My food today has been porridge, mushroom soup and bread and
fish. I was actually excited about eating all of these – am I past the point of
no return?! I think I’ve been here for too long…
Mushroom soup is the thing I want to talk about today. Or
rather, mushrooms.
Russians LOVE
mushrooms.
One of the first things we learnt in our first year of
university was about the seasons and “In autumn, I like to go into the forest
to collect and marinate mushrooms”. I’m not even kidding. Our teacher thought
this was completely normal which I think we should have taken with a pinch of
salt. (She was great by the way, driest sense of humour ever, no nonsense – but
incredibly nice!)
It is true though – when you come to Russia in autumn, there
are mushrooms everywhere in the shops and in restaurant. In our local jacket
potato restaurant, mushrooms are being marketed as “the taste of the season”. There
is even to be a Mushroom Festival to be held in the park over the road in a
couple of weeks’ time. You’ll have to drag me away from it, quite frankly.
Mushrooms are not like you come across in England – they’re
not white, for starters, more a chestnut colour. They have an amazing meaty
texture to them, rather like cepes/porcini and they are absolutely full of
flavour. I would become a vegetarian if it gave me the excuse of eating more
mushrooms, they’re so good. The Russian seasonal pastime of mushroom collecting
is just as fundamentally a part of autumn as collecting conkers is in the UK.
Oh, and we saw a red mushroom with white spots growing in the Peterhof. Turns out it was actually a magic mushroom. (This is the part where I make my 'incredulous-but-nothing-shocks-me-any-more' face). Oh and I should credit my much beloved room mate for this picture - my camera had died by this point and her photos are on my computer. Cheeky cheeky.
I saw something amazing today – a family making crowns of
autumn leaves in the park. All you need is a needle and thread and a huge stack
of golden sycamore leaves and you can create the most amazing mane-like
headpiece. I hope one day in 20 years’ time I will be able to do that with my
kids/friends’ kids. It was a magical piece of childhood that I felt privileged
to witness. I really wish I'd been able to get a photo, but being the amazingly clever person I am, I didn't have my camera on me. Doh.
Today I made friends with a Kyrgyz man I could not understand
and successfully gave a man directions (in Russian) to the Griboedeva Canal –
which I actually knew the location of.
Success.
Look at them..they look so perfect and tempting..
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