Oksana Putan is a chef with twenty years of experience. She has worked in restaurants, cafes, bakeries, cruise ships and parish refectories. Runs his own canteen. He writes cookbooks and runs culinary columns in magazines. Lives in Kurgan.
Elvira Baryakina: You probably started cooking as a child. Yes?
Oksana Putan: But what? Favorite treat those times - boiled condensed milk. Moreover, it was not necessary to cook in a saucepan: you put a couple of cans behind the radiator and in a day or two it was ready.
And the canned food was incomparable: buckwheat with meat in tin cans. Frying something like this in a frying pan until crispy is a fairy tale, not food. I recently saw something similar in a store and decided to feel nostalgic - but it’s nothing. Either it was prepared completely wrong, or we were already overstuffed. Or maybe this is from the same opera as New Year's tangerines. Which tasted better in childhood.
E.B.: You lived in a military town. Tell us a story about your soldiers' canteen.
O.P.: An old, old story, from childhood.
A soldier from the national people asks for a glass of tea to be handed to him from a tray:
Comrade on duty, please pass THIS on! He digs in: - What is THIS? “Well, this,” the fighter hesitates, remembering Russian word, - here it is, in a glass... Well, fried water!
However, he was not far from the truth. Then I often saw how in canteens (for example, in pioneer camps), instead of tea, they brewed burnt sugar, and the tea leaves floated on top for show. Accordingly, there is no taste, but what kind saturated color it worked! This method was especially popular on long-distance trains.
E.B.: The most colorful chef in your memory?
O.P.: I am against chauvinism, especially professional chauvinism. But still, the brightest and most talented chefs I have met are men. I don't know why. One of them is Seryozha Karasev. Tall, cheerful, skinny. The standard cutting table was too low for him, and if after cutting meat or beets, we all walked around with dirty bellies, he would have stains on his “most interesting place" He then kept sighing that “the critical days have come at the wrong time again.”
Working with him was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from him. However, I have always been lucky with teachers. My first ship was the cruise ship Yuri Trifonov, which took tourists to Korea and Japan. And the chef there really disliked me. She couldn’t kick me out, fire me, write me off - she didn’t have such opportunities. And then she said: “I’ll rot you with the help of the menu - you’ll run away yourself.” This was the daily task she gave me, I was just about to despair. But now I can easily make such quantities, without any fear. In the summer, my assistant and I cooked for a wedding: 80 people, 14 types of dishes. And nothing - we did it.
E.B.: How did you end up on a cruise ship that was going abroad? After all, this was probably a criminal place.
O.P.: I went to work at sea after maternity leave. I divorced my husband and thought that I needed to get a job somewhere. While I was on maternity leave, my native Catering was reorganized and there was nowhere to return.
We lived in the port of Kholmsk, on Sakhalin. I went to the personnel department with the firm intention of getting a job in the port fleet, on some kind of tugboat: to work from 8 to 5, and every evening at home. And there the personnel officer looked at my diploma and said:
Listen, we need a fifth-class cook at Yuri Trifonov.
I got lost. They only got a job at Yuri Trifonov for bribes, but here it’s such a freebie. But my son was small. I went to my mother to “ask for time off.” Mom sighed: “Go, whatever.” At least you can see the world.”
I got involved. Then there were other ships. If on the Yuri Trifonov there was a crowd in the galley - a separate baker, a separate galley keeper, then on small ships there was only a cook and a barman. I had to do everything myself, including baking bread. But I didn’t know how to bake bread.
I came for the first time on such a ship with a direction. The captain asks:
Do you bake bread? I crumple. Of course, I know the theory, but I don’t have the practice. - I allow you to ruin three baked goods, and then let me learn.
And I started. Oh... I’ll mix the dough according to the textbook, bake 12 black scary bricks, cut them - from the middle raw dough pours out. There is a “drip” in the galley - something like a garbage chute: everything goes directly overboard. Looking around, I approach him with my baked goods: gurgle-gurgle - 12 gurgles. Bag in hand and off to the store for bread. It’s good that we were standing near the shore. And a week later there’s a flight (albeit a short one). I had to buy bread for the whole week.
