cover image Memories from a Russian Kitchen: From Shtetl to Golden Land

Memories from a Russian Kitchen: From Shtetl to Golden Land

Rosalie Sogolow. Fithian Press, $25 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-56474-148-6

This collection of recipes, anecdotes and memoirs collected from the students of the senior English as a Second Language classes of the Jewish Family Service in Santa Clara County, Calif., is a treat. The abundant text-stories and reminiscences-is warm and engaging. The recipes, too, although full of misordered ingredients and mysterious directions (a recipe for strudel cavalierly instructs, ""Make a chain of filling across the top of the dough and roll dough over filling"") and far from professional, reveal much about the contributors. Many people recall the long lines and lack of goods in the former Soviet Union; their recipes paint a picture of people who knew how to make something out of almost nothing, with results such as a broth-like yogurt concoction called Tanov (Armenian Soup) and Carrot Pancakes made with farina. Family photographs and such folk tidbits as ""The Kugel Song"" (in Yiddish) and a list of Russian proverbs (``Don't hang noodles on my ears!'') and their English equivalents (``I wasn't born yesterday'') are lots of fun. (Feb.)