A Day in the Russian Countryside | Cooking with Aunt Galya

Hey guys, how are you? It's that time of year when we visit our beloved Aunt Galya. 300 kilometers is nothing when you want some delicious pies and pancakes. So let's drive. All right, here we are. So what's changed? Aunt Galya is here, the house is here, the dog is here, the chickens are here, and so are the cats. Everything seems to be in place. But watch this video to the end and you're going to learn how the sanctions affected the everyday life in Now let's start. Oh hey guys, we're at Aunt Galya's place again. What are we doing here? Came here for a weekend retreat. Get a break from the city life. And you know, there's something magical about this village. You know, there's a smell, if you can smell it, it's the smell of banya. Burning wood, someone's preparing a banya for the night. So what's the plan? We're going to the river and we're going to walk our famous field with no people on it. So let's go. You're a free man now, go swimming. It is so peaceful here and so quiet and that's why we love coming to this village. The fewer people the better. So we decided to go back because I saw a fox, a real fox, in the distance. And you know, fox might be infected with rabies. But we're not scared of no fox, of course. Vika was like, let me handle that fox. Because she lived in Wisconsin and she had to deal with all kinds of wild animals. What's up cows, how's it going? These cows are not tiny, they're like beefy, you know. And that guy's looking for trouble. You better give me some milk, okay? And I like beef also. So you gotta use some tricks around the house. These cats are no big fans of buckwheat, but Aunt Galya has come up with a solution. She mixes kitty cat and buckwheat and this way they're eating it. It's good taste and nutritious. What's the name of the cat? I think we're going to feed some chickens now. Let's do that. So my parents did not plan to join us, right? They just came unannounced. It's four hours of driving. It was a surprise visit. And we're like, what? Lana's standing in the kitchen and my mom walks in, listening to some old songs. And she thought Vika went crazy. So they came unannounced. Wonderful, we're gonna have a bigger party than we planned. That means that Aunt Galya is a great host. Oh yeah. Everybody wants to come here. Yes, she's like a magnet, attracting all the good people from all the areas. We're going to do some barbecue now. Let me welcome you to Aunt Galya's yard. And it's so big and this is a great outhouse. I got a task to perform and I have to do, I have to find some dill. I have to find some green onions. So, okay, we found some onions, you know, did not take long to find that. Okay, how much do we need? A little bit? It was so good. And we got to have some dill. I know foreigners do not like dill. Kyle once told me, a friend from Maine, he hated it. Which I don't know. I don't understand the hate for dill. It tastes great. So we got to have some dill. Russians use dill with a lot of salads. It's like one of our favorite spices. So, unfortunately, Aunt Galya is not keeping up with her garden this year. And you see a lot of weeds. You know, there's supposed to be a red current. There's a red current bush right there, but you don't even see it. Maybe tomorrow, I'll try to help her out. Dig it out. Man, these weeds, you know, they're just growing everywhere. It's so annoying. So they said there's some strawberry here. Let's find some. It's good? Slava, Slava. What? So these guys came and ruined the party. They said it's too windy and we can't start a fire. And now we're waiting for this bad weather to go away. Because we can't have barbecue. So disappointing. Got to listen to the words of wisdom. Okay, so my mom's been busy taking out the weeds. You guys saw what it was. Wow, that's a lot of work. Good job, mom. Good job. That's impressive. So now you can finally see the red current. See? Hard work comes at a price. All the scratches. Let's go finally start a fire. Oh, there's a cat. All right guys, quick update. I think the heat is just great to start cooking some shish kebab. Lena, what kind of meat do we have? This is pork and chicken kolbaski. Sausages. So we bought this meat pre-marinated. That's normally how we do it. And how much was it, Lena? Okay, it's exactly one kilogram and it's 400 rubles. And with the current exchange rate, that's eight dollars. This is what we pay eight dollars for. This is eight dollars and we're gonna mix it with different vegetables. Make it look real good. And my mom, she brought, what's that? Marshmallow. Wow, this is so American. Without gluten. Gluten-free? Yeah. That's even better. Looks good, guys. Okay guys, I think everything is going according to plan. And we'll be enjoying some wonderful shish kebab in about 20 minutes. Second skewer. Wow, looks delicious. So the real question is, where is Vika and why she's not helping us cook this delicious food? Because she'll be here to eat it. I know that. And you know, the heat is just right because I can't even hold my hand there. That's basically my indicator of if the heat is good enough. If you can't hold it there, it's good. Oh, it smells good. The boss! Okay, so after the shish kebabs, we have some sausage coming. When was the last time you had some marshmallows? Okay, I think one of these first skewers is ready. So let's try. So I think it needs just a little bit. Lena, can you see? There's a little bit of pink in there. So, but because it's pork, you better cook it all the way through. Wow, guys. I went to the yard to watch the sunset. Take a look at it. Wow. Can you tell what time it is right now? Well, it's 20 minutes to 10. Can you believe it? And it's really not going to get dark until like two in the morning. And then four in the morning is going to be bright again. Because it's this time of the year when you have the brightest nights. And in St. Petersburg, because it has even more northern latitude, you have white nights. 