Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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HOCKEY STAR MADNESS Which Russian players will join the best-of-the-best at the Sochi Olympics?
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Don’t Take Our Title 8 Away! Laura Adams of Harvard University expresses concern for a generation of scholars P4
Culture Great books of 2013: A feast from Russia Our suggestions for your holiday gift-giving P5
Feature An American in Sochi Tamara Smith volunteers to help U.S. Olympic athletes P6
ashington’s very own Russian talisman is riding high in the NHL scoring charts – and Alex Ovechkin is just one of a galaxy of stars from the East with designs on a glory season on both sides of the Atlantic. “Ovi,” as he is known, had a short rest in October after a shoulder injury from crashing into the goalie and net in a recent loss to Vancouver’s Canucks. But he says he is getting ready for a winning streak. With the hockey world eagerly anticipating the latest ‘best-of-the-best’ showdown at the Sochi Olympics come February, the Russian regiments in North America know that it’s time to put up or shut up if they want to join the Russian assault on a much sought-after Olympic gold. Hockey fans around the world are coming up with their own fantasy team of Russians for Sochi, and RBTH is here to do our part to help out. Ovi, one of the guys who was most vocal in calling for a deal to enable the NHL’s top names to suit up at the Olympic Games, responded to that challenge with a blistering start to the season. Ten goals in his first 10 appearances, coming off the back of a huge 23-in-23 scoring streak, has got pundits talking about a possible record-breaking season for the Caps. Meanwhile, back in Russia, there’s hope that he’s ready to bring his A-game to the national team and cement his poster-boy status by firing the Red Machine to the biggest prize in the sport. The big question, therefore, is not whether he’ll play, but where: Team Russia likes the look of Ovechkin on the left; Caps’ coach Adam Oates doesn’t want him distracted from right-wing duties. If Ovechkin and his big-name colleagues on offense, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk, are among the first names on Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s roster, there’s still an intriguing battle for Sochi spots being fought out across North America this fall.
Varlamov Tarnished Former Capitals’ backstop Semyon Varlamov was looking impressive in Colorado until his recent arrest and published interviews with his girlfriend in the Denver Post describing drunken assaults. His .945 save percentage at the end of October was fourth best in the competition and placed him among the early favorites for the Vezina Trophy, but all that may be at risk now. At press time it was not clear where the scandal might be headed. Previously, fans had seen a huge turnaround from last season, where his NHL numbers were disappointing and he faced heavy criticism back home as Russia crashed at the World Championships.
Defense was another Russian problem in Helsinki back in May. That was partly explained by the playoff commitments of the likes of Montreal’s Andrei Markov and the ever-reliable LA Kings’ play-off star Vyacheslav Voinov, both of whom look to be locks for Sochi. Voinov, in particular, offers a thunderous righthanded shot from the blue-line and is likely to be inked in for the powerplay for both club and country. Belov’s Uncompromising Style Russian observers are also following Anton Belov’s progress closely after his move from Avangard Omsk to the Edmonton Oilers. Belov’s uncompromising style has led to controversy in his homeland, not least following an incident where he appeared to kick out at the prone Evgeni Kuznetsov – a Caps prospect for the future – during a play-off game two seasons back. In Canada, Belov made a solid start in a roster heavily criticized for weak defense; back in Siberia Avangard’s back line has all but evaporated in his absence. Belov isn’t the only Russian hoping to use Edmonton as a springboard toward Sochi, but charismatic
youngster Nail Yakupov faces a big ask to force his way into the national team reckoning in the coming months. If the defense is sometimes questionable, the offense has talent to burn. Datsyuk might be a veteran, but is some pundit’s pick for the NHL’s best player right now; Malkin was devastating at the 2012 World Championships and stands up under the weight of massive expectations. Siberian hot-shot Vladimir Tarasenko can only grow in stature as he tackles the day-to-day demands of the NHL at Saint Louis. Back in Russia, one Ilya Kovalchuk is the KHL’s biggest box-office draw after returning to SKA St. Petersburg, while young Kuznetsov has played his way into Bilyaletdinov’s plans … and the list goes on. Yakupov, a charismatic young forward and graduate of the Nizhnekamsk organization, has all the potential to become a huge star. It’s not just the off-ice charm that generates excitement and glamour, there’s also the small matter of a dangerous and skillful game to back up the swagger. But for now he’s an enigmatic combination of highlight-reel moments delivered too sporadically to generate real substance. His transformation to the big time was stalled by last season’s lock-out and an unscheduled return to his native Tatarstan, but he grabbed 31 points in 48 Oilers game, enough to suggest he can make the step up. The question is whether he can do it in time for 2014. ■ANDY POTTS SPECIAL TO RBTH
READ MORE ABOUT SOCHI OLYMPICS ON PAGE 6
AP
Comments & Analysis
Washington, D.C. fans love longtime Caps player Ovechkin, and so does the entire world of hockey. Ovi is an ambassador to the Sochi Olympics and was a torchbearer this fall.
Semyon Varlamov, an early favorite this season, is suddenly at the center of a domestic-abuse scandal.
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Politics & Society P2 // rbth.ru // November 13, 2013
For the blind, the first step is the hardest
“The first step is the most difficult” Muscovite Pavel Obiukh, 34, is totally blind. Yet every morning he takes the metro to work; he navigates by hearing and tapping his white cane. The sight of a blind man with a cane or a guide dog is still rare enough in the Russian capital and metro escalators to draw stares. Obiukh once worked at a company run by the Russian Society of the Blind. Recently, however, he steered his life in a new direction. “I wanted to have some friends who are sighted. I wanted to go to places everyone else goes,” he said. And that is when he had to make a choice:
ITAR-TASS
READ THE FULL STORY at rbth.ru/31243
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Pavel Obiukh MUSCOVITE, WORKS FOR “DIALOGUE IN THE DARK”
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I wanted to have some friends who are sighted. I wanted to go to places everyone else goes. I wish I could invent some way to remove that barrier, to make sure that blind people do not feel inferior because of their disability.
Sergey Mulloev LIVES IN RUSINOVO VILLAGE FOR BLIND, GOES DAILY TO MOSCOW FOR WORK
The lesson of parachuting Obiukh is an extreme sportsman and active outdoorsman who skis and parachute jumps. He reads a lot, but for him, Braille is a thing of the past: His iPhone has a voice menu. So does his Facebook app. He regularly keeps in touch with his 300 Facebook friends. He compares making the first step outside the cloistered communities of the blind to a parachute jump. “You know, the hardest part is when you fall out ofj the plane. You realize that there is 4 kilometers of empty space beneath, and the plane is already gone! So the hardest part is taking that first step out of the plane. Once you’ve done that, euphoria kicks in.”
