Sergey Zverev

W e h a ve o n l y fre s h a n d s a vo r y n e w s!
July 2015 | № 7 (142)
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SUPERSTAR
Sergey
Zverev
The Globe in Your Pocket
Everything
I Touch Turns
into Gold and Diamonds…
Starting the Morning with a Recharge
NewYork: A SovietFile,
a Healthy Nation and Its Personages
Healthy Eating
Women at the Wheel
The First Women’s Car Race in1936
Wi-Fi in all
restaurants
24/7 food delivery and hotline:
8 (495) 780-77-44
www.tarasbulba.ru
6+
2 | guest
He worked with Maya Plisetskaya, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Alla Pugachova, and others. He became
World Champion and Absolute Champion of Europe. He is a poet and creates very successful
collections. He also gives workshops and says that he reached a peak in his profession. Only the
sky is higher than he. All this is about the King of Shock and Superstar Sergey Zverev, who gladly
agreed to give our newspaper a frank interview.
Sergey Zverev:
«Everything I Touch
Turns into Gold and Diamonds…»
– Sergey, what is your usual work week now?
Many artists complain of the crisis. Did it have
an impact on you?
– No. For me this is a very fruitful time. Yes, it
is sad that there is a crisis now, it’s very difficult
to live and many people have gone bankrupt. You
know, it’s not the first crisis in my life. On the
contrary, I’m convinced that this is a favorable time
for creativity, love, and inspiration. Now some steps
forward can and should be taken. It was during the
time of a crisis I became the Absolute Champion of
Europe, World Champion, top artist. At the time of a
crisis, I also wrote my best hits, created my greatest
collections and won. I would say that at this time
all the rubbish goes away and I’m prospering. Since
everything I touch turns into gold and diamonds,
and what I leave turns into sand…
– We know that you like Ukraine very much
and that you always praise it. Once you even
sang in Ukrainian… What is the secret? Do you
have many friends there?
–I have distant relatives in Ukraine. My child’s
godparents live there. Relating to my professional life,
some of my students are Ukrainians. My colleagues
in music and fashion are from Ukraine. Ukraine for
me is something inseparable. Since childhood I feel
at home there. The thing is that I was brought up
in a village, where many Ukrainians lived. Why do
I sing in their language? It’s because I remembered
what they were singing, for example, “What a Starry
Night.” That’s why it entered my repertoire so easily.
It’s like nostalgia for my childhood and homeland.
– How did it happen that you’ve become
a fan of the Ukrainian embroidered shirt, the
vyshyvanka? Do you have many such shirts in
your wardrobe?
– I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan of the vyshyvanka.
Why? Because it is very similar to the Russian shirt.
Our shirt has just a placket and a waist belt unlike
the Ukrainian one. It should be noted that from
childhood a vyshyvanka for me is casual attire,
not festive. I’ve even slept in it. It is very practical
and comfortable. Even now I can wear it instead of
pajamas. Very often I wear it at home. Nobody asks
me any more why I wear a vyshyvanka. Everybody
accepted it and got used to it. On a hot summer
day, it’s irreplaceable. You don’t get hot in it in the
summer, and you stay warm in it in the cold! That’s
why I own a whole collection, a huge collection of
vyshyvankas.
– Where do you buy them?
– My fans already know that I have this
collection and present them to me. In Ukraine, there
are markets with them. For example, in Kyiv there
is a whole street with vyshyvankas and Ukrainian
folk things. I like vyshyvankas of turquoise and
blue colors very much. Some of them were made to
order. I have a vyshyvanka with poppies. Since it is
handmade, it is very beautiful.
– Our publication popularizes cooking in all
its varieties. Could you tell our readers about
your diet? What food do you enjoy most of all?
guest | 3
– First of all, I like borsch with buns. It is served
with two buns covered with a garlic sauce. However,
I order one more portion of garlic sauce, since it’s
not enough for me. I eat the top very quickly
and then I dip the rest into the garlic and eat my
fill… I eat plenty of borsch. Indeed, your waiters
witnessed me eating borsch here! Sometimes I
can eat up to two servings! Then I like varenyky
with potatoes and sour cream. I also like sweet
varenyky, which are cooked in sweetened water.
Once I threw a tantrum because my uzvar (drink
prepared of dried fruits) disappeared. I spoke to
everyone starting with waiters and ending with
managers and chefs to get I back. And they did it!
That was great, since I think that Ukrainian cuisine
without uzvar is not Ukrainian, but Chinese. Uzvar,
varenyky, borsch should be there all the time! By
the way, I would like to say that whenever I visit
Korchma, everything is incredibly tasty! You are
always so welcoming here.
– Still what are your favorite dishes in the
Ukrainian and Russian cuisines? Just name two
or three dishes!
– No. It’s not two or three dishes…
– Is it more?
– Yes. The first one is varenyky, the second
borsch, the third noodle-soup with chicken, the
fourth rabbit with potatoes, the fifth uzvar. I also
like “dressed herring.” How can a table be laid
without pickled vegetables? How? What is this? It’s
a pity. I can eat all this at one go.
– Once you said that you were very thin and
weak as a young boy. And if not for country
cuisine and products, everything could have
ended fatally…
– If not for country cuisine, fresh milk, cottage
cheese, sour cream, country air, and especially
country bread, I would probably not have survived
8th grade.
