Not much Russian

caviar.JPG

I spent the past week in Moscow with work, and was amazed at how expensive it was. If you think a small coffee and croissant in Starbucks cost £8, you get the idea how much a three-course dinner with wine might be. As I result, somewhat reluctantly, I tended to eat in Italian or Japanese restaurants on the Arbat Str. which leads from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs up towards Red Square. Even in these places I was paying considerably more than I would in London!

I made up for the absence of Russian cuisine however by a trip to a Russian supermarket. In addition to some rather strong chocolates with vodka in, I came away with some decent caviar. I enjoyed some last night, firstly on toasted brown bread and then just by itself. I could tell it was good stuff as soon as I opened the tin, as the smell wasn’t at all strong. The caviar itself was pleasantly moist, not too salty, and the eggs separate and generally unbroken.

The last time I had good caviar, I washed it down with neat vodka. Without any of that on hand this time, I opted for a couple of glasses of a very reasonable KWV South African chardonnay at 13.5%.