Almost my entire salary was spent on this bread. I got all the chefs I knew. I asked everyone how they bake bread, why they succeed and I don’t. Each had their own trick and their own recipe: completely different.
Then old Alexandra Grigorievna, Trifonov’s baker, says to me:
Don't twitch and don't listen to anyone. You know the theory, you bake pies. Just take it and try it, time after time...Then, when you FEEL THE DOUGH, it will work with both bad flour and bad yeast.
I did so. And at some point it really hit home. Since then I have always succeeded in making both dough and bread. I then worked in a bakery for five years and taught so many bakers myself.
E.B.: Now tell a sea tale.
O.P.: Not quite nautical, but directly related to my surname. People who hear it for the first time always widen their eyes. Most frequently asked question- “Is this your real name?” Of course it’s real, would anyone in their right mind take such a pseudonym?
It was in 1994, and maybe in 1993... By the way, I already wrote about this incident on the Internet, now my story is circulating on sites with jokes. It happened at Trifonov. I had a friend - a barmaid in the wardroom, Sveta Botsman (that’s the girl’s last name, but why should I grin).
We had to get up early, and in order not to oversleep, we wrote in the log in the administration room, where the flight attendants kept watch around the clock.
A guy we knew, Vasya Pyatykh, was a passenger with us on that flight. The motion, even minimal, had a very strong effect on him: he could not sleep. And here this Vasya sits with the flight attendants and, out of boredom, flips through the logbook: “Wake up Boatswain at 7 am.” Bullshit, he thinks, it was probably written with a mistake: the girls didn’t put a full stop on it. It was necessary to “wake up at 7 am. Boatswain".
The next entry plunges him into shock: “Wake up Putan at 5 am.” He looks up at the flight attendants:
Why the hell are you getting them up so early?!
E.B.: What about the pitching - did you have to cook in a storm?
O.P.: There is a trick at sea: they always ask whether you get seasick or not. If you get motion sick, they won’t force you to work during a storm - they will replace you. If a sailor gets motion sick, the navigator will take the wheel instead. But if you don’t get motion sickness: be kind, work hard. And so you fly around the galley along with the pots. Moreover, only one in ten loses their appetite during a storm. On the contrary, others are attacked by a terrible zhor.
E.B.: How do dishes not tip over when rocking?
O.P.: Eat special devices- all sorts of holders and sides for stoves and pots. And the menu, of course, is simplified as much as possible. Navy pasta is just such a dish. I immediately understood where it came from and why it was called that.
However, the tables in the wardroom are set according to all the rules - as if there were no jocks. But also with its own tricks: for example, tablecloths are soaked in water and spread out wet. The dishes on such tablecloths stand and do not move from side to side.
I remember one time I started making bread dough and thought we’d weather the storm. But no. The captain, God bless him, got through 8 points. It was so tossed around that the barmaid and I almost turned gray with fear. Then they looked at the dough: what kind of bread is there! It was so battered that it became liquid: it was good only for pancakes.
Overall it was a good school. And it was fun, despite all the difficulties.
E.B.: Tell us about working in the parish refectory.
O.P.: It so happened that I suddenly believed in God. There were unpleasant events, and faith happened. At that time I didn’t know what to do with it. It turned out that I couldn’t live in the old way, but I couldn’t live in the new way. I needed time to come to my senses. I bought a house in the village and stayed there for two years.
The refectory has its own peculiarities: restrictions on fasting - this is possible, sometimes it is not. I had to dodge. And on the fast days, when welcoming guests, it was necessary to please both the white priesthood and not deprive the monastics (they cannot eat meat).
During those two years, I did weddings and anniversaries there. My job loves me and always finds me: people constantly came from the city and persuaded me to go work in their new cafes and restaurants. But I refused: I no longer wanted to go to the restaurant - it became uninteresting. And then I opened a canteen in the office, and now I do what I do.
E.B. They say that if you know how sausage is prepared and beer is brewed, you will never put them in your mouth. What will you never eat?
