D10| Saturday/Sunday, February 22 - 23, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
what Russians callkhlebosol’stvo,a
combination of the words for bread
and salt, two potent symbols of
hospitality. You don’t have to be a
great cook. You don’t have to be
rich. Homemade items can be
rounded out with store-bought
pickles, cured meat and fish,
cheeses and bread. “What you want
to create is a sense of excess, even
if you don’t have expensive ingredi-
ents,” said Ms. Goldstein.
I asked if she would ever consider
breaking the rules and making the
zakuski the main event. “Yes, in fact,
that is how I do it,” Ms. Goldstein
admitted. “Even though it’s not how
I’m supposed to.”honed toasting to an art,” said Ms.
Goldstein. “It is a way of engaging
with others and bringing them into
the circle around the table.”
At the heart of the zakuski ritual
is the generosity expressed in wel-
coming guests into one’s home and
plying them with food and drink—for zakuski, and everyone who was
foreign, including me at first,
would dig in not knowing there
was a second course.”
Influenced by the Swedish smor-
gasbord, the custom took hold in
Russia among the aristocracy, who
had the staff and larders to create
lavish spreads at a moment’s notice.
Today, if you’re lucky, you have a lo-
cal Russian grocer for that purpose.
A zakuska feast starts with a
toast. “You toss the vodka back, you
never sip it, and it should be ice
cold,” Ms. Goldstein explained.
Toasting continues throughout the
evening, and not merely as a pre-
tense for drinking. “Russians haveand vodka-pickled cucumbers. The
salads included Olivier, a Russian
classic of hard-boiled egg, boiled
chicken, pickles, boiled carrots and
potatoes in a mayonnaise dressing;
and Vinaigrette, boiled carrots, po-
tatoes, pickles and sauerkraut, all
tinted pink by cubed boiled beets.
And those were just the appetiz-
ers. “A real zakuska course is more
like having dinner before dinner,”
writes Darra Goldstein, an expert
on Russian cooking, in her latest
cookbook, “Beyond the North
Wind” (Ten Speed Press), out this
month. When I called her to talk
zakuski, she told me, “Even in the
Soviet years, you would sit downEATING & DRINKING
A
S THE DAUGHTERof
Soviet immigrants, I’ve
learned one thing:
Russians know how to
party. When the occa-
sion is sufficiently special or the
mere fact of the windchill factor
calls for maximum gratification, the
best way I know to really blow it out
is withzakuski. The word means
“small bites” in Russian, but in ag-
gregate these morsels comprise a
feast for the belly and the soul, a rit-
ual that strongly encourages the
consumption of caviar and requires
repetitive heartfelt vodka toasts. If
it’s possible to fit one more dish on
the table, you’re doing it wrong.
At a recent gathering at my
home, the main zakuski food groups
were represented. There were three
types of caviar—smoked arctic char,
salmon and paddlefish—nestled in a
platter of crushed ice. Nearby were
two homemade vodka infusions, one
with fiery peppers, another flavored
with horseradish that could clear
your sinuses. And there were the
fish: shimmering Riga sprats, a can
of silver sardines, rosettes of
smoked salmon and schmaltz her-
ring under onion slivers.
In the cured-meat category: sa-
lami slices arranged like flower pet-
als, translucent sheets ofsalo, the
Ukranian pork-fat vodka chaser, and
kabanos, skinny smoked sausages. I
set out dark Lithuanian rye and
white bread with caraway, plus plain
sweet butter as well as a luxurious
mix of tangy cultured butter and
golden whitefish roe. Slather some
bread with butter and top it with
any of the aforementioned fish,
meat or caviar, and you havebuter-
brod, an open-face sandwich that is
a zakuska staple.
My favorite of all were thepiro-
zhki, golden hand pies stuffed with
an earthy sauerkraut-mushroom fill-
ing, baked by my mother. To cut
through all the richness, we had
pickled cabbage, pickled tomatoes
BYGABRIELLAGERSHENSON
This is how you win at
winter: Nosh like a
Russian with a generous
spread of zakuski
Just
Add
Vodka
Total Time35 minutes
Serves 48 bone-in chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
12 garlic cloves
2 scallions, white and pale-
green parts only, thinly
sliced(^3) / 4 cup chicken stock
1 stick butter
2 whole preserved lemons
or fresh Meyer lemons,
thinly sliced and seeds
removed, plus lemon
juice to season
11 / 2 tablespoons minced
parsley leaves
11 / 2 teaspoons chopped
tarragon leaves
1.Preheat oven to 425 de-
grees. Season chicken gener-
ously with salt and pepper.
2.Heat oil in large cast-iron
or other heavy skillet over
medium-high heat. Once hot,
lay in chicken, skin-side down,
and cook until skin crisps and
turns a rich golden brown,
about 5 minutes. If necessary,
sear chicken in batches to
avoid overcrowding pan.
Without flipping chicken, add
garlic and transfer pan to
lower rack of oven. Roast un-
til chicken just cooks through,
15-20 minutes. Set chicken
aside on a cutting board or
platter, skin-side up.
3.Without wiping out pan or
removing garlic, set over me-
dium-high heat. Add scallions
and cook to soften, 1 minute.
Stir in stock, butter and
lemon slices. Simmer, stirring,
until sauce thickens and
turns creamy, about 6 min-
utes. Return chicken, skin-
side up, to pan and continue
simmering until sauce re-
duces further, 2 minutes. Off
heat, scatter parsley and tar-
ragon over chicken and
sauce. Season with lemon
juice, salt and pepper to
taste. Serve with crusty
bread and a green salad.
