EDITORIAL
Russia, Food Wasteland
A reader tipped us by e-mail to a new list just published by mineral-water maker Pellegrino of the 50 best restaurants on the planet. Three of the top ten and eight overall are located in the United States, the nation most honored by the list. American chef Thomas Keller, who has not one but two restaurants in the top 50, is the world’s most lauded auteur de cuisine.
And guess what: Not a single restaurant in the top fifty is even located in Russia, much less does it prepare Russian cuisine.
As we’ve said a number of times before (click the “cuisine” category in our sidebar to read more), we find that both Russian cuisine and Russian sport are perfect metaphors for gaining insight into the nature of Russia itself. Russians go on braying like jackasses about America being the land of “disgusting” Big Macs, yet not only do Russians wolf down such American snacks at breakneck speed but they remain as ignorant as stones of the fact that America leads the world in fine cusine as well, leaving Russia in its dust in both respects. Russian attitudes towards cusine are exactly the same as they are towards everything else: They just don’t give a damn.
They are unable to accept criticism, unable to reform, and therefore unable to improve. For centuries, therefore, Russian cuisine like Russian politics languishes in a barbaric backwater, stagnating and stinking and repelling the planet. Russians have nothing to market like an American cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake, and even if they did they could not market it, because their rabid xenophobia prevents them from even remotely understanding how to sell products to foreigners and their headless-chicken-like corruption, disorganization and inefficiency would prevent them from effectively distrubuting such products even if they could sell them.
Meanwhile, Russia has not developed any manner of genuinely interesting domestic cuisine. The classic “Russian” dish of borshcht is in fact stolen from Ukraine, and it’s hardly scintillating enough to capture the attention of a serious foodie. Russians have little if any idea of the concept of customer service, and even less of a clue about how to engage and entertain foreigners, against whom they bear the latent resentment of infamous Russian xenophobia.
And the net result is this: Upon viewing this objective information, Russians will not cry out for reform. They will instead blame the list-maker as a “racist” and a “Russophobe” and they will rationalize and justify their failure. They will, in other words, continue it, continue to remain a backwater in the world’s society, continue to decline into degradation, misery and squalor.
While I do agree with LR about the fact that
borsch ( never borscht ) was indeed stolen from
Ukraine by the russians , along with countless
other things , including the very name Rus’ , I
wish to point out that anyone , who has ever
tried traditional Ukrainian borsch , the way
only Ukrainians can cook it , would definitely
throw rocks at the sooo sophisticated vichy
souise ( a rather uncomplicated leek and
potato soup ) , that so many of your so called
foodies , consider haute cuisine .
It would also be correct to say “Moskva, never Moscow.”
If you perused the items in our “cuisine” category in our sidebar, you’d find our reference to a recent item in the New York Times praising the quality of Ukrainian cuisine.
LR, I would be interested in the NY Times that you refer to, but I can’t find the “cuisine” category in our sidebar. I know you will now call me “retarded russophile ape” but could you please give me the pointer to this article? Thank you in advance.
If you look in the right column of the blog, almost directly opposite this comment, you will see something labeled CATEGORIES. Click the drop-down menu, and you will find a list of post categories. One of them is “cuisine.” Click it to see a list of all posts with that category. Read them to find the one about Ukraine cuisine.
I totally agree with your view re:”It would also be correct to say “Moskva, never Moscow.” Interesting, very interesting comment LR, indeed you have a habit of raising very interesting subjects!
Personally I’ve always had doubts about the ‘cow’ at the end of the word Moscow. To me this word could/should have been changed to Moscou or Mosco, rather then ‘Moscow’.
However your, “Moskva” is phonetically correct, and to my way of thinking much more attractive and pleasing to the eye and ear!
May I respectfully suggest that this could be a worthwhile topic to allow your bloggers to have their say. Who knows? Russia may one day listen and change the spelling of its Capital City, much like Ukraine did with its Kyiv.
You are bydlo, and your eternal fate is to be robbed and exploited. So just learn to live with this.
ouch wrote;
You are bydlo, and your eternal fate is to be robbed and exploited. So just learn to live with this
comments;
What the Russian bydlo eats?????
[What the Russian bydlo eats?]
I don’t really know if there’s anything special russian ukrainians prefer.
BTW ukrainian-style food makes me puke.
