As families across the United States gathered their recipe books, ingredients, and best silverware for the annual Thanksgiving Day feast, our small band of Americans in St. Petersburg, Russia rushed to find the Russian equivalents of turkey, baking power, pumpkin in a can, and the other essentials necessary to compose a turkey dinner. First you had to translate the words, then you had to find out if such a thing existed in Russia (or what the Russians used as an equivalent), and finally you had to remember that everything is in the metric system over here....so math reared its ugly head once again. All of this took some time and work. There were also a few lessons learned about Russian cooking, the main one of course was: before you buy it, make it at home. This goes for everything (just about). When I told my host family I was going to make pumpkin pie, my host mom's first reaction was: Is a girl coming to help you? I responded no, I can bake. She seemed doubtful but was okay with it. Her second reaction was to tell her sister who then suggested that I buy a full pumpkin and use that to make the pie (make it before you buy it). I had no idea how to do that (and as of yet, still have no idea), so I said I'd buy what I need to use. That meant heading to Stockmann's, the foreigners culinary paradise.
A quick description is in order. Stockmann's is like the Finnish Macy's. It sells just about everything and is also the home of a large shopping mall. In the basement of this place, one can find any and (almost) all American or non-Russian foodstuffs that you just can't get in Russia. It's of course a bit more expensive than the usual Russian goods, but when you need pumpkin in a can, you don't have much of a choice. So that's where I went, to the Finns who gave me what I needed to make the pie.
With pumpkin cans in hand, I made two pies, one for my host family and one for the Russians at school who'd never had pumpkin pie before (you may be shocked, I was too, hence the pie for them). They turned out really well and tasty. And after that, my host mom decided that I could indeed cook by myself, so she gave me free reign in the kitchen! The next step was to make some pumpkin bars (my personal favorite of the pumpkin delicacies. But unfortunately, those didn't turn out so well...actually at all they didn't turn out. I forgot some baking soda and so the bread didn't rise and well it just didn't turn out too good. But that's ok. We had pies and that was good enough.
As the big day approached, our group threw together a list of what needed to be prepared as well as who would do what. But one spot was left untouched: Turkey team. The most important part of the Thanksgiving meal had no one to bring it to fruition. So a friend of mine and I volunteered, not really knowing what to do but trusting our college educations to help us figure it out.
First step: locate and procure a turkey, preferable one that is not still alive. My friend and a couple other members of the Turkey Team located some birds that were small and already prepared minus the cooked part.
Step Two: Thaw. I should clarify that we located and procured the turkey on the 24th of November. That would be less than 24 hours before the dinner. So the 4 days for thawing the birds just wasn't going to happen. Luckily our friend the internet had all the answers ready for us. It said that you could keep the birds in cold water which would thaw them quicker than the usual method. We prepared the bath and sat and waited.
Step Three: Wait. The four to six hours for thawing in the bath turned into a much longer time frame; more like 8-9 hours. But once they were done, they were done.
Step Four: Dress and cook. At this point, I was alone due to the lateness of the hour. I dress the birds and prepared them for cooking. That took another good amount of time and it was an interesting experience. Russian ovens are considerably smaller than what I'm used to. The two birds literally almost did not fit together in the oven. But I made it work.
Step Five: Wait again. And also hope that nothing burns down. I was really concerned that the tightness of the situation in the oven was going to cause fire or burning of some sort. So while I did try to rest a bit while I waited, I also kept looking at the oven and checking for smoke. That would not have been the way to thank my host family for the use of the oven. I also was hoping that the turkey's wouldn't dry out....
Like this:
Step Six: Check the turkey after the appointed time as arrived. I cautiously opened the oven door and peeked in and was created with the delicious smell of turkey cooking. I took out the birds and tried a piece....Mmmmm....That was good. Not too dry and the seasoning was just right. Success.
I carved the birds, saved the wish bones, cleaned up and then went promptly to bed at 9 AM. I woke up later around 1 PM (I think, I don't really remember...) And set out to bring the turkeys to the apartment where we were going to celebrate.
