Obama’s piece of cake
What was on the table for discussion during Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow has been topping the headlines – but what was actually on the American president’s menu in the Russian capital?
The Moscow Ritz-Carlton, where Obama stayed with his family, made a cake that was literally a masterpiece of cookery. Made of white chocolate, the St Basil’s cake was an exact replica of the iconic cathedral on Red Square.
It was hand-painted to represent the most famous slice of Russian architecture.
The president doesn’t have a trim figure for nothing – while he marveled at the culinary creation, sweet-toothed sources told RT that he took just a little slice, leaving plenty for others to feast on afterwards.
Troman Felizmenio, a pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton, said it took him three days to cook the cake.
On Tuesday, Obama met Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a traditional Russian breakfast in his countryside retreat of Novo Ogaryovo.
The meal was served in a hall with a fireplace, while tea was served on a terrace, with some tables covered with blue, white and red tablecloths in the style of Russian classic Pavlovsky Posad shawls.
For starters, the US leader was treated to smoked beluga with pancakes, cranberry marmalade, eggs with caviar and sour-cream.
For the main dish the politicians had quail dumplings. Cherry Kissel – a traditional non-alcoholic drink and ice-cream were served for dessert. The ice cream itself was not made typically from milk, but from home-made sour cream.
The American leader also got a chance to discover what traditional Russian tea drinking is: water was boiled in a samovar – a metal boiler where coal is used to heat it up. A waiter in national dress – a red embroidered tunic – used a leather riding boot to fan air through the coals to boil the water.
To give the room a bit of atmosphere, a folk ensemble played Russian songs.
The Kremlin hosts also tried their best to impress the American guests both with Russian cuisine and hospitality. The menu of the dinner the Russian and American presidents had together included borsch – beetroot and cabbage soup – crab salad and Beef Stroganoff.
