Russian Food On The Road

This past Saturday, the second run of “Feasting on Asphalt”, came to an end with an episode called the Lutefisk Express. For those of you who are not regular Food Network watchers, “Feasting on Asphalt” was cooked up by Alton Brown, host of Food Network’s “Good Eats” show, to highlight the regional food to be found on America’s byways. Last year, Alton and his biker buddies–they all ride motorcycles–traveled coast to coast across the South. This year, they started near New Orleans and rode north up along the Mississippi to its origins in northern Minnesota.

What does this have to do with adoption from Russia? Well, you know that I like to write a lot about Russian food–food you can buy and food you can make–and Saturday’s episode included a stop at a small Russian restaurant in St. Paul, Minn.

Now, I already had ample reasons to visit the Minneapolis area: I’ve got more than a few relatives there and the city is home to a stunning museum of Russian art. But thanks to Alton and crew, I’ve got one more: the Russian Piroshki & Tea House.

Just about every culture on the planet has some sort of meat filling in dough concoction, and Russia is no exception. There are vareniki and pelmeni, small bites in an unleavened dough, and piroshki, fist-sized fillings of meat, cabbage or potatoes (and sometimes all three together) inside a yeasty bread. At the Russian Piroshki & Tea House, proprietors Nikolai and Linda Alenov fill theirs with ground beef, rice and cheese.

That last ingredient baffles me a bit. The Alenovs use cheddar cheese, which I don’t find in any of the Russian recipes I’ve found either on the Internet, or in my favorite Russian cookbook, “Please To The Table”. But cheddar cheese is part of the filling for a very similar dish, called bierocks, attributed to Kansas Mennonites in “Saveur Cooks Authentic American” (alas, not included on Saveur’s Web site). Many Dutch and Prussian Mennonites migrated to Russia to escape persecution at home before coming to America, so maybe filling preferences got mixed then.

Whatever the history, Alton seems to enjoy the result, and the Alenovs’ attitude toward food and life. So, apparently, have other folks, including some of the world’s top guitarists: Mr. Alenov’s late brother ran a vintage guitar shop next door and the couple tell Alton they served both Bob Dylan and U2.

If you’ve also been to Russian Piroshki & Tea House, I hope you’ll let the other readers here know.

(By the way, if you want a great pickle free of the preservatives and food colorings that I pointed out as problem food the other day, try try Alton’s bread and butter pickles.)

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