Due to the course of world events, Central Asia has been in the news a great deal lately, but the cuisine and culture of this region remains a mystery to most people in North America. This book makes the food of this region accessible to the English speaking world. Uzbek cooking bears an intriguing mixture of influences: The Middle East, Russia, India, and China have all influenced the cuisine. The recipes in this book are excellent and easy to prepare. We enjoyed the Lamb Plov, served with flatbread and the pomegranate and white radish salad. One negative, though: I must agree with Djonn from Toronto that the binding of this book is of very poor quality: ours fell apart on the first use!

Growing up Bukharan in 1970's North America, I have had a difficult time explaining to people where I'm from etc. Thank goodness someone has finally taken an interest in and published a book about one the most favourite aspects of my culture . . . Food!

In terms of the actual recipes, this is a very good book. They all turn out as they should and are fairly authentic (which is rare in any cookbook). My only caveats have to do with the book iself:

1) It is poorly bound. My copy fell apart after about 2 months.
2) There are no photographs accompanying any of the recipes. This is a shame considering that most people are unfamiliar with this cuisine and wouldn't know how it's supposed to turn out or what the ideal presentation should be.
3) The index (is bad).

However, after all this I still urge you to buy this book. Why? Because the recipes are easy to follow, nutritious, filling and delicious. (And of course, exotic.) Also, if you're interested in the history of this fabled land of the Silk Road, you'll find this a well written & researched book that you could curl up with as well as cook from.
Solomat!
(Lynn Visson, I salute you!)

Uzbek cooking may be unfamiliar to many Americans, but it is simple to prepare, exotically spicy, and healthy to boot. This cookbook gives an excellent introduction to Uzbek cuisine through recipes that emphasize basic techniques of Uzbek cooking, such as pilafs, soups, dumplings, etc. I have not been disappointed with one recipe from this book. My only complaint is that the cookbook was too short!

I love this cookbook -- I actually own an earlier edition, which is well worn by now. The recipes were gathered from Russian emigres while the cold war was still raging. Back then, this book was something of a revelation: written proof that Russian food is a lot more than Borscht and the "Bleenies and caviar" that were served daily at the (now gone) Russian Tea Room in NYC. (For Russians, Blini are a seasonal treat!)

The only drawback to this book, in my experience, is that one or two of the recipes seem to be a bit vague or off the mark regarding specified quantities. Maybe it's me, but I always find myself with too much filling for the allotted amount of dough in some of the pirozhki recipes. Fortunately, the dough is easy enough to make more of, and you can't make too many pirozhki (once you're on a roll!); they freeze and re-heat beautifully. (Try the Nabokova recipes - the cabbage filled pirozhki are especially delicious!) This problem may be a result of the book being - essentially - a collection of recipes from various sources, and perhaps this new edition has tested the recipes anew and solved this infrequent problem.

Other than finding myself with too much cabbage filling, my results have been consistently good and extremely tasty!

In addition to the great zakuski section, and the classic dishes (try 'Pozharski Kotlety'), I highly recommend the sweets! The Trifunovich Napoleon is divine, the flourless, vodka-infused Apricot cake is fabulous, and the Paskha and Kisel' desserts are uniquely Russian and quite delicious.

Other Russian cookbooks I have seen offer more cultural commentary, though this book has some of that, too. Some are also broader in scope, covering more cultures and cuisines that were encompassed by the Soviet Union (i.e. Georgian, Ukrainian, Mongolian, etc.). But this is the book I turn to most frequently when I want to make something that's traditional and delicious. "The Russian Heritage Cookbook" is a must-have if you like Russian food, or are looking for some inspiration for party food (appetizers AND desserts).

I had to stop reading this book. I am just beginning a relationship with a Russian man, who has been living in the U.S. for several years. The book, at least through much of the first half, talks about the failure of all these Russian-American relationships and has very little good to say about Russian men. I'm not sure how applicable some of these attitudes are to younger Russian men. I mean, I'm sure some of these values are still ingrained in Russian society, re: sex and women's roles, but I found the book discouraging for my relationship. It made me question things about the guy I'm seeing before there was anything to really question. Perhaps it will be more appropriate of a read if we start having difficulties in understanding one another. Until then...I'll put it up my shelf. My suggestion - if you're in a Russian-American relationship and needing advice because you've hit a rocky road, read the book. It probably explains some underlying cultural themes that are causing difficulty for you two. If you're just curious and starting a new relationship...hold out until you have problems. Hopefully you won't need the book.

When I ordered this book, my US born husband said it's probably going to be useless for us as it sounds like it is targeted to the Americans who marry the "mail order brides".I was pleasantly surprised though to find out that the book was very informative and helped me sort some issues out (mainly reassuring me that having these sort of issues is not 'just us'). The author has been married to a Russian, so she has an 'insider' prospective of the matter. I thought the descriptions of the cultural differences were pretty accurate, with lots of real life examples (I can relate to many of them). And now that my husband and I have our first son (1.5 year old) I can't agree more that you face the biggest challenges when you start raising a child.

On a few occasions I thought the author was taking sides (usually the American side). Perhaps so was I. The truth is in the middle if there is one in these matters. Most of the case studies were done long time ago, so a lot of things do not stand true nowadays, as Russia and its people have changed a lot and is constantly changing while integrating into the rest of the world, but at the same time (hopefully) remaining what it has always been - a mystery for the outside world!

On another note - the book may be helpful to intercultural marriages not only involving Russians, but also any nationality from the former Soviet Union.

I'd like to thank Lynn for writing this book. I feel strongly that anyone, especially American men, should read Wedded Strangers before committing themselves to a cross-cultural marriage. The pains you save may be your own! Lynn's chapter, "The Mindset", towards the end of the book, I thought especially well-done. Perhaps now is the time for a rigorous, statistical study of the Russian/American marriages that have taken place this decade. Such a study would be a welcome follow-up to the historical and anecdotal work Lynn Visson has given us in Wedded Strangers.