– Do you sometimes allow yourself to drink
50 g of alcohol? Are there some interesting
stories connected with it?
– We have such holiday as All Souls Day. I don’t
drink, but if it’s to commemorate the deceased, I
will for sure commemorate them and drink three
shots, not more. If more, it’s already another day
and another holiday, for example, New Year’s or my
parents’ birthdays. It happens that I drink in cases
where I feel uncomfortable around some people.
Rather than explaining that I don’t drink, it’s better
to drink and that’s it. As for the stories… It can
be some event. I go somewhere, and there are such
beautiful and nice girls. And in the corner far away
from me, there is a dull and ugly girl… Sure thing,
next morning I would wake up in bed with her!
– Obviously, you are traveling around the
world. What cuisine do you like most of all?
– I like Caucasian cuisine most of all. This is
because of grilled meat and fish. It’s very hearty
and macho food. We can’t do without it. Vietnamese
cuisine is grasshoppers, mice, frogs, worms… This is
not for me at all.
– Our traditional question is whether you
leave tips or not. If yes, then how much?
– Yes, whenever it’s possible.
– What does it depend on?
– Sometimes a waitress puts in a lot of effort
and it pays off. She can do everything very well. For
example, I was there only twice, but she remembers
what I ordered the first time and doesn’t ask me
stupid questions. She already knows everything.
What is usually wrong? If you order saying just
“black tea and hot milk,” the tea will not be very
hot and the milk will be cold or not very hot as
well. You should say “I urge you to make me very
hot tea. It should be black, well brewed. And please
make me unrealistically hot milk.” Only after this
everything will be as it should. There are waitresses,
who remember everything, they don’t need any
explanations. Then you think “she is mine.” I’m
also from a service providing sphere. If you make an
effort, you will have something, and if you don’t, you
will miss the boat. It’s a pity that waitresses have
different shifts. You finally get used to a shift, and
there is another one. You become disappointed and
think that you have to start from scratch again.
– Do you have favorite waitresses?
– I liked one waitress very much. She looked very
beautiful. And she worked great! It was incredibly
simple. She was like a psychic! It should be said that
your guys work very well, both boys and girls!
Taking this opportunity, I would like to wish
happiness, love, and prosperity to those people who
like Ukrainian food and your restaurants, those who
are kind and hospitable! Ukraine, I love you!
Text: Stepan HRYTSYUK
4 | health
Let’s Begin the Morning with a Recharge
The word combination “healthy breakfast” makes lots of people sad and is often associated
with something unappetizing. Is it really so? Can breakfast be tasty, healthy, and easy to
make simultaneously? Of course it can! And at the breakneck pace of current life you just
need to find time for a morning meal. Because breakfast is not only a source of energy,
vitamins, and microelements for your body, but it also activates the work of the digestive
system and speeds up metabolism. Thereby, you will get a sufficient amount of energy for
physical and mental activity and won’t put on excess weight.
Scientists’ believe that the habit of regularly skipping breakfast results
in overeating in the evenings and can lead to obesity, hypertension, high
cholesterol, and diabetes. Such health problems can cause an early heart attack.
According to studies, the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular disease for people
who don’t eat breakfast is higher by 28% than for those who eat a healthy meal
in the morning.
How to get used to eating breakfast and what products are better to choose?
First of all, it’s necessary to try to have dinner no later than 3-4 hours before
going to sleep. Then, in the morning you wont’ have a feeling of heaviness. If you
don’t have an appetite in the morning, you can make a drink from a glass of hot
water, lemon juice squeezed from a wedge, and a teaspoon of honey, and drink it
right after you wake up and then you can do your usual work: to take a shower,
prepare for work or studies, etc. Ideally, do a morning workout. However, even
without physical exercises, 20 minutes after such a refreshing and rejuvenating
drink your appetite will appear and you can eat your breakfast with pleasure.
It is considered that morning is the best time to consume carbohydrates
since they will give you energy for the whole day and your body will be able to
use it up but not store it as fat. The best choice is complex carbohydrates found
in porridges, legumes, nuts, vegetables, and fruits. They are gradually digested
by the body providing it with energy for a long period of time and keeping blood
sugar level stable. Simple carbohydrates included in sweets, pastries, and fizzy
drinks, on the other hand, take additional energy for their digestion which can
cause the feeling of tiredness and the lack of important microelements in the
body.
Here is a list of the healthiest dishes for breakfast:
• Oatmeal (or other porridges) with fruits, berries, nuts,
and honey. The porridge can be cooked either with water
or with milk. If you don’t have time at all in the morning,
you can soak the oatmeal in cold water overnight and
before eating you can add various delicacies.
• Fruit salad with nuts, seeds, and honey.
• Fat-free cottage cheese with fruit, berries, nuts, or
savory cottage cheese with greens.
• Whole-wheat bread with cheese.
• Boiled eggs, chicken, or fish fillet for more hearty
breakfast.
• Vegetable salad with a dressing from olive or sunflower
oil, lemon juice, and seasoned with greens.
• Smoothie from vegetables, fruits, or berries with
greens or nuts.
• Natural yogurt.
health | 5
A healthy breakfast may also include such products as an omelet, cottage cheese
pancakes with sour cream, or light meat dishes. Often, nutritionists advise to drink
green tea or juice instead of morning coffee. However, for many people coffee is an
inevitable attribute of the morning, which, by the way, contains antioxidants that
are quite healthy for our body. That’s why there’s no point in giving it up; you just
have to try not to drink it on an empty stomach and don’t overuse sugar. And of
course, choose natural coffee over the instant sort.