That salo thing – everyone with a normal taste just throws it away.
Ouch,
It seems that everything non-yours – be it Ukrainian, American, Chinese, Chechen of Jewish – makes you puke. Maybe the cause of your non-stop puking is medical? Maybe you are pregnant with a baby baboon?
That’s “or” not “of”
[It seems that everything non-yours…]
You’re badly mistaken.
Ouch, it seems you underestimate the Ukrainian cuisine, their women, their nature, etc.
Everything named is wonderful.
Unlike their economy and political situation. Unlike what happens in the heads of the Western Ukrainians.
But you need to know several facts abt Ukraine: most of the population of the country likes Russia and Putin. Regions where they like Russia actually produce about 80% of Ukrainian GDP. People of these regions would also like to freely use Russian in everyday life, including in schools, universities, watch films in Russian, etc.
So, it’s just a country which was turned into a limitrophe for several years, and is now going to be a little more democratic, after the Orange revolution boss with 3% of popular support is ousted.
Sources are: http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2008/vvp/vrp/vrp2008_r.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_cencus_2001_Russian.svg
I absolutely agree! This is THE list that tells us which countries have good cuisines and which don’t!
Notice that almost all restaurants on this list are in developed Western countries. Not only Russia, but also Mainland China (not even Hong Kong or Shanghai), India and Thailand don’t have any restaurants there. Nor do Turkey, Greece, Israel, Georgia, Middle East.
On the other hand, a Danish restaurant is number one, and Finland is in the top 50 as well, proving that Finnish cuisine is great, and the Chinese cuisine is nothing.
And the net result is this: Upon viewing this objective information, Russians will not cry out for reform.
And I bet that upon viewing this objective information, Mainland China will not cry out for reform of its food and will not replace the inferior Chinese cuisine with the superior Finnish, American or South African cuisines. I bet the Chinese will continue to eat dim sum instead of the superior American hamburgers.
To be honest, I must agree with VOR on this one.
There are a lot of tasty Russian dishes out there, many of which I greatly enjoy.
There is also a lot of greasy rubbish, and you will see a lot of fat Russians in Moscow (contrary to popular belief).
However, you can’t damn all Russian food, some of it is very good.
And to be honest, Borscht is not intended as “fine cuisine” it is intended as a good and hearty day to day working meal.
I actually quite enjoy it over winter, a meat, vegetable & potato “soup” chock full with all sorts of herbs, soak in a few pieces of bread, and yummy!!!!
As a matter of fact, anyone who has properly visited Scandinavia knows that food there is good. For some reason, they are not as good as some other countries at advertising themselves, or maybe they are too high-minded to think that good food matters. But I remember visiting Sweden and being astounded: I expected food as bland and fatty as Germany and the Netherlands, instead of which one got variety, taste (including the best hamburgers I ever ate anywhere) and the kind of abundance that does much to explain the size of Swedes.
Food (and drink) traditions are highly variable. Britain and Turkey are places that, at some point, lost the plot and just kept producing ever inferior, tasteless and ill-made imitations of what once were fine national cuisines. China is in danger of doing the same, and I suspect that the best Chinese cuisine is abroad. I supsect Russia has suffered a similar fate.
Come to Russia and see for yourself, rather than making guesses here, dude.
Guess what? Not a single restaurant in the top fifty is even located in
Ukraine, Latvia, or Georgia, either. But that doesn’t matter, of course,
because you like them, so not placing in the top 50 in anything is only
shameful if it refers to Russia.
I thought the American victory culture suggests if you’re not number 1,
you’re a loser. The U.S.A. is way down at number 7, and got blanked by
Spain, who has 4 in the top 10 as well as having been world champion 4
times in the 10 years the survey was conducted.
All right, then, let’s look at a category where America did better. The
U.S.A. is the third-fattest country in the world, and the fattest
developed country – 66.7 percent of the population is overweight. Must
be because of all those great restaurants. Once again, idiot Russia
failed to make the list at all.
http://www.expatify.com/news/the-worlds-top-10-fattest-countries.html
Is there any category where Russia did well? Yes, actually, there is.
http://www.travelersdigest.com/countries_beautiful_women.htm
Of the top 10 countries listed in the category of world’s most beautiful
women, 6 are Slavic, and Russia scored highest of them. Let’s see, would
I rather be in the country with the fattest people, or the most
beautiful women? Mmmmm…..tough call.
