Recipe for Austerity

Students of Russian will readily recognize the phrase Shchi da kasha, pisha nasha (cabbage soup and buckwheat porridge are our food). This truthful tongue-twister is introduced early on in the classroom in an effort to tackle the Slavic sibilants, but since July 2014, when the Kremlin imposed retaliatory sanctions against food imports from the US, EU, Canada, Norway, and Japan, the phrase has a new connotation: Russia’s culinary options may soon dwindle to these two domestic staples.

These days in Russia, it’s chic to be patriotic, and one is tempted to egg on those who still celebrate the annexation of Crimea, until they claim that this monotonous diet is a small price to pay for the nation’s glory.

Many of the newly patriotic also seem to be newly devout Orthodox Christians, adhering assiduously (if slightly unsure of, or indifferent to the doctrinal reasons why) to the rigorous liturgical calendar of religious obligations. And this is the season of the most demanding obligation of them all: Great Lent.

Orthodox Lent, like its Catholic and Protestant counterparts, lasts 40 days, in commemoration of the 40 days Christ spent in the wilderness. Like all fasts, Great Lent is a time for quiet prayer and contemplation. Churches and cathedrals are shrouded in black, and the clergy leave off their bright vestments as they strive for spiritual renewal. Great Lent features an ascetic diet and the list of forbidden foods reads very much like the list of Russia’s retaliatory sanctions: eggs, dairy, meat, fish, poultry, sugar, fat and oil, and alcohol.

Agnostic culinary historians point to the Northern European agrarian calendar as a likely inspiration for Great Lent, noting the need for austerity in the face of dwindling of winter stores before the advent of early spring. Skeptics may scoff, but there is something almost visceral, even today, in the Russian soul that embraces the fast as enthusiastically as it celebrates the feasts of dairy, that both proceed Great Lent and bring it to a close: raucous and playful Maslenitsa or Shrovetide, and the joyful supper following the triumphant midnight Easter vigil.

The limited number of ingredients Great Lent permits, as well as the lack of oil or butter to cook with, creates a piquant culinary challenge and nowhere is this more true than with Russia’s ubiquitous shchi, or cabbage soup. This simple root vegetable soup makes an appearance in almost every prison narrative, where it is described as watery and tasteless. But Russians know better! Shchi can be a hearty and tasty treat if one takes the time and the trouble to build and develop the flavor layers.

Shchi’s basic flavors are the earthy and nutty tones of cabbage, combined with the sweet accents of carrots and tomatoes, and the sour tang of sauerkraut and kvas. Two simple tricks can elevate shchi from watery diet food to delectable soul food:

Trick #1: roast the cabbage and the tomatoes. This step allows the cabbage to leach its liquid, thereby intensifying the umami flavor. The tomatoes also concentrate into sweet accents of flavor and color.

Trick # 2: let the soup cook “low and slow” in a slow cooker. This is the best imitator of a Russian “pechka,” or tile stove, which allows the flavors to develop at something that is not quite a simmer. The result is fantastic!

In the recipe below, you will find a basic shchi recipe. To make it Lenten, skip the oil and sauté the aromatics in a few tablespoons of water. To bulk it up, add potatoes; to really make it shine, add a ham hock or bone-in beef shank. While most Russians use dill to flavor shchi, I prefer to use thyme, which perfectly compliments the nutty flavor of the roasted cabbage.

Priyatnovo Appetita!

Cabbage Soup ~ Щи

1 small head green cabbage
1 medium-sized carrot, cut matchstick-size
1 cup sauerkraut and its juice
1 pint basket cherry tomatoes
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
6 cups vegetable stock or water
2/3-cup kvas or pale ale
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoons sugar
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
Garnish
3 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Generous dollop of sour cream
Optional ingredients
1 ham hock or 1 pound of bone-in beef shank
1 1/2 cup potatoes, peeled, and diced

Preheat oven to 400ºF℉ and adjust the oven rack to the middle height. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut the cabbage into “wheels” of approximately ¾-inch thickness and arrange them on the baking sheet. Brush the cabbage with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and three of the minced garlic cloves. Sprinkle with salt and several generous grinds of the pepper mill, and place a sprig of thyme on each. Toss the cherry tomatoes in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside until they return to room temperature, then mash the cherry tomatoes with a potato ricer and roughly chop the cabbage.

Prepare the spices by crushing the allspice berries, white peppercorns, coriander, and caraway seeds in a mortar and pestle.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Sauté the remaining garlic and the onion until they are translucent. Add the carrots and toss until combined.

Add the spice mixture and cook for another minute. Reduce heat and add the tomato paste and sugar. Cook until the paste coats the vegetables, then empty into a slow cooker.

Add the stock, cabbage, and tomatoes. If you are using them, now is the time to nestle the ham hock or beef shank into the soup mixture and add the potatoes. Add the bay leaves and thyme sprigs and set the slow cooker to six hours on “low.” (To imitate the slow cooker’s “low and slow” functionality, you can also place the soup in a large Dutch oven with a tight lid into a preheated oven at 140ºF℉ for 5-6 hours.)

When the soup is finished, remove the ham hock or bone-in beef shank bone. Scrape the meat from the bone, and add it to the soup. Discard the fatty tissue and bone. Remove the bay leaves and thyme twigs.

Add the kvas or pale ale and cider vinegar and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper to taste. Then allow the soup to cool to room temperature. For best results, let the soup cool in a refrigerator overnight so that the flavors can further blossom.

Reheat gently over low heat and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley. Serve with a hearty black bread and a shot of cold vodka, and you have a truly Russian meal!

Yields 4-6 servings.