BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Russian Culture KASHA, STAPLE OF THE RUSSIAN DIET

Kasha is made from buckwheat groats. It's full of vitamins and fiber and can be eaten any time of day from breakfast to dinner.

Russian peasants lived on a diet of shchi or cabbage soup and kasha, along with hearty black bread. There is a saying �shchi da kasha pischa nasha� which translated means �shchi and kasha, are our food.� Russian peasants were a strong breed, and I imagine that kasha will nourish you too.

Buckwheat hulls are not wasted...guess what they're used for!

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29135.asp

Hi Anna,

Your article sure brought back good memories of my growing up in Brookline, Mass- a suburb bordering Boston which had a population of more than 50% Jews out of a total population exceeding 50,000.

We used to eat kasha quite often either made by my grandmother a Polish/Russian Jew who had been a head cook at a Jewish caterer or by my mother. They frequently prepared "kasha varnishkes, made with onion , carrots, and bow tie noodles. This was frequently served as an accompaniment to pot roast and was topped with a very rich gravy. Also, they would make three kinds of knishes- potato, meat, and kasha which was my favorite.

As I kid, I was always asking them to make "mushy kushy."

Hi Les,

I'm glad that the article brought back good memories!

The kasha knish sounds yummy as does the mushy kushy.

Do you have a recipe for the kasha knish?

My Aunt Claudia is the one who introduced me to kasha -- she always had some made when I visited her house.

To this day, my brother in law always pokes fun at "kasha" and he was even considering naming his dog Kasha: he settled on Tasha instead.

Peace.

Hi Anna,

Unfortunately, and I do regret it now, I do not have the recipe for my bubbie's or mother's recipe for their knishes (in addition to their fillings, the dough for the knishes was wicked good!). I also wish that I had the recipe for their outstanding cheese blintzes, luction noodle pudding, potato pancakes, and salmon patties.

When my wife, Maria, goes to the U.S. in November/December, I am going to ask her to bring back some Wolff brand Kasha and I will make some mushy kushy but perhaps instead of topping it with a brown gravy I will use salsa verde and make a burrito out of it.
Fusion Kasha! Why not?

Hi Les,

It's a shame you don't have the recipe for the kasha knish -- I'll have to check ALL RECIPES.

The kasha with a twist sounds yummy, too. How about some guacamole on top?

And salmon patties are quick and easy to make -- even with canned salmon. Just add some egg, breadcrumbs, S + P, mix and form patties. Fry them up in a bit of EVOO.