9 40 p.m. Well, cheers, guys. I think it's time to try the shish kebab. It's tasty. Food's so good. How many marshmallows have you? Too many. Good morning, family. So we have millet porridge and we have millet porridge with jam. Jam. More jam. And of course, we got fresh eggs and we have pancakes. Cookies. This is a short tutorial on how to eat a pancake. All right. I want to add some jam. Very generous. Maybe some sour cream. A little bit. Spread around. Very good. Now we want to fold it. One, two, and one more time. And you got a perfect Russian pancake. Let's try it. So good. I had no idea that Aunt Galya bakes her own bread. And today we're going to be baking some bread. First thing we do. So first thing is we're filtering the flour to get rid of any grains. To make sure it's nice and fine and smooth. Looks good. This is wheat flour. Let's add some salt. Now we're adding some flour. I make sure everything is done according to the recipe. I wanted to help Aunt Galya stir it, but she said you're not authorized to. I don't have the permission. Once it's ready, we'll let it sit for two to four hours. In the morning, we'd go for a walk and it would smell like bread. You'd go, and it would smell so good. Oh, they're baking here. Oh, they're baking here from the house. They're baking pies here. What kind of pies did they bake before? Usually with meat, with potatoes. Meat was always good in the winter. And in the summer, with barley, with some berries. How early did you get up in the morning? How much bread did you bake in the morning? We tried to bake bread after the milking. Because we'd go to the milking at four in the morning. That's early. The milking started at six in the morning. And by six in the morning, we had to get rid of the grain, feed it, clean it, and do everything. And then we'd go to the milking at six in the morning. These two hours, to get to work, to prepare everything, that's it. We'd leave at four in the morning. Although these two hours weren't counted in your work schedule? How much I got, that's how much I got. So you didn't work by hours before? No, no, no, no. We didn't have any hours. We worked separately. I got 100 kilograms for 100 kilograms. I got less, I got less. Hey, buddy, are you in trouble? Now we're going to be doing part two. That is rye and wheat bread. Rye flour. I wonder if it's local or not. It comes from Ryazan. Ryazan, the hometown of Yesenin. Yes. I said, Angalya, with all your expertise, you gotta start a little bakery. You gotta turn it into a profitable business. She calls it the hat. She said the hat is great. You know, sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty. You can tell the structure of rye dough is so different. It's less fluffy. It's more condensed. It's more stiff. We've never seen so many seagulls on this bridge. It just never happened. And look what they did. If you look at the rails of the bridge, they're all covered in seagull excrements. I hate to say it, but... And on the floor, same thing. Because they're sitting here and doing what they do. Same thing over here. This never happened. It only happened this year. I wonder why. I have no explanation for this. This is my bridge. Good boy. What are these flowers? These are not lupins from Texas, right? Because these are tiny. They're not as big, but still very pretty. Some mushrooms. Oh, I found the third one. You know what? We're going to take them with us. Maybe even cook them. You know, we just went for our routine walk. But now that my mom found some mushrooms, we have a plan. We're going to find more mushrooms. We're going to cook it. And, you know, Aunt Galya is going to provide freshly baked bread. We're all excited. Then we're going to have some fresh potatoes and fresh mushrooms. Okay, I'm looking for mushrooms. I have super strength. Did you do this, Slava? Yes. Oh, my God. It's real horror. It's a horror movie. So apparently there's a whistling competition going on. Vika, give me your best whistle. We're trying to summon the spirits of mushrooms. Because we only have three mushrooms right now. We need more. Wow. No. It's the claw of a monster, guys. Okay. First batch. Rye bread. So we'll let it sit there for about 40 minutes. Wow. Freshly baked rye bread. A loaf of bread. Yes. We have a little bit of mushrooms. And what's the plan? Okay. These are the mushrooms that we just picked from the forest. And let's add some onion. We'll have pies with potatoes and mushrooms. Seems like these pies are almost ready. New batch. Wow. Three loaves of white wheat bread. It doesn't get better than that. Another tea time. Or one more. Is anybody drink coffee today? I didn't drink coffee. Did you drink coffee? No. Of course. In the village, we drink only tea. That's right. Okay. Finally, the freshly baked bread. This is the wheat bread. And this is the rye bread. Straight from the oven. Feels good. This is wheat bread. So let's cut it. Home bread. Also, we have pies. We have pies with the mushrooms that we picked today. So super fresh. We have some dessert. We have marshmallows from yesterday. And fresh strawberries. Got plenty of pies, like I said. Lena, also, this mixture for the bread. Can you present it? So this is avocado tomato sauce. Which