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Rus Cuisines: Palate Pleasing Salads

© Dr. Donald R. Houston

In the Rus salads are not historically nor usually a combination of raw vegetables slathered in some dressingas they are in the West. Traditionally they are a mixture of cooked vegetables, meats, eggs, poultry, fish or some combination of the same.

Beet roots, potatos, turnips, carrots, beans, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, pickles, cucumbers, radishes & other vegetables are cooked, diced, mized with either mayonnaise, sour cream, yogurt or cheese. Egg salad is a favorite that is never tame & always tasty. A simple sald made from sliced radishes, sour cream, salt & onion is a delicious taste treat. Shuba, a layered cold sald made with pickled herring, canned salmon, or canned mackerel, potatos, onions, beet roots, sour cream & mayonnaise that is a true culinary delight. It is named for the heavy floor-length coat worn by men & women alike in Winter throughout the Rus, This is because the fish layer is covered by the other ingredients in individual layers. In Estonia, a Baltic neighbor to the Rus it is called rossolye. The most famous as well as a the most commonly found salad throughout the Rus that you will disocover herein is Salat Olivier.

Many salads & some dressings come from outside of the Rus proper. Delicious salads & dressings come from such places as the Republic of Georgia, Estoinia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Armenia, Romania & others as well. The recipes that come from the Trans-Caucus & Central Asia use more fresh, raw vegetables combined with delicious dressings.

All-in-all salads are an integral part of the cusines of the Rus. They are usually served at every meal in one form or another. Often in Summer a large cooked salad is the entree as well as the salad. Try some of the salads contained in this article. You will discover why they are so popular in the Rus.

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Title: Tushuri Pamidrisi Satsebili - Georgian Ewe's Cheese & Tomato Dressing
Categories: Salad, Sauce, Ethnic, Georgian, Cheese
Yield: 1 Batch

2 oz Ewe's cheese*
2 tb Tarragon vinegar
1 tb Finely chopped fresh basil
1 ea Clove garlic minced
1 c Coarse chopped fresh tomato
1/2 c Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

*NOTE: Feta cheese may substituted for the ewe's cheese.

1. Place cheese, vinegar, basil & garlic into a bowl & beat to combine fully.
2. Add tomato & puree.
3. Use an electric beater on a med-speed & slowly beat in the oil as you trickle it into mixture.

The copyright of the article Rus Cuisines: Palate Pleasing Salads in Russian Culture is owned by Dr. Donald R. Houston. Permission to republish Rus Cuisines: Palate Pleasing Salads in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.