The whole premise is absurd, although you regularly insist America is
the leader of the world because it has the top women’s tennis player or
the best restaurant. By those criteria, the world leader should be
Denmark. Where you place in women’s tennis or the world restaurant
guide, the fatness of your population or the beauty of its women is not
the measure of a nation’s greatness.
Beautiful women, like good food is subjective.
For example “Ask Men” rates countries for their beautiful women like this:
N0.1 – USA – Finest exports: While we can’t possibly list them all, here are some highlights: Jessica Alba (No. 13 in 2002; No. 78 in 2005; No. 1 in 2006), Angelina Jolie (No. 28 in 2002; No. 23 in 2003; No. 9 in 2005; No. 3 in 2006), Halle Berry (No. 3 in 2002; No. 2 in 2003; No. 10 in 2005; No. 19 in 2006), Beyonce (No. 14 in 2002; No. 10 in 2003; No. 8 in 2005; No. 50 in 2006), Brooke Burke (No. 6 in 2002; No. 6 in 2003; No. 6 in 2005; No. 43 in 2006), Scarlett Johansson (No. 84 in 2005; No. 28 in 2006), Jessica Biel (No. 47 in 2002; No. 38 in 2003; No. 11 in 2005; No. 7 in 2006), and Lucy Liu (No. 9 in 2002; No. 50 in 2003; No. 80 in 2005; No. 93 in 2006).
No.2 – UK – Finest exports: Naomi Campbell (No. 90 in 2002), Catherine Bell (No. 84 in 2002; No. 62 in 2003; No. 33 in 2005), Claire Forlani (No. 79 in 2002), Thandie Newton (No. 59 in 2002; No. 62 in 2003; No. 85 in 2005), Elizabeth Hurley (No. 39 in 2002; No. 31 in 2003), Kelly Brook (No.8 in 2002; No. 47 in 2003; No. 41 in 2005; No. 42 in 2006) , Keira Knightley (No. 99 in 2003; No. 17 in 2005; No. 35 in 2006), Rachel Weisz (No. 83 in 2003; No. 51 in 2005; No. 69 in 2006), Jordan (No. 77 in 2003; No. 73 in 2005), Lisa Snowdon (No. 54 in 2003), Sienna Miller (No. 86 in 2005; No. 2 in 2006), Rachel Stevens (No. 62 in 2005; No. 59 in 2006), Kate Beckinsale (No. 22 in 2005; No. 74 in 2006), and Natasha Bedingfield (No. 70 in 2006).
No.3 – Canada – Finest exports: Pamela Anderson (No. 71 in 2002; No. 66 in 2003; No. 81 in 2005), Estella Warren (No. 50 in 2002; No. 69 in 2003), Shania Twain (No. 18 in 2002; No. 8 in 2003; No. 24 in 2005; No. 44 in 2006), Kristin Kreuk (No. 16 in 2003; No. 18 in 2005), Elisha Cuthbert (No. 30 in 2005; No. 23 in 2006), Morgan Webb (No. 83 in 2006), Lisa Ray (No. 73 in 2006), Evangeline Lilly (No. 45 in 2006), and Trish Stratus (No. 30 in 2006).
No.4 – Australia – Finest exports: Kylie Minogue (No. 94 in 2002; No. 58 in 2003; No. 48 in 2005; No. 39 in 2006) Elle MacPherson (No. 11 in 2002), Holly Valance (No. 71 in 2003; No. 69 in 2005; No. 62 in 2006), Natalie Imbruglia (No. 59 in 2003), Nicole Kidman (No. 51 in 2003; No. 68 in 2005; No. 96 in 2006), Naomi Watts (No. 59 in 2005; No. 29 in 2006), and Jennifer Hawkins (No. 13 in 2006)
No.5 – Brazil – Finest exports: Adriana Lima (No. 33 in 2002; No. 75 in 2003; No. 1 in 2005; No. 4 in 2006), Gisele Bundchen (No. 16 in 2002; No. 42 in 2003; No. 26 in 2005; No. 26 in 2006), Fernanda Tavares (No. 93 in 2003; No. 49 in 2005), Ana Beatriz Barros (No. 61 in 2003), and Alessandra Ambrosio (No. 36 in 2006)
No.6 – Italy – Finest exports: Maria Grazia Cucinotta (No. 29 in 2002), Monica Bellucci (No. 1 in 2002; No.5 in 2003; No. 2 in 2005; No. 15 in 2006), Sophia Loren (No. 88 in 2003), and Vanessa Hessler (No. 92 in 2006).
