flipBuckwheat Kasha with Forest Mushrooms
Buckwheat Kasha with Forest Mushrooms
Why this dish? Buckwheat porridge is the daily bread of the Slavic forests, and Baba Yaga constantly simmers soups in her great oven. Dried mushrooms, treasure of the deep woods where she rules, give kasha its taste of earth and moss.
A porridge of toasted buckwheat groats, plumped with water from rehydrated dried mushrooms, bound with melted butter. Rustic, comforting, the dish that comes out of the oven morning and evening in the isba.
Come closer, my dear, don't be afraid of the oven—it only eats the wicked. See those mushrooms hanging from the beam since autumn? I picked them where the birches speak. We soak them, and that dark water, above all, we don't throw it away: that's where the whole forest is. The buckwheat, I first toast it dry so it smells of hazelnut, then I let it melt in the pech''s warmth until it drinks everything. A little butter, and you're fed enough to face my riddles.
- •Buckwheat groats (grechka) — a good bowlful (staple grain)
- •Dried forest mushrooms (porcini, chanterelles) — a handful strung on thread (umami, forest scent)
- •Farm butter — a good knob (binder, richness)
- •Onion — one (aromatic base)
- •Salt — by hand (seasoning)
Buckwheat Kasha with Forest Mushrooms
A porridge of toasted buckwheat groats, plumped with water from rehydrated dried mushrooms, bound with melted butter. Rustic, comforting, the dish that comes out of the oven morning and evening in the isba.
Why this dish? Buckwheat porridge is the daily bread of the Slavic forests, and Baba Yaga constantly simmers soups in her great oven. Dried mushrooms, treasure of the deep woods where she rules, give kasha its taste of earth and moss.
Come closer, my dear, don't be afraid of the oven—it only eats the wicked. See those mushrooms hanging from the beam since autumn? I picked them where the birches speak. We soak them, and that dark water, above all, we don't throw it away: that's where the whole forest is. The buckwheat, I first toast it dry so it smells of hazelnut, then I let it melt in the pech''s warmth until it drinks everything. A little butter, and you're fed enough to face my riddles.
Ingredients (period version)
- Buckwheat groats (grechka) — a good bowlful (staple grain)
- Dried forest mushrooms (porcini, chanterelles) — a handful strung on thread (umami, forest scent)
- Farm butter — a good knob (binder, richness)
- Onion — one (aromatic base)
- Salt — by hand (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Toasted buckwheat (kasha) — 200 g
- Dried mushrooms (porcini or forest mix) — 30 g
- Butter — 40 g
- Onion — 1 medium, sliced
- Water — 500 ml (including soaking water)
- Salt — 1 tsp
Method
- Soak mushrooms 30 min in 500 ml warm water. Reserve the water (strained) and chop mushrooms.
- In a pot, sweat onion in butter, add chopped mushrooms.
- Add buckwheat and toast 1–2 min, stirring, until it smells nutty.
- Pour in soaking water plus extra water to reach 500 ml, salt.
- Cover, reduce heat to low, and let steam 18–20 min without stirring, until liquid is absorbed.
- Let rest covered 5 min, then fluff with a fork and add a knob of fresh butter.
How it was made : The covered pot was placed in the pech' after bread baking, using residual heat: the kasha would confit for hours, giving it its tenderness. Dried mushrooms hung in garlands were the quintessential forest preserve, the pantry of the entire Slavic winter.
The contemporary twist : A spoonful of smetana (sour cream) and a sprinkle of fresh dill at serving: the tangy contrast awakens the woody notes.
Baba Yaga · Charactorium