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Disabled people shouldn’t crowd together, they should live and communicate with ordinary people, enter into society from childhood. Society just needs to help the visually impaired person adapt to everyday conditions.
■VLADIMIR RUVINSKY SPECIAL TO RBTH
READ THE FULL STORY at rbth.ru/31383
On October 13, Russian TV channels broadcast live footage of thousands of people sweeping across Moscow’s southern residential district of Biryulyovo, wrecking a local hypermarket and breaking into a vegetable warehouse. The rioters overturned parked cars and kiosks that they suspected might be owned by immigrants. The angry crowd was made up of mostly nationalist youth from across Moscow. They had come to support 40 Biryulyovo residents who had assembled outside the local police station earlier that day, demanding police find the killer of Yegor Shcherbakov. Shcherbakov, 25, an ethnic Russian, was stabbed on the night of October 10, in the presence of his fiancée, witnesses said, while attempting to defend a female passer-by from the sexual advances of a stranger. The murder came after years of heightened tensions among Biryulyovo dwellers with what locals saw as indifference and inaction on the part of the local police and district administration. The Biryulyovo events gave a new impetus to vigorous debate over whether a visa regime should be introduced for Central Asian countries and the Transcaucasus countries.
A new rise in xenophobia became obvious in Russia during the late 1990s, according to the Levada Center.
IN FIGURES
84 %
of Russians support the idea of visas for citizens of Central Asia
27%
of Russians view immigrants as the cause of the country’s greatest problems.
According to a survey conducted by the Levada Center, 84 percent of Russians support the idea of visas. However, President Vladimir Putin has spoken against such a move, saying that it would prompt members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries to turn away from Russia. Although polls suggest that the problem ranks only eighth on the list of the population’s greatest concerns, the proportion of those viewing immigrants as the cause of the country’s greatest problems has increased from 7 percent to 27 percent over the past eight years. Xenophobia on the rise The rise in xenophobia in Russia first became noticeable in the late 1990s, sociologists note. “Following the frustration caused by the destruction of the [Soviet] social system and economic collapse came an era of negative self-assertion in the search for a national identity,” said Lev Gudkov of the Levada Center. “Since there was not much left to be proud of [in post-Soviet Russia], this self-assertion mostly took the form of people projecting their personal complexes and antipathies on
The Russian Ministry of Culture has drafted a government resolution under which citizens of 20 countries will be allowed to stay in Russian territory for 72 hours without an entry visa, if they arrive by air for tourist purposes. If the resolution is adopted, visa-free entrances would be allowed for travelers on Russian carriers with confirmation of hotel booking and a medical insurance policy. READ MORE at rbth.ru/31417 Walt Disney moves into Russian retail
AP
Employees working in a shop of the Moscow Training Enterprise #9 under the All-Russia Society of the Blind.
Possible 3 days of visa-free stay in Russia
“Either you hole up in your own home, or you force yourself to take the first step outside.” He admits that he was very shy and self-conscious at first. Now Obiukh’s gestures are confident and assertive; his back is straight. What’s more, he earns decent money. “I make enough to provide for myself. I am not a native Muscovite, but I make enough to rent an apartment in the city, and I don’t even have to go hungry after paying the landlord.” He has also turned his disability into his strength. A teacher, lawyer and manager by education, Pavel Obiukh works for “Dialogue in the Dark,” an international company that offers business-training courses in 30 countries. Founded 25 years ago, the company entered the Russian market in 2011. Obiukh is the leader of the Russian team of blind coaches who help sighted people develop their communication skills. His clients include the steel maker Severstal, Coca-Cola, and several oil companies. Obiukh was not born blind; he lost his sight slowly to glaucoma. He graduated from Boarding School No. 1 for the Blind and Partially Sighted in Moscow. The school was a very isolated community. “I am glad that I attended a regular university,” he said. He went completely blind during the fourth year of his studies, but that did not prevent him from graduating with distinction. He was soon awarded a PhD after defending his thesis, which offered recommendations on how to mainstream blind children.
Heightened tensions over migrants turn to riots in Moscow
Migrants work at mostly low-paying jobs, such as construction or housecleaning.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova was moved to a new penal colony last week, her husband announced on his Twitter account. Pyotr Verzilov said she was transferred 2,800 miles from the Moscow region because she accused the prison of human rights abuses. The Pussy Riot member, who is 24, is reported to be in “accceptable” condition despite her hunger strike. Human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin told reporters that she is in good health, and that she had been moved for security reasons. She has several months left to her two year term.
Pavel Obiukh, 34, takes the metro (above). He works as a business coach and loves extreme sports.
ITAR-TASS
The village of Rusinovo, about 70 miles from Moscow, was once a model community adapted to the needs of the blind and visually impaired. Today Rusinovo is a ghost town, all but abandoned. The only people who still live here are the elderly or those who simply have nowhere else to go. Sergey Mulloev, 55, a grey-haired man who wears glasses with thick lenses, has only 2 percent of his vision but he says that’s enough to commute to Moscow by train. “I had to find a job in Moscow, there was simply no other way,” Mulloev said. “I have four kids to support.” He earns $500 a month working at a factory that makes play dough, colored markers and pens. In the 1980s, the primary Rusinovo employer was a company that made electronic components for TV sets, assemblies for combine harvesters, and sofas. Now its range of products is limited to jar caps and pipettes. During the Soviet era, the company had 600 employees, all of whom were blind. In 2013 there are only 54 visually impaired employees on its payroll. They each earn between $100 and $175 a month. There are dozens of these model communities for the blind, and they have all fallen on the same hard times. The Russian Society of the Blind headquartered in Moscow registered 212,000 people like Mulloev. In fact, there are probably more like a million, according to the Russian Society of Ophthalmologists. Most are entirely able to work and lead active lives. But they are left on the sidelines, advocates say, with few if any accommodations for people with disabilities. The Soviet conventional wisdom was simple: the blind and partially sighted should live in communities suited to their needs. There were settlements for the blind, where they were provided residence, employment, schools and rehabilitation centers. After the Soviet Union collapsed, howver, that system came crashing down.