O.P.: In restaurants, I never order dishes with multiple components. I usually just take a steak or chop and a salad. fresh vegetables. I know the ins and outs of this work all too well. And such an order is a sure way to stay both full and healthy. And you can immediately see what a cook is worth, because the “especially gifted” will even manage to ruin a chop, and a good specialist will... a simple piece meat will cook a masterpiece.
E.B.: How did you become a food writer? O.P.: It all started with a blog. I started it for my friends - I was tired of everyone taking turns dictating recipes. Started posting on the Internet detailed descriptions, and then got involved. It turns out quite well: I only write about what I have tried myself. Three books have already been published: “Rulets”, “Lamb” and “Chicken”. “Dumplings” and “Sushi” are coming (we are making this book together with my Japanese friend).
In addition, I now run a culinary column in the newspaper. The responses are quite unexpected. For example, the physics teacher at the lyceum where my son studies often tells me what and how she cooks according to my recipes.
A lot of material has accumulated, so there will be new books and new articles in the media.
Recipe from Oksana Putan
Squid rings in breadcrumbs
It's very easy to prepare and very quick.
For 4-6 servings you will need:
600 grams of squid 4 eggs ½ teaspoon of salt 4 tablespoons of flour 6 tablespoons of breadcrumbs 500 grams of refined vegetable oil
Place frozen squids in a bowl. Pour boiling water over it. Almost all the film will curl up under the influence of boiling water. Remove the remaining film, entrails and chord (transparent spine) under running water.
Cut the cleaned squid into rings 1 cm thick. Heat the oil as for deep frying. Pour flour into a separate bowl and mix it well with salt. Knock out raw eggs into another bowl and stir with a fork until smooth.
Gently coat the squid rings in flour. Then drop the eggs into the lezon.
Roll well in breadcrumbs and place in butter. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Finished rings Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon to remove excess oil. Try not to put many pieces of squid into the deep fryer at once; the rings should float freely in the oil without pressing against each other. Then you will get perfectly even rings.
In Oksana’s recipe, the amount of ingredients is given for two dishes, we don’t eat that much, so I prepared one. But I advise you to festive table Serve exactly two “Herring under a fur coat”, it is so tasty that one will definitely not be enough for you.
For one small dish (if necessary, simply multiply the number of products by 2):
- 1 small herring or 2 prepared fillets
- 2 potatoes about 200 g
- 2 carrots about 200 g
- 2 small beets about 200 g
- 2 eggs
- 1 small green apple
- 3-4 tbsp. mayonnaise
- salt
Wash the potatoes, carrots and beets and boil until tender, add salt during cooking, then you will not have to add salt to the vegetables in the salad. Boiled vegetables clean. Grate the potatoes and carrots on a coarse grater, set aside the beets for now... Hard-boil the eggs.
Peel the herring, remove the film and separate the fillets. Finely chop the herring fillet, divide into two parts, place one on a platter or a beautiful plate.
Half grated potatoes Place on top of the herring and press down a little. If you didn’t salt the vegetables when cooking, now is the time to add a little salt to the potatoes. Add 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise. Distribute mayonnaise over potatoes.
Place half of the grated carrots on the potatoes with mayonnaise, distribute them evenly and compact them carefully.
Peel the apple and remove the seed, grate it on a coarse grater (it’s better to do this just before using it in the salad so that it doesn’t darken) and distribute it over the carrot layer.
Grate the egg whites on a coarse grater as well, and set the yolks aside; they will be useful later. Place the grated whites on the apples in an even layer and press down. Add 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and spread it over the surface.
It's time for the "second floor". Now add the remaining half of the chopped herring.
Place the remaining potatoes evenly on the herring again (if desired, this layer of potatoes can be greased with another tablespoon of mayonnaise), distribute the remaining half of the grated carrots on top.
In a separate bowl, grate the beets fine grater, add mayonnaise (add salt if you didn’t do this during cooking), stir.
Place the beets on top and, using a wide knife or spatula, distribute them evenly over the entire surface of the salad. Grate the yolks on a fine grater and sprinkle them over the salad. Wipe the edges of the plate or dish with a damp paper napkin or the edge of a towel.
That’s it, our delicious “Herring under a fur coat” is ready!
Bon appetit!