N0.7 – France – Finest exports: Sophie Marceau (No. 81 in 2002; No. 91 in 2003; No. 95 in 2005), Ophelie Winter (No. 27 in 2002) and Laetitia Casta (No. 26 in 2003; No. 35 in 2005)
N0.8 – Czech Republic – Finest exports: Petra Nemcova (No. 21 in 2003; No. 16 in 2005; No. 16 in 2006), Veronika Varekova (No. 21 in 2005; No. 48 in 2006) and Daniela Pestova (No. 24 in 2002).
No.9 – Germany – Finest exports: Claudia Schiffer (No. 62 in 2002; No. 86 in 2003) and Heidi Klum (No. 4 in 2002; No. 3 in 2003; No. 5 in 2005; No. 11 in 2006).
N0.10 – Mexico – Finest exports: Salma Hayek (No. 35 in 2002; No. 4 in 2003; No. 19 in 2005; No. 25 in 2006) and Elsa Benitez (No. 2 in 2002; No. 11 in 2003; No. 7 in 2005; No. 34 in 2006).
http://www.askmen.com/top_10/travel_150/165_travel_top_ten.html
But Ethiopia produces stunning women, as does Georgia, as does Turkey, as does Lebanon, and Israel, as does South Africa, etc.
Tell me FSB, have you ever heard the term “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”?
Yes, FSB, you baboon! Don’t you know that Anglo-Saxon food and women are the best in the World?! Especially to Anglo-Saxon magazines like “Ask Men”.
Anglo-Saxon women’s bodies are attractive to pigs: fat, no neck, short legs. Perfect pigs.
Anglo-Saxon women’s faces, on the other hand, are favorites with horses.
Gee ReTaRd,
I never knew Halle Berry, Beyonce, Lucy Liu, Jessica Alba, Naomi Campbell and the like were “anglo-saxon”
However as usual your retardation is apparent.
Besides, we all know you prefer the Moscow gay nightclub scene anyway.
Anglo-saxon?
You’re fat. Face it..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_Energy_consumption_2001-2003.svg
Some are, some aren’t.
However nerdy fat little Russians who live in glass houses should not throw stones…
As much as I hate to cite Pravda:
Unlike Americans, Russian people do not acknowledge that they are fat
Fat people live somewhere far away. According to numerous news reports, the number of fatty people in the USA is the largest in the world. The States obtained such a peculiarity owing to fast food restaurants and modern immobile lifestyle. The situation in Russia is different, though. Russian people move a lot, they eat a lot less and look very well, not to mention the fact that Russian girls are most beautiful ones in the world.
One may believe in such things, draw stomachs in in front of a mirror and blame the “horrible American statistics.” As it turns out, Russia does not have its own obesity statistics. In addition, there is no Russian epidemiology, or the joint medical data about the whole country. Russia definitely has cancer, heart attack, stroke, TB and AIDS stats, but the Russian statistics often differs a lot from the one of the World Health Organization.
Russian people, especially those who live in the rural area, like to eat bread, sugar and animal fat – quite “harmful” high-calorific foods. A lot of people use lard instead oil for frying. Needless to say that the traditional Russian food does not differ much from American burgers.
As far as the style of life is concerned, it would be wrong to say that Russians are very mobile and sporty people. They can eat a whole platter of pasta before going to bed and then watch TV for an hour with a big can of beer and several packs of potato chips. There is an alternative for television and chips, though – a computer and sandwiches. One may say that Russians have been rather successful in adopting the Western lifestyle.
Russians have not adopted another aspect, though – a critical attitude towards themselves. June Stevens and his colleagues from University of North Carolina found out that Russian teenagers suffer from obesity as much as American kids do. Unlike Americans, Russian people do not acknowledge that they are fat.
It is a universally recognized tradition in Russia to stuff guests up with food. If a guest refuses to eat, a host will consider it a personal insult. If someone publicly announces his or her intention to lose some weight, it is not ruled out that people would simply laugh at this person, especially if it is a man. As a rule, Russian parents teach their sons to eat a lot. It is traditionally believed that a good appetite is an indication of excellent capacity for work. As they say in Russia, “there should be a lot of a good person.” A lot of “good persons” prefer to take a nap after substantial dinner, though.