Scientists think that the best part of food should be consumed in the first half
of a day. That’s why it is advised to eat 30% of the whole daily ration for breakfast.
However, if you fail to have a substantial breakfast (no time or appetite), you can
have a snack before lunch with the products recommended for the morning meal.
In different countries there are different traditions and views on the proper
breakfast. For example, the main products for continental breakfast preferred by
many European countries (Italy, France, Belgium, Luxemburg) are orange juice,
coffee, and pastries. Though, Germans, Scandinavians, the Dutch, and Austrians
try to have a more nourishing meal in the morning. People from these countries
eat porridges, eggs, cheeses, yogurts, fruits, and cold meat.
In Africa, the main breakfast components are millet, rice, maize and cassava
porridges, eggs, bananas, legumes, tea, and various pastries. In the morning, Asians
eat soups, broths, legumes, rice, eggs, meat, and different vegetables and season
fruits. Americans can have cereals with milk, a hamburger with coffee, or warm up
the last-night pizza for breakfast.
In Great Britain, the traditional English breakfast is called brunch: the meal
combining breakfast and lunch. It’s worth noting that this is a set of heavy and
greasy dishes usually served to county visitors. Tourists are offered to taste crispy
fried bacon, golden brown sausages or home-made sausage, fried eggs, baked beans
in tomato sauce, mushrooms and potato patties. It’s impossible to imagine the
traditional English breakfast without toast with butter, jam, honey, or marmalade
served with tea, coffee, or orange juice.
It is hard to imagine how the English people would look if they ate such
breakfast every day. Actually, the Brits allow themselves such a morning feast not
more than one time a week, on weekends. And daily an English breakfast consists
of good old-fashioned oatmeal, a hard-boiled egg, and of course tea, coffee, or
juice.
In other countries (Japan, China, Korea), more and more people prefer to have
European breakfast over the traditional one.
What kind of breakfast to choose depends not only on country traditions, but
on the health condition and taste preferences of each person. The main condition
is that the morning meal brings as much energy, health benefit, and good mood
as possible!
Two fried eggs
served with bacon, green beans and cherry tomatoes
100 g 210 rub
Tourist’s Breakfast
toasted bread, light-salted salmon, cucumber, egg, mayonnaise,
slice of cheese; served with new potatoes
250/50 g 290 rub
Milk porridge of crushed spelt wheat
200 g 100 rub
6 | History
July 2
International Sports Journalists Day
July 6
Day of the Mother of God Icon of Vladimir
International Kissing Day
July 7
NativityofJohn the Baptists
July 8
Russian Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness
Family Day in Ukraine
July 11
Day of the “Three-Handed” Mother of God Icon
International Chocolate Day
July 13
Feast of St. Peter and Paul
July 18
Invention of the Relics of Monk Martyr Sergiy of Radonezh
Women at the Wheel
6
“Fast, Brave, Enduring.”
The First Women’s Automobile Race in 1936
july
International Kissing Day
July 21
Appearance of the Mother of God Icon in the city of Kazan
July24
FeastofSt. Princess Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles
July28
Day of Christianization of Kyiv Rus
FeastofSt. PrinceVolodymyr, Equal-to-the-Apostles
July30
International Friendship Day
They were burnt by the sun in the Karakum desert, they got stuck in bogs and
sands, they ascended peaks and endured the long and monotonous jolting of
off-roading. All this happened in GAZ-A cars that were far from comfortable.
They often broke down and constantly needed to be pulled out from pits
and gullies. The 1934 race brought together 45 Soviet women, whose feat
can literary be considered as an act of bravery. They participated in the First
Women’s Automobile Race in the USSR and covered more than ten thousand
kilometers!
On July 30, 1936, it was very hot in Moscow.
People hid in the shade and in general tried to
stay indoors. However, there was a lot of activity
in Gorky Park. Adults actively socialized, children
ran around, there were lots of photo reporters
clicked their cameras. It wasn’t just a random
day in the park. Right from that park just few
minutes later the first in the USSR Women’s
Automobile Race was to be started. Forty-five
women aged from 25 to 35 ventured upon setting
off on a distant journey. They had to drive for
more than ten thousand kilometers in GAZ-A
automobiles. The route was long and went
through the following cities: Moscow –Yaroslavl
– Ivanovo – Gorky – Kazan – Ufa – Chelyabinsk
– Petropavlovsk – Atbasar – Karsakpay –
Dzhusaly – Yrgyz – Stalingrad – Rostov-na-Donu
– Dnipropetrovsk – Kyiv – Minsk – Moscow. That
meant that the participants needed to be ready
not only for rough roads but even for no roads at
all. The women knew this, but they had no way of
knowing what severe tests they would face. That’s
why they smiled at the cameras and gladly gave
interviews to journalists before the start.
Why was that First Women’s Automobile Race
organized? There were many reasons. First of
all, as it was common in the Soviet Union for
women to prove they weren’t the weaker sex but
even more enduring than men. In addition, the
volunteers had a task to test synthetic rubber
tires in the field made by a new manufacturer. And
of course, the event had a political component.
