WOW !!! VM, I had no idea that my friends and relatives in Russia were cooking foreign food when I eat at their houses! You mean all that varneki (cabbage and POTATO), borcht, stuffed peppers, etc was all just a big show for an American? Gee, I feel special. To think they went out of their way to learn how to cook that strange stuff when they really are used to popping the old frozen pizza in the microwave. But since most of Russia's population (those country yahoos) doesn't live in St. Petersburg maybe these foods are very common fare.