Sourcing and Saving Food in Siberian Kitchens

• Published in: Gastronomica
• Main Author: Hudgins, Sharon
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of California Press 2019
• Subjects: General Medicine; Arctic; Tundra; Siberia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2019.19.3.29; http://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/article-pdf/19/3/29/144395/gfc_2019_19_3_29.pdf

Encompassing a wide range of landscapes and climate zones—Arctic tundra, high mountains, boreal forests, grassy steppes, lush wetlands—Siberia is home to a large number of wild edible flora and fauna, as well as certain cultivated crops and domestic animals. Based on the author's on-site research combined with her own culinary experiences when living in post-Soviet Siberia, this article describes the multiple influences on the food supply and taste preferences of Siberians; many of the wild foods available to Siberians for thousands of years; the challenges of food supplies and urban kitchens in early post-Soviet Siberia; traditional methods of food preservation among native and immigrant populations; summer kitchens; and the importance of dacha gardens to the food supply of Siberia.