HEALTH AND WELLNESS

RUSSIAN BLINI The French have their CREPES, the Scots their BANNOCK, and the Americans their FLAPJACKS. So it comes as no surprise that Russians have their own version of the PANCAKE –the BLIN, which is a staple with a long history. The ancient Slavs used blini for food sacrifices in their pagan rituals and saw in blini an appropriate symbol of round, warm, golden sun. Women who had recently given birth were fed blini. These were also served at weddings and at funerals, so they figured in peoples’ lives from birth to death. Russians today usually make blini with wheat flour, but other flours can also be used. RECIPE FOR BUCKWHEAT BLINI INGREDIENTS 120 grams buckwheat flour 120 grams wheat flour 20 grams butter, melted 2 eggs 720 milliliters or so of milk 30 grams sugar Pinch of salt PREPARATION: Mix buckwheat flour with 240 milliliters of milk. Heat another 240 milliliters of milk, and add it to the batter,

                                        King Ferdinand I [1751-1825] is said to have disguised himself as a commoner and, in clandestine fashion, visited a poor neighborhood in Naples. Why the secrecy? One story has it that he wanted to sink his teeth into a food that the queen had banned from the royal court –pizza. If Ferdinand were alive today, he would have no trouble indulging his appetite. Currently, there are some 30,000 pizzerias in Italy, and each year they produce enough pizzas to serve 45 to each inhabitant.                                                              HUMBLE ORIGINS Pizza may have originated in Naples about 1720. Back then, pizza was primarily for the poor, a “fast food” that was sold and consumed outdoors. Vendors would traverse the streets loudly calling out to advertise their tasty delicacies. The pizzas were kept warm in a scudo, a copper receptacle that was carried on the vendor’s head. King Ferdinand 1 eventually made his