we're going to be using with the fresh bread. Let's do the bread tasting. Better than from the store. So stiff. It's good. The bread is usually not cut, but broken. Like this. It's very tasty. Try the avocado. Dip the bread in the avocado. Ah, I see. Dipping it in. No, I'll at least spread it on a piece. What is that? Do you like it? It's not mine, I don't understand this taste. I don't understand. And here are two mushrooms, right? Don't you pour tea for him? And tea, give me one tea. Well, let's paint the beavers. This is me embroidering words in my free time. Wow, how do you manage everything? Yes, I have everything. And I solve crosswords, and I embroider. And a kitten appeared. And a kitten. And a chick. Embroidery. Moscow in the fall. Well, I'll sew one thread. I mean, I sew one thread, then my hand stretches, I need a second one, I need a third one. Oh, I'm sitting, I'm sitting, I've been sitting for an hour, I've been sitting for two hours. Oh, Galya, stop turning around. No, I'll sew this one more now. I'm the most masterly woman. I have such ribbons embroidered. True, you need to make them into a frame. This is embroidered. Such a small bead. Oh, no, this is a cross. Aunt Galya, I have to ask you, how has life changed after the sanctions? I don't know, I don't want to talk about it. Galya, do you know what the dollar exchange rate is now? I'm not interested in that. Really? Well, that's why I didn't touch it. I have a ruble. Well, yes. That's all. I went to the store, calculated, I don't even have a card, because I don't like cards. Well, yes. Well, did the prices get more expensive or not? Well, they got more expensive, of course. What was the most expensive? Probably, most likely, sugar, because last year it was 60 rubles, this year it's 80. For now. Well, of course, everything got more expensive, and flour, and milk, and everything. Everything got more expensive, but vegetable oil, vegetable oil cost us 214 rubles, no, 208 rubles, and now it's 236 rubles. Everything got more expensive. It's okay. Well, I haven't felt housing prices yet, as it was last year. Well, since July 1, usually, housing prices are more expensive since July 1. How much housing do you get? In winter, I get a lot. In winter, I get about 3,500-4,000 rubles, because I have gas, and gas is expensive. And in summer, I paid 1,500 rubles. I, as they say, I have everything I need. I go to the store very rarely. I went there, the vegetable oil ran out, so I went to buy it. My son brought sugar for me in the spring, 20 kilograms, I still have it. And somehow it turns out that this is the most... Well, if I need it, I'll go and take it, of course. Well, I wanted, let's say, here a woman told me, you live rich, I wanted a cake. I came there, they sell such small cakes. I bought two cakes. She says, don't you feel sorry for the money? I say, why should I feel sorry if I wanted a cake? It's okay. I can only afford sushi. I say, I love sushi, if I want, I'll buy sushi. Do you have your own eggs? Yes, I have my own eggs. I bake bread from the garden, I have everything of my own. We buy meat in the fall. Do you buy meat in the village? Yes, yes, participants. In fact, you can live in the village on self-sufficiency, right? Well, it probably turns out that way, because someone keeps a lot, and due to this, now this milk, they bring it to me right now, they come to my porch, they put milk, 120 rubles, a three-liter jar. I need sour cream, I need cottage cheese, my neighbor is calling. Galina Ivanovna, I have it, I need it, I need it. That's it. They bring it right away, I give them money, they take it and leave. That's it. So I don't notice it. And the fact that everything has become more expensive, did they add a pension to you? Yes, a pension. Now I got 1,600 rubles more this month. How much did you get in total? I have 17 now. 17 rubles? Well, 300. 17-300. So I have enough, I don't know. And I don't need any new ones. New boots? Well, of course I need them, I'll buy them. My TV doesn't work, I need it, I'll buy it. It's not easier to live in the village. Of course, of course. If someone is not too lazy. You are my goosebumps, you are the best for me. Yes, my sunshine? You are my beauty. How many cats do you usually have? It depends. There were six. You can't walk on the table. Yeah. The wolf is fashionable. Yes. It's time to say a few words in English. Hello. Thank you very much. As you can see, the current sanctions have little effect on the regular Russians. Except for some price increases, no changes really. And because there's massive brainwashing going on on TV and on the radio, people can't make sense of what's really happening. So they assume the West simply hates Russia for no reason, not questioning why we have sanctions in the first place. And so they go into the familiar survival mode like in the good old Soviet days during the Cold War. In fact, the Soviet mentality that whoever's in charge knows better and don't be asking too many questions is really not letting them see the bigger picture and keeping them poor. Buying two cakes is a sign of wealth? Give me a break. The sanctions mostly affected people who travel a lot, who were making purchases online, who had accounts in foreign currency and traded stocks. You know, stuff that people do in the 21st century. But it's a tiny percentage of Russians and most of them had different opinions and values to begin with. Needless to say, many of them had to leave the country. I hope you enjoyed this video and I hope it helped you understand the Russian reality better. Let me know what you think in the comments.