…Or what Russians bring as a present to their foreign friends.
Last week i was meeting our colleagues, taking a short tour around the most famous attractions in Moscow (Red Sq., Arbat st.). Thevi from Canada asked me where to buy famous Armenian brandy Dvin, which Winston Churchill was very fond and drank whole bottle a day. Once Prime Minister found that Dvin lost the original taste. He expressed his dissatisfaction to Stalin. As it turned out the master Margar Setrakian, who was making coupage of Dvin has banished to Siberia. After the special call he was returned, given his job back. Churchill began to receive his favorite brandy again. Sedrakyan awarded with rank of Hero of Socialist Labor.
List of food that you can not find, probably, anywhere except Russia.
1. Sguschyonka $1
Condensed milk. It similar to Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk.
What good with? Use it as spread with pies, add to coffee instead milk and sugar. Also we boil it in a can. 2 hour boiling and it become a brown colored cream, good for some cakes.
What good with? Use it as spread with pies, add to coffee instead milk and sugar. Also we boil it in a can. 2 hour boiling and it become a brown colored cream, good for some cakes.
2.Ptich’e moloko $5
Literally translated as Bird’s milk cake. It not contains bird’s milk, name comes from legend of birds of paradise. In Soviet Union cake is produced by very small quantities, for its rare and taste was named symbolic “Bird’s milk”. Cake based on soufflés, thick layer of chocolate and a very thin shortcake. Firstly cake was cooked by Vladimir Guralnik head of restaurant “Prague” in1978.
3.Kluckva v sakhare $2
Cranberry in a shell of powdered sugar. One of the most kid’s favorite dessert from Soviet times. Berry is a bitter, but sugar makes it sweet. Sugar makes everything sweet, isn’t it?
4.Kefir $0.5
Cultured Buttermilk. Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with shepherds of the North Caucasus region. The Russian music group Chaif have a song Orange Mood with the refrain “A bottle of kefir, half a loaf”. The title of song reflect the realities of Soviet life: half-liter bottle of kefir and half of white loaves were fairly hearty breakfast, though available to not rich people.
5. Syr Druzhba $0.3
Syr Druzhba is the most famous Soviet melted cheese. Name of cheese means Friendship. It began to produce in 1963 in Karat factory in Moscow. In honor of this cheese, was set a monument in Moscow on Rustaveli street, 14 build. 11 near the factory Karat. The monument depicts the famous characters of Ivan Krylov’s fable The Crow and the Fox. Irreconcilable (according to the fable), enemies are sitting on a stump hugging and keep Druzhba.
6. Krasnaya ikra $10
Krasnaya ikra is a well-known Russian delicacies salmon caviar.
What good with? Slice of white bread with butter and a thin layer of red caviar.
7. Kvass $1
The tradition Russian beverage. Sometimes called a bread drink in English is a fermented beverage made from black or regular rye bread. Kvass refresh you better than any Coke in the hot summer, and it not contains a lot of sugar. Kvass is also used for preparing a cold summertime soup called okroshka.
8. Grechka $3 per kilo
Buckwheat. Grechka was named by Greek monks, who cultivated buckwheat in the times of Kiev Rus. Since this time Slavs began called it grechka.
What good with? It’s great to eat porridge of grechka with butter, mushrooms or milk! Also it’s great to serve with fish or some meat. By the way, Buckwheat is a diet product.
9. Glazed curd bar
Glazed curd bar is a product of the cotton cheese with sugar, vanilla, raisins, nuts, cookie etc., covered with chocolate icing.
Please note that not all of these products can be carry through customs in airport. There can be restrictions on import of diary and meat products.
Dvin brandy is still produced, it’s available in web stores and supermarkets.
Mosvitality 