History | 7
«Smena 8M» –
The Most Popular
Camera in the World
The Automobile Race was dedicated to the
Stalin Constitution. It was planned that
the participants would drive through 500
settlements, meet the locals, and explain
some provisions of the Constitution,
especially the abortion ban. Later, one of the
project participants wrote:
“The aim of the race is the political and
technical development of Soviet woman.
The name of the race ‘Dedicated to the
Stalin Constitution’ shows that its political
side is put to the forefront. Along the way,
the motorcade was supposed to raise the
political awareness of the masses regarding
the Stalin Constitution and the Law on the
Abortion Ban. A strict record and analysis
of tires usage was kept, new manuals and
technical specifications for the tire industry
were developed.”
The women faced the first difficult
challenge while crossing the Ural Mountains.
There they had to pass seven mountain
crossings with excessive gradients of
6-7-kilometers in length as well as rapid
descents and pits. Then, they had to cope
with a total lack of roads in the steppes
of Kazakhstan. It was a territory with no
evidence of civilization, with no traces of
roads or signs. Quite often, the participants
had to determine what direction to drive
using a compass. Later, they were caught
in thundershowers. The cars skidded in the
conditions and they had to stop for two days
due to the fierce wind. Only on the third day
did they manage to get the motorcade out of
the mud.
As the women recalled afterwards, there
were areas where the automobiles were stuck
in sand to the level of the radiators and that
they had no choice but to pull them out with
their hands… Of course, Soviet-made cars
weren’t meant for that. The automobiles
broke down and went out of service, and
the women had to use wrenches to fix them
by themselves. They did that in the open
air and even in the light of headlamps. The
average speed of the motorcade was 28 km
an hour. Only on very smooth roads could
the cars accelerate to 50-60 km an hour, and
in certain areas they reached 80 km!
The participants thoroughly recorded
all their experiences in special journals.
Later, some of those notes were published.
It’s interesting that the women returned to
Moscow on the September 30, which means
that they spent approximately two months
on the road. Upon their arrival they received
a telegram from Stalin: “I congratulate the
participants of the Automobile Race on their
successful finish. Warm greetings to the
winners.” The congratulation of the leader
wasn’t neglected. In reply the heroines sent
him a telegram where they shortly described
their achievements: “What we accomplished
is in the power of any Soviet woman. In our
country there are independent and strong
women. All the doors are open for them…”
Text: Stepan HRYTSYUK
Almost every Soviet family possessed this camera.
Photographers began their careers by taking pictures
with it, experienced newspaper correspondents used
it for work, and teenagers wanted it for their birthday
presents. There are several reasons why this camera
became such a beloved gadget of that time. First of
all, a Smena was extremely easy to use. Practically
anybody could take a nice picture with it. Second, it
was quite cheap. In the 1980s, this camera cost only
fifteen rubles. That’s why in one of his short stories
the popular Russian writer Sergey Dovlatov ironically
described the Smena as the only camera that couldn’t
be drunk away since it was hard to find a buyer.
Rumor had it that the device was entrusted without
worries to even those journalists who enjoyed the
companionship of the demon drink.
With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that in the
USSR Smena 8M became the national camera and
even set the Guinness World Record as the most
popular camera in the world. During the years it
was manufactured, twenty-one billion of these
technological wonders came off the conveyor belt!
An impressive number!
But why was this Soviet invention loved by so
many? First of all, the camera was of high quality
despite its low price. Pictures taken with this camera
were just a little bit worse than those taken with
more expensive and professional devices. Even at
that time, the Smena was equipped with a flash that
synchronized with the diaphragm shutter at any
exposure time up to 1/250 seconds. Even today, only
advanced reflex cameras have such parameters.
The camera was both light and weatherproof.
In addition, as was already mentioned, it was easy
to use. For example, the image focus was adjusted
on a distance scale: In order to take a high quality
picture, it was necessary to measure the distance
to an object. Often photographers measured it with
footsteps. Then they would return to the starting
point and release the shutter.
Today, Smena 8M is a legend. As in the past, it
can be bought for a relatively low price at auctions
or flea markets. Although the camera stopped
being produced in 1995, there are still fan clubs. For
instance, there are numerous websites where the
camera’s users post photos taken exclusively with a
Smena.
8 | Travelling
New York: А Soviet File, a Healthy
Nation and its Personages
The Globe in Your Pocket
It is not always possible to predict traffic jams or
their real size. That’s why sometimes people miss their
flights and other times arrive three hours early. And
that day was the thirteenth day of the month! You
may or may not believe in the number 13, but when
you have a transatlantic flight ahead of you, you start
paying attention to such things. On top of that, the cab
driver discusses your inadequacy with his colleagues.
Don’t they understand that if I am adequate to them,
then I’ll become like them. And they have neither
drivers nor workers. If we all become that type of
adequate, how will we all get by? I asked him that
when he unloaded my suitcases from the trunk at
the airport. He answered that he’d never said or even
thought about that. That’s understandable since he
is an extremely religious person. I countered that
we can look through the messages on his cell phone.
He blushed and said: “I am sorry if I offended you by
that.” Offended? I replied that I didn’t take offence.
Because when a mad dog bites a man then the man
won’t bite the dog. He’ll just take a stick and put the
dog down so that the dog won’t bite others. At that
point we said bye to each other. Our nine-hour flight
passed quickly and almost without adventures. The
plane passed turbulence several times.
