I've been catching up on Naomi's posts over at the Jewish Adoption blog about preparing for Passover, particularly her last-minute Passover prep tips. And so I'd like to return the favor with a few thoughts on Passover and Russia, where it hasn't always been easy being Jewish.

Thankfully those days are, largely, history. A religious news service reported this week that members of the Chabad Lubavich movement have been conducting 500 seders across Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union this year, and delivering more than one million pounds of matzoh. According to The Moscow Times, tickets for the seder at Moscow's Choral Synagogue are going for an eye-popping $200 apiece. And on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a message about Passover that read in part:

"The tradition of celebrating Pesach symbolizes adherence to eternal moral laws. It is passed over from generation to generation and forms an integral part of historic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people."

But what about the food? Since everything seems to revolve around food in my family, I thought I'd focus on what might be on your table this week if you were a Russian Jew. When I still lived in New York City, this could be solved by a subway ride out to Brighton Beach, which was revived by a wave of Jewish emigration from the then Soviet Union in the 1970s. Now, I'm working harder on home cooking, so I turned to my main Russian cooking resource Please To The Table, by Anya Von Bremzen. You'll recall I used it before to talk about one of the most common Russian soups and the importance of whole grains in the Russian diet.

What I discovered is that some of what we have come to expect as Jewish cooking in America has its origins in Russia. Please To The Table has recipes for haroset and gefilte fish that would seem completely familiar on a seder table here. (You know by now that I don't break copyright laws, so if you want the recipes, I urge you to buy the book.)

But then there are some delicious surprises, like tsvniani khanaghi, a chicken soup with "meatballs" made from walnuts, courtesy of Jewish traditions in Georgia. Or tovuk palov, a rice pilaf with chicken, apples, raisins and quince, a recipe Ms. Von Bremzen says she got from a member of New York City's community of Bukharian Jews. I first read about this community in a New York Times article some years back; it is a small group, but very vibrant. Bukharian Jews came to Uzbekistan from Persia, which explains why this recipe has so many overtones of Persian pilafs.

A tour of the Internet produced some other examples of Russian Jewish cooking for Passover that seemed unusual. Like Passover Russian potato and mushroom croquettes. Or the somewhat sketchy directions for beet preserves that involve cooking the vegetable in honey and sugar.

Whatever path you follow, I hope you enjoy exploring another side of Russian culture with the children you have adopted from Russia. Happy Passover!