On Buckwheat, Russians and Foreign Lands

On Buckwheat, Russians and Foreign Lands. The First Mate’s Musings While Making Porridge Aboard the Yacht I’ll add my two cents’ worth about how we Russians need buckwheat when we are far from the Motherland in order to find inner peace. Before officially setting off on our circumnavigation, we stocked up on buckwheat, as any self-respecting Russian crew would. But not in Russia, as you might reasonably assume—it was in the Canary Islands. We found a Lithuanian shop there that supplies Russian vessels with food in bulk, and bought up all their buckwheat, Borodinsky bread and assorted Baltic sprats. Almost a year and a half has passed since then, and there is still some buckwheat aboard. Though here they are—the last 2 litres, now opened. Breakfast aboard Lady Mary I had planned to bring at least five kilos or so of the principal grain underpinning the invincibility and might of the Russian people back from Russia. And so we flew to the Motherland. But once there, in the Motherland, eating buckwheat was the last thing on our minds—there is buckwheat on the boat all the time, and now at home as well! At home there are pelmeni and vareniki, homemade pickles and vinaigrette salads. Not once in a month and a half did this object of longing for Russian émigrés and travellers make it to the table. To illustrate just how packed our schedule was during our Siberian holiday, suffice it to say that we did not even manage to stop at a supermarket and stock up on Siberian sweets and other treats for the voyage. And I visited the pharmacy on the eve of our flight, while a house full of loved ones who had come to see us off had already been saying goodbye to the crew for a solid hour—without me. We celebrated our young sailor’s birthday in Siberia ) Anyway... We brought neither buckwheat nor proper pickled cucumbers to Cuba (there are no proper pickled cucumbers abroad, believe me—nothing but undiluted vinegar and not enough sugar. You only realise this when you try a cucumber from some “Uncle Vanya” brand after sampling “their” pickled cucumbers one after another in 16 countries). All we brought to the yacht from Russia was a haystack proudly described as herbal tea (the bloodcurdling details are set out here >> ). And today, on the morning of May Day, when the question of festive porridge arose, I took out the penultimate litre of buckwheat and thought: “It’ll be gone in a month—how are we going to live?” You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone...—that’s what I’m getting at. And we don’t stock up for the future, either :). A merry May to everyone! We wish you good health, joyful work, delicious food and love—for your loved ones and for the Motherland :). Make hay while the sun shines ,) Breakfast aboard Lady Mary The crew flying off for their Siberian holiday This is what it was like yesterday evening. You can see our Lady Mary somewhere right in the middle and far back in the frame—a little covered wagon against the backdrop of the houses This is an impromptu concert in the kitchen 🙂 Our little corner of the Motherland—the wondrous Altai