Fifty minutes at the New York passport control
and one hour after landing, my son and I were riding
in a cab. We bought groceries and cleaned up our
apartment. We had dinner and then went to bed. The
weather is chilly and windy in New York. Sirens of
ambulances, police cars, and firetrucks are like alarmclock surprises. They add to the city’s madness, the
spices that give this melting pot its fabulous taste.
These ambulance sirens remind the New Yorkers
about approaching diseases, old age, and death. Their
life is so convenient, full of fun and wealth that they
don’t want to give it all up without a fight. I think
that is the reason why hundreds of thousands of them
participate in the New York City marathon. Millions
go to gyms and diet. And the sirens sound louder
and ambulance lights blaze brighter. How humanely
everything is arranged. If your heart is beating, there
is someone ready to shunt it and somewhere there is a
molded bullet made specially for it. Indeed, our world
is glorious and wise.
My son wanted to have dinner, so we went to a
restaurant next to our home. It was Wednesday. The
restaurant was full. The noise was so loud that my
inner restaurateur shed floods of tears.
Then we went to Korchma, it was Thursday and
it was very crowded. I tasted the dishes and overall
was delighted. Even more than delighted. It seems
that people who emigrated 20-30 years ago froze in
that period of time. Specifically, our Soviet heritage
stuck in their memory at the point of the eighties
and nineties. You can feel it in their conversations,
clothes, ideas about what is right and what is wrong,
what is cool and what is not. Maybe they continued
to grow as Americans, but the Soviet file hasn’t been
refreshed since the year of their arrival. But that’s
not my main point. I mean, their cutlets and other
dishes from our menu taste like our happy childhood
and youth. We don’t know how cook like that any
more. This is not something you can teach your chefs.
Our own modernized Soviet file produces its own
understanding and it is very different.
On Saturday, a friend of mine invited us to
a play basketball with his children. My son also
plays basketball. We had a training session with
an American coach. It was awesome to watch the
children playing. It was raining and the dads found
a full-fledged gym in the basement of an apartment
block. There was also a huge swimming pool, a
fitness center, and a basketball gym. Just like at the
American station at the South Pole. At that time I had
no idea why they insisted on heating an entire sports
palace. Now I understand that they hear ambulance
sirens in their dreams even at the South Pole. We had
a sports Saturday. Russia beat USA at hockey and
Welcome to our happy team!
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Requirements: nationals of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, aged 18 to 50. Enthusiasm to work, grow and improve.
Human resources department: Moskow, Aeroport metro station, 3 Chernyakhovskogo St.
Phone: 8-926-904-41-54, 8-926-461-21-71 [email protected]
Note! We are now hiring to work in Korchma “Taras Bulba” restaurants in Kyiv and New York.
Travelling | 9
our team reached the final of the Ice Hockey World
Championships.
On Sunday, we played basketball again. It’s
amazing how quickly an eight-year-old child gets fit.
Even a day can make a difference if he plays with the
right team and with an appropriate attitude. Then
there’s no need to push, force, or persuade him. He
continues to practice even when other children take
a break and rest.
As I am a single parent on this trip, I have to cook,
do the laundry, and clean up after my offspring. On
Sunday, I made an omelet, but my fruit turned out really
well, as a wife of a New Russian said. And I turned stale
bread and the remains of eggs into French toast. The
success was stunning. In the evening, my son ordered
the omelet and toast. But I got off with cottage cheese,
strawberries, and honey. Your cooking instinct awakes
when you need to feed a dear and beloved person!
Strawberry was served with honey for a quite prosaic
reason. We just ran out of sugar at home. But that was
the evening. And in the afternoon, we went to the
Natural History Museum. Despite the fact that it was
Monday, the line was hopelessly long. We even thought
of leaving, but we didn’t. Surprisingly, we managed
to buy tickets. Some rules were established even
there. The museum admittance is general, but certain
exhibitions are in separate halls. Your ticket specifies
the time slot you have to see each exhibition so that
to avoid all visitors going to one place simultaneously.
Of course, it’s great when someone takes care of the
details, they indicated the time, the floor, and the hall
number and supplied us with a map in Russian.
The line to the ticket office contained two
specimens of every kind, like Noah’s Ark. Tourists come
to the Big Apple from all over the world. Two German
women were standing in front of me. I got used to
the fact that there are a lot of gays in New York and
they are quite inconspicuous. Why do I keep noticing
them? However, the representatives of the beautiful
half of humanity who live together aren’t so obvious.
Well, those two Germans weren’t keen on boys. You
could tell by just looking at them, though they had
few male features. And despite that fact it was clear
that both of them are boyfriends. So, I thought, what
should it be called when a girl-boyfriend lives with
another girl-boyfriend? The exhibition was about
the evolutionary changes of species and in species.
And even in the line you could observe those species’
appearance and behavior.
One day, my friends invited me to a new French
restaurant. I decided to buy myself some new jeans
for the occasion. While trying them on, I ripped up my
underpants on an extremely sharp label. I examined
the sharp edges and understood that I got off lightly.
The restaurant was a 15-minute walk from my home.
I was walking in the New York night amazed that
this seemingly typical concrete jungle wasn’t boring
at all. Nonetheless, it was definitely a city and not
a reconstructed village. The restaurant was located
in The Baccarat Hotel and was very presentable. You
knew it while still on the street by the familiar red
boxes with recognizable lettering that towered on
the pavement in place of typical New York trashcans.
