Description
Book SynopsisRussian Cuisine in Exile brings the essays of Pyotr Vail and Alexander Genis, originally written in the mid-1980s, to an English-speaking audience. A must-read for scholars, students and general readers interested in Russian studies, but also for specialists in émigré literature, mobility studies, popular culture, and food studies. These essays—beloved by Russians in the U.S., the Russian diaspora across the world, and in post-Soviet Russia—narrate everyday experiences and re-imagine the identities of immigrants through their engagement with Russian cuisine. Richly illustrated and beautifully produced, the book has been translated “not word for word, but smile for smile,” to use the phrase of Vail and Genis’s fellow émigré writer Sergei Dovlatov. Translators Angela Brintlinger and Thomas Feerick have supplied copious authoritative and occasionally amusing commentaries.
Trade Review"For thirty years now Russian Cuisine in Exile
has stood on my shelf, and I’ve continually wished I could share its brilliance with others. Now I can, in this impressive translation that not only captures the book’s spirit but also provides important cultural context through the translators’ copious notes. This book is a classic of exile literature, filled with nostalgia, humor, irony, and insight into both Russian and American culinary cultures. Its appearance in English is great cause for celebration!" — Darra Goldstein, Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture“Mouth-watering, erudite, nostalgic, mordantly funny, Russian Cuisine in Exile
has been a beloved cult classic for generations of hungry Russians both at home and abroad. Now this tour de force of literary food writing is finally available in a terrific English translation, replete with a smart, eye-catching design, whimsical illustrations, and helpful commentaries. A feast for the senses!” — Anya von Bremzen, author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing“It is a real delight to have this marvelous volume available at last in English. It is a successful translation on many levels—from Russian to English, but it also translates the experience of Russian exiles to the society they joined. The book gives us Vail and Genis’s translation of their culinary and cultural memories to new world ingredients and technology. Poignant and funny, and beautifully and amusingly illustrated with images of artifacts from Soviet kitchens and cooking advice books.” — Diane P. Koenker, Director, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies“Pyotr Vail and Alexander Genis’s book Russian Cuisine in Exile
has long been an encyclopedia of cultural associations—linked to food, and to so much more. The authors’ ironic style helped them to overcome the temptation of ‘émigré pathos.’ Today, thirty years after the first edition, neither the Soviet Union, nor that cuisine about which they write exists. But a new temptation has appeared—nostalgia, for which their special brand of irony is perhaps the best medicine. In their turn, Angela Brintlinger and Thomas Feerick have done more than translate. They have managed to create a text that is accessible to the Western reader.” — Irina Glushchenko, Associate Professor: Faculty of Humanities, School of Cultural Studies, National Research University Higher School of EconomicsTable of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Preface (Angela Brintlinger)
- Introduction: Expressions of the Soul
- 1. The Clay Pot – A Repository of Tradition
- 2. Tea is not Vodka – You can’t drink too much
- 3. The Scent of Cabbage Soup
- 4. Walking on Eggshells
- 5. Back to the Chicken!
- 6. The Soul of Solyanka
- 7. Fish Tales
- 8. Vital Forces
- 9. An Unfashionable Virtue
- 10. I’ll Have the Kharcho!
- 11. Sharlotka, a Russian Name
- 12. The Anti-Semitic Lily
- 13. A Chameleon Lunch
- 14. In Search of Lost Appetite
- 15. Our Underwater Life
- 16. Mushroom Metaphysics
- 17. The Botvinya Battle
- 18. Running with the Sheep
- 19. Hang him from the Klyukovo Tree!
- 20. Ukha – Not Just Soup, but Pure Pleasure
- 21. Our Native Tongue
- 22. Jewish Penicillin
- 23. Salad and Salo
- 24. Rehabilitating the Cutlet
- 25. Adventures in Scent
- 26. The Wolf is Fed and the Lamb Survives
- 27. Pelmeni for the Lazy
- 28. Aristocrats in a Can
- 29. The Russian Rassole
- 30. Borscht, with a Side of Emancipation
- 31. A Relative in Military Jacket
- 32. Picnic in the Pyrenees
- 33. Exotic and Stinky
- 34. Veal Tenderness
- 35. Enjoy the Steam
- 36. Neither fish nor fowl
- 37. The Holiday That Is Always with You
- 38. The Non-False Non-Hare
- 39. “Sober Drunkenness”
- 40. The First is also the Last
- 41. The Meaning of Sour Cream
- 42. Breadslicers at Work
- 43. The West is Wind, The East is Ecstasy
- 44. A Toast to Gluttons
- Interview with Alexander Genis
- Further Reading
