Russian oatmeal cookies (ovsyanoe pechenie, Rus. овсяное печенье) is a rustic and cozy tea time treat. The beauty of this oatmeal cookie lies in its simplicity – nothing fancy, just simple earnest flavour and crispy texture.
The main ingredients of ovsyanoe pechenie is oatmeal, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. The cookies are then formed and baked. Traditional oatmeal cookies are very popular in Russia and they are always found in confectionery deparments or at the food markets.
You can crunch these oatmeal cookies out loud, or you can dip in a cup of tea. Sooo comforting.
The 1st year students of European studies of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (Dutch: De Haagse Hogeschool) organized an event “From Russia with love” with the primary focus on Russian media. The event was held in one of the auditoriums of the University and reached the audience of about 50 people, mainly students and also teachers and several entrepreneurs. The topic was presented through business, cultural and political dimensions.
The event was opened by the masters of the ceremony Ruben Monster and Guna Alvika who then gave the floor to the first presenter, Mr. Arjan Heijl of Next Drive company. The software development company has partnership with the Russian company in the city of Tomsk, Siberia, Russia. During a live Skype call between Mr. Heijl and his colleague Mr. Bubnov in Tomsk, the two businessmen told the audience about their successful cooperation. Both Mr. Heijl and Mr. Bubnov said that they do not seem to have intercultural challenges that would obstruct their business objectives – there are not so many cultural differences, according to Mr. Bubnov, especially given a lot of knowledge and expertise in the field of IT that both sides share.
Mr. Bubnov also told a little bit about Tomsk, small town in Russian dimensions (“just” 500 000 people). This place has strong technical universities and a large number of students (around 15 000). A lot of IT resources and special economic benefits that Tomsk receives being in “Special Economic Zone” are some of the reasons that IT related start-ups blossom in Tomsk.
Mr. Heijl and Mr. Bubnov mentioned that current economic sanctions recently imposed by Russia did not affect their businesses and they both hope that currency fluctuations will not have a negative side effect in the long term future.
This presentation was followed by several workshops where the participants could brush up or extend their knowledge of Russian literature, learn Russian ABC, test their knowledge on Russian media and even learn how to dance Kalinka dance. During the break the guests could enjoy a small buffet with such snacks as the Russian Olivier salad and gingerbread.
The event was then followed by a presentation by Professor Does who told the audience about Russian media and how the degree of governmental censorship has been changing through the times, from the wind of change during M. Gorbachev’s regime up to the present days. Mr. Does pointed out that the most popular media medium in Russia nowadays is television, with radio and newspapers loosing their position and audience. He spoke about the Russian Internet as a source of information for those who have access to the world web and mentioned the new law in Russia that urges bloggers with audience more than 5000 people register themselves as a media agency, perhaps as an attempt to tackle oppositional moods that are present in the blogs. This law presents the bloggers with the dilemma “the more readers the better?” or, vice versa, “the less is more”.
The biggest country in the world has 3 state owned channels and Mr. Does suggested to those interested in Russian governmental viewpoint on events have a look on state owned channel Russia Today, which is basically the voice of Kremlin. He then gave several useful links to the Russian online media who give facts without colouring information, for example Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, and popular in Moscow oppositional Novaya Gazeta. He also showed links to Komsomolskya Pravda (having compared it with the Dutch media “De Telegraaf”) and AiF – according to Mr. Does the latter sources give an insight into the society and interests of Russia.
It has also been mentioned during Mr Does presentation that the sad reality of current times is a media war between Russian and western news channels, where both sides may use manipulation of facts to colour the events. Given the current media propaganda every source of information needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and filtered with the critical thinking and the variety of media sources would be only beneficial for the Russian as well as western readers. MyRussianFood.com hopes that current political situation is only temporarily and will soon be over.
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The Hague University of Applied Sciences (Dutch: De Haagse Hogeschool) is a university of applied sciences with its campuses located in and around The Hague, the Netherlands. The city is the Dutch seat of government and home to many major international legal, security and peace institutions. The university was founded in 1987 and is made up of 14 academies and currently teaches around 23,400 students. Degrees fall into six main fields of interest including technology, innovation and society, public administration, law and security, management and organization, ICT and media, health and sport, economy and finance and welfare and education.
MyRussianFood.com was one of the sponsors of the event “From Russia with love” organized by the students of the Hague University of Applied Sciences.
Buzhenina is a traditional Russian starter. It is pork baked in 1 whole piece and served cold and sliced. Before getting into the oven, the meat is marinated in a salted brine and then stuffed with sliced garlic and/or carrots, and then covered with spices. Aromatic and tender slices of Russian buzhenina will be a perfect traditional finger food and an authentic treat for your guests.