2 tablespoons sour cream
Breadcrumbs should be without any dyes or additives. The best way- This is to dry several pieces of white bread or loaf and grind them into crumbs. Usually I put all the bread crusts in a basket that stands somewhere high on the cabinet, and it goes there too. stale bread. Just be sure to tear it into smaller pieces with your hands (under a meat grinder or mixer). You don’t even have to cut it with a knife - the bread crumb, in fact, doesn’t care how perfect the cutting of the crackers was. They (the crusts) dry naturally within a week. I periodically look into this basket and pour the contents into a blender. Whack-whack and you're done. And themselves breadcrumbs, it is better to store in paper bag in the closet. No tight closed cans and containers. On the other hand, if you are at home White bread If you don’t eat, then don’t bother. And if you come across good breadcrumbs without additives in the store, buy them with a reserve. You can often find normal crackers in bakery stores. Or in those supermarkets where they bake their own bread.
Pour a glass of cold water into it.
See how to calculate the amount of bread added to the minced meat. Typically, this filler should be approximately one third of the minced meat. We have 600 grams of minced meat, which means there should be about 300 grams of already soaked and squeezed bread. Or the same bread, but finely ground. A glass of water is about 220 grams, and you don’t even need to weigh the crackers.
Mix the crackers with water and set aside for a couple of minutes.
Chop it finely.
Season with all the salt.
For one kilogram of minced meat – one full (with top) teaspoon of salt. And here we have: 600 grams of minced meat, 300 grams of crackers, 100 grams of onions - that’s a kilogram. It’s not difficult to add such simple numbers in your head, and there’s no need to raw minced meat taste for salt.
Then rub the onion and salt with your hands.
It should give juice, i.e. look wet.
Place the onion in a bowl with the breadcrumbs. By this time they will have absorbed all the water.
Add minced meat.
One raw egg.
Half a teaspoon of ground pepper.
Attention, if you have someone who thinks that he does not eat onions, then fine cutting is not your option. Then grind this onion into porridge using a grater or blender, no need to mash anything, salt and ground onion immediately add to the bowl, and ... “It’s been the fourth year of my marriage, my husband is still sure that he doesn’t eat zucchini.”
Lift the minced meat several times (5-6) and throw it back into the bowl with force. Do not swing too much))) lift it 10 centimeters, the main thing is to release it with force. That's why I write deep bowl so that all these manipulations can be done right inside the bowl. Otherwise, instead of having a quick dinner, you’ll have to clean the kitchen all evening.
Then divide the minced meat into 8 or 12 parts.
Place a dry frying pan over the highest heat, add 4 tablespoons of oil and heat for exactly two minutes. Then turn the heat to low-medium and start forming the patties.
With wet hands (you can pour water into a bowl from under the minced meat and dip your hands in there one at a time), first roll the minced meat into a ball, then squeeze it lightly with your palms. To get flat round meatballs.
And immediately place them in the pan. First along the edges of the pan, and lastly to the center. It’s always hotter there, so we always place the last cutlet or patty in the center, but turn the central one over first.
Now attention – don’t overdo it, don’t play it safe. Fry for exactly 5 minutes on one side.
Then 5 minutes on the other side.
If all your cutlets do not fit in one frying pan, do this: remove the cutlets 5 minutes after you have fried them on the other side, carefully, with a spatula, onto a separate plate.
Then Necessarily Use a paper towel to wipe off all the oil remaining in the pan and add new oil. Be sure to do this. Otherwise, you will save the unfortunate 4 tablespoons of oil, but the cutlets will turn out terrible, covered in burnt flakes from the previous batch.
Fry the second batch for 5 minutes on one side and turn over. Fry for another 4 minutes, then pour the first batch of cutlets into the pan. Cover everything with a lid, cook for the remaining minute and remove from heat.
The moment you place the cutlets in the frying pan, set the rice to cook.
Pour a glass of rice (I used jasmine, it is very tasty in itself) into a narrow saucepan.
Pour in one and a half glasses of water. Add salt (level teaspoon).
Put the rice on the fire. Bring to a boil.
