Three days in Moscow

[Kim Shook]

Meat and bread.  I think maybe I was Russian in a former life.  

 

Hope the trip goes well, Chef!

[BonVivant]

Yeah, also agree with Kim Shook, meat and bread are some of my favourite things. Topping everything with roe and sour cream is also my thing. Btw, Hungarians do eat sour cream with almost everything. The sour cream section in their supermarkets is big.

 

Maybe, like you, they are also jet-lagged. I do it as well, drinking a beer or 2 with breakfast. My body doesn't know. It only knows that beer endorphins are kicking in... right about now. Noice!

 

Siberia is on my list.

 

Wishing you the best possible outcome on this trip.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

22 hours ago, chefmd said:

Back in Moscow to take care of my father. 

breakfast this morning in a fancy tourist trap restaurant Dr Zhvago.  But it serves breakfast starting at 6 AM (jet lag wake up call came at 4), is located next to my Hotel, and they are playing Soviet era songs loudly!  

 

Few other people were eating already.  A trio of young women drinking red wine.  Did I mention it's 6 AM?

 

 

My doctor's office called earlier today to tell me I should take more magnesium and not drink alcohol at night.  Fat chance.  But this does give me an idea.

 

@chefmd I hope your father is OK.

[chefmd]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

My doctor's office called earlier today to tell me I should take more magnesium and not drink alcohol at night.  Fat chance.  But this does give me an idea.

 

@chefmd I hope your father is OK.

thanks for asking, my father is better.  Miracles of modern medicine!

 

 

[chefmd]

Dinner last night at a Georgian restaurant.

 

eggplant dish that looks awful but it was very tasty.  It is made with walnuts.

 

Pork shashlik and lamb kebab.  Kebab is wrapped in thin bread called lavash.

 

Hinkalii, large dumplings with meat inside.  We chose beef.  There is a lot of broth inside so you bite a small piece of dough off and drink the broth first and eat the rest of the dumpling after that.  Sauces are sour cream (naturally) and tkemali (made with sour plums).

Edited June 27, 2017 by chefmd (log)

[chefmd]

And of course there is a McDonalds right next to Kremlin.  

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

11 minutes ago, chefmd said:

thanks for asking, my father is better.  Miracles of modern medicine!

 

 

 

Wonderful news!  I hope he continues to improve.

 

Sorry to hear about the McDonald's in the shadow of the Kremlin.

 

Have a safe trip.

[MetsFan5]

14 hours ago, chefmd said:

And of course there is a McDonalds right next to Kremlin.  

 

 

 

That is so fascinating to me. I have amnesty? Permission? To take photographs in the Kremlin (although they may allow anyone to do it now but they didn't in 1998)  because  John Reed is a graduate of the same prep school as I am. 

 

   I really need to visit.

[chefmd]

Breakfast at cafe Pushkin.  We were not in the mood for eggs and chose to have two kinds of pelmeni.  With sour cream, naturally.

 

 

Cappucino no had big Cyrrilic P made of chocolate in it for Pushkin.

 

[chefmd]

Quick snack that my father's caregivers had for us.  We brought salmon caviar and black bread, they provided herring, butter, fruits,. Also cognac, naturally.

[chefmd]

2 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

 

 

That is so fascinating to me. I have amnesty? Permission? To take photographs in the Kremlin (although they may allow anyone to do it now but they didn't in 1998)  because  John Reed is a graduate of the same prep school as I am. 

 

   I really need to visit.

Times have changed.  People take photos anywhere and nobody cares!

 

 

[chefmd]

Dinner at a friend's house.  Horse salami that was made by their relatives in the country.  Yes, it is made from horse meat.  Yes, it is very tasty.

 

Few dishes on the table.  Cold cuts, tomato salad, pickled mushrooms, seafood salad, salt cured pork belly (lardo), sliced horse sausage, black bread.  And cognac, naturally.  Lemon slices to be eaten after drinking cognac shots.  

 

[Smithy]

Just now, chefmd said:

Dinner at a friend's house.  Horse salami that was made by their relatives in the country.  Yes, it is made from horse meat.  Yes, it is very tasty.

 

Few dishes on the table.  Cold cuts, tomato salad, pickled mushrooms, seafood salad, salt cured pork belly (lardo), sliced horse sausage, black bread.  And cognac, naturally.  Lemon slices to be eaten after drinking cognac shots.  