Pussy Riot member transferred to Siberia
VIVIAN DEL RIO
Russians with visual impairments fight a legacy of isolation
NEWS IN BRIEF
Walt Disney Co. has set its sights on Russian retail. The entertainment giant is planning to open two Disney Stores in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg as early as next year. Walt Disney earns 8 percent of its global revenue from retail, a total of nearly $2.6 billion. Disney has other plans for Russia besides its traditional retail
stores. Sources in the company say its Russian office is conducting a tender among non-grocery retailers to develop two chains. One of these – Disney Play – will specialize in toys, the other – Disney Style – in clothing featuring popular cartoon characters. Plans call for each chain to have 100 stores in Russia.
to all ‘aliens.’ The process became aggravated during the 2000s, when the government revived national traditions, conservatism, and stability.” Demographic analysts counter that Russia would benefit from inviting more immigrants, not less. Waves of immigration would make up for the continuing decline in the country’s own population. “We have observed a negative demographic trend since 1992,” said Anatoly Vishnevsky, director of Moscow’s Institute of Demography at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics. “Natural attrition over the past 20 years amounted to 13.4 million people. In other words, the population of Russia should have decreased by 13.4 million by now, but in reality it has only declined by 5.3 million people. This difference is due to immigration.” At the same time, Gudkov said that interethnic tensions result from an illegal and unregulated inflow of cheap labor from abroad. “Biryulyovo is a plac where people with low incomes live; xenophobia is higher there because of the people’s overall frustration and readiness to vent their aggression at foreigners,” Gudkov said. “Such a social environment is common to other neighborhoods, so the Biryulyovo riots will most likely be replicated in the next several months. He added: “These will not be mass riots but rather pockets of violence in those areas where a critical level of tension has been reached and is likely to be set off at the slightest touch.” ■YULIA PONOMAREVA RBTH
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Business rbth.ru // November 13, 2013 // P3
3
STAPLES OF THE RUSSIAN KITCHEN
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Kasha, or porridge, is still quite important to Russians. It is a typical family breakfast (especially for kids) and can be made from oats, millet, semolina or rice. Kasha is usually served or cooked with milk, honey, jam or dried fruits. But you can also meet it’s savory lunch variant (most often in the Russian army) made from buckwheat, peas and pearl barley.
2
Soup is the second most important Russian food. The most emblematic are borscht (beets form the main ingredient), shchi (made with cabbage or sauerkraut), ukha (fish), rassolnik and solyanka (both include different vegetables and pickled cucumbers) and the cold soup okroshka. Soup is common for lunch or an appetizer before the main course and is served with smetana (cream), black bread and pirozhki.
Mari Vanna may look like a Russian grandmother’s dacha, but it has a winning business strategy It’s no secret that the semi-secure denizens of D.C. are attracted to closed clubs and echelons of the elite. To that end, Mari Vanna’s new business strategy to offer keys to VIPs and regular patrons is already a success story here. The gold keys, attached to mini matryoshka dolls of different colors, could prove a gold mine over time. Regular diners who stroll up to the restaurant on Connecticut Avenue at Dupont Circle after 6 p.m. take their Mari Vanna keys with them. The idea is to make guests feel like they are in a Russian home, one replete with an accordion player and an unusually copious choice of vodkas. So far, the press has been kind to Mari Vanna, from The Washington Post to The Guardian. The latter wrote, “Mari Vanna is part of a small chain of theme restaurants
focusing on the idea of Russian nostalgia and on this evidence they are wonderful.” The three-level restaurant in the District has what the owners call “a tea party meets grandma’s house” atmosphere. So far it is the largest in the Mari Vanna chain. The name is short for the common Russian name, Maria Ivanovna, which is even more often the name for “babushkas,” or grandmothers. The same business strategy has worked well to keep Manhattan’s Mari Vanna thriving in the heart of the posh Gramercy neighborhood. Unlike most Russian hotspots in the United States, this restaurant has regular patrons who are not of Russian descent. “Our main task was to attract not Russian speakers, but the rest,” said Sasha Polin, one of the partners at Mari Vanna. “We knew that Russian speakers would come along.”
READ THE FULL STORY at rbth.ru/31537
SCOTT HENRICHSEN
Russian hospitality in the heart of D.C.
3
Pies, and other pastry goods are the calling card of the Russian kitchen. They can be found with a variety of stuffing and an assortment of pastry dough: open pies, sealed-top pies, crimped, curd-cheese tartlets, sweet pies or sour pies, dessert pies or savory pies. The Shrovetide (Maslennitsa) holiday – Russia’s own carnival festivities that precede the Lenten fast – is inextricably linked with offering pancakes to guests.
Guests feel like they are in a Russian home, one replete with an accordion player and a copious choice of vodkas.
The first Mari Vanna restaurant in the U.S. opened in 2009 in New York. In January 2013, Mari Vanna opened in Washington, D.C. just in time for the inaugural festivities. Another opened a few months ago in Los Angeles. More than 70 percent of the customers are non-Russian speakers, Polin said. The restaurant relies on word of mouth rather than advertising to attract customers, he added. Mari Vanna started as an award-winning concept in Russia. In the past four years, the founding company has embarked on a bold expansion plan. Polin said that the St. Petersburg-based company, Ginza Project, has a plan to open restaurants in several more major cities in the U.S., starting with Philadelphia and Chicago, in the next few years. There is also a Mari Vanna in London. The restaurant loyalty program centers on the keys, which can open doors (at least when the dining spot is open) at any Mari Vanna location. Those who don’t have a key can still get in, but they have to ring the bell, wait until the hostess opens the door, and hope for an open table.
On a recent Friday night, New York’s Mari Vanna was packed with a mixed crowed, eating and drinking the night away. And the place had a lot to offer, from traditional beetroot soup borscht to the iconic Chicken Kiev. Other dishes less familiar to Americans included the fish soup “Uha” and an assortment of salted cured pork fatbacks,
The décor reminds Russians of the “dacha,” or seasonal home outside the city, where families keep all the things they can’t fit in their city apartment. “Salo Plate.” Vodka is plentiful here in different flavors. The horseradish and cranberry vodkas are the most popular, Polin said. The décor reminds Russians of the “dacha,” or seasonal home outside the city, where families keep all the things they can’t fit in their city apartment—old photos, books, a gigantic samovar and a lot of lamps and chandeliers. In certain place the wallpaper
is peeling off, giving the intentional appearance of disrepair. An accordionist named Yuri walked between the tables and played Soviet classics, prompting the émigré crowd to hum along with the music. Not all the contemporary dishes are Russian, according to Anya von Bremzen, an expert on Russian food and a co-author of “Please to the Table: The Russian Cookbook.” Borscht and stuffed cabbage were originally Ukrainian dishes. Kebab is a dish from Georgia and a rice dish, plov, is Uzbek. “It was a Soviet Union phenomenon— the incorporation of food from all the republics,” she said. And Mari Vanna can boast about its baking—Russian style crepes, blini, and savory mini-pies with eggs, cabbage or meat. Blinis come with a variety of fillings, including the signature red caviar. For its clientele Mari Vanna has also made some adaptations to the traditional cuisine. “We tried to make Russian cuisine healthier,” Polin said, “but without altering the taste.” ■ANNA ANDRIANOVA SPECIAL TO RBTH
BUSINESS CALENDAR
Russia jumped 20 places in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” survey to number 92 out of 189 countries. This boost followed a concerted reform effort and widespread improvements in access to electricity, according to the World Bank report. The results bring the country closer to attaining President Vladimir Putin’s goal of bringing Russia from 120 in the rankings to 20 by 2018 through a series of “road maps” designed to reduce bureaucracy and cut red tape. Today’s results show the first tangible signs of success as recognized by a major international body. Russia edged ahead of China in the index, which placed at 96 overall, and placed higher than any of its peers in the so-called BRIC club of large emerging economies comprised of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Brazil moved up two notches to 116, while India dropped three places to 134. The improvements came as a result of a “huge reform effort,” Rita Ramalho of the World Bank told The Financial Times. Russia made significant progress in improving access to electricity, jumping ahead 71 places in that category, the World Bank reported. Russia also advanced 29 places in the ease of registering property. Its weakest sectors included construction permits, where it languished, and trading across borders. Ruslan Davydov, deputy head of Russia’s Customs Service, noted that data for the current study was collected in March and that indicators for international trade should see a major improvement in next year’s index. “We’ve reduced the number of days it takes to import products by seven and to export them by six. Next year we’re switching to 100 percent of customs documents being processed online,” he said. A number of experts have pointed out that Russia’s common economic space with neighbors Belarus and Kazakhstan – set to become fully operational in 2015 – could push companies to invest there
Russia edged ahead of China in the index and placed higher than any of its peers in the so-called BRIC club.
