«What’s Cooking in the Kremlin»: Culinary Nonfiction about Violence, Food, and Hunger

ITC.ua has already published materials about cookbooks The Elder Scrolls or byuniverse «Harry Potter». And soon there will be books on Fallout and the «Friends» series. The book «What’s Cooking in the Kremlin» is similar in theme, but still quite different. It is also about food, and there are even photos of various dishes and recipes for their preparation. However, this is a serious nonfiction book that tries to understand something much more important — the recipe for imperial-Soviet terror.

«What's Cooking in the Kremlin»

Pluses:

good quality of the publication; powerful stories of people, historical events, and dictators they served; a lot of interesting and useful information about the imperial-Soviet system of governance; lots of food and interesting dishes that are important elements of the plot

Minuses:

Too complex topics for the modern Ukrainian reader; too many Russians who talk about «good Russians» and lament the collapse of the Union

8/10

Rating ITC.ua

As you can see, this is not a typical book for us, it is more historical, although it has a different «wrapper». But we are going to tell you about it anyway because the things that are discussed here are very important to know. Especially in the eleventh year of the war.

«What’s Cooking in the Kremlin»

Author Vitold Shablovsky
Translator Andriy Bondar
Publisher Staryi Lev Publishing House
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 482
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2023
Size 145×200 mm
Website starylev.com.ua

If the word «nonfiction» scares you off, and you think that these are serious books that are difficult to read, then let’s call it something else. And although nonfiction is, on the contrary, one of the most interesting genres of books, let’s consider «Kitchen of Terror» a literary reportage. Maybe this will make it easier for you to perceive it.

The book was written by Polish journalist Witold Szablowski. He traveled extensively in Ukraine, Belarus, and the country of the 404 (even before the full-scale invasion), meeting with cooks, chefs, and cooks to learn their stories. These people were not ordinary people, but were involved in significant events in the history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and even modern Muscovy.

Each chapter of «What’s Cooking in the Kremlin» covers a specific topic. It is the life and death of Nicholas I, Lenin, or Stalin. It is the Holodomor in Ukraine, the siege of Leningrad during World War II, the massive resettlement of Crimean Tatars, the war in Afghanistan, the Chernobyl accident, and so on. Throughout, the author looks behind the scenes of the kitchen, meets different people who once prepared food for important historical figures.

On the one hand, it hurts the most for the heroines who survived the Holodomor, for the Crimean Tatars who literally made their way back to Crimea from Uzbekistan. And for ordinary cooks from provincial Ukrainian towns who ended up in Chernobyl and then almost all died.

On the other hand, the heroes and heroines from the swamps evoke no less stormy emotions. Serving the Soviet and Russian dictators, putting their lives and health on the altar of service through cooking. They not only do not resent having nothing, but also boast of their personal acquaintance with Stalin, Brezhnev, or Putin, tell how simple their meals were, and even lament the collapse of the Soviets.

Reading all the stories of «suffering», glorification of dictators and the glorious Soviet past, you may be outraged not only at these «heroes» stories, but also at the author. Why the hell is this Pole telling us about them at all, and why he doesn’t engage in arguments or discussions after certain purely imperialist-Russian statements?

But, first, remember the genre of this book («literary reportage»), and second, try to pay attention to the tons of sarcasm and contempt with which the author carefully but constantly bombards his Russian heroes. The reportage genre is a specific thing through which the author shows certain people or events through the description of their actions, description of movements, detailed transmission of speech, monologues and conversations.

In other words, Witold Szabłowski shows us all these characters and invites us to draw our own conclusions about certain people. And we see, we see through, and we are once again convinced that Russians have always been imperial slaves, and for centuries they have suffered from their own power and continue to glorify it. And these are the most striking moments, in my opinion, that the author reveals.

Through food and recipes, through cuisine and the preferences of certain foods, Shablovsky shows the terrible truth about imperial-Soviet terror, about the horrific patterns of knife, ladle, and fork control that Russian and Soviet rulers have always used.

There is a lot of subtle humor in the book about the Russian characters. As I said above, the genre chosen by the author imposes strict limitations on this story. But as best he could, which was very difficult, he still put in a lot of subtle mockery that still needs to be noticed. And when you do, you will be pleased and probably change your mind about the author.

Even if you understand Witold Szabłowski’s intention, it will still be difficult to read this book. It is easily and pleasantly written, interesting, sarcastic, and fascinating. But each new story about a particular dish or cook, if not causing historical pain, outrages and anger Ukrainians.

Nevertheless, such books should be read anyway. They are very important for understanding not only our past, but also for realizing the present. And they definitely help to create plans for the future, in which there is nothing Russian. And especially their food. The country that obliged Crimean Tatars to change the inscription «Chebureky» to «Southern Pies» should be forgotten. And the book «Kitchen of Terror, or How to Build an Empire with a Knife, Ladle, and Fork» partially helps to realize this.