Volga German Cuisine

I have been thinking about ordering one or more cookbooks that I have found on the internet featuring Volga German recipes.  This is my heritage on my paternal side as my great-grandparents and their children immigrated from the Volga River in Russia back in 1907.   I remember enjoying a couple of things growing up that managed to survive integration and the generations, but I want to learn more about what kinds of foods were traditional to my ancestors way back when.

Mom used to make bierocks and varenky (which is basically the same as pierogy with a different name) and these were taught to her by Dad's mother who learned from her mother-in-law, the German from Russia immigrant.   Some of the other foods that I knew were sauerkraut, of course, and German sausage or wurst, as I guess it was called, as the Germans probably didn't call it 'German' sausage!   Grandma used to buy the sausage at Renna's Meat Market in Fresno.  It is still there and still selling their famed and most secret recipe sausage.  Yes, I asked and they would not give it up to me!  As for other foods, there were noodles (spaetzle), pickles of all kinds, and as far as sweets there were the Pfefferneuse, stollen and kolacky.  One thing I was recently surprized to discover is how prominant a food watermelon was to the Volga Germans! 

Ha!  I am wondering how I will manage to blend my desire to explore my heritage with the desire to eat my way to good health?!  I may have to take up Polka to work off all the extra fat I could be consuming. At least I have ordered some cabbage seeds for the garden next spring.  I have never grown cabbage before, but if I manage to harvest any, then I will definitely make some sauerkraut which is supposed to be very healthy as a fermented food.  Well, I can in turn use the kraut to make varenky and also it can be used as an ingredient in borscht.  I also plan to grow the beets for the borscht.