4. Strogonoff
We moved to Russia, yes, Russia. Neither France nor Germany as some believe. The origin of the Strogonoff recipe is in Russia at the end of the 19th century.
What is the Strogonoff? It is a recipe with meat cut into pieces and accompanied by mushrooms, onion and a sour cream sauce that is served with rice, pasta or potatoes. There are a thousand versions of this recipe and, like other classic recipes, there are also different theories about its history and creation.
The version that has the most acceptance is the one that explains that it was created by the chef of the Russian general Stroganov during a cooking contest in St. Petersburg. He won the contest and named the dish with the surname of the Earl Stroganov.
But there are also those who say that the recipe was originated during a dinner offered by the Earl Stroganov. The number of guests who attended increased notably and, without time to provide themselves with more meat, they added mushrooms and a sauce to the recipe to lengthen it. It was such a success and the Strogonoff became a regular recipe in the Russian society.
From Russia, the recipe jumped to France and Germany and, later it became popular in China and from there it jumped to the United States to become one of the classic recipes of the world’s gastronomic heritage.