This is a 10 ruble coin that I got recently, which commemorates the Russian Federation - Liptsk region (what is that area famous for? Fruit trees?)



As you can see, the die seems to be at it's near end compared against this wow coin here:



The letters "region" seems to be struck through grease or some sort and so far I don't remember seeing anything like this on 10 ruble coins. (Yes, I have trouble taking photographs of coins that are too reflective ) I don't remember seeing anything like this and I believe the mint control in Moscow mint have tightened up for the last decade - just thought it is unusual. Anyone else with any interesting 10 ruble bimetal coins or anything like this? Or even better, error coins since 2000.

This tree is a lime-tree, means the name of the city. Transliteration from Russian for better understadning: Lipa (tree) - Lipetsk

Russia grows limes? I had no idea!

I always thought limes required a much warmer climate (like Mexico) to grow.

No Limes It's a Lind tree, or is that a Lindt tree

Got it Linden

Thank you, alexbq2!

Now I understand.

The Linden tree is apparently also known as a lime tree, but it has nothing to do with the citrus fruit known as a "lime".

LINK

But "lipa" can also mean "forgery", can it not?

Only in Switzerland do they have "Lindt" trees (with chocolate growing on them)!

Linden tree, obviously. Linden honey is very popular in Russia. Linden tree on Russian is called "Lipa", gave name to the city of "Lipetsk".

WCO

P.S. The best lemons in the world are found in Lenkoran region of Azerbaijan (former USSR). IMHO

Do they also have Sprüngli trees?

I got some of that at the Zurich airport once, good stuff!

Lipa does mean fake, usually applied to money or documents though. But could go for coins.

No implication to gxseries' coin

Well ... Lindt belongs to Sprüngli ... I think they bought them about 15 years ago. Now "Lindt" is the "budget line" of Sprüngli. I heard that they are going to market (and perhaps even manufacture?) Lindt chocolates in the USA fairly soon. All the chocolates marketed under the name of "Sprüngli" are hand-made and only sold in Switzerland, AFAIK (of course, LOTS of the chocolates are sold at the airport)!

(Thinking about Sprüngli ... )

I once learned that lemons even grow in Siberian regions such as Tomsk ... they have a botanical garden there, I believe, with different kinds of orange and lemon trees! Of course, they are probably in a greenhouse in the winter (-40° C. ... ) Never had a chance to try the lemons grown in Tomsk, however.

Lemon trees were kind of popular even in small Moscow apartments 25-30+ years ago, trees are small, feel OK in basket-size pots, do not need much sun and possible to grow 20-30 edible lemons a year.

However, Lencoran region lemons are something very few people know about (Lencoran means "The Pearl of South"). In 1970-s 80-s it was possible to buy Lencoran lemons only in Azerbaijan (on local bazaars or in Moscow in Beriozka-type stores (if you know what are those). People believed Lencoran lemons can cure many diseases including certain kinds of cancer, boost immune system, etc.

Here is interesting article on Russian about lemons: http://www.rg.ru/bussines/rinky/368.shtm. From article one can learn about Lencoran lemons and that large lemon gardens are also in Krasnodarskij Region, Adigeja and Dagestan parts of Russian Federation.

Regards,
WCO

You know WCO, thanks for answering what I had in my mind for ages - while I was in Moscow, one of the most common fruits / vegetables after onions and potatoes are lemons and I could never figure out how they can be mass produced at a cheap price. Now I can see why. I suspect herbs and such as home grown.

While food in Russia isn't something that I would say is good (I come from an Asian background so I believe I can say this), fruits and wines in Russia (I think they are all imported) can be full of surprises. Thanks to that I can never enjoy them even though I am in Australia

For example if I am not mistaken about the country of origin, black grapes from Romania, melons and watermelons from Azerbaijan (or was it Tajikistan), red wine from Georgia, Moldova, Tokai wine from Hungary, beer from the Czech etc... it was just

That said, the food there puzzled me

Now thanks to this topic, I think I'm hungry Nice to have an offside topic once in a while.

Gxseries, you too amazed me.

Grivna1726 think limes and lemons can’t grow in Russia because they "require a much warmer climate", now you saying that "fruits and wines in Russia … I think they are all imported". Also there are lots of lemons because they are "…home grown".

Russia is not a place where white bears are walking the streets of major cities and snow lies forever. It has all climate zones from Arctic to Tropical and all in between. In America too many fruits and wines are imported, but no one is saying that all of them. In Russia there are gardens, fruits, wines, etc…

Also about food. Most people like food that is common for them, the one they get used to. I would prefer Russian food over Asian. Big impact on Russian culinary had French. In fact many French chefs used to work in Russia including Lucien Olivier - inventor of mayonnaise. I am wondering what is your favorite Asian food?

I apologize for the off top.

See, I'm actually quite confused - what's a genuine Russian dish? I'm sure having different backgrounds would result to people growing up with different tastes. As far as I am aware, a fair amount of the Russian dishes are adapted from the Europeans. Isn't borscht Ukraine, sharuma Arabic, peremeni - not too sure, under dumplings therefore Chinese? Of course, I'm sure it's adapted towards Russian tastes.

My opinion is, while I was there for one and half year, there wasn't really a wide variety of dishes that I can remember. Do I have to be there for another 10 years just to try out different food? That said, I do miss borscht and shchi

gxseries,

Possibly when you were in Russia it was fall of the USSR, empty stores, no food, no nothing, Russia was in ruins. But it was not always the case, and even now everything greatly improved. Russia is multicultural country and Russian cuisine reflects all that, however Russian cuisine have centuries old history and tradition. Most food ingridients in Russian cuisine grow in Russia, lots of fish and dairy products, Kasha and soups...


