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Martin Blunos |
Martin Blunos's parents emigrated from Latvia in the former USSR, so the two-Michelin-starred chef probably has a genetic advantage when it comes to making the Russian yeasted pancakes, blinis. He's even named his new restaurant after them.
Michael Raffael reports.
Maslenitsa, or the "butter woman" feast, is the Russian equivalent of the British Pancake Day, except that it lasts a full week. It occurs each year before Lent, and because Easter in the Orthodox Church calendar is in May, this Russian institution usually takes place early in March.
The pancakes are blinis, made from a yeasted batter, which are halfway between a crumpet and a Scotch pancake. In a domestic environment they are about 10cm across, but professional kitchens make them smaller. Most chefs associate blinis with caviar. The link to Russian cuisine is authentic, but they have entered the international repertoire via Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, although this gives an oversimplified view both of what blinis are and how they are served.
The original recipe may once have been made purely from leavened buckwheat flour (native to Siberia) and eggs, but it has evolved, as recipes always do, with time. Nowadays, most cooks, like Martin Blunos, prefer to use wheat flour or a mixture of flour and buckwheat. This gives a lighter, more springy texture. In other parts of the former Russian empire there are variations containing mashed potato and boiled millet.
In Russian homes blinis are often drenched in melted butter like crumpets or muffins. And while that use doesn't suit restaurants, except perhaps for breakfasts and afternoon teas, thick soured cream (smetana) is an ideal accompaniment, especially when combined, as it often is in Russia, with smoked fish. As a brasserie or gastropub item, this works either as a light starter or as a more substantial snack meal.
Blunos opened his latest venture, Blinis, in Bath just before Christmas. It has a deli-traiteur-café operation on the ground floor and a two-Michelin-starred restaurant below it. Upstairs, a blini with smoked salmon and sour cream sells for £1.75. Downstairs, his signature dish of scrambled duck egg with beluga caviar, vodka and two kinds of blinis is a £15 supplement to a £39.50 menu.
Scrambled duck egg with beluga caviar (serves two)
Basic blini recipe (makes about 90)
Buckwheat blinis
Martin Blunos
Smetana
Things to do with blinis
Photo © Nick Smith