Some time ago there was a female duo band called
Baccara. What happened to them, what are they
doing now, the two old ladies famous for their song
“I Can Boogie?”
The cuisine was French, the personnel spoke with
a strong French accent. The food was delicious, I ate
scallops and an entrecote à la Française. Soufflé for
dessert. That set cost me $96. We don’t serve such
steaks and if we do, they cost a fortune.
As a restaurant-keeper I’m jealous of New York
restaurants. Or, to be more specific, of their patrons.
These are the places where you can still meet certain
personages. You have an impression that the people at
the next table are movie characters. The restaurant’s
guests are quite reputable. Expensive suits and ties
are not enough, you need to know how to wear them.
Sometimes, it seems to me that our parents don’t go
anywhere. Or they simply don’t attract attention
with their 80-year-old straight backs or a 75-year-old
slim figure. The rich want to live forever, and some
of them succeed in it. You can mistake a 70-year-old
woman for a 30-year-old from behind. The face gets
old quicker than body. However, in the dusk, those
women can be quite appealing.
My friend the artist secretly takes photos of people
eating in one restaurant. I asked him why he does it.
He replied that he had never met such people before.
“Personages,” he said. Exactly, the personages of the
passing epoch. At present, they are out of production.
However, in our country feudal lords with good
manners and clean nails were destroyed like China’s
books during the Cultural Revolution. Now, the breed
is plain, like Mao Zedong’s quotes, and it prevails
from the Carpathian Mountains to Vladivostok. Even
though we want to be called in different ways, we
cannot escape from the breed. Only the strongest
survived, and in America the best and the many keep
on living. All their breeds survived and if you want to
see them all, take a ride in the subway.
And Korchma hosted a party that night till 1 a.m.
It was the restaurant’s second anniversary, and now it
is high time we started working. God bless.
Text and photo by Yuriy Beloyvan
Find more details about the trips and
many other interesting stories on the
author’s site
www.beloyvan.ru
10 | Personality
She was born into a poor Ukrainian family just outside of Kyiv.
She never received a formal education but was endowed with
a rich imagination. She also adored flowers and painted them
wherever she could. The outstanding talent of Hanna Shostak
(née Sobachko) or “Hanna the Painter,” as she was also called,
helped her find her way in life. She received prestigious prizes
and awards and her artwork is preserved in many museums.
Today’s column Born in Ukraine is dedicated to this talented
artist.
HANNA THE UKRAINIAN PAINTER
Hanna Sobachko was born in the village of
Skoptsi (now Veselynivka) outside of Kyiv in
1883. The little girl attended school for only
two years because from early childhood along
with other villagers she had to work on the
lord’s fields. It must have been there that she
first noticed and then fell in love with the
surrounding wild grasses. She especially adored
flowers, which she would study for hours on end.
In the evenings, Hanna spun yarn or sat
at a loom and helped her mother weave cloth.
While engaged in this monotonous work, the girl
would picture in her mind all of the wild flowers
she found during the day. She pretended to
embellish the gray homespun sackcloth with
their unruly colors and fancy ornaments.
Years passed, but her obsession with flower
didn’t go away. At the age of fifteen Hanna
started painting paper towels with a handmade
brush made from ferret’s hair and a split cherry
sprig. She also learned to make paint by herself
from St. John’s-wort, beetroot, and clay. “If my
parents had allowed me, I would have decorated
the entire house with cheerful and sad flowers
with eyes, noses, and mouths,” she recalled much
later. Other villagers gladly bought her drawings
to decorate their homes.
In 1910, a wealthy landlady Anastasiya
Semyhradova arranged a Handicraft Point on her
estate and appointed Yevheniya Pribylska as its
artistic director. Yevheniya was very interested
in the unusual paintings of the country girl,
particularly the works she did for herself. As a
result, she introduced the girl to a professional
artist who was instrumental in helping her join
a Kyiv crafts shop specializing in decorative
cloth embroidery. It turned out, however, that
embroidering someone else’s design was a boring
job for the new employee. So the girl was sent
to the workshop’s school and soon started to
produce fabric, carpets, embroidery, and murals on
the basis of her own drawings. Later, almost all of
her artwork was exhibited in St. Petersburg, Kyiv,
Paris, and Berlin. And in 1913, a carpet weaved
according to her design won a silver medal at the
Russia National Exhibition of Handicraft Industry
in St. Petersburg and a gold medal in Kyiv.
In 1931, in spite of the fact that she didn’t
have any formal art education, Hanna helped
decorate the Ukrainian hall for the All-Union
Agricultural Exhibition of the National Economy.
Hanna received the title of honor “USSR Master
of Folk Art.” And a year later, she was offered to
move to the Cherkizovo township near Moscow
in order to work at the Eksportnabivtkan Cooperative Craft Society.
Upon her arrival at the township, Hanna
caught people’s attention: she was a plumpish
woman with vivid black eyes, and was very active,
witty, and cheerful. She wore an embroidered vest
and a brightly colored shawl tied in a Ukrainian
manner. Hanna spoke Ukrainian so fast, so not
only the locals but even her family couldn’t
understand her. She couldn’t speak, write, or
even sign her name in Russian.
