Kisel, Cranberry

History

Kisel is one of the oldest dishes of the Russian table, attested from the tenth century and named from kislyj, "sour." The original was nothing like this dessert: a dense, fermented grain gel of oats, rye, or peas — a slightly sour, jelly-like food reminiscent of aspic that was cut and eaten, sometimes with milk, fried onions, or oil, not drunk. The sweet, pourable berry versions are a much later development, appearing in wealthy Russian homes in the nineteenth century once affordable potato starch became widely available to thicken sweetened fruit juice. Molokhovets sits squarely on that pivot, recording the newer form: cranberry juice boiled with cinnamon and lemon zest, sweetened, and set with sifted potato flour, served with sugar and cream. Cranberry — klyukva — is among the most favored kisel berries, a wild bog fruit of the cold northern forests long prized in Russia. Her insistence on a stone or copper pot so the color stays clean reflects the dish's new identity as a bright, jewel-toned dessert rather than a humble sour porridge.

Ingredients

• stakan cranberries or barberries
• piece cinnamon
• lemon lemon zest
• stakan sugar
• stakan potato flour (starch)

Instructions

1. Make cranberry juice: pound and strain, or boil once with cinnamon and 1/2-lemon zest, crush and strain.
2. To 5 stakans juice add sugar and boil.
3. Stir in a scant stakan sifted potato starch slaked in 1 stakan cold juice, boil once (strain if lumpy); cook in stone or copper for a clear color. Serve with sugar and cream.