Culinaria Russia: Ukraine Georgia Armenia Hardcover – May 29, 2007

Lots of great recipes and all not that hard to make. Not the best photos though.

I'm from Russia and I was struggling with finding a book in English with proper Russian recipies, until I got Culinaria. The book is great, the recipies are real ones (not adapted), the book has a lot of colourful photos.Another advantage of the book is that it also has georgian, armenian, azerbaijan and ukrainian recipies - these cuisines are very popular in Russia nd I'm glad that now I have their recipies as well.

Very cool book for fans of Russian cuisine, or for those interested in learning about Russian food. Well organized, and cool pictures.

This book has great colorful illustrations, description of the four major cuisines and a variety of very easy and useful recipes.

I bought this book from a Russian vendor at a special vendor night at the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia. I was hesitant at first, but as soon as I opened the book I discovered it was filled with many colorful photos, detailed descriptions , recipes, maps, scenery, indexes, etc. (ALL IN ENGLISH!) Every page of the book has color photos. This book would be suitable for a coffee table book, for tourists, or just to learn about the culture, history, and foods in Russia and its neighboring countries. I'm very satisfied with this purchase.

This book is more a culture compandium than a cook book. I was irritated to find Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijan food recipes, while buying a Russian culinary book. Those countries have spices, that Russia doesn't and many western foodstores don't sell. So no use buying the book if you don't have the engredients

It is a very good source on the topic. The book has great illustrations, too. I haven't seen anything as good as this book in English.

I have all the books from Culinaria and just bought this Russia one...Its a dream, looking in this book, you find yourself back on a dining table somewhere in Russia with all the good foods, all the rich traditions and wonderful culture of that country...You learn how those people live in the cold winters and warm summers..This book is more then a book, its a trip in history, traditions and looking at all the beautiful pictures make you hungry and before you know it, you are cooking and eating all those goodies, the recipes are easy to follow.

I've got the Hungarian Culinaria title and really enjoyed it, sadly the Russian one just isn't as good.On the plus side, it's got lots of photos and information on Russian, Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijani food and culture. It was fascinating to read about these countries, and far flung places like Siberia and Vladivostock. It works well if you just want a general, broad brush introduction into food and eating in these cultures.The sections on Armenia and Azerbaijan were particularly interesting, as it's rare to get information about these two cuisines in the West.Then there's the downsides. This book is great for photos and information, but can be frustrating to use as a cookbook. For example, take the Chicken Kiev recipe. Oddly, it doesn't appear in the book's index. Then, when you find it, it mysteriously doesn't include garlic - I'd always thought this was integral to Chicken Kiev, so even if it isn't authentic, it would be useful to have a note explaining why not.The chapters on each country were written by different authors. This means that the book can be a bit hit or miss. Disappointingly, the Russian chapter was particularly poor, which a high ratio of photos and prose to actual recipes. There were numerous photos of zakushki - Russian appetisers - but no instruction on how to make them. Ukrainian stuffed aubergines look mouth watering, but unfortunately the book includes photos but no recipes. Why???Even where relatively accessible recipes are included, they seem to be poorly considered. For example, there's a basic blini recipe, but no recipes for authentic fillings.In summary, the recipes that you'd expect in a cookbook covering the former USSR are all here - borscht, the aforementioned blinis, pelmeni, beef stroganov. It also includes more exotic things like Georgian cheesebread, pilaf-type rice dishes, fish kebabs and a whole host of other dishes.However, I was hoping for an accessible, usable guide to Russian cooking; a Russian equivalent to The Georgian Feast (which is a better buy for those interested in Georgian food). This book was interesting, but not as practical as other Culinaria titles.