92 Doing business ranking for Russia in 2014
17
56
Russia’s rank in registering property
Russia’s rank in paying taxes
“Doing business” ranking Russia’s jumped 20 places from last year. The survey included 189 economies. The most improved sector for Russia is electricity (from 188 to 117). Still a lot of work should be done in dealing with construction permits (178) and trading across borders (157).
instead of Russia to better take advantage of the 170 million consumer market. Belarus took 63rd place in this year’s study while Kazakhstan came in at 50. “I haven’t heard of a single major company relocating to either of those countries from Russia since the Customs Union [the predecessor to the Eurasian Economic Union] came into being,” said Alexander Ivlev, EY’s country managing partner for Russia. “In Russia we have a growing middle class and better margins. Plus our tax system meets the standards international investors expect.” Real Work Still Ahead “The easiest work is behind us,” said Andrei Nikitin, head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which has been tasked with developing and implementing roadmaps to meet Putin’s ambitious goal. “We need to make sure all of these positive changes are being reflected in the regions, and not just Moscow, where the World Bank data is collected.” “As an investment advisor to the heads of several Russian regions, I see real improvements in reducing administrative barriers at the local level, which is especially relevant to non-extractive industries,” said entrepreneur Roman Putin. “On the federal level there is still no single window for all investors to use and the situation is a lot less transparent.” “A study by UBS AG and Campden Research earlier this year noted that excessive regulation and corruption had hardly improved since 2012. So it’s too early to celebrate; right now we should be cautiously optimistic,” he said. “Foreign investors won’t save us from anything in the end. We need to foster an environment where Russian businesspeople are investing in production rather than just collecting dividends,” said Nikitin. “The dialogue has changed over the last year,” he added. “We’re no longer talking about whether we need to improve the business climate or not, but realizing specific policies to achieve that.” ■ARTEM ZAGORODNOV RBTH
6TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE: DOING BUSINESS WITH RUSSIA Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 Washington, D.C. This event will allow participants to interact with those in Russia and Eurasia seeking to expand two-way trade, direct investments, business opportunities and open communication. Participants at the conference will be able to speak with members of the Russian Trade Mission and experts who have years of experience in doing business in Russia. There will be important Russian officials along with executives from numerous U.S. corporations and representatives of U.S. Government agencies including the Departments of State and Commerce. The Russian Ambassador will host the event. › www.eurasiacenter.org
MIKHAIL MORDASOV
Doing Business in Russia now easier, says World Bank
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Comment & Analysis P4 // rbth.ru // November 13, 2013
UNDERSTANDING THE SPECIFICS OF XENOPHOBIA
THE POLLS Public opinion on immigration policy The poll was conducted by the Levada center among 1,603 people from 45 Russian regions at the end of October.
ALYONA REPKINA
SERGEI MARKEDONOV SPECIAL TO RBTH
R
The Biryulyovo riots in October garnered international attention and pointed to heightened tensions in some Moscow neighborhoods where migrant workers live. In Moscow the debate has
turned to the prospect of introducing a visa system for citizens of Transcaucasian and Central Asian countries. According to the survey, 84 percent of Russians support a visa regime.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Echo of the Russian Fleet
NATALIA MIKHAYLENKO
iots in Moscow’s West Biryulyovo have once again raised the issue of inter-ethnic relations in modern Russia and drawn the attention of mass media. The discussions being held on the causes and consequences speak loudly about the lack of adequate understanding of the Russian national issue. The opposition between natives and newcomers has come into sharp focus. Here, an explicit emphasis is made on ethnic collective responsibility for a crime or offense committed by a single person. Today, the word “diaspora” has become widely used. People have begun to speak about migration together with other Russian domestic and foreign policy issues. Such assessments are not just flawed: They lead to incorrect management and policy decisions. This or that ethnic group is often presented as a single, monolithic structure—a kind of state within a state. However, such an approach has nothing to do with the reality. This is explained by the virtual nature of such “unity.” Those Azerbaijanis who came into sharp focus because of the riots in Biryulyovo, at the very least, may be citizens of three countries (Azerbaijan, Russia or Georgia, coming from the Kvemo Kartli region) and represent two different Muslim denominations (Sunni and Shia). As for the Dagestan Azerbaijanis, representing the sixth largest group in the Northern Caucasus, they may be called more “natives” than some of the capital’s residents of the second and third generation, who shout the slogan “Russia is for Russians, Moscow is for Moscow residents.” The same applies to some of the Armenians of the Don, Kubani and Stavropol, whose ancestors had settled in this region in the 18th century. By the way, many of them do not speak Armenian, and Russian is as native a language for them as it is for Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk residents. The representatives of these “diasporas” also have a varied social status. Such Russian businessmen as Vagit Alekperov, Alisher Usmanov and Ruben Vardanyan cannot be compared with traders in the markets and shops, or small businessmen. It is absurd to believe that there are representatives of the various diasporas in public organizations representing the Azerbaijanis, Georgians or Uzbeks. Many reputable people belong to these groups, but there are no legal, institutional or political mechanisms, nor financial resources, to control the representatives of “their” groups. Often, a diaspora has several public organizations competing with each other. However, they are not responsible for the crimes of some citizens (which, moreover, may have various passports/citizenships). It would be extremely dangerous to replace the principle
Dear RBTH editors:
of individual responsibility with the principle of collective guilt. This would provoke a nationalist mobilization on a “defensive basis” and demonstrate the inability of the state to regulate issues that are supposed to be resolved (today this is the fight against crime and corruption). In contrast to the United States or the European Union (France for example, where they experienced strong nationalist-populist sentiments for many years), in our country, external and internal migrations are of paramount importance. This is associated with the movement throughout the country of representatives of different ethnic groups, religions and regions, who have different historical experiences (sometimes associated with higher costs) of joining Russia, but who are now citizens of the same country. Yet the biggest problem is that the residents of Moscow and other major Russian cities are indifferent toward the fundamental differences between the Chechens and Dagestanis, holders of passports of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan, or those with Uzbek passports, who came into the country for temporary jobs. The continuation of this line of thinking is dangerous, because it can give birth to anti-Russian sentiments in the North Caucasus and the Volga region, as well as to separatist feelings. This could lead to a de facto and even de jure apart-
