Enjoy the flavors of Sochi in Clark County

Containers full of green pickled apples, tomatoes and cabbage at Anoush Deli & International Food Market bring back a flood of memories for Galina Burley, a leader of Vancouver’s Russian-speaking population.

Burley grew up in Sochi, Russia, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. She said she hopes foods from the region, like those sold at Anoush, can be used to introduce more people from Clark County to Russian culture while they enjoy the games.

o Svitoch (grocery store), 4804 N.E. Thurston Way, 360-896-6693.

o Kolos Euro Foods (grocery store), 212 N.E. 164th Ave., No. 13, 360-896-0081.

o Anoush Deli & International Food Market (grocery store), 6808 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, 360-693-4359.

o Premier Euro Market (grocery store), 11216 N.E. Fourth Plain Road, 360-885-9384.

o Leyla’s Bakery (bakery), 6300 N.E. 117th Ave., 503-764-7121.

“When you talk about Sochi, you’re talking about a vacation resort town for pretty much all of Russia (and the surrounding countries),” Burley said. “It’s on the Black Sea, next to Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and Ukraine. We’d have 300,000 population in winter, and over 1 million in the summer. It was this melting pot on steroids.”

The 38-year-old left her hometown for America when she was a teenager. Some of her memories have faded in the decades she’s been here, but with the games rapidly approaching, other things are flooding back.

“I’m excited,” Burley said. “It’s really cool. It gives me a way to personally appreciate where I came from.”

With about 30,000 Russian-speaking immigrants in Clark County, it’s likely that many in our community will have some kind of personal connection to the games. And the five international markets that cater to the population are also wide open for others who’d like to give some interesting new foods a try, Burley said.

“Our parties in Russia, they’re all about food,” Burley said. “We don’t have potlucks. If you invite people to your house, you cook, or you buy (food).”

Follow the games with local flavor: Galina Burley, a native of Sochi, Russia who has lived in Vancouver for about 20 years, will blog about the events, culture, food and issues in her hometown throughout the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Russian hosts pride themselves on having a little something for everybody. A good party has a broad selection of small items for guests, said Yelena Strokin, owner of the food blog Cooking Melangery.

“When people get together (in Eastern Europe) they cook many appetizers — (called) ‘zakuskas,’ and of course tea after the meal,” Strokin said.

Plenty of pickling

Zakuskas include a spectrum of things such as pirozhki (meat- or vegetable-filled pies), deviled eggs, hard cheese, caviar, bread, cured fish and of course, pickled fruits and vegetables.

So what’s with all the pickling? There’s a reason for that, Burley said.

“In Russia we have a lot of open markets,” Burley said. “But in Russia, we don’t have a lot of access to fresh produce, so everything’s pickled (for preservation).”

Russian pickling doesn’t usually involve vinegar. The recipe is more of a salted brine with herbs. And the flavor is ubiquitous in Russian cooking, she said.

“I remember we used to eat pickled watermelon,” Burley said with a laugh.

The taste? “Imagine a watermelon that’s still sort of like a watermelon but it’s also salty like a pickle,” she said.

Perhaps the most classic of all Russian dishes is something called Olivier salad. The dish, which tastes somewhat like American egg salad, is made of a combination of cubed meats, potatoes, olives, pickled vegetables, eggs, carrots and peas in a mayonnaise base.

The meats can be just about anything, including fish, Russian bologna, shellfish and chicken — or you can just use Burley’s favorite substitute.

“I use hot dogs now,” she said with a laugh. “I’m an American.”

Russians eat Olivier salad in the same way that Americans down hamburgers. It’s sort of an all-purpose party food that’s simple to make.

“If we were having a party at my house, we’d definitely have Olivier salad,” Burley said. “We make this for every holiday. We make this for everything.”

Eat, drink, be merry

If you’re looking for something a bit more advanced but don’t want to cook, most of the local markets also sell pre-made dishes, said Grisha Alpernas, a Vancouver resident who grew up in Lithuania.

“If somebody wants more general Russian traditional foods — pelmeni (meat-filled dumplings) and pirozhki come to mind,” Alpernas said, “there are a few Russian stores in the area that have these foods — and even wines.”

If you’re the drinking sort, iced vodka is always a popular party drink. You can even give it a local twist by picking up a bottle of Viscova, a vodka made by the Double V Distillery in Battle Ground.

Beer is also pretty common at Russian parties, along with Kvass, a lightly fermented, sweet drink made from rye bread, and milder things such as tea, soda or lemonade.

“A lot of the Russian-speaking people here, they’re religious, they’re Christian, and they don’t really drink,” Burley said. “In Russia, though, there is usually a lot of vodka.”

That said, in either place the focus is mostly on the food, Alpernas said.

And like the United States, Russian foods also vary quite a bit from region to region.

In Sochi, Mediterranean influences are just a stone’s throw away, so the food tends to take on flavors common in nearby countries.

“Things like chebureki (fried turnovers), khachapuri (cheese-filled bread), khinkali (Georgian dumplings), shashlyk (shish kebabs) and lavash (Estonian) bread are pretty typical representation of traditional foods for that area,” Alpernas said.

But the most signature dish for Sochi is a stuffed cabbage dish called golubtsy, Burley said.

“My mom also sometimes uses grape leaves (instead of cabbage), which is more of a Georgian tradition,” Burley said. “She’s an amazing cook.”

Sochi is also one of the few places in Russia where fruit trees are common. Lemons, pomegranates and oranges grow readily in the relatively mild climate, which is a bit like Vancouver in terms of seasonal temperatures and rainfall.

Regional dishes in Sochi include a little more fresh, colorful produce than those from colder parts of Russia, she said.

As for parties, people didn’t usually play games or loud music. Russian parties are more of a feast, with people around a big table talking, laughing and sharing stories. After everyone finishes, guests would sometimes sing traditional songs or dance, Alpernas said.

“Normally, we would eat, drink — with long and meaningful toasts — dance, and talk about how to save the world,” Alpernas said.

Golubtsy (Stuffed Cabbage)

Yield: 6 servings

From Cooking Melangery. Visit www.melangery.com/p/russian-monday.html for more Russian recipes.

For meat filling:

2 tablespoons clarified butter or olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, shredded

1 pound ground (minced) beef

1 cup long-grain rice, cooked

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

For cabbage rolls:

1 medium head cabbage

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cups chicken stock or water

3 tablespoons tomato sauce (I used Ragu Traditional)

Salt to taste

Plain whole-milk yogurt or sour cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For meat filling, heat clarified butter or olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and fry until soft, about 7 minutes. Place in a bowl with beef and remaining filling ingredients. Mix well.

Arrange the rolls in a large pot, pour the sauce over the top. Cover and bring to boil. Place in the oven for about 45-50 minutes.

Serve rolls hot or warm. Serve with yogurt or sour cream.