It is generally believed that obesity is a scourge of large cities. In Russia’s however, it is quite the opposite: this disease is common for Russian village people, first and foremost. Furthermore, child’s obesity is even more common in Russia than in the States, according to the information from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Study. A lot of Russian mothers overfeed their children and do not notice their excessive weight. “If you eat well, you will grow big and healthy,” they usually say to their babies.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/360/14818_fat.html
And
The recommendations come as the deepening economic crisis is expected to reshape Russia’s eating habits in favour of cheaper calorie-rich but nutrient-deficient staples like bread and potatoes.
“When it comes to obesity, Russian women are among the leaders in European countries,” Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service warned in the report entitled Healthy Nutrition on the Cheap.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghEt3aCKUzo98KTnNzSnNEKvTcGQ
And a higher percentage of Russians are overweight than the “Anglo Saxon” British….
For the first time in history, a majority of adults in some societies are overweight. In the United States, 61 percent of all adults are overweight. In Russia, the figure is 54 percent; in the United Kingdom 51 percent; and in Germany 50 percent. For Europe as a whole, more than half of those between 35 and 65 years of age are overweight.
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/Obesity-Epidemic-Exercise-Deprived.htm
According to the World Health Organization, the world has been hit by an obesity epidemic. More than a billion earthlings suffer from overweight. The figure for Russia is 70 million, which means that every second Russian has excessive weight.
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/04/10/6258350.html
The Obesity Figures For Europe
While America is currently streets ahead of most other countries in the world, with regards to the obesity epidemic the problem is very much evident in a number of European Countries around the world, including :-
England – research has shown that 17% of men are clinically obese, and a worrying 20% of ladies.
Finland – Both 19% of men and 19% of ladies are classified as obese.
Russia – The difference between men and woman is very marked, with 11% of men obese, but an alarming 28% of woman classed as clinically overweight.
Germany – The picture is not much better in Germany with 17% of men and 19% of woman classed as obese.
Czech – 16% of men and 20% of ladies are classed as obese.
Scotland – The figures for Scotland are slightly better than for neighbouring England with 16% of men and 17% of woman falling into the obese category.
Belgium – Again the trend for obese ladies continues in Belgium with 12% of men and 18% of ladies seriously overweight.
Spain – Spain fairs a little better than most with “only” 11% of men and 15% of ladies classed as obese.
Sweden – Again, the trend is a little healthier in Sweden with 10% of men and 12% of ladies classed as clinically obese.
France – The French continue the down trend with a reduced 9% of men and 10% of ladies obese.
Denmark – Denmark is one of the few countries where the percentage of obese men is greater than that of the ladies, 10% against 9%.
Holland – Perhaps one of the few relative successes in mainland Europe, Holland boasts only 8% of men and 8% of ladies as clinically obese.
Australia – The rate in Australia is surprisingly high with 18% of men and 18% of ladies suffering from this harmful condition.
Italy – The winner in Europe, with an impressive 6.5% of men and 6.3% of woman in the country classed as obese.
Wow ReTaRd, it looks like a higher percentage of Russian women are packing too much weight compared to English girls.
In fact Russian women are the most obese in Europe!!!
Oh well ReTaRd, we are used to your lies and falsifications.
Time for you to crawl back into whatever hole you came out from…..
http://www.allipills.com/alli-weight-loss/obesity-and-the-worldwide-epidemic.html
Link for figures above.
But you’re totally idiot. Just like the author of the article you cite.
Obese and overweight are not the same.
Obesity in Russia is at the 16% percent level. It’s close to the Czech Rep.’s 17%, or France’s 16.9%, or Ireland’s and Poland’s 18%.
In the US it’s more than 34%. England follows with 24% obese. Canada – 23%. Australia scores 21%. New Zealand – 25%. Scotland – 26%.
So, again, Anglo-Saxon country means “obesity”.