heid, which would put an end to the country’s integrity. Any attempts to impose a visa barrier on migrants from the South Caucasus and Central Asia would finally put an end to the Eurasian Union and integration projects (including the military-political CSTO projects), as well as strengthen anti-Russian forces in these countries. It should not be forgotten that, to this day, many Russians live in these countries (Kazakhstan has more than 3,000,000 Russians, there are more than 1,000,000 in Uzbekistan, and, in Azerbaijan, there are about 120,000). As a result, all these people will become hostages in the struggle for the purity of blood. At the same time, geopolitical threats such as the “export of Afghanistan” will not be stopped by visa barriers. If the growing xenophobia in Russia is not opposed by a national political strategy that would include the regulation of the two different migrations (internal and external) and widespread education, and even, I dare say, advocating a united Russian political identity and integration projects in various fields and areas, then the country will suffer serious damage to both its domestic and foreign policies. The author is a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
C. Douglas Kroll’s article “When the Russian Navy sailed into New York” (Past Tense, September) interested me for a very personal reason. Here’s why. When I was a boy, my grandmother used to tell us that her grandparents had been presented at the Russian Court. We didn’t really believe her. But when I was living in St. Petersburg in the 1990s as U.S. Consul General, I asked a pair of young Russian researchers to run the story to ground in the Russian State Naval Archive. They did. It turns out that Admiral Farragut (yes, that Farragut) led a U.S. Naval squadron to St. Petersburg – landing at Kronshtadt – in 1867, as a return courtesy call for that of the Russian Navy to New York during the Civil War. My great-grandfather James W. Shirk and his wife were indeed received at Court along with The U.S. Minister at the time, Cassius Clay (no, not that Cassius Clay). There were balls and other festivities, according to the Kronshtadtskii Vestnik. Someone should write a book about U.S.-Russian naval relations in the years before World War I, starting with John Paul Jones’s service for Catherine the Great. Maybe somebody has. Best wishes, John Marshall Evans, Washington, D.C.
EXCLUSIVELY AT RUSSIA-DIRECT.ORG
AMERICA NEEDS TO FUND THE NEXT GENERATION OF RUSSIA SCHOLARS
Memo focuses on Eastern Europe
The November memo analyzes The Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, which may alter relations among Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
T
RD Quarterly: Afghanistan after 2014
REUTERS
This RD Quarterly, to be released Dec. 9, will explore post-withdrawal Afghanistan and possible scenarios of regional development.
FBI probe could imperil public diplomacy REUTERS
The FBI probe into Rossotrudnichestvo endangers U.S. and Russian exchange programs. Why Obama must keep an eye on the Saudis
REUTERS
The situation in the Middle East just became even less predictable now that Saudi Arabia and Iran are changing how they perceive their relationships with the U.S.
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he Uzbeks have a saying: Don’t tear down your old house before you have built a new one. For nearly 30 years, a State Department program has been funding the research and language training of the people who teach college students about Russia, Central Asia, and the Balkans. These professors have trained thousands of future diplomats, businessmen, aid workers, and scholars to understand the region. However, the State Department announced in October that the program would not be funded this year, with no word yet on what - if anything - will be done in the future. This program is known as Title VIII, or the Program for Research and Training for Eastern Europe and the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. The purpose of Title VIII funding is to support U.S. citizens in pursuing language training and policy-relevant research in the social sciences and humanities. In 2002 the program’s budget was $4.5 million ($5.8 million in 2012 dollars), but it was cut to $3.3 million in 2012 and to $0 in 2013. The State Department is tightening its belt and a lot of programs are being squeezed, so this budget cut should not be taken as some sort of diplomatic signal to Russia. Still, given the importance of Russia and its neighbors to U.S. strategic interests, as well as the growing roadblocks to American soft power in the region, this was the wrong program to cut. Title VIII is an inexpensive yet highly effective program that has had a large impact on the cultural competence of U.S. college graduates and its funding should be restored to pre-2011 levels. In fact, it should be expanded to include other regions of the world. Title VIII can serve as a model for funders in the U.S. and abroad who want to invest in the next generation’s ability to navigate a globalizing future. Title VIII programs directly benefit individual scholars, but these benefits are further multiplied at the university where these scholars use their expertise to contribute to research centers that are award-
LAURA ADAMS SPECIAL TO RUSSIA DIRECT
Nearly every U.S. professor working on Russia and the CIS has benefited directly from Title VIII funding in some way. ed money from private donors and foundations. These research centers then train more scholars, analysts, diplomats and entrepreneurs who have an in-depth understanding of the history, culture, and politics of the region. Recent survey research has shown that policymakers and analysts highly value just this kind of research. Critics of U.S. foreign policy, both inside the government and out, acknowledge that recent foreign policy mistakes have in part been due to insufficient expertise. Nearly every U.S. professor working on Russia, Eastern/Central Europe and Eurasia has benefited directly from Title VIII funding. Quite a few diplomats (such as the current U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) were also Title VIII recipients. Title VIII programs have given an incentive to economists, historians, linguists, political scientists, sociologists, and others to take their interests off the beaten path – to Georgia, to Kyrgyzstan, to Serbia. The field of Slavic and Eurasian studies has exploded over the last 30 years into a vibrant community of scholars. In the 1990s as a Ph.D. student in sociology, I considered abandoning my interest in the former Soviet Union in order to study a more standard sociological topic
related to the United States. There was no one in my university, let alone my department, who knew much about Central Asia or the Caucasus and could advise me on the areas I wanted to pursue. However, with Title VIII funding as an incentive (and with the availability of Foreign Language and Area Studies funding from the Department of Education to support my language training in Russian and Uzbek), I found the support I needed to head off that beaten path and study culture and politics in Uzbekistan. The $16,000 investment in my dissertation research led to an award-winning book and multiple articles, public presentations to citizens and policy makers, and dozens of students who now work in national security, intelligence, journalism, business, and the non-profit sector. And I am far from alone in generating such a legacy: now there are dozens of universities in the country that have at least one faculty member who can advise a student with a budding interest in Central Asia. Thus, the problem with eliminating Title VIII funds is not just the impact it will have on the current cohort of graduate students. The problem that should concern everyone is the ripple effect on the college graduates who will be asked to make decisions based on their knowledge of this region, or lack thereof. So if Title VIII is this productive and costeffective, why would it be cut? Critics of the program argue that it is a Cold War relic and no longer relevant to today’s world, but this argument is spurious: U.S. interests in the region did not end with the Cold War. We are talking about rapidly changing, resource-rich countries that border areas vital to U.S. interests such as China, Afghanistan, and Iran. The research funded by this program ensures that we won’t be left in the dark should some part of this vast region suddenly veer into crisis. Laura Adams is the Director of the Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus at Harvard University.