Don’t focus on the holes in the rice – it depends on the variety and the burner. You will see that the rice has begun to rise above the surface of the water - that’s it. Turn off, cover with a lid, set aside. Thin long rice will cook on its own in about 15 minutes. Then just stir it with a fork before serving.
While the rice is boiling and the cutlets are frying, prepare the salad.
Wash the vegetables, cut them either directly into the salad bowl (on the weight), if you don’t know how to do this yet, then on the board. In any arbitrary way.
Add some salt. Add two cloves of garlic (through a press or finely grated).
Season with sour cream.
Stir well.
That's all.
And that’s all – very tasty, well, very, very tasty.
Oksana Putan is a chef with 20 years of experience. She has worked in restaurants, cafes, bakeries, on cruise ships and in parish refectories. She went from being a starting junior employee confectionery shop to the chef. For the past few years, Oksana has managed a canteen specializing in corporate catering. Conducts author's culinary columns in newspapers and magazines.
Bibliography:
1. "Rolls. Signature dishes" - Arkaim Publishing House (2007). ISBN 978-5-8029-1900-2
2. "Original recipes from lamb"- EKSMO Publishing House, Olympus (2008). ISBN 978-5-699-29004-8, 978-5-7390-2193-9
3."Such different chicken. Original dishes for everyday life and holidays"- EKSMO Publishing House (2008). ISBN 978-5-699-28989-9, 978-5-73902192-2
4. "Pelmeni and Co"- Arkaim Publishing House (2009) ISBN 978-5-8029-2543-0
5."Unusual Pink Salmon"- Arkaim Publishing House (2010) ISBN 978-5-8029-2620
6. "Pierogi i Pielmieni"- REA Publishing House, Poland (2010) ISBN 978-83-7544-246-5
7. "Encyclopedia of Sushi" in collaboration with Iida Oriha - Publishing House "Astrel", "Arkaim" (2011) ISBN 978-5-271-35641-4, 978-5-8029-2668-0
Hello, I'm Africa, and here you know me as the drunken chef.
Why is the cook drunk? Well, it just so happens that I love to cook and at the same time sip a glass of wine or a mug or another of beer.
My photo won’t be here yet, my beloved cat Matvey is looking at you with his smart eyes.
And why? And all because on the Internet there is a very popular expression “take care of yourself, otherwise in 5 years you will have to put cats on your avatar,” and so this is exactly what happened to me, the last couple of years, let’s say, I behaved badly, but now ..
And now I just recently quit smoking, I just started cooking for myself. healthy dishes(recipes will definitely appear here) and I really hope that my personal photography will push Matvey out of this place soon.
As for cooking, this is the most important hobby in my life, I started doing what I loved when I was about 6 years old, initially my grandmother taught me everything, and, believe me, she had great talent - just try to feed 8 children and a husband. Over time, I simply began to study culinary literature and, through trial and error, achieve the maximum result from my dishes.
Not long ago I met an amazing person: Oksana Putan - a popular blogger, author of several cookbooks, an extraordinary personality with an interesting philosophy of life and a wonderful sense of humor.
Oksana, who really doesn’t like being called a “cook,” has been working as a cook for more than a quarter of a century, which is strikingly different from most of our glossy “culinary” celebrities who stand at the stove exclusively under the guns of television cameras.
Today I want to introduce you better to Oksana and her blog ksy-putan, after reading which you will rediscover the preparation of such, it would seem, far and wide famous dishes like pancakes, cutlets or omelettes. SO you definitely haven’t prepared them yet. Happy reading! And appetite!
- Oksana, what place does your blog occupy in your life?
At first the blog was like a “postcard for everyone.” Mostly I wrote for a few close and real friends. About how I am and where I am. And what's going on in my life?
Then, gradually, somehow everything changed. Now I sometimes look at statistics and am horrified - what are several thousand people doing here every day? Can my whining be interesting?
It is consoling that my readers are mostly friendly and kind people. Judging by the comments. 
- You are the author of five cookbooks in Russian, one book in Polish and one co-authored book. Please tell us a little more about your bibliography.
Bibliography:
"Rolls. Signature dishes" - Arkaim Publishing House (2007).