Cultured Butter With
Whitefish Roe
Whitefish roe, often called
golden caviar, adds pop, sa-
linity and a gorgeous glow
to tangy cultured butter.
The spread pairs deliciously
with black bread or warm
blini, and makes an indul-
gent addition to any caviar
service. You can make this
recipe using good cul-
tured butter purchased
at the supermarket or
farmer’s market, or, if
you’d like to take it a step
further and make your
own cultured butter—
simpler than it sounds—
find a recipe atwsj.com/
news/life-arts/food-
cooking-drink. This will
keep well for a few days
in the refrigerator.
Total Time10 minutes
Makes^1 / 2 cup
4 tablespoons good
cultured butter, such
as Vermont Creamery,
at room temperature
2 tablespoons whitefish
roe
In a small bowl, use a
wooden spoon to cream
butter just long enough
to make an even mass.
Gently stir whitefish roe
into butter, being careful
not to break the eggs.
The roe needn’t be fully
incorporated—streaks or
swirls make it decorative.
Serve immediately.
STEFAN WETTAINEN
Twenty-Minute Pickles
The secret ingredients in these
quick cucumber pickles are
vodka and a healthy dose of
garlic. Ms. Goldstein adapted
this recipe from home cook
Katya Bruyaka of Murmansk,
whose kitchen she describes as
“a wonderland of homemade
distillations and preserves.”
Total Time30 minutes
Makes^1 / 2 pound
3 Persian cucumbers (about
8 ounces), trimmed and
sliced lengthwise into
quarters
1 large clove garlic, finely
chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh
dill
1 tablespoon vodka
(^3) / 4 teaspoon salt
Place all ingredients in a small
resealable bag and gently mas-
sage to distribute seasonings
evenly. Leave the bag on the
counter for 20 minutes, turning
it occasionally to bathe the cu-
cumbers in the liquid that
forms. The pickles taste best af-
ter they’ve chilled for 20 min-
utes. They will hold well in the
refrigerator for a couple of days.
Find a recipe for Russian pirozhki
(hand pies) atwsj.com/news/life-
arts/food-cooking-drink.
Horseradish Vodka
Total Time1day
Makes1 (750 ml) bottle
1 (750 ml) bottle high-
quality vodka
11 / 2 ounces fresh horse-
radish root, peeled
1.Transfer vodka to a
wide-mouth 1-quart jar,
reserving original bottle.
Cut horseradish in 6
pieces and drop into
vodka. Close lid and infuse
at room temperature
24-48 hours, depending
on potency of horseradish.
2.Strain out horseradish.
Use a funnel to transfer
infused vodka to reserved
bottle. Chill well before
serving. Vodka keeps in-
definitely in freezer.
Pepper Vodka
Total Time3days
Makes1 (750 ml) bottle
1 (750-ml) bottle high-
quality vodka
1 (4-inch) hot red pepper,
such as cayenne
8 black peppercorns
2 allspice berries
1-inch cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons mild honey
1.Transfer all but 2 table-
spoons vodka to a 1-quart
jar, reserving original bot-
tle. Stem pepper and
score skin in three places.
Drop pepper into jar.
2.Use a mortar and pes-
tle to crush peppercorns,
allspice and cinnamon.
Add spices to jar. In a
small bowl, stir honey
with 2 tablespoons vodka
GO FOR THE BURNISHAfter searing and roasting, the chicken
simmers in a lemony sauce skin-side up to preserve its crisp exterior.
SLOW FOOD FAST/ SATISFYING AND SEASONAL FOOD IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES
OVER THE YEARS,Philip Krajeck has served
a lot of roast chicken at Rolf and Daughters,
the award-winning Nashville restaurant he
opened in 2012. “I’ve tried to do the math,”
he said. “And I can’t.” Still, somehow, it
never gets old.
In his first Slow Food Fast recipe, Mr. Kra-
jeck calls for searing chicken thighs to crisp
the skin, roasting them and then finishing
them in a pan sauce of chicken stock, pre-
served lemon, garlic and butter. “The al-
chemy when the sauce gets creamy and you
introduce the right amount of brightness
and fresh herbs—it really is magic,” he said.
Roasting individual thighs, as opposed
to a whole chicken, speeds up the cooking
process. At Rolf and Daughters, they al-
ways have house-made preserved lemons
on hand, but if you don’t, fresh Meyer lem-
ons, lower in acidity than the standard va-
riety, make a good substitute. Of course
homemade chicken stock is always nice,
but this reliable recipe will yield delicious
results with a store-bought brand too.
“You’re not reinventing the wheel here.
Chicken, butter, garlic, lemon,” Mr. Krajeck
said. “It’s so comforting. It’s food that’s
there for people.”—Kitty Greenwald
Roast Chicken With Preserved Lemon and Garlic
KATE SEARS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY PEARL JONES, PROP STYLING BY SUZIE MYERS; PORTRAIT: MICHAEL HOEWELER
until honey dissolves,
then add to jar. Close lid
and infuse at room tem-
peratureatleast3days.
3.Strain out pepper and
spices. Use a funnel to
transfer vodka to re-
served bottle.
—All recipes adapted
from “Beyond the North
Wind” by Darra Goldstein
(Ten Speed Press)
The Chef
Philip Krajeck
His Restaurants
Rolf and Daughters
and Folk, in
Nashville, Tenn.
What He’s
Known For
Thoughtful cooking
servedupina
gracious, accessible
style. Old World
breads and pizzas
made with the best
regional ingredients.