Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking (Bonnie Frumkin Morales)

From the acclaimed Portland restaurant comes a debut cookbook enlivening Russian cuisine with a typically Portland emphasis on vibrant, locally sourced ingredients.

Kachka provides not only comforting traditional and cheeky modern recipes — Armenian Pumpkin Dolmas, Sour Cherry Vareniki— but a full celebration of Russia’s culinary heritage. From the Frumkin family’s journey from Belarus to America to the varied political, cultural, and geographic forces at play across the Russian table, Kachka’s stories and sidebars reveal the meaning behind each bite.

The recipes in this book set a communal table with nostalgic Eastern European dishes like Caucasus-inspired meatballs, Porcini Barley Soup, and Cauliflower Schnitzel, and give new and exciting twists to current food trends like pickling, fermentation, and bone broths.

Kachka’s recipes and narratives show how Russia’s storied tradition of smoked fish, cultured dairy, and a shot of vodka can be celebratory, elegant, and as easy as meat and potatoes. The food is clear and inviting, rooted in the past yet not at all afraid to play around and wear its punk rock heart on its sleeve.