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  • Writer's pictureMichael Laxer

Sputnik's Dishes from Odessa, USSR 1969 -- Vintage Cookbook TBT

w. "Kuyalnik" Rolls, Odessa Rissoles and the "Tourist Special".

Odessa night street scene, 1975 -- from our post: Second World War Hero Cities of the USSR Part I (theleftchapter.com)


Published in the July, 1969 issue of the Soviet English language magazine Sputnik, this feature gave four recipes from the cuisine of the Ukrainian SSR's Hero City of Odessa.


These include a garlic, cottage cheese and walnut hors d'oeuvre, a roll with with onions and liver, breaded chicken rissoles and a fried fish dish.


Odessa Hors d'oeuvre


For 4 portions:


13 oz fatty cottage cheese

2 Tbs butter

11/2 oz shelled walnuts

garlic, salt and pepper to taste


Pound walnuts and grate garlic. Season cottage cheese with salt and pepper, add melted butter, walnuts and garlic, mix thoroughly to a smooth consistency.


"Kuyalnik" Roll


For 4 portions:


1 lb calves' liver

1/2 lb pork fat

2 medium-sized onions

1 1/2 Tbs gelatine (1/2 oz.)

salt and pepper to taste


Scald liver in absolutely boiling water, cut into narrow strips and fry slowly until done.


Chop onion into fine strips and fry until golden brown.


Cover piece of pork fat with boiling water and boil for about 30 minutes.


Chop pork fat into small pieces and add to fried onions, liver and gelatine, previously soaked for 5 minutes in 1/2 cup of water. Season with salt and pepper, mix well, then do up in cellophane in the form of a roll. Place in boiling water and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.


Allow the roll to cool naturally, then slice and decorate with cold butter shapes.


Any piquant sauce, including horse radish, may be served with this dish.



Odessa Rissoles


For 4 portions:


13 oz chicken fillet

2 eggs

4 Tbs milk

7 Tbs butter

11/2 tsp flour

1/3 breakfastcup breadcrumbs

salt to taste


Mince chicken fillet finely, putting it twice through the mincer. Add beaten eggs, 2 Tbs milk, and salt, and mix well to a smooth consistency.


Make a thick white sauce as follows: melt butter in a saucepan, add remainder of milk, and salt to taste, bring to the boil and then, removing saucepan from gas, add flour in a fine stream, constantly stirring. When the sauce cools and thickens, divide it into four parts.


Divide minced chicken into four parts, shape into rissoles and place a portion of sauce in the centre of each. Coat rissoles with breadcrumbs and fry in hot fat for 8-10 minutes.


The rissoles may be served with fried potatoes, marinated fruit and green peas in tartlet cases.


Tourist Special


For 4 portions:


1 lb pike-perch

1/3 breakfastcup milk

3 oz butter

2 eggs

1/3 breakfastcup breadcrumbs

1 breakfastcup vegetable oil


Remove skin from pike-perch fillet, divide fillet into 4 pieces and leave to soak in milk for 2-3 hours. Then remove from milk, squeeze gently and beat out well.


Place a knob of butter on each piece and roll each fillet into a cone shape.


Beat eggs and brush on each cone. Coat cones with breadcrumbs, then fry in previously heated frying pan in boiling vegetable oil ( at 100 degrees C. or 212 degrees F.) for 10 minutes.



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