That was the IASO (International Association for the Study of Obesity) statistics:
http://www.iotf.org/database/documents/GlobalPrevalenceofAdultObesity16thDecember08.pdf
I cite the UN FAO statistics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_Energy_consumption_1961.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_map_of_Energy_consumption_2001-2003.svg
And here’s the IASO (International Association for the Study of Obesity) statistics:
http://www.iotf.org/database/documents/GlobalPrevalenceofAdultObesity16thDecember08.pdf
Russia sample size 9006 age 19-55 overweight (f+m) 28.9%, obesity 16.0%.
Obesity in Russia: 16%.
England age 16+ overweight (males) 41.4%, (females) 23.6%, obesity (males) 23.6%, (females) 24.4%.
Obesity in England: 24%
US age 20+, overweight (m) 39.7, (f) 28.6, obesity (m) 31.1, (f) 33.2.
Obesity in the US: every third person in the US suffers from obesity, plus another one thrird of population is overweight.
To which you answer with panicking Pravda.ru , incompetent mindfully.org (???) guesses and Onischenko estimates.
Give some numbers if you want to prove anything, not just fantasies.
Well Dimwit.
Here are the figures for Russian women, from your source.
Russia obesity females – Overweight – 27.4 Obese -21.6
Also note that this data is from 2000 (10 years out of date you retard)
Look yourself in UN WHO reports. I’m tired of talking to an idiot.
https://apps.who.int/infobase/reportviewer.aspx?rptcode=ALL&uncode=826&dm=5&surveycode=101069e2
https://apps.who.int/infobase/reportviewer.aspx?rptcode=ALL&uncode=643&dm=5&surveycode=102465a3
https://apps.who.int/infobase/reportviewer.aspx?rptcode=ALL&uncode=840&dm=5&surveycode=102586a1
Pay attention to the difference in obesity level among 16-24 y.o. group in Russia (6%) and UK (22%) and US (28%).
This is your future.
So Dimwit, I suggest you have a look at this site:
http://www.heartstats.org/datapage.asp?id=4745
Particularly the table Prevalence of obesity, by sex, 2002, WHO European Region (Figure)
Source: The SuRF Report 2 (2005) WHO
That too shows Russian women as more obese than English.
And here we are again:
Russia % men obese 10.8
Russia % women obese 27.9
England % men obese 17
England % women obese 20
http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/worldwide-obesity.htm
Care to show exactly where did she take those numbers about England? Because it seems the IOTF, and UN WHO, and England itself think otherwise.
But I bet you’re going to beleive to a blogger rather than UN agency, when the blogger gives you the data you’d like to see.
“Hi, I’m Anne Collins
For 25 years I’ve been helping people
to lose weight and change their lives.
Now let me help YOU!
No Gimmicks – No False Promises”
You’re soo funny:)
Now Dimwit, did you look at the stats carefully?
Even your own figures show 25% Russian women (as opposed to teenagers) are obese.
Can you read?
Maybe you should try this one Russian Federation V UK
https://apps.who.int/infobase/report.aspx?rid=118&iso=RUS&iso=GBR&Def_Code=cd.0701&Survey_Year_End=2005&genGraphButton=Generate+Graph
I asked: “Care to show exactly where did she take those numbers about England?”
You answered: “Even your own figures show 25% Russian women (as opposed to teenagers) are obese.”
You’re laughable.
BTW, it shows 42% of US women are obese. Obese, not overweighted.
Now listen Dima, here is the link to the WHO comparison of the UK & Russia 2005 stats:
Ooo look, Russian women, and British women are both neck and neck (or should that be pot belly to pot belly) in the obesity stakes.
Try again Dima, the myth of the slim beautiful Russian woman is just that.
The reality, porky, porky, porky.
https://apps.who.int/infobase/report.aspx?rid=118&iso=RUS&iso=GBR&Def_Code=cd.0701&Survey_Year_End=2005&genGraphButton=Generate+Graph
Andrew, stupid, I do not know what age are you, but I like women aged 17-24 the best.
And they are slim here, fat in US and UK.
Of course, a gerontophile – http://www.sex-lexis.com/Sex-Dictionary/gerontophile – may find women in Russia as much attractive as in US.
But senior ladies are not my case. And women in general are not your case either, I presume?:D
Now retard, I am somewhat more mature than you it seems.
Women in my age range in Russia, 25-40, are just as obese as anywhere else in Europe.
Besides, a sad fact about Russian women is that marrying one is like pulling the ripcord on a liferaft.