A local woman Lyudmila Kedrina, who
graduated from the Pedagogical College in the
Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, invited Hanna
Shostak to the township council where she was
taught to read and write basic Russian.
Hanna’s teacher and new friend introduced
her to her husband Dmitriy Kedrin, a poet. The
writer’s daughter recalled many years later:
“She had surprisingly elastic fingers and slender
wrists. My father respected Aunt Hanna very
much and always kissed her hand on meeting her.
‘Dmytriy, am I a lady that you kiss my hand?’ she
would ask with a blush. ‘Hanna, you have such
skillful hands that any lady would be jealous of,’
my father would reply.”
“Aunt Hanna always held a flower in her
hands and attentively examined it during our
conversations. ‘What a beauty! Everything is so
wonderful: both pistil and stamen! Svitlanka,
have a look!’ she would implore me.”
In 1965, Hanna won the first prize at the Taras
Shevchenko Republican Awards and received a
cash bonus in the amount of 2,500 rubles, and her
work was presented at a personal art exhibition
in Kyiv.
She passed away on December 3, 1965, in
Cherkizovo. The whole town came to say their
final goodbyes to “Hanna the Ukrainian Painter,”
as she was called there. The road from her home
to the cemetery was covered with guilder roses
and her coffin was carried on cloths embroidered
by the artist. She was buried at a local cemetery.
Text: Vasyl Pachenkov
Photos from the author’s archive
People and Food | 11
Sobrino de Botin –
The Oldest Restaurant in the World
It is no secret that there is a
rating of the best restaurants
of the world and every year
new establishments are added
to this list. Among them are
also restaurants that have been
holding a top place for centuries.
One of them is, for example, the restaurant
Sobrino de Botin in Madrid. It is a very atmospheric
and iconic place where, as rumored, famous artist
Francisco Goya worked as a waiter, and where Ernest
Hemingway spent a lot of time. Rumor has it that
one of the tables was reserved for him. He sat there
thinking over the plots of his stories. When the Muse
came to the Nobel Prize winner, he was writing, and
when it went away, he was savoring good alcohol
and even making cocktails himself. It could be true
since the restaurant opened its doors in 1725 and it
entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest
restaurant in the world.
Sobrino de Botin was founded at a time when
the restaurant game rules were not completely
established. Initially, it was a hotel built and on the
first floor there was a little refectory. It was a tavern
with a typical wood-fire oven where the owners
cooked food for their guests. The restaurant’s
specialty was that its chefs prepared dishes with
the ingredients that patrons brought themselves,
For example, anyone could buy a cut of steak at the
market and bring it there knowing that the meat
would be properly cooked. It is difficult to say who
exactly owned the first refectory. But according to
historical records, its owner was a certain Jean Botin.
After his death, the business passed to his nephew.
It is believed that this is how the restaurant got its
present name - Sobrino de Botin which means “The
Nephew of Botin.”
Several centuries passed, but the restaurant
stayed true to its traditions. Since olden times till
today the menu is centered around lamb and baby
pork dishes slow-cooked in an old wood-fire oven.
Its other specialty is garlic soup made of garlic,
chicken broth, eggs, and sherry.
An interesting fact is that the current oven at
Sobrino de Botin is the original one. Moreover,
the fire there never dies out and the temperature
is always maintained at a constant level. The
clients can enjoy the same taste of dishes that
were prepared hundreds of years ago. At least, so is
promised by the present restaurant owners on
their website.
Very interesting are the references to Sobrino
de Botin in the texts of writers who frequented
it and liked its cuisine. In the almost 300 years
of its existence, not only common people but
also the elite dined in its halls. For example,
this restaurant is mentioned in several novels by
Spanish writer Benito Pérez Galdós. There, the
author describes it with evident respect:
“Street after street, I began to recognize familiar
faces from the distant past, shops which could now
be described as historical, pure-bred Madrileñas:
poultry shops with live birds, the wineskin maker’s
with its huge display hides, the wood turner, the
plumber’s with its windows as shiny as items of
weaponry in a military museum, the renowned
refactory, Sobrino de Botin…”
Another famous Spanish writer, Ramón Gómez
de la Serna, dedicated several of his outstanding
Greguerías (short statements characterized by
an apt metaphor and humor) to the restaurant:
“Botin is a wonderful restaurant where new dishes
are cooked in old pots”; “It seems that Botin has
existed forever, and that here Adam and Eve tried
the first fried lamb ever prepared in the world”;
“Golden, silver, diamond and even fossil wedding
anniversaries are celebrated here, in Botin.”
Now, the prices here are far from low. But if you
are a gourmet and want to try a suckling pig in the
oldest restaurant of the world, you definitely won’t
think about the numbers on the check. And if you
are on a diet, it’s better to stay away from Sobrino
de Botin. Believe us, that oven-cooked pork smells
so divinely that it would be quite difficult to resist
the temptation.
Text: Maria KRASNA
12 | news from «korchma»
Dear friends! We are happy to
announce that our restaurant
chain is launching a big
project called Bulba Show!!!
The first concert will be in
the cozy MIIT-HALL on July
5! (subway station Maryina
Roshcha)
Our show will be interesting for all:
for a group of friends as well as for a
family or a couple!
The concert program includes many
surprises and stand-up comedians!
Don’t miss this opportunity to relax in
the summer without leaving Moscow.
A warm and friendly atmosphere is
guaranteed!
