This is Lesson 9, Part 1 of Olga’s Blog, a series of intermediate Russian lessons. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation (note that most of the highlighted words will have additional linguistic/cultural commentary below). Red words and phrases indicate the subject of this blog entry’s grammar lesson.
Многие американцы думают, что икра – это экзотическая еда богачей, которую едят серебряными ложками из серебряных тарелок. А на самом деле, для россиян икра хоть и деликатес, но ее часто едят не только олигархи, но и обычные люди, например водители и фермеры.
В основном икру поставляют с Камчатки, места, которое тоже можно назвать экзотическим. Камчатка – это полуостров на краю России, куда добраться можно по воздуху или морем, где дымятся вулканы, бьют горячие ключи, с гор текут чистые реки, и медведей больше чем коренных жителей, откуда до Аляски и Японии ближе, чем до Москвы.
Знаменита она еще одним удивительным явлением. В конце лета местные реки заполняются рыбой (кета, горбуша, семга), идущей на нерест в их верховье. Рыбы настолько много, что кажется, ее больше, чем воды. Во время путины на речных берегах скапливается много техники для ловли рыбы и грузовых машин для ее перевозки. Путина длится всего несколько дней, и ее ждут не только рыбаки, но и медведи и хищные птицы. Рыбу ловят тоннами. Ее просто черпают из воды.
Главная ценность в рыбе это икра. Количество икры в рыбе доходит до одной девятой, одной шестой от её веса*. Мнение о том, что икра ужасно дорогая, это полная неправда. Конечно, знаменитая белужья икра стоит почти двести долларов за унцию*, но можно купить отличную лососевую икру примерно за четыре доллара за унцию в России и восемь долларов за унцию в Америке. Это недешево, и вряд ли кто-то станет за такие деньги наедаться до отвала икры каждый день. Но икра остается традиционным блюдом на российских свадьбах и больших праздниках, таких как Новый год. Так что американцам легко найти повод попробовать этот замечательный деликатес!
Приготовить икру нетрудно – свежую икру промывают, и пересыпают солью. И через несколько дней икра готова к употреблению. На местных заводах ее герметично закрывают в металлические или стеклянные банки, в таком виде она и поступает в магазины. Наиболее популярна икра в маленьких стограммовых жестяных баночках. Их называют таблетками от голода для гурманов.
Самая вкусная икра – икра горбуши, у кеты икра крупная, но ценится меньше.
Баночная икра – продукт уже готовый к употреблению, его не надо готовить. Икра используется в основном для приготовления закусок. Пока!
Vocabulary and Cultural Annotations
Экзотическая еда богачей: Exotic food of the wealthy.
Поставлять/поставить с Камчатки: To ship/supply/procure from Kamchatka.
Добираться/добраться по воздуху или морем: To reach by air or sea. There are no roads to the Kamchatka peninsula. In fact, there is still not a continuous paved road that runs from Moscow in the west to Vladivostok in Russia’s far east.
Бьют горячие ключи: Thermal springs well up. Note that in Russian a spring is usually called a “родник” or “источник.” Here, Olga has chosen a slightly more colorful word more associated with liveliness than with with placid nature. In Russian, the collocation “бить ключом” can also mean “to be in full swing” and “жизнь бьёт ключом” means “life is in full swing.”
Коренные жители: Native peoples. It should probably be mentioned that the majority of the people resident on the peninsula are ethnic Russians, many of them transplanted there during the Soviet resettlement efforts of 1960-1989.
Знаменита она еще одним удивительным явлением: It is famous for one other amazing phenomenon. Note the word order here. “Знаменита” is a short-form adjective placed before the pronoun it modifies. Note that what the noun is famous for is placed in the instrumental case: “одним удивительным явлением.”
Кета: chum salmon; горбуша: humpback salmon; семга: Atlantic salmon. See pictures above. These fish range in average size from 2-3 feet and 3-10 pounds each.
Идущей на нерест в их верховье: going to spawn at the riverhead. Note that “Идущей” is a present participle form of “идти.”
Путина: fishing season. The word derives from the root “путь” meaning “road” or “path” and is so named because it coincides with time the fish are traveling to breed. The name Путин (Putin) also derives from this same root.
Хищная птица: bird of prey (carnivorous bird).
До одной девятой, одной шестой от её веса: up to one-ninth or one-sixth of its weight. The average depends mostly on the type of fish in question.
Двести долларов за унцию: Two-hundred dollars an ounce. Most Russians, of course, do not use the term “ounce,” as Russia uses the metric system. Often this term is encountered when Russians are discussing imported prices or an educated Russian is speaking to a foreigner. Одна унция (one ounce) is equal to about 28.3 grams.
Наедаться / наесться до отвала: To stuff one’s self. An отвал is a trash pit, so the Russian collocation here would imply that one ate essentially everything that was edible.
Промывать / промыть свежую икру: Thoroughly wash the fresh caviar. “Промывать” can also also mean “flush,” “rinse,” and “purge.” The prefix “про” in this case, implies that the action was thorough. The term “brainwash,” incidentally, is translated as “промывать мозги.”
Пересыпать солью: Sprinkled with salt. Note that in this case, the prefix “пере” indicates the process used to add the salt – by adding a layer of caviar, then sprinkling salt, then adding another layer and sprinkling more salt. If to refer to simply adding a normal amount of salt to soup, for instance, the verbs “насыпать” or “сыпать” are used.
Готова к употреблению: Ready for consumption.
Стограммовая жестяная баночка: A one-hundred gram tin can. Note that “баночка” is a diminutive of “банка,” emphasising that the can is small.
Икра используется в основном для приготовления закусок: Caviar is used mainly in the preparation of appetizers/snacks.
Grammar Focus: Word Formation – Professions, etc.
Various words can be derived from one and the same root by adding different suffixes and prefixes. Many names of professions are derived from verbs associated with those professions. Words that refer to someone who performs an action are also formed in the same way.
Russian typically has male and female versions of these words. There are some exceptions, however, where no female form exists, such as for “носильщик” (porter). Also, for many professions, female forms are now falling into disuse. For example, though the word “руководительница” (female leader/head) exists, one increasingly encounters phrases such as “она хороший руководитель” and this is considered perfectly correct. Knowing when to use one and not the other in the case of female forms can be tricky at times. Generally, the higher the position and the more education attached to obtaining that position, the more likely it is to have taken on a strictly male form. However, this rule is not constant.
-тель
Nouns with the suffix –тель are mainly derived from the stem of the infinitive of a verb. If the person referred to is female, then the suffix –тель is retained and the suffix –ница is additionally added.
Читать (to read) – читатель (reader, male) – читательница (reader, female)
Руководить (to lead) – руководитель (leader, male) – руководительница (leader, female)
-щик, -чик
Nouns with the suffixes –щик, -чик, -щица, -чица are derived from noun and verb stems: Переводить (to translate) – переводчик, переводчица (translator)
Носить (to carry) – носильщик (porter), no female form
-ник
Nouns with the suffix –ник are derived from adjective or nouns stems: Отличный (excellent) – отличник (excellent student), Мясо (meat) – мясник (butcher)
-ик
Nouns with the suffix –ик are generally formed from nouns: Математика (mathematics) – математик (mathematician), История (history) – историк (historian)
Other words have irregular forms such as “рыбак” (fisherman, from the word “рыба“) and “богач” (wealthy person, from the adjective “богатый”).
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