Culture rbth.ru // November 13, 2013 // P5
Great books of 2013: A feast from Russia
PAST TENSE
When Roosevelt met Litvinov
From newsmaking history to neglected masterpieces One of this year’s most remarkable true stories is Vladimir Alexandrov’s compelling account of the life of the American expatriate Frederick Thomas. “The Black Russian” tells the unknown saga of Thomas, the son of former slaves who became one of Moscow’s richest entrepreneurs of the early 20th century. The eminent literary critic, editor and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., commented that “The Black Russian” is an amazing story, and that Thomas’ “improvisational life…filled me with wonder.” Gates concluded, “His story staggered me.” Alexandrov, a professor at Yale University, spent years hunting through what the author called “a labyrinth of archives and libraries in five countries”. He vividly retraces Thomas’s extraordinary adventures from the poverty of 1870s Mississippi to his flamboyant empire in turn-of-the-century Moscow and beyond. The resulting picture of a charming, ambitious businessman, daringly reinventing himself in numerous countries, fleeing the Bolsheviks and pioneering jazz, would make a gripping movie biopic (Atlantic Monthly/Grove, NY, March 2013). This year was an excellent one for books by Russians and books about Russia. Douglas Smith’s “Former People,” a compassionate portrayal of the post-revolutionary fate of the Russian aristocracy, has garnered high acclaim; Sergei Dovlatov’s late Soviet classic, “Pushkin Hills,” was published for the first time in English, and several publishers continue to deliver high-quality translations of familiar and emerging Russian novelists. First, the top-tier classics Hot off the press in the United Kingdom and forthcoming in the United States, Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and “Confession” appear in a new translation by Peter Carson, the former editor-in-chief of Penguin Books, who died earlier this year. Carson spoke Russian at home with his mother, Tatiana Staheyeff and translated works by Chekhov and Turgenev for Penguin. His great-grandmother built the dacha where the poet Marina Tsvetaeva later spent her final days. His own last days were spent translating Tolstoy’s unflinching meditation on mortality “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” Deliberately simple language reinforces the bleak and claustrophobic “consciousness of approaching death.” The screaming horror and stench are tempered by Tolstoy’s glimmering sense of redemption. Carson insisted that it should be published together with Tolstoy’s strange piece of spiritual autobiography “Confession,” whose themes it illuminates and the pairing presents
ALEXANDER POTEMKIN SPECIAL TO RBTH
Eighty years ago, Roosevelt and Litvinov re-established diplomatic relations in a way that helped to assure victory in 1945.
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“The Black Russian” tells the unknown saga of an American who becomes a Moscow impresario. an intimate portrait of the great novelist. (W.W. Norton, London, October 2013 and Liveright, New York, November 2013). A first full English translation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Diaries” together with “Selected Letters” arrived this summer from Alma Classics. The Soviet authorities confiscated Bulgakov’s diary in 1926, when he switched to letters. His account of near starvation and a “chaotic … nightmarish” existence “in a totally disgusting room” contradicts the approved reports of Utopian, communist life. This volume, covering 1921 to his death in 1940, illuminates not only the writer’s Moscow years, but also the historical era. The weather, politics and even the inflation are all detailed here along with Bulgakov’s own difficult literary progress. His letters to officials make particularly fascinating reading. “A wolf may have his skin dyed or be shorn, but he’ll never be a poodle,” he wrote to Stalin in 1931, pleading for the chance to be stay true to his own unique creativity. (Translated by Roger Cockrell; Alma Classics, June 2013). Tales of diverse lands Translator, Robert Chandler, brought Vasily Grossman’s work to western audiences in 2006, with his version of “Life and Fate.” This summer, Robert and Elizabeth Chandler’s translation of Grossman’s “An Armenian Sketchbook” shows us the author in a new light. This relatively light-hearted travelogue, written in 1962 after two months in Armenia, is a total contrast with his epic novel about war and totalitarianism.
From his first train-window glimpse of stony fields and flat-roofed houses to his final impressions at a village wedding, Grossman’s emotional memoir celebrates “kindness, purity, merriment and sadness.” He aims to bring together the “truth of the eternal world” with a more personal, human reality. “An Armenian Sketchbook” would make an ideal gift, especially with James Nunn’s attractive cover design for the U.K. edition. (NYRB Classics, Feb 2013 and Maclehose, July 2013) Thrillers, satires and ghost stories New York based author, translator and economist, Alexei Bayer, made the jump from short stories to full-length fiction this year with his Soviet-era whodunit, “Murder at the Dacha.” Pavel Matyushkin, a motorbike-riding police officer with a complicated love life, has a murder mystery to unravel. As the title hints, the story revolves around a cottage in the forest, but is mostly set in 1960s Moscow. There are moments of courtroom drama, labyrinthine corruption and a meandering Russian-style plot. Bayer, who has produced English and Russian versions of his own book, draws on both cultures: “It was a lot like the final scene in Gogol’s play, when the true Government inspector is announced,” he says of a dramatic pause. A more contemporary Moscow is revealed in one of 2013’s best new novels in translation, Andrei Gelasimov ‘s “The Lying Year,” which satirizes the lives of Russia’s new rich. Mikhail Vorobyov’s old boss hires him to look after his teenage son, Sergei, whose own diary entries describe the pain beneath his pampered life. He charts death, abandonment, infidelity and isolation, in a heartbreakingly simple style, laced with the violent, suicidal impulses of youthful disaffection. Translator Marian Shwartz perfectly captures Gelasimov’s voices here, as she does in “Thirst” (2011) and “Gods of the Steppe,” a darker, more fragmented coming of age novel, published in September (Amazon Crossing, 2013).
