spelling
> (Pokhlebkin rather than Pokhliobkin) reveals two out of print books in
> English, one called The History of Vodka and the other Russian
> Delight: A Cookbook of the Soviet People.
>
> Is anyone familiar with these?

I have _The History of Vodka_ (in Russian). It is a dry, scholarly
book. I've never heard of _Russian Delight: A Cookbook of the Soviet
People_, but *if* it is a translation of _Natsionalnye Kuchni Nashikh
Narodov_ (National Cuisines of Our Peoples), it is highly recommended.

Victor