"Pelmeni and Co" - Arkaim Publishing House (2009)
“Pierogi i Pielmieni” - REA Publishing House, Poland (2010)
“Encyclopedia of Sushi” also turned out great. But in writing the book, I played more of the role of a “magic nerd” and a bore - I found fault with Oriha while she was writing. To every little thing - why is that so? We need to make it clear to everyone. But we need to talk about this in more detail. And so on. So even though my name is on the cover, the credit goes entirely to Oriha Iida.
- You position yourself as a “culinary punk”. What do you mean by this concept?
Well, this is a joke. Although there is some truth in every joke. I don’t tolerate taboos in cooking and don’t really respect the current culinary “authorities.” Moreover, I openly ridicule these pretentious “Gurus”.
I even prepared Belonikins ( belonika is the nickname of culinary specialist Veronica Belotserkovskaya, known for her recipes for gourmet and expensive products - approx. auto) truffles with Macfa pasta. I confess, it was still spaghetti, but “Makfa”. Pure trash))
- What is your biggest “culinary mischief”?
Oh, at the very beginning of my online communication, I trolled all these culinary communities with my recipes “ fried mayonnaise" They wrote nasty things about me, and I made sure they didn’t forget to put an active link.
Some of these people still go to my friends’ blogs and tell them: “Fee, how can you be friends with Oksana Putan, she bakes with mayonnaise.” What makes me and my friends incredibly happy.
- How did your passion for cooking begin, which grew into a profession? And can you, after twenty-five years of working as a chef, still call cooking your passion?
Yes, there was no hobby. Mom didn’t like to cook; she had to learn it from childhood. And when I started working as a cook, it was different. At first I thought that all my friends were learning, growing, moving up the career ladder - but I was a cook, and I remain a cook. And then I somehow realized that it was better to be a good and happy cook than an unhappy banker or school director.
To each his own. For some reason I got exactly these abilities - I need to use them. I still have no passion for cooking. A cook, and especially an online cook, is, in my understanding, someone who searches for a recipe for a long time, selects the ingredients, observing the notorious authenticity, then cooks carefully and then takes a long and persistent photo of it all with a good camera.
But I don’t bother with photos - the main thing is that it is clear, and on the contrary, I try to simplify the process. But I have a favorite job - feeding people. And I really like this job. On the Internet we can pretend to be anyone. But in real life it is difficult to deceive people.
And many people read me, from those who either worked with me, or have known me for many years, or have been and eaten what I cook at banquets or rural processions. Try to lie here, they will immediately comment. In order to work as a cook for 25 years and continue to love your job, you just need to learn to first see the people you feed. Then giving back, that same gratitude, will overcome any fatigue.
- What is your favorite dish?
Fried chimchi with pork and rice porrige. I love Korean cuisine. I'm a chimchi-biter.
- To what extent is the process of cooking a creative process for you?
This is not creativity, it is rather some kind of action where not only the dish you are preparing is taken into account. Here you need to take everything into account - time, dishes and oven burners. For example, we recently fed tourists. Our largest pots are 20 liters. If there were 50 each, I would immediately cook two pots of soup and that’s it. And so I had to cook it five times.
Taking into account the workload of the stove (and not just the soup), I had to calculate the time needed for the cooking itself and a reserve of 20 minutes, at least, so that the soup had time to brew at least a little. And tie this in time to the arrival of one or another tourist group.
And this is all in addition to the fact that the soup itself needs to be cooked tasty, and not anyhow. And besides the soup there is a salad, a main dish and a side dish - where all the same calculations of quantity and time are not at the expense of quality. Well, in general, such a simple chef’s job. No creativity, cold calculation.
- In your blog, from time to time you give advice on preparing certain dishes. Do you answer all of your readers' cooking questions? And what does it take to get advice from you?
I always answer. When there is time and opportunity, I try to answer. And I always advise all my friends. And this is normal for me - if at 10 am on Saturday the phone rings - and, for example, a former boss from another city asks me for advice on preparing something. I'm used to it.
If I suddenly miss a question, or don’t have time to answer, I think readers will understand this and will not be offended.
To receive the best articles, subscribe to Alimero's pages.
Loading...