Spend a nice Sunday evening at the
show!
Have some fun with your friends!
You can buy tickets at every Korchma
Taras Bulba restaurant!
e Cat and the Fox’,
Children’s encyclopedia, a fairy tale ‘Th
puzzles. Look for new issue
as well as poems, riddles and crossword
BULBA PRESS
of the children’s magazine Tarasik by
aurants
in “Korchma Taras Bulba’ chain of rest
Your kids deserve the best childhood!
news from «korchma» | 13
Korchma in the Sky
We have already proved that we can not
only make culinary masterpieces, but also
successfully reach other heights.
Employees of the Korchma Taras Bulba
restaurant chain have already conquered several
of the highest summits of the world, won medals in
marathon races, traveled thousands of kilometers
in an auto race, and made people happy with their
heartfelt songs and dances.
This time, without hesitation we decided to go
up to the sky! About fifty courageous people from
our big team volunteered to go. By the way, not
only men but also delicate ladies took the risk in
order to experience flying. Even the weight of the
gear – more than twenty kilograms – did not stop
them!
Everyone packed their backpacks with
delicious food from our kitchen and went to the
flying club Volosovo. Then there was a five-hour
training with experienced instructors, an ascent
in the airplane, an explosion of adrenalin, and …
a free fall.
Each of us spent only two minutes in the
air. But what minutes they were! Now we
understand why birds like to circle in the sky
for hours. We also proved again that healthy
and natural food from our favorite restaurant
chain can work miracles. Everyone can become
a skydiver!
Treat
yourself!
Starting in the New Year,
the restaurant chain
Korchma Taras Bulba
will offer an exclusive
line of designer T-shirts.
The number is limited
so don’t wait too long
to buy one for yourself.
This is your chance to
stand out!
500
rub.
600 ru
b.
ru
500
b.
14 | menu
menu | 15
We h ave o n l y f r es h a n d s a v o r y n ew s !
www.bulbanews.ru
Bulba NEWS has its own website now
We offer only fresh and savory news!
Share the news in social networks,
and leave your comments.
Send your news to: [email protected]
EVERYBODY READS US!
The newspaper office is open for cooperation! Call us at 8-968-665-12-07 or write to: [email protected]
г.Москва, ул. Пятницкая 14
тел.: 8 (915) 222-15-18 (495) 953-7153, 951-3760
www.tarasbulba.ru
книга-меню
‘Korchma Taras Bulba’
We invite you to visit
the new Korchma Taras Bulba restaurant
The town of Odintsovo 122 Mozhayskoye Shosse
reveals its secrets!
We offer you a recipe book
Not by the salo alone
8 (925) 166-1618
Cremations on the banks of the sacred Bagmati river, “the Sadhu holy
drug-addicts” and the bloody festival Gadhimai Mela, the holy Mount
Kailash, hermit monks and the Tibetan void celebrated by Buddhism.
All this in Yuriy Beloyvan’s book Traveling to an Alternate Reality…
4
4
7
7
0
8
(495) 7
Ukrainian cuisine –
made with love!
Restaurants’ location:
MOSCOW, Aviamotornaya metro station,
6 Krasnokazarmennaya St., (499) 763 5741
Avtozavodskaya metro station,
6 Velozavodskaya St., (499) 764 1532
Akademicheskaya metro station,
16/10 Profsoyuznaya St., (499) 125 0877
Alekseyavskaya metro station,
3 Bochkova St., (495) 616 6754
Airport metro station,
64 Leningradskiy Prospekt St., (499) 151 9011
Baumanskaya metro station,
23/41 Bakuninskaya St., 8 495 956 55 81
Borovitskaya metro station,
8 Mokhovaya St., 24-hour, 8 962 918 75 38, 8 985 644 85 44
Krasnye Vorota metro station,
47 Myasnitskaya St., (495) 607 1762
Leninskiy Prospekt metro station,
37 Leninskiy Prospect St., (495) 954 6466
Novokuznetskaya metro station,
14 Pyatnitskaya St., (495) 953 7153
Novye Cheryomushki metro station,
Nametkina St., 13 г, (495) 331 4211
You can never forget an adventurous journey.
Unadventurous journeys are not worth writing
about. The long-awaited new book
Smolenskaya metro station,
12 Smolenskiy Avenue. St., 24-hour, (499) 246 6902
Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station,
13 Sadovaya-Samotechnaya St., 24-hour, (495) 694 0056
Chekhovskaya metro station,
Nepal/Tibet:
A Journey into an Alternate Reality
was released this December by BULBA PRESS. The book
can be purchased at the bookstore Biblio Globus and in
the restaurants of the Korchma Taras Bulba chain.
Available now!
30/7 Petrovka St., (495) 694 6082
Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station,
6 Borovskoye Road, (495) 980 2051
Vystavochnaya metro station, of 1905 year,
27 Shmitovskiy Passage, 24-hour, (499) 256-4660
The town of Odintsovo
122 Mozhayskoye Shosse 8 (925) 166-16-18
KIEV, “Teatralnaya”, “Zolotye Vorota”,“Kreschatik” metro
station, 2-4/7 Pushkinskaya St.,+38 (044) 270-7248
Certificate of registration PI № FS 77 – 19940. Circulation is 5 000 copies.
357 West Broadway, NYork City, NY 10013
phone: (212) 510 75 10
Laskavo prosymo!