Kazan — summer 2010

Here is my new favorite place in the world:

It is called Galereya kukhon' narodov mira "The Gallery of the Cuisines of the Peoples of the World." It's a cafeteria with a great selection of Russian and Tatar food (mostly), and they play easy listening music in the background at a volume low enough to let you get work done. This morning I ordered:

On the right is coffee, black. Black coffee mostly seems to come with sugar in Russia, just like iced tea in the American south. On the left is tvorozhnaya zapekanka, a dish made of farmer's cheese and eggs. It's essentially a lightly sweetened cheese cake, and I absolutely love this stuff. What's more, it's considered a dietetic dish! Healthy! Good for you! (I think the Russians think that because it doesn't have meat in it.) I'm willing to ignore my personal nutritional analysis of it cuz it is, as they say in southern Russia, muy bueno.