 

 

What are the white streaks in the horse salami?  Horse fat?

[chefmd]

Just now, Smithy said:

 

What are the white streaks in the horse salami?  Horse fat?

It is fat, surprisingly mild tasting.

[kayb]

19 hours ago, chefmd said:

And of course there is a McDonalds right next to Kremlin.  

 

 

Ah, capitalism. Exporting its most ubiquitous.

[liuzhou]

On 28/06/2017 at 3:16 AM, MetsFan5 said:

 

 

That is so fascinating to me. I have amnesty? Permission? To take photographs in the Kremlin (although they may allow anyone to do it now but they didn't in 1998)  because  John Reed is a graduate of the same prep school as I am. 

 

   I really need to visit.

 

I took many photographs in the Kremlin in 1989 and 1990. There were no restrictions that I recall.

 

1990 was also the year that McDonald's opened the first Soviet branch, attracting tens of thousands of people while dumping on a glorious architectural site. Philistines.

Edited December 26, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[gfweb]

On 6/26/2017 at 11:04 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

My doctor's office called earlier today to tell me I should take more magnesium and not drink alcohol at night.  Fat chance.  But this does give me an idea.

 

 

They want you drinking in the morning? ALL RIGHT!

[gfweb]

23 hours ago, chefmd said:

thanks for asking, my father is better.  Miracles of modern medicine!

 

 

How is Russian medicine? Acceptable?

[KennethT]

Just catching up on this now... Are there any lactose intolerant Russians? What do they do with all that sour cream?

[chefmd]

15 hours ago, KennethT said:

Just catching up on this now... Are there any lactose intolerant Russians? What do they do with all that sour cream?

It is not common to hear about food intolerances or allergies in Russia.  We have not heard the word "gluten" for a week. Food is held in high regard because it comprises a high percentage of income for most people.  Anything more than basic fare is considered a great.  Eating out is usually a celebration.  Of course there are very rich people but general population is not wealthy.  My father's health was declining and one of his caregivers asked her mother to come in to help for a week or two.  That woman's pension is 8000 rubles a month.  A dollar is currently almost 60 rubles.

[chefmd]

15 hours ago, gfweb said:

How is Russian medicine? Acceptable?

Medicine is passable in Moscow, not good in the country.  My father gets private visits at home and I often have to correct his prescriptions (dose, frequency).

[chefmd]

One fancy dinner for my son and me at White Rabbit, one of Conde Nast 50 best restaurants in the world.  

We had tasting menu.

full menu here http://whiterabbitmoscow.ru/images/menu/dishes-en.pdf

 

the view

 

 

The chef and I 

The food

 

 

 

after dinner inner we were presented with ceramic noses molded after chef's nose scented with tomato leaves, black bread, chocolate and something else.  We picked our favorits (bread and tomato) and were presented with two small bottles of perfume.

Edited June 28, 2017 by chefmd (log)

[chefmd]

We were tired and decided to eat in our hotel room.  Got bread, butter, salmon roe from fancy looking Eliseevski grocery store. http://www.eliseevskiy.ru/e_history.htm

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, chefmd said:

One fancy dinner for my son and me at White Rabbit, one of Conde Nast 50 best restaurants in the world.  

We had tasting menu.

full menu here http://whiterabbitmoscow.ru/images/menu/dishes-en.pdf

 

the view

 

 

The chef and I 

The food

 

 

 

after dinner inner we were presented with ceramic noses molded after chef's nose scented with tomato leaves, black bread, chocolate and something else.  We picked our favorits (bread and tomato) and were presented with two small bottles of perfume.

 

Holy crap, how cool!!!  Nose molds!!!!

 

LOVE the couches that you sit on.  Was it comfortable to eat on them?

 

Everything looks so good.  Were those mulberries in the spoon next to the cheese?  Love the pea presentation and also love the wooden spreader for the butter on the bread.

 

 

[IowaDee]

I love the noses too, what a fun meal that must have been.  Don't know how many of you have been to a site called, We want plates?

They post photos of stuff served on anything and everything.  They would have a real heyday with this meal.  Much of it is done tongue in cheek but it gives me a giggle.