Back in the day it making buzhenina was a long process but with the modern technique it is done very simple and straightforward.
What cuts of meat are used in buzhenina?
For roasted pork buzhenina take 1 whole piece of pork, preferably with some fat. Go for shoulder cuts or loin cuts (blade cut will be fattier, other leaner loin cuts that are suitable for roasting).
The leaner the cut the more careful you should be not to overcook it and make it dry.
How to roast buzhenina pork?
You can roast buzhenina pork in several layers of foil or in a oven bag. Some people boil buzhenina and leave it cool down in the water.
Spices: bay leaves (broken to small pieces), pepper corns (crushed), mustard seeds, thyme, terragon
Method:
Brine: Boil 2.5 litres of water and pour into a large pot. Add 7 table spoons of salt and 10 bay leaves, cool down.
Wash the pork cut, dry it up and pierce the meat with a toothpick in different places. Put the meat into the brine (it should be completely covered with water) and leave in a fridge over night or 7 hours.
Prepare the spices and finely chop garlic and carrot. Set the oven to 190 C/375 F.
Take the meat out of the brine, make cuts on both sides with a sharp knife and put a slice of garlic and carrot into each cut.
Cover both sides with spices and put the meat into the oven bag, leaving some space around it. Pierce the back in a few places with a tooth pick.
Roast for about 1 hour.
To check if the meat is cooked, pierce it though in the middle with a sharp knife– if the juice is pinky, the meat is not ready, if the juice is clear, the meat is cooked. Watch out not to overcook.
Cool the buzhenina down. Enjoy!
Buzhenina is usually served cold, cut into slices as a starter.
You can also serve large pieces of buzhenina with a side dish of your choice.
Pavlov Posad shawl is one of traditional Russian handicrafts. Made from 100% wool, with a bright pattern and a silk or wool fringe, it is a fashion accessory for a look sure to make a statement and stand out from the crowd.
The design of Pavloposad shawl is easy to recognize – the background of one colour has a lively bright floral or ornament pattern. The wool adjusts to the temperature around, you can wear it in any season – it keeps you warm when you’re cold and only serves as an accessory when it’s a warm day.
The name for the shawl originates from the town – Pavlov Posad where the first manufactory of these shawls was established in 1795 by a peasant Ivan Lobzin. A Savvy entrepreneur he made handicraft art a profitable business which was only to grow.
In XX the Soviet fashion designers were introducing variety to the patterns and the shawls gained recognition – even winning the golden medal in Brussels World’s Fair in1958.
At some point the fashionistas forgot the item but with a strong modern trend of appreciation for natural fabrics,traditional things and folks art, the interest to Pavlo Posad shawl is rekindled.
How to wear Pavloposad shawls:
Because it’s an item of several bright colors for a stylish look you need to make sure the colors of the shawl mix well. Limit the number of colours in your other clothes, with the main colour theme of your clothes 1.a being the same as the colour of the shawl’s background, or 1.b mixing well with the shawl’s backround colour.
For example: Black shawl with floral pattern – black dress/shirt
Teal shawl with floral patter – teal colour dress or cream colour dress (as cream colour mixes well with teal)
Also, you can 2. focus on the floral patterns and build a more sophisticated look matching the colours of your clothes (if not too bright) with the colours of the pattern.
It’s easier to show then to put it in words – so check the gallery for inspiration!
You can see more varieties of Pavlov Posad shawls at the original website of the factory – http://platki.ru/catalogue/2/.
Ajika or Adjika is a Georgian-Abhaz hot spicy paste with rich herbal flavour. It is made from red or green hot peppers, salt and herbs (such as coriander, fenugreek, celery, parsley, dill, basil, bay leaf, satureja , marjoram, pepper mint and paprika: people of Caucasus know their herbs!
It is the rich selection of herbs that gives adjika unique piquant flavour which can add an interesting twist to a lot of meals:
It gives a sharp and subtle herbal edge to all meat dishes. You can also marinade your meat in a mix with adjika and vegetable oil. A dollop of this dip next to the mash potatoes can give you a fantastic new perspective on the dish. Some people serve it as a cold snack spreading a small amount over tomatoes and sprinkling fresh chopped herbs. Another way to eat ajika is to slice and bake courgette, spread a little amount of the sauce with chopped fresh herbs and let infuse for a few minutes.
Who will like adjika: Adjika is a very spicy condiment, so naturally it will find its fans among those who like their meal to be an experience of hot flavours. Most likely those people who like Indian and Thai cuisine and like Tabasco and sambal olek will appreciate the rich hot flavours of adjika.
