A creamy fruit dessert, between compote and thick drink, bright translucent red. The sweet-sour berries are bound into a velvety sauce, served warm or cold, sometimes drizzled with milk or *smetana*.

Why this dish? In Stavropol and all rural Russia where Gorbachev grew up, *kissel* was the treat of feast days and meal endings: a way to preserve all winter the taste of berries picked in summer from woods and gardens.

Ah, *kissel*! That's what we children waited for at the end of a festive meal. In summer, we'd go berry picking — currants, lingonberries, cherries from our garden — and my mother saved them for winter. She'd heat them with sugar, thicken everything so it was beautiful and coating, and we'd almost drink it, warm, in a bowl. A drizzle of milk on top, and believe me, comrade, no kolkhoz child would have traded that for anything.

How it was made : *Kissel* is one of the oldest Slavic desserts; its name comes from "sour," as it was originally fermented from grains before potato starch, widespread in the 19th century, turned it into the fruit cream we know. The more starch, the firmer it becomes, even sliceable with a knife.

The contemporary twist : Dressed version: pour *kissel* into verrines, let set, and layer with vanilla milk for a red-and-white gradient.

Gorbachev · Charactorium