There is a good restaurant of traditional Russian cuisine on Kutuzovskiy in Moscow. Here are some selected dishes from its menu. See if you ever tried anything like that. It’s impossible not to like.

Ресторан русской кухни «Сударь»

Холодное рыбное меню

1. Щука фаршированная со сливочно-мятным соусом
2. Слабосоленая семга с блинным рулетом
3. Строганина из белой северной рыбы муксун
4. Селедочка с горячим картофелем и чесночными гренками

Холодные мясные закуски

1. Телячий язык с гурийской капустой
2. Буженина по-домашнему с телячьей печенью
3. Поросенок галантин со сливами и райскими яблоками

Салаты

1.Слоеный салат из камчатского краба
2. Кальмары, раковые шейки и креветки с устричным соусом и
зеленым салатом
3. Мясной "Оливье" с хвостиками раков
4. Свежие овощи под соусом "винегрет"
5. Печень домашнего зайца, жареная с медом и малиновым вином
6. Грибы белые соленые
7. Грузди солёные с луком и сметаной


Горячие закуски

1.Кокиль из крабов и судака в сливочном соусе, с белым вином
2. Грибное рагу, запечённое в сливках
3. Потрошки куриные с белыми грибами, томленные в сливках

Блюда из теста

1. Пельмени "Сибирские" с мясом
2. Пельмени "Астраханские" рыбные
3. Вареники с картофелем и грибами
4. Вареники с вишнями в сиропе
5. Пирожки с капустой, с грибами

Супы

1. Наваристая ушица с сёмгой, осетриной, судачком и раковыми шейками
с расстегаем
2. Суп сливочный с крабом камчатским, мидиями и сырными гренками
3. Щи суточные, томлённые под слойкой в горшочке с копчёностями
4. Суп-лапша подбитый перепелиным яйцом
5. Похлебка из белых грибов с хрустящими "ушками"


I starting to feel hungry…


Горячие рыбные блюда

1. "Перепечина" с осетриной
2. Осетрина на вертеле с виноградным соусом
3. Лососина "Папильот"
4. Осетрина, семга, судак под сыром с лимонными чипсами
5. Чёрная треска с «пьяным» соусом из киви и гратеном из сладкого картофеля
6. «Золотой лещ» в миндальных лепестках
7. Стерлядка"Империалъ"

Горячие мясные блюда

1. Телятина с клёцками и соусом из лесных грибов
2. Медальоны из говяжьего филе с соусом из лесных грибов
3. Рулет из свинины с белыми грибами и фенхелем под горчичной корочкой
4. Жаркое из свинины с грибами, овощами под сырной «шапкой»
5. Ножка молочного поросенка с гречневой кашей и белыми грибами
6. Каре ягненка с жареными ананасами
7. Рулька баранья «Большой райнер»
8. Биточки из трёх видов мяса на сковороде


Горячие блюда из птицы и дичи

1. "Утка по-драгунски"
2. Язык северного оленя
3. Кролик в сметанном соусе с «грибочками» из картофеля

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I am wondering what is that you like the most in Asian cuisine?

WCO

Interestingly enough, a couple of my asian friends from Toronto spoke highly of a Russian fish soup (Ouha) that they tried somewhere in that area. I’ve always thought that this fisherman’s soup was – catch what you can toss it into a pot with some potatoes, carrots, and whatever veggies you like, salt it and cook over a camp fire. But they explained to me that it should have 3 stages of fish cooking. Small fish go in first and cook for a long time till I presume gravy like consistency, then some medium sized catch, and if you’re lucky something big in the end. Haven’t tried that one myself yet.

As far as wines go I prefer Australian Russian (Moldavian, and Georgian) wine makers took a big hit during the anti-alcohol campaign in the 80’s, and the 90’s were not very good for them either.

WCO, thanks for your recommendation - that is a place I must try some day. The menu most definitely looks fantastic and perhaps I should ask you for opinions if I ever get the chance to go there. Before I do that, I better brush up my Russian - I haven't used it for more than 5 years and there are parts of the menus that I am not getting. Again, I think I might have been quite biased as I left in 2003 when Russia started to get back on it's feet and the economy started to become better. There is one little cafe off Metro station Novye Cheremushiki that I really liked and I think around that area, there is a strange place in a building that sells souvenirs, but I don't see any signs of tourists.

Personally I do like Chinese cuisine but that is not really a fair comparison is it? The Chinese have a long history when it comes to cooking, so they have a wide varieties of dishes. The same can be said for Indian cuisine especially with their spicy dishes. This is just my preference so I fully understand it's just difficult to grasp. However, having said that, there are times that I crave for black breads even though I normally prefer sweet food. Probably another sign of aging.

That's another famous Russian soup, called Trojnaja Ouha. Some people add spoon of black caviar at the end. Soup becomes clear, nice looking. Try it once... with cold Russian vodka... And noone overcooks fish, once water is boiling you have to remove small fish and put there second (then third) portion of fish. Soup should be clear, not as gravy. Big fish goes last because this is the one that people eat, no one eats small fish (too many small bones), but it gives good quality and intencity to fish stock.

Yes, Chinese cuisine is OK, I do not eat it too often and I do not like it the cheap way as it is sold everywhere in NY. But in a good (not cheap) restaurant I like seafood-veggies. Chinese soups taste awful for me (except miso-soup), the same as pork and Chinese sweet dumplings. I prefer French-Italian-Mediterranean-Russian food.

WCO

This thread is making me hungry.
I must go find a big bowl of pelmeny now.