Cookies Preferences
Even though I’m from Decatur, Illinois, I really do think of Moscow as my childhood home. It’s the place that had the most profound influence on me as I grew up as we spent the majority of time between 1979 and 1990 in the then Soviet Union. It’s also where I first became aware of the sincere link between food and culture and identity. We had a housekeeper named Svetlana for many years and even though we couldn’t understand each other through language, we certainly communicated through food. And please don’t think this was some fantastic privilege, the KGB used domestic workers - maids, drivers, tutors, secretaries - to spy on the foreigners in Moscow. So Svetlana was basically forced on us (thank goodness) and then reported back to her superiors about the fascinating lives we were living (not). My family absolutely adored her, and although we had other women who worked for us at different points during our years there, she was the one we held them all up to in comparison.
Svetlana was a wonderful cook, padding around our kitchen in her slippers, black skirt, and flowered blouses. Her presence was so comforting to me, her gold teeth glinting when she smiled with her wild curly black hair. While I thought of her like my grandmother, I now realize that she must have only been in her 30s when she started working for us. She just had a way about her that exuded calm and patience and capability like someone much older. With our own extended family far away and long before the internet provided easy communication, Svetlana was a benevolent soul in our somewhat fraught household.
After school I’d spend time with her in the kitchen as she prepared dinner for us and while I don’t remember many of the recipes she cooked, I do remember her blini which she gave to us with smetana (sour cream-ish) and jam, and her borsch. Unlike most of the versions I’ve had since leaving Moscow, her borsch had meat in it, making it a hearty meal. And she grated the beets and carrots making them almost dissolve into the broth, flavoring it but not unpleasant to eat. Somehow this recipe is very festive to me, even though it’s a breeze to prepare. Maybe it’s the beautiful red color or the bright pink it turns when the sour cream is stirred in? Either way, it’s become a bit of a New Year’s Day tradition in our house. If you can, please find some Borodinsky dark rye bread, slather it in salted butter, and eat alongside this.
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly into half moons
1 L beef stock
4 beets, scrubbed, skin on
2 large potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 large carrots, grated
¼ white cabbage, shredded
to finish:
1 cup sour cream or Smetana
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
chopped dill
Season the beef with salt and pepper and sear in a hot dutch oven that has a tablespoon of oil in it. Do this in a couple of batches so you don’t crowd the meat. Remove the beef and set aside. Now add another tablespoon of oil and cook the onions until starting to caramelize. Add the beef stock and the beets and cook with the lid mostly covering the pot, for about 1 hour, until the beets are soft when pierced with a pairing knife.
Remove the beets and allow to cool on the side. Now add the beef with all of the collected juices to the pot and allow to cook for up to 2 more hours, with the lid mostly covering the pot, until the cubes are falling apart. Now add the potatoes to the pot. Remove the skins from the beets and grate them like you did the carrots. Once the potatoes are cooked, about 10 minutes, add the grated carrots, beets, and cabbage. Allow it to all cook for another 15 minutes so the flavors meld. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with labneh, horseradish, and chopped dill.
