What does an empire taste like?
Russian Colonial Food is a journey through the dissolved Communist Empire, seen not through ideology or power, but through everyday life, memory, and food. Drawing on lived experience and historical research, Angelika Regossi explores how people across the Soviet world survived, adapted, and preserved their identities under a political system that shaped both private kitchens and public history.
Through fifteen stories set across the former Soviet territories - from Eastern Europe to Central Asia and the Caucasus - the book reveals the cultural diversity hidden behind the simplified image of a region often perceived as "only Russia." Some regions may be familiar, others surprising, yet each story shows how history entered homes, habits, and meals across a vast and diverse part of the world.
The book was written with young adults in mind, particularly readers who know little about the "left side of the map" shaped by communism, while remaining equally engaging for adult readers. Complex historical realities are explained in a clear, accessible way, without academic language or political rhetoric, making the stories easy to follow for readers of different ages and backgrounds.
Food appears not as decoration, but as a cultural archive - a way to understand scarcity, adaptation, tradition, and resilience. The final section includes a curated selection of authentic recipes, presented so that young adults and adults alike can easily cook them, turning history into a shared, practical experience.
Russian Colonial Food is both a cultural history and a literary journey - a book for young adults and adults interested in the Soviet era, post-communist societies, and the everyday lives that existed beyond official narratives.
