New Russian Thing: Kvass

Following along with my sampling of a variety of Russian candies, Dasha brought in something else for us to try: Kvass.

Kvass is one of the most popular beverages on the planet. It's extremely popular in Eastern Europe, throughout the former Soviet Union, and even into parts of Northern China. Like most beverages that are so widespread, there are thousands of varieties, so when I say, "Kvass is ... " what I mean is "most kvass is ... "

Keep that in mind.

It's often compared to beer. In fact, the best kvass is apparently produced by breweries, and it's often slightly alcoholic (hovering around a three or four proof, which is 1.5-2% alcohol by volume). Kvass is actually made with bread.

Yes, really.

When making kvass, you first dehydrate some stale bread (Rye seems to be the most popular variety). Then you drop it into boiling water.  Then you strain it and let it cool before adding yeast, sugar, and a bit more water. And other ingredients - mint, juice, raisins, and berries seem to be popular additions.

Then it is strained and cooled and strained and cooled. And then it sits for a few days. And then it's filtered and refrigerated and then drunk.

I was afraid I wouldn't like it - and I didn't want to waste it because it's expensive. So I poured a small amount into a glass the size of a shot glass.  It was amber in color, and smelled ... like fresh bread. It was actually a bit disconcerting to smell, because I can't think of anything else that smells like bread and looks like tea.

I took a careful sip - Dasha has a sense of humor, so I wasn't sure if she was pranking me or not. My first thought was, "It tastes like bread!"

In fact, it's rather disconcertingly like drinking bread. Don't get me wrong - it's tasty - but the bread flavor just feels weird coming from a beverage. It tasted like fresh-baked bread.

I'll drink it again if it's offered, but I don't think it's something I'll purchase for myself. I guess that makes the verdict a tentative win on this one.

Pocky

I know, I know.  Pocky is about as American as Log Cabins or Apple Pie (look it up). But it's big here in the US. Well, among geeks and those who have been introduced to it.

It's available in most grocery stores here in the greater Seattle area.

What is it?  It's basically just a chocolate-dipped breadstick.

Yes. Really. But you need to try it to understand just why it's so good.

A few weeks back, I brought some into the office, and Dasha saw me crunching away. "What is that?"

The only possible answer to that is, of course, "It's Pocky. Want some?"

I handed her one of them, and she eyed it warily, "What is this?"

"Pocky. It's actually a Japanese treat, but it's easily available here and I really like it. Taste it."

She sniffed at it, and then took a tentative bite. She does that a lot - it's like she doesn't trust me or something. One wonders why.

"Is this just bread inside?"

"Basically, yes."

Another tentative bite, "It's good! I think I like this!"

Now, a box of Pocky often includes multiple plastic packages, each of which have a number of Pocky. So I just gave her the remainder of that package. "I need to get some of this for me! What is it called, again?"

And I showed her the package (which she photographed so she could find it in the stores).

Verdict? Win. I'm definitely getting better at finding things she'll like.

Dairy Queen Blizzards

Right next door to the Arby's we occasionally visit, there is a Dairy Queen.

Now, Dasha used to work for McDonald's, so I figured she'd had a McFlurry.

"No," she said, "I never got interested in trying one."

I've learned that she is really hit-or-miss on dairy products. She doesn't like sour cream, and isn't even willing to try French Onion Dip. Ranch Dressing is hit-or-miss (usually a miss).  Apparently the McFlurry looked a bit too much like sour cream.

I'm mostly kidding, of course - she does know the difference between sour cream and soft serve. I don't know why she didn't try a McFlurry, given her sweet tooth.

Either way, when we described Dairy Queen's signature item (the Blizzard), we told her that it's "kind of like a McFlurry, but better."

"Okay," she said, "I will try one the next time you go."

The next question was, of course, which flavor to get for her. DQ offers a dizzying array of them in four categories. Rather than guess (like I did with the Slurpees), I decided to let her decide.

She selected the Strawberry Cheesequake. In my opinion, it's not the strongest introduction to Blizzards, but it's not bad.

So that Friday, I headed to Arby's for lunch and grabbed Blizzards on my way back.

"It's really good," she said after a few bites. Or should that be sips? "Why didn't you show me this before?"

I figured that'd be the end of it, but, when we came in on Monday, she had something further to say to us. “So, you know that … um … that Blizzard? I tried three more this weekend. And I called my sister and I told her, and my husband tried one and he liked it and … “

Yep.  We've created a monster.

Win.

New Russian Thing: Candy

Dasha turned the tables on me this week. "These are Russian candy," she told me as she spilled a small handful of wrapped candies onto the desk. "I think you will like them."

As Ii grabbed a likely-looking first victim, I asked her, "What's this one?"

"It is sorta, um, like Honey." Now, one of my favorite candies is Bit-O-Honey. Or, more accurately, one of my favorites when I was younger was Bit-O-Honey. I was the only kid I knew who liked them.

It ... it was a less-chewy Bit-O-Honey. Much less chewy - it crumbled into my mouth as I ate it. But the taste was close.

I pointed at another one with cherries printed on the label. "What's this one? It looks like a Cherry Cordial!"

"It ... um ... it has cherry alcohol in it." Sure enough, it was a cherry cordial. And not a bad one, either - but I've never been found of cherry liquor.

"What about these - are they different flavors of the same thing?" I pointed at three with similar wrappers.

"No, these are the same flavor.  Those are different," she said, pointing at a different set of three.

So, naturally, I had to know what the flavors were. "This one is almond," she said, "and this one ... it is a berry flavor. I don't think you have it." The third was milk chocolate - it translated as "Cream Chocolate" when she used her translation website of choice.

The berry turned out to be bilberry - which is reported to be similar in flavor to blueberry. As I'm not fond of blueberries (yes, I'm picky), I set that one aside for my wife to try, and I popped the almond one open.

The flavor was fine, but I wasn't fond of the texture.  It was chocolate wrapped around an Almond paste - but it was almost more gelatin than paste. Somewhere between toothpaste and Jell-O.

The last one I tried had a cute picture of a cow on the cover.  The candy itself was roughly football-shaped. "It's a chocolate cream," she told me. It was chocolate, all right. With a wafery-crunch that reminded me a bit of a Crunch Bar. And the filling was chocolate frosting in terms of flavor and texture.

It was really good.

All in all, I found a number things I like in the mix, and I got to try something new.

I call it a Win.