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Food Culture in Russia and Central Asia
Glenn R. Mack and Asele Surina
ISBN: 0-313-32773-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-32773-5
260 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 6/30/2005
List Price: $51.95 (UK Sterling Price: £35.95)
Discount Price: $25.98 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Food historian Mack and Russian native and former journalist Surina provide a snapshot of contemporary food culture in the region, along with a bit of history to emphasize that culture is not static and to indicate what direction it might be heading. For students, culinary professionals, scholars, and enthusiasts, they describe major foods and ingredients, cooking, typical meals, eating out, special occasions, and diet and health.
    —Reference & Research Book News     August 2005
  • This is a book that needs reading from cover to cover if you really want to get to grips with a cuisine about which little is known in the West.
    —Menu Magazine     August 2005
Description: Russia and the newly independent states of Central Asia are struggling to reassert or create national identities and are receiving fresh attention from the West. After decades of oblivion, the vast Eurasian continent is once again divulging its intense cultural heritage and foodways to the international community. The diversity of food cultures within the former Soviet Union, with more than 100 distinct nationalities, is overwhelming, but this book brilliantly distills the main elements of contemporary cuisine and food-related customs for students and foodies. Vibrant descriptions of the legacy of the Silk Road; the classic foods such as kasha, pirogi, non (flatbread), pickles, and shashlyk (shish kebab); the over-the-top Moscow theme restaurants; and meals at the dacha and tea time are just some of the highlights.

Russia and the newly independent states of Central Asia are struggling to reassert or create national identities and are receiving fresh attention from the West. After decades of oblivion, the vast Eurasian continent is once again divulging its intense cultural heritage and foodways to the international community. The diversity of food cultures within the former Soviet Union, with more than 100 distinct nationalities, is overwhelming, but Food Culture in Russia and Central Asia brilliantly distills the main elements of contemporary cuisine and food-related customs for students and foodies. Vibrant descriptions of the legacy of the Silk Road; the classic foods such as kasha, pirogi, non (flatbread), pickles, and shashlyk (shish kebab); the over-the-top Moscow theme restaurants; and meals at the dacha and tea time are just some of the highlights.

After centuries of contact and conflict among peoples of Eurasia, Russian and Central Asian cuisines and culinary cultures have much in common. To understand one, the other must be considered as well. Russia and Central Asia cuisines share many ingredients, dishes, and customs. This volume strives to emphasize the evolving and multifaceted nature of the food cultures. Readers will be able to appreciate the ingredients, cooking methods, and traditions that make up the Eurasian foodways.
Table of Contents:
  • Series Foreword
    Preface
    Acknowledgments
    Timeline
    Introduction
    Russian and Central Asian Culinary Culture
    Russian Historical Overview
    Central Asian Historical Overview
    Major Foods and Ingredients
    Cooking
    Typical Meals
    Eating Out
    Special Occasions
    Diet and Health
    Glossary
    Resource Guide
    Bibliography
    Index
    About the Authors
About the Author: Glenn R. Mack is a food historian who trained in the culinary arts in Uzbekistan, Russia, Italy, and the United States. He is the Director of Education for the Culinary Academy of Austin and founded the Historic Foodways Group of Austin. He has coauthored Uzbek Cuisine (1996), among other works.

Asele Surina is a Russian native and former journalist who now works as a translator and interpreter. Since 1999 she has worked at the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Texas on joint projects with an archeological museum in Crimea, Ukraine.
LCC Class: 394
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