Wine & Beer, Best of Russia and Europe Jupiter, FL (Sims Creek Plaza)

HOME     STORE HOURS - DIRECTIONS     PROMOTIONS     REVIEWS     ABOUT US     NEWSLETTER     CONTACT US      
The “Bread Drink” of Russia…
By Charles Passy (Courtesy of Palm Beach Post) | Thursday, March 20, 2008, 02:59 PM
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/hungryman/entries/2008/03/20/the_bread_drink_of_russia.html

So, I’m working my way through a new Russian/Eastern European gourmet store I’ve found locally — European Unique Foods in Jupiter (1695 W. Indiantown Road, 561-743-7188, located in the plaza behind Nick’s Tomatoe Pie) — and I’m asking the proprietor about anything noteworthy I might find on his shelves and inside his coolers and freezers.

He mentions a few things I’m more than familiar with: pelmeni (a kind of dumpling), caviar (nothing new there, but I did find a particularly salty salmon one I couldn’t resist), halva (the twist was that it was made from sunflower, not sesame, seeds, but it still tasted like most commercial halva I’ve had).

Then, he brings up the subject of kvass.

Say what?

I have to admit that in all my culinary wanderings, this was new to me: a brown-colored beverage that’s like a low-alcohol beer — it’s fermented and made from dark bread (“kvass” roughly translates as “bread drink”) - but it’s definitely its own thing. I bought a big plastic bottle of the stuff, put it in the fridge (the shopkeeper said it definitely tasted better cold) and then completely forgot about it.

Fast forward to last night: I catch a segment on Andrew Zimmern’s “Bizarre Foods” (do I need to you remind you again that it’s one of my favorite shows?) and he’s in Russia drinking — you guessed it — kvass. Naturally, it was time to open my bottle.

I poured it into a glass and it looked like mildly fizzy root beer. Then, I tasted it. The first thought that came to mind: carbonated prune juice. Which is to say not completely unappetizing — spare me the prune-juice jokes — but not exactly something I’d rush out and buy again. A few more sips and I wrote it off as novelty.

But this morning I did a little research and it turns out there may be more to kvass than I realized. For starters, this stuff is huge in Eastern Europe in a strange, almost underground way — it’s brewed at home or sold mainly by street vendors.

 


But kvass has gained ground in the past decade, as a new wave of Russian nationalism promotes all things native. Now, major companies are brewing it. Coca-Cola also has plans to release its own version in Russia.

To quote a Russian schoolteacher on the subject (from a story I found published by a French wire service last year): “It’s virtually your national patriotic duty to drink kvass!”

As I’ve also now learned, there’s more than one way to make the drink. The version I had was from the Ukraine (a company called Kvas Monastyrskiy brewed it, perhaps with an eye on the English-speaking market since the bottle proclaims “The Ancient Tradition”). Mine seemed to be closer in style to a sweet soda (kvass can be on the sour side, I gather), with that prune (or maybe raisin) taste. (It also didn’t appear to have a trace of alcohol.) But other flavorings range from mint to birch sap. (Ah, there’s nothing like the refreshing taste of birch sap…). Moreover, I found this story by the late beer guru Michael Jackson that suggests kvass can be enjoyed warm.

Whatever the case, I tried it again today and I’m finding the stuff grows on you. Maybe it’s already time to move on to that birch sap kvass…

 

We look forward to hearing your comments and reviews.

 

Feel free to share them with us and all of our customers. We will post them on our site as well.

 

 Thank you!

* First name (required):

* Last name (required):
* E-mail address (required):

Phone number:
* Message (required):

European Unique Foods is nice, cozy, friendly store where you can find many of West and East European gourmet foods, Amish dairy products.

All products are fresh and delicious.

 

Owners are very pleasant and friendly.

 

-Irina

 

Great Food, Nice Service.

 

-Alex

 

Nice variety and prices. Person that was helping me was very nice and knowlegable about products. Will go agan.

 

-Grergory

 

I never tried russian food before, but after my trip to this store I was very satisfied and surprised by the quality, organic selection and prices. I am glad you are only a few minutes away from my home. Thank you.

 

-Nicole

 

Surprising selection of european food. Used to drive to Boca Raton but this is a lot closer and saves me gas.

 

-Oleg

 

Nice place. Great prices/service. Thanks

 

-Maria

 

European Unique Foods is a very nice authentic european foods store. Great prices and products are always fresh. Owners are a pleasure to deal with and very friendly. Highly recommend it.

 

-Katya