Ron’s Reviews > Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing > Status Update

The author and her mother have moved to America, and then in 1987 Gorbachev opened the borders somewhat, allowing the occasional visit back and forth. If only they knew how much things would change in the next few years.

Up to "The Thaw" of the 1960s. Though this era is known for clashes like Vietnam and the Cuban Missile Crisis, tensions were actually kind of dying down from WWII levels, and some limited cultural exchange was allowed between our countries. People also got individual apartments, and threats of imprisonment were far less than in Lenin and Stalin's times, allowing certain dissident elements to grow bolder.

Today's chapters covered WWII, including the family's experience in the Siege of Leningrad. Struggle can bring out the best in us, but just as often it brings out the worst. There are obvious examples, like Hitler's plan to starve the Soviets into submission, but we could also talk about the dozens of people who stole food from a little girl's hands, knowing that could mean death for the girl and her whole family.

The last few sections mostly focused on the food scene of the period between Revolution and WWII, when the USSR was at least somewhat open to capitalist ideas (though they knew they could do it better). For example, many of the treats that Soviet people enjoyed, like sausages, grilled meats, and ice cream treats, were based on products and processes Anastas Mikoyan and his wife saw during a trip to the USA in 1936.

The story can be hard to follow since it jumps between the present and several pasts, but there are some hard-hitting moments. She mentions the propagandized image of Stalin holding a happy child, but as with so much of the Soviet era, things could turn dark very quickly. The child's father was later accused of treason, and "the poster child of the ideal Stalinist childhood was deported and raised in an orphanage."

Favorite part so far: several years into the USSR era, Lenin (who was legendary for embracing bland food) led an inquiry into why the food from the Kremlin kitchen was so bad. Turned out the cooks didn't know how to cook. The Soviets kicked the Imperial chefs out for being part of the bourgeois establishment, and instead hired guys off the street with no particular expertise or interest in cooking.

I picked this one up on a whim. How can you not love a title like that? The book's description suggests it's part memoir, part "A People's History of the Soviet Union." Through three generations' experiences, von Bremzen presents a portrait of Soviet life as it was for the common folk.