Author: Ashton Kimbler

COVID-19: The Bread Baking Renaissance

Food is one of the few things that can unite, sustain, and soothe us no matter where we are in the world. In these troubling times, many people have turned to bread baking and vegetable gardening both to feed themselves and to pass time. In this week’s Notes from the Field, we asked our participants what their go-to comfort food is.

–Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian bread filled with cheese and egg.

Most Georgian food makes good comfort food. There has been a popular social media challenge of people around the world making adjaruli khachapuri or khinkali and posting photos of their results. I think I will try to make my first adjaruli khachapuri soon.

–Jesse Smeal, Rome, Italy

Any pasta dish. Cheap, easy and delicious.

–Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Carbs, carbs, carbs.

–Jessie Labov, Budapest, Hungary

My child has been sustained largely on “mákos tészta,” or poppy seed noodles, which is spaghetti or fettuccine coated with butter (or duck fat if you’re my mother-in-law), then sprinkled with a mix of ground poppy seeds and powdered sugar—the proportion of each depending entirely on the level of bribery necessary to get the child to eat. If you grew up in the U.S., you will probably find this weird and off-putting. If you grew up in this region, you will wolf it down like manna from heaven.

–Eric Bednarski, Warsaw, Poland

We have been eating a lot of traditional homemade Polish pierogis in my household. Although I have been eating pierogis for most of my life, I’d never made pierogis myself until this pandemic struck, so it has been fascinating to see the whole pierogi-making process from start to finish. A lot of people I know in Warsaw seem to be baking their own bread now too. Many of them are baking bread for the first time.

–Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

A meat and fish counter remains open in an empty St. Petersburg supermarket.

I can’t say anything about my fellow countrymen, although I think many are cooking now. Personally, I have been making more soups in quarantine. Yesterday I made borscht. I am also trying to remember the recipes for all kinds of yummy dishes. I recently made the mini-khachapuris Dr. Brintlinger taught me to make several years ago. I have to admit that I’ve been eating better and healthier food in quarantine.

<<Check back in next Monday, May 25, to learn more about how countries in Central and Eastern Europe are dealing with the pandemic.

Pandemic Essentials

What is essential in a pandemic? Our correspondents in Central and Eastern Europe recommend these books, films, and other works of art.

–Jessie Labov, Hungary

Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception. Even though he has gone off the deep end and claimed at the beginning of this global health emergency that COVID-19 was a hoax and a conspiracy cooked up by governments in order to wield exceptional power. Yes, even though Agamben recently said those insane things, his book about the post-9/11 world is still very relevant and important to today’s reality. See: “Giorgio Agamben’s Coronavirus Cluelessness”

–Emma Pratt, Georgia

I can’t dazzle you with my intellect with my answer to this question, because I haven’t had the bandwidth for academic or intellectual reading. I tried to start Red Famine by Anne Applebaum when I returned from my trip to Ukraine, but I found it too emotional right now. The most fitting book I’ve read during this time has been Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory. It strikes the balance between being light and fun and reminiscent of better times, without being overly frivolous or silly.

–Ann Merrill, Ukraine

Мої Думки Тихі (My Thoughts Are Silent), a quirky, lovely, funny Ukrainian independent film released earlier this year. It’s available online in Ukrainian with Russian subtitles. The scenery is gorgeous, and anyone who’s taken a road trip in Western Ukraine will find many familiar sights.

–Jesse Smeal, Italy

Influenza 1918 – PBS film on the 1918 Pandemic. Very relevant to today’s crisis.

–Conrad Rinto, Hungary

Luckily, prior to the pandemic I had ordered Eric Hobsbawm’s The Age of series. He is an author that I had discovered in Professor Dragostinova’s “Nations and Nationalism” course at Ohio State. Additionally, I am re-reading Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula series because when in Hungary why not read an alternative history series on Dracula.

– Lyudmila Skryabina, Russia

It seems to me that during the pandemic we should read those things we’ve been unable to find time for. And watch as many comedies as possible!

<<Next Monday, May 18, our participants will be sharing their go-to comfort food recipes!

How to Pass Time in Quarantine, continued

To continue this week’s theme of passing time in quarantine, here are three more responses from Tbilisi, Kyiv, and Moscow.

–Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

I am working remotely and adapting my previously in-person class for online delivery has been a lot of work. I have also spent more time than usual cooking—trying to make the most efficient and delicious use of the products we have at home. So far, we have actually been eating better than usual. I’ve also been reading, but not as much as I had thought I would. We have a Nintendo Wii, which I have been using to get some exercise to clear my head. To be perfectly honest, I also spend a lot of time on Twitter waiting for updates. I haven’t gotten bored yet.

Boxes taped to the floor encourage social distancing practices in Kyiv, Ukraine

–Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukraine has been in quarantine for 30 days at the time I am writing this. I’m actually fairly busy with my freelance work as a translator and editor, and was already quite used to working from home! I am working on the translation of my 3rd book for Awesome Heritage. Work on the magazine I edit also continues, The Ukrainian: Life & Culture. But there are a lot of hours in the day, so I’ve also rearranged closets and furniture, potted and repotted plants, and done a lot of cooking and baking. And I am going to finally tackle khachapuri, thanks to an American friend in Kyiv who is using the quarantine to launch his cooking channel!

–Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

I have a ton of work. I can’t even get to much of what I have planned.

In the film industry, a lot of projects have had to be put off, and that’s true for us at Okapi Production as well. We had planned to start filming our first feature film in the beginning of May, but now in our best case scenario we’ll start at the end of the summer. Instead, while we’re staying at home we have increased our activity on social media and launched our YouTube channel. Since we’ve been doing casting calls for a year and a half we have a large base of contacts among active children and parents across Russia and the CIS.

Several regional television channels (Moscow region, Kuzbass, Rostov, Krasnodar, and others) have noticed our videos and we are now doing social advertising for them for free.

Since we’ll be working remotely for at least another month, I have started to write some new scripts for our children’s television program “Bad Advice from Helpful Kids.” We are learning a new format: not in the studio but via teleconferencing. The theme suggested itself: how to entertain yourself at home. Thus, I am extremely busy with video production work. But I still have a few articles planned for a scholarly volume at the Tomskaya Pisanitsa museum. Basically, there’s no time to be bored or depressed!

<<Next week, May 11, our participants will be sharing some book and film recommendations to help you pass the time!