I arrived turkey in hand to find our program director and a student busy preparing dishes for the feast. It was a marvelous scent that was in the air. I gave them the meat and waited around until I had to head off to teach English. At class, my stomach was focused on nothing but the feast that awaited us in an hour. But I was not to distracted from the lesson at hand. Then came the hour to feast. All gathered together in our small room, but all was well and cheer was in the air.
It was a wonderful night; friends, food, and cheer. My stomach and body eventually told me that I had to go home due to overstuffing and lack of sleep. I departed happy and feeling very accomplished.
Thanksgiving in Russia: Success.
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| This is the mother ship: the Stockmann store in Helsinki, Finland. |
With pumpkin cans in hand, I made two pies, one for my host family and one for the Russians at school who'd never had pumpkin pie before (you may be shocked, I was too, hence the pie for them). They turned out really well and tasty. And after that, my host mom decided that I could indeed cook by myself, so she gave me free reign in the kitchen! The next step was to make some pumpkin bars (my personal favorite of the pumpkin delicacies. But unfortunately, those didn't turn out so well...actually at all they didn't turn out. I forgot some baking soda and so the bread didn't rise and well it just didn't turn out too good. But that's ok. We had pies and that was good enough.
 |
| Everything waiting to be cooked. Except the cat, she was just curious as to what was going on. |
As the big day approached, our group threw together a list of what needed to be prepared as well as who would do what. But one spot was left untouched: Turkey team. The most important part of the Thanksgiving meal had no one to bring it to fruition. So a friend of mine and I volunteered, not really knowing what to do but trusting our college educations to help us figure it out.
First step: locate and procure a turkey, preferable one that is not still alive. My friend and a couple other members of the Turkey Team located some birds that were small and already prepared minus the cooked part.
Step Two: Thaw. I should clarify that we located and procured the turkey on the 24th of November. That would be less than 24 hours before the dinner. So the 4 days for thawing the birds just wasn't going to happen. Luckily our friend the internet had all the answers ready for us. It said that you could keep the birds in cold water which would thaw them quicker than the usual method. We prepared the bath and sat and waited.
 |
| Don't try this in America. |
Step Three: Wait. The four to six hours for thawing in the bath turned into a much longer time frame; more like 8-9 hours. But once they were done, they were done.
Step Four: Dress and cook. At this point, I was alone due to the lateness of the hour. I dress the birds and prepared them for cooking. That took another good amount of time and it was an interesting experience. Russian ovens are considerably smaller than what I'm used to. The two birds literally almost did not fit together in the oven. But I made it work.
Step Five: Wait again. And also hope that nothing burns down. I was really concerned that the tightness of the situation in the oven was going to cause fire or burning of some sort. So while I did try to rest a bit while I waited, I also kept looking at the oven and checking for smoke. That would not have been the way to thank my host family for the use of the oven. I also was hoping that the turkey's wouldn't dry out....
Like this:
Step Six: Check the turkey after the appointed time as arrived. I cautiously opened the oven door and peeked in and was created with the delicious smell of turkey cooking. I took out the birds and tried a piece....Mmmmm....That was good. Not too dry and the seasoning was just right. Success.
I carved the birds, saved the wish bones, cleaned up and then went promptly to bed at 9 AM. I woke up later around 1 PM (I think, I don't really remember...) And set out to bring the turkeys to the apartment where we were going to celebrate.
I arrived turkey in hand to find our program director and a student busy preparing dishes for the feast. It was a marvelous scent that was in the air. I gave them the meat and waited around until I had to head off to teach English. At class, my stomach was focused on nothing but the feast that awaited us in an hour. But I was not to distracted from the lesson at hand. Then came the hour to feast. All gathered together in our small room, but all was well and cheer was in the air.
It was a wonderful night; friends, food, and cheer. My stomach and body eventually told me that I had to go home due to overstuffing and lack of sleep. I departed happy and feeling very accomplished.
Thanksgiving in Russia: Success.