Hearing-impaired actors find more troupes in Russia The most expressive performance of Viktor Tsoi’s song “Peremen” (“Change”)—a rebellious anthem of the Russian youth of the 1980s—is done in sign language. Dressed in black in front of a dark backdrop, a young man performs the song with lyrical language in which words are also gestures. Alexei Znamensky’s performance was filmed for the closing sequence of the cult Russian movie directed by Sergey Loban called “Pyl’” (“Dust,” 2005). Later, Znamensky starred in Loban’s next film, “Shapito Show.” These days he is a local star, and one of only a few hearing-impaired actors with a public profile. In Russia, there are more than 13 million deaf people, and, for some, acting is not only cathartic but an opportunity. Audiences have also discovered over the years that the silent actor’s performance is, in a way, more dramatic and expressive than regular speech.
The first Russian theater troupe of deaf performers debuted in 1919 in Moscow. In the 1930s, the All-Russian Society of the Deaf organized a tour of deaf actors from Moscow to different cities of the Soviet Union. They were a huge success. Plays by Gorky, Gogol and Schiller were staged in complete pantomime and sign language. The first “audible” performance took place in 1948, with an announcer reading the text. This was a step to popularize deaf theater among
audiences that were not hearing impaired. There were amateur troupes until 1960, when the first deaf actors began to study at the Schukin Theatre Institute. In 1963, the Mimics and Gesture Theater in Izmailovo, Moscow, was opened—and it is known as the first professional theater for deaf people in Russia. During the Soviet era, this theater toured at home and abroad, staging over a hundred plays into the 1990s. By the 2000s the theater, funded by the All-Russian Society of
IN FIGURES
13 million
94 years ago
deaf people are in Russian Federation today. For many of them, acting is both social and expressive.
the first Russian theater troupe of deaf performers appeared in Moscow, and the first tours took place in the 1930s.
■PHOEBE TAPLIN SPECIAL TO RBTH
the Deaf, lost much of its state support and faced a financial crisis. Boosted by private funding, the theater still stages plays from the old repertoire. The State Specialized Institute of Arts in Moscow (established in 1991) trains students with disabilities. Almost every Russian professional actor with impaired hearing has studied here, including Alexei Znamensky. His first project, “Nedoslov,” developed into a traveling troupe with 16 actors and seven plays that toured Russia, the United States and Canada. Now, the actor works with the fledgling “Cinematograph” project. “With ‘Cinematograph,’ we’re often touring Russia,” Znamensky told RBTH. “Following the initiatives of our producer, Irina Kucherenko, we now have support from the Civic Chamber and Culture Department as well as the theater’s friends.” In Russia, there are a growing number of hearing-impaired troupes: “Indigo” in Tomsk, “Gesture” in Novosibirsk, “Slov.net” in Rostov, and the “Piano” theater for deaf children, based in Nizhny Novgorod. ■GEORGY MANAEV SPECIAL TO RBTH
ighty years ago the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. This sounds odd, because in 2009 the two countries celebrated the bicentennial of their relationship, with some fanfare, so this year we should be witnessing the 204th year of bilateral diplomacy. But there was an unfortunate gap in this history. How did it happen? Washington was wary of the new entity following the revolution of October 1917, and refused to recognize it. Both future World War II allies coexisted without ambassadors and embassies and were intensely hostile toward each other. This situation lasted 16 years, until the heat from the ominous flames over the Reichstag in Berlin could be felt both in the White House and the Kremlin. With the international situation rapidly changing, both sides viewed each other in a new light. Washington realized that the Soviet Union was growing stronger economically as well as militarily
History has revealed the re-establishment of diplomatic relations as a win-win. and might be a potential ally in case of threat to American interests in Europe and Asia. American businesses suffering from the Great Depression were eager to engage in export opportunities with the Soviet Union, and the Soviets were quite eager to buy new technology to modernize its industry in return. Well-known for his vision and foresight, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to the Soviet Head of State Mikhail Kalinin with a proposal to begin negotiations toward the establishment of diplomatic relations. Kalinin sent the Soviet Foreign Minister, Commissar on Foreign Relations Maxim Litvinov, to the White House. Litvinov spent 10 days in Washington, D.C. He met almost daily with Roosevelt, often one-on one, discussing conditions for establishing diplomatic relations. On November 16, 1933, Litvinov received the following letter from President Roosevelt:
My dear Mr. Litvinov: I am very happy to inform you that as a result of our conversations the Government of the United States has decided to establish normal diplomatic relations with the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and to exchange ambassadors. I trust that the relations now established between our peoples may forever remain normal and friendly, and that our Nations henceforth may cooperate for their mutual benefit and for the preservation of the peace of the world. I am, my dear Mr. Litvinov, Very sincerely yours, The first Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., Alexander Troyanovskiy, arrived to Washington on January 1934. Two months later U.S. Ambassador William C. Bullitt landed in Moscow. The weeks and months after were considered the “honeymoon” period. Extravagant celebratory parties took place in both capitals. The gala in the U.S. Ambassador’s residence, “Spaso House,” was immortalized in the famous novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, “The Master and Margarita.” History soon revealed the reestablishment of diplomatic relations as a win-win situation for both countries. Just five years after the exchange of the first Ambassadors, the conflagration of Word War II in Europe began. Two years later, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. It is hard to imagine the glorious Elba River meeting at the end of the war without the foundation created during the previous 12 years of elaborate diplomatic relations. The growth in diplomatic relations also opened the doors to cultural exchange. To this I would like to add a happy local note: Marjorie Merriweather Post, wife of the second U.S. Ambassador, Joseph E. Davies, was able to create Washington’s Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, whose extensive collection of Russian art would never have been possible without this breakthrough in 1933. Alexander Potemkin is the executive director of the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation in Washington, D.C., and was cultural attaché both to the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.
Feature P6 // rbth.ru // November 13, 2013
American volunteer realizes dream “I was determined to somehow be involved with the Sochi Olympics.”
How long have you lived in Russia? Why did you move here and what have you been doing? This is our tenth year living in Moscow. We moved here for my husband’s job—he was an associate in a U.S. law firm—and then stayed on. In the U.S. I’m a French and Spanish teacher, so seven years ago I went back to teaching in a Russian private school. I have greatly enjoyed blogging about life in Russia. How did you become involved with preparations for the Olympics? Ever since Sochi was announced as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, I was determined to somehow be involved… My yearning to be a part of the Winter Olympics dates back to when I was four years old, spellbound by Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev’s gold medal-winning performance in Pairs Figure Skating at Innsbruck… That night inspired my future passions for foreign
in Moscow winter conditions without any accidents!
languages and figure skating—so volunteering in Sochi is truly a dream-come-true for me. Once I learned about the application process for volunteers, I simply applied.
Have you been to Sochi before? I haven’t been to Sochi yet, but I can’t wait… We’ve learned a great deal about the city, the Olympic venues, accommodations and transportation logistics at training, and we are encouraged to familiarize ourselves by using tools such as Google maps and sites about main attractions the athletes might want to visit.
