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Caucasian Plombir-Apricot-Baklava Sundae
I’m not the world’s biggest dessert eater, but lately I’ve been thinking about ice cream sundaes whenever I have a craving for sweets, probably because the excessive combination of ice cream, sauce,...
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Ukrainian Snapshot: Vylkove, July 2013
Last summer, after touring Moldova, we crossed the border with Ukraine and headed towards Odessa. The goal wasn’t really Odessa itself, which I had already visited, but a remote village called Vylkove...
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Russian Waste-Not Burger
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen some recent tweets about my upcoming talk on the Future of Food at TED@IBM. One of themes I’ll be discussing is food waste, and how recipe-generating...
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Tajik Adventures on MUNCHIES
Earlier this week, I published a story on Vice’s food blog, MUNCHIES. The article (its title was picked by the editor) retraces my search for Tajikistan’s national dish, qurutob, both in Dushanbe and...
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Grilling with Peat, Russian Pork Shashlyks and Potato Lyulya-Kebabs
I’ve been using natural wood for grilling shashlyks and other kebabs for quite a while now (I explained the process in my lyulya-kebab recipe post). The wood smoke certainly imparts some flavor, but...
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The Future of Food at TED
This is slightly off-topic, but I was invited to give a talk on the Future of Food at TED this past Tuesday — the video is available here for the next 7 days or so. And don’t forget to try the …...
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Restaurant Review: Toné Café
A note about my restaurant reviews: New York City counts many Eastern European restaurants scattered across the five boroughs, most of them ignored by restaurant critics and diners alike. I intend to...
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Everything You Need to Know about Khachapuri on MUNCHIES
MUNCHIES just published my article on khachapuri: Georgia’s Cheese Bread Might Be Better Than Pizza. It covers all the various types of cheese breads you can find in Georgia, from the classic Imeretian...
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Bigos, Polish Hunter’s Stew
A national dish of Poland, bigos is a traditional meat-and-cabbage stew, often referred to as a hunter’s stew. The history of bigos stretches back to the 14th century: supposedly, Lithuanian Grand Duke...
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Signature Sauce Base: Tomato Jus
When it comes to food photography, one thing you hear over and over is “natural light, natural light, natural light”. This is certainly true, but it doesn’t help me with shooting dinner in a Manhattan...
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Happy 4th Anniversary, Food Perestroika!
Four years already! That’s 319 posts, including 167 recipes, 62 restaurant reviews / Red Alerts, and 37 travel posts. And if you want to know what others are reading, here are my 10 most popular posts...
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Tokaji Wine Review: Tokaji Sauska Aszú Essencia 2003
During numerous trips to the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in Hungary, I’ve had the opportunity to taste hundreds of Tokaji dessert wines, and I’ve managed to build a small personal collection. With no great...
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Tashkent Adventures on MUNCHIES
Just published another article on MUNCHIES a couple days ago: “In Uzbekistan, A Bowl of Greasy Rice Will Make or Break Your Marriage”; or, “Where to eat in Tashkent, everything you need to know about...
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Stuffed Vegetable Shashlyks, Eggplant and Zucchini Caviar
So you spent your summer preparing exotic shashlyks on the mangal. Making a döner kebab holds no secrets for you anymore. You’ve mastered the art of the lyulya-kebab, whether with meat or potatoes. And...
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Restaurant Review: Old Tbilisi Garden
A note about my restaurant reviews: New York City counts many Eastern European restaurants scattered across the five boroughs, most of them ignored by restaurant critics and diners alike. I intend to...
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Signature Russian Amuse-Bouche: Potato Chip, King Crab, Brains, and Caviar
Here’s a bite-sized dish to kick-off the holiday season in style! This very Russian combination seamlessly mixes poor and rich man’s ingredients, with potato and brains on one hand, and king crab and...
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Chef Watson 2014 Holiday News
You might remember that apart from this blog, my day job as a software engineer has been all about Chef Watson — the app that helps you discover never-seen-before recipe ideas — and I have a couple of...
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Ukrainian Snapshot: Privoz Market, Odessa, July 2013
Aaah, Odessa: the legendary Potemkin Stairs, the mail-order brides, the mafia… and the Privoz Market. The Privoz was created in 1827, originally as a handful of horse-driven carts next to the older...
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Chef Watson on MUNCHIES
OK, OK, I promise I won’t bug you with my off-topic work stuff for a while after this, but I just published a piece about Chef Watson on MUNCHIES: I’m Happy to Have a Computer Help Me Cook Better. The...
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Albanian Frogs’ Legs, Fried Mussels, and Rice Balls
I have not yet started writing stories about my recent trip to Albania, but one of my surprising discoveries there was definitely the food. Albanian cuisine reflects the country’s geographical variety...
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