In Soviet times, Akademgorodok had it all – a beauty contest, one of which was won by actress Irina Alferova, a jazz festival (since 1929), a theater in . an attic, pantomime and martial arts studios, Natalia Fiksel’s modern ballet, a cafe under Integral.
The center of the cultural life of the town was the House of Scientists, almost a sacral place, a pass to it was given only to the cultivated. There was a wonderful buffet there, in which Al, who had not been granted permanent access, tried a wonderful salad, periodically reproduced in the kitchen at Cadiere.
The Salad of the House of Scientists is seasonal, it needs cucumbers that smell of spring. In Akademgorodok they appeared in April, in Cadiere we manage to catch them in March, the Dorogomilovsky market shifts the border to February. One of our good friends claims that he bought cucumbers smelling like spring there on December 31. We believe in the old fashioned way that spring should come after the New Year and not last more than three months, so we do not make this salad until February and after May.
- Having found cucumbers that smell of spring, we are very careful not to wash off the smell. Dry and cut along the body so that it becomes elongated rather than round, Al calls it – carpaccio style.
- We overlap them in an elongated bowl, like the one that was called “herring bowl” in Soviet times, generously pour sunflower oil, preferably bought in Tbilisi Hasharia, and in its absence – black olive oil.
- Gently sprinkle with large Camargue salt and black pepper from a hand mill. The sequence is critical.
Al recommends the Japanese Zen wine to go with the salad, in which, according to her, there are no fluctuations of taste, and there is not much of the taste itself. If you don’t have Zen, try a New Zealand Sauvignon from Marlborough.
In our kitchen, the preparation and use of this salad is always accompanied by stories from the life of the Akademgorodok about the Integral, the ballet Fixel and the disco by Anatoly Ledenev.