Was it a difficult application and vetting process? The application process was extremely professional. I was interviewed twice in person, and I took two exams which tested language skills, basic knowledge and problem solving, and I completed a psychological assessment. What qualifications are required for Americans to volunteer? The main requirements for American volunteers are fluency in Russian, and the abilities to complete training and to be in Sochi for the required timeframe. Since there are so many different ways to serve as a volunteer, necessary skills can vary—but the most important of all is the desire to help in any way needed during the Games. I thought that my knowledge of languages beyond Russian would make me stand out— but I think that even more significant was that I have eight years’ experience driving
PRESS PHOTO
RBTH spoke to American volunteer to the Sochi Olympics Tamara Smith. She lives in Moscow and hails from Canton, CT.
Tamara Smith with Sochi counting clocks on Manezhnaya square. She lives in Moscowa for 10 years and it will be her first exeperience as a volunteer at sport event.
What exactly will you be doing at the Olympics? I won’t know my assignment until December, but I do know that I will be working as an assistant to athletes from the United States. It is likely that I’ll work with the U.S. Figure Skating Team, driving the skaters to practices and events, translating and interpreting for them, and helping them—and their entire entourage—with everything that arises on a daily basis. Do you do any sports yourself? I still love figure skating and I run.
Two years ago (when I was 40) I ran an ice half marathon at –23 0C to raise money for charity across frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia! What is your opinion about Sochi critics? My focus as a volunteer has been to get things ready for the games. I’m confident that everyone involved is working hard to make sure that Sochi is 100 percent ready, and as a current resident of Moscow, I know that the improvements made will continue to benefit Sochi long after the Olympics are over. So in the spirit of the Games, I focus on the positive. Are you trained to be prepared for disruptions for security or in the event of protests? How do you feel about preparing for that? Safety has always been a priority for the government and organizers, and it is a major part of our volunteer training. The safety of the staff, athletes, participants and spectators will always be a part of the Olympic Games planning, regardless of the location or political climate. ■ELENA BOBROVA RBTH
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW at rbth.ru/31535
MIKHAIL MORDASOV
CUISINE A LA RUSSE
POLYGLOT STUFFED PEPPERS spices and taxes during their 300-year occupation of the Slavic lands. Stuffed peppers may appear daunting, but you can make the filling ahead of time, and use a muffin tin to anchor the peppers so they don’t sag like bad luggage after a long haul flight. This dish offers a wonderfully creative opportunity to play with flavors. Combine a meat or fish with a starch, aromatics, a lead herb, a dried fruit and a fresh vegetable. The sauce should be an easy marriage between a dairy and a hint of tomato. When it comes to a “meal in a bowl,” it’s the most flexible!
JENNIFER EREMEEVA
I was a little embarrassed to discuss something as pedestrian as stuffed peppers with my friend the professional chef. It turns out that the guy she’s dating, like HRH (my “Handsome Russian Husband”) is a die-hard “meal in a bowl” devotee. If you ask me (and no one ever, ever does) women like us are wasted on men like them, but what can you do? Make some stuffed peppers, I suppose. When I was a tour guide in the mid-nineties, I ate a lot of stuffed peppers, which made regularly scheduled appearances from Trieste to Warsaw, from Kaliningrad to Khabarovsk. God, they were awful! Here’s the thing about peppers: Green peppers are just not ripe, which is what makes them so disgusting. Would you eat an unripe pear? No. But 90 percent of the time, the stuffed peppers were green. And the stodgy stuff that was in them didn’t bear thinking about, so let’s just draw a veil and move on. It’s hard to say exactly how stuffed peppers came to Russia, but it’s clear they made their way from the south and the east. Almost every Balkan and Slavic country has a version, with the Bulgarians making a particularly passionate claim to the dish. “Larousse Gastronomique,” the never-wrong culinary encyclopedia, calls them “peppers a la turque.” My money, however, is on the Tatars, those marauding barbarians who introduced all kinds of dangerous things to Russia like
Ingredients: • 6 firm bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow) • 700 grams of best quality ground lamb • 8-10 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and cored (you can substitute 1 standard sized tin of tomatoes if need be) • ½ cup of feta or “brinza” cheese, crumbled • 3 Tbl of Greek yogurt • ½ cup of uncooked rice • 1 Tbl of olive oil • 1 large red onion, finely diced • 5 scallions, minced • 5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced • 1 knob or thumb of fresh ginger root, finely diced • 1 Tbl of fresh oregano, minced • 2 Tbl of fresh mint, minced • ½ tsp of cayenne pepper (optional) • ½ cup of dried figs or currents (optional) • 2 Tbl of pomegranate syrup (optional but highly recommended) • ½-cup of raw, unshelled pistachios • salt and pepper to taste For the sauce: 1 small yellow onion • 1 Tbl of best quality unsalted butter • 1 pint of ripe cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or 3 large beef tomatoes, seeded and cored • 1 cup of plain Greek style yogurt or sour cream • 1 Tbl of lime zest • 1 dash of Tabasco • ¼ cup of lemon or pepper flavored vodka or Danish aquavit Special equipment: A muffin tin • ice Instructions: 1. Combine the uncooked rice with 1 cup of water and 1 tsp of salt in a small saucepan and simmer until cooked. Set aside. 2. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and adjust the rack to the middle of the oven. 3. Prepare the peppers by slicing the tops off one thumb’s width from the top. Use a small sharp knife to carefully remove the core of the pepper. 4. Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil and plunge the peppers in for 2 minutes. Remove peppers carefully from boiling water with a pair of
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JENNIFER EREMEEVA SPECIAL TO RBTH
tongs and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. 5. Heat oil in a large saucepan, then add garlic and onions to moisten. 6. Add ground lamb, and cook until completely brown (5-6 minutes). 7. Add tomatoes, ginger, oregano, sumac, cayenne pepper, and dried figs. Cook for three more minutes. 8. Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add rice, pomegranate syrup, mint, scallions and yogurt and toss lightly. 9. Toast the pistachio nuts over high heat in a frying pan for four minutes, then grind in a mortar and pestle or a food processor. 10. Remove the peppers from the ice water and dry them gently with a paper towel. Insert each bottom part of the pepper into a muffin tin hole, then carefully spoon the lamb mixture into the pepper. 11. Top each pepper with crumbled feta and ground pistachio nuts. 12. Bake for 25-30 minutes. While the peppers are cooking, prepare the sauce. 13. Serve immediately – one to two peppers per person with plenty of sauce – in a bowl, of course. Jennifer Eremeeva is a a freelance writer and longtime resident of Moscow. She is the curator of the culinary blog, www. moscovore.com, and the humor blog www.russialite.com.