Take a Russian woman, and add prosperity and marriage, and they tend to run to fat.
VOR, you banana-munching, vine-swinging gorilla from the mist – your sarcasm does you no credit. Your dissing of the likes of Naomi Campbell, Beyonce Knowles and Halle Berry besmirches the fact that as recently as 1863, they’d have been chopping cotton from sunup to sundown in the same country where they are today recognized as some of the world’s great beauties. In how many countries could one make a leap such as that in only two or three generations?
As usual, your neo-soviet Potemkin gibberish is more amusing than enlightening.
Well, they would have been doing that in only half of said country.
BTW, Naomi Campbell is a British woman.
Now FSB, you really should grow up.
Indeed I have, Andrew, and I enthusiastically agree. My job has permitted me to travel the world for more than 30 years, and while I have by no means been everywhere, I’ve seen beautiful women everywhere I went. Your list is interesting, in that I would never have rated the UK as highly as these writers did. Therein lies the heart of the argument, I think – while I would crawl over broken glass to kiss the tires of the truck that delivers the milk to Kiera Knightley, Rachel Weisz or Kate Beckinsale’s house (if they still had home delivery, although I’m old enough to remember when they did), I would rate the UK’s women much lower for overall attractiveness uniformly spread across the feminine population. For the same reason, I’d rate Russia much higher, because I saw more beautiful women there than anywhere else, barring perhaps Montreal on a good day. There’s this club in Vladivostok called the Royal Park; I remember it because it’s the first place I’ve ever been (except airports) where I was wanded with a metal detector before I could get in. The female staff was stunning, without exception; they’d have done the Playboy Mansion proud, but nobody who looked like a local appeared to find them remarkable at all. And Russian women seem to make an effort to look attractive, in their dress and their overall attention to their personal appearance. Dressing down seems never to have caught on there.
Anyway, I take your point, and hope you see mine as well. Going off on a tangent about women was never my intent, but I agree beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and my submission is no more scientific than your own, as neither is an actual poll.
My point was that one’s national claim to the highest-rated restaurants or the most beautiful women means bupkes to one’s international status, except perhaps to gourmets or lechers. Persistent attempts to slag Russia as a nation for their score in women’s tennis or what a board of restaurateurs thinks of their restaurants is just silly. How long before we’re basing our foreign policy on candlepin bowling scores, or who smokes the most cigarettes? Note that Spain dominated the top of the list – is anyone prepared to let Spain run the world? Meaning no disrespect to the Spanish, I’m not.
Putins grandafather was cook for Stalin. Putin can cook a lot of tasty KGB dishes. Highlights are polonium tea and “seamy Yuschenko’s face” supper.
You mean comrade Stalin ate polonium and rat poison? Interesting. That would explain a lot.
Touche and thanks Andrew! A really enjoyable piece of your humor! (at ReTaRd’s expense.)
On hearing me laugh so long and so loud my wife came into the study to see what the joke was. She thought that I was on the internet, reading the e-mail jokes regularly sent to me by my many friends.
Yea Ouch, just front up at NKVD commissar Lavrenty Beria’s dacha and ask him to explain the finer arts of their special cuisine dishes!
Who knows he may even invite you in for a special tasting to sample his ‘excellent’ one way dishes. Just remember after tasting, you will have to talk real fast, otherwise you may not be able to get the information off your chest/out in time, before rigor mortis sets in.
Bon appetit!
Do you Ukrainian nazi normally talk to the dead people? I never knew, thanks for another revelation.
No dumbo I never “TALK” to dead people, but, yes I often correspond in writing to a brain “dead” commie ‘faschista’ by the name of Dimwit ‘Dimi try’, who with his limited mentality (which probably explains his numerous English spelling and grammar errors) is always very “TRYing’. But don’t let that worry you, as after a night’s sleep you will not remember a word of this, or for that matter, any other blog comments.
Anyway I can hear your mother calling you now, so better run home little boy, back to your dung heap, where you so rightfully belong!
Ta, ta, bye, bye.
“Ta, ta, bye, bye.”
Did anybody call you a tragic clown lately?
If not, I do.
Well, the article is total rubbish, next thing you know LR will be publishing articles about how all the Russians have the wrongly-shaped heads and how therefore they all deserve to be put in concentration camps and converted to soap or other useful products for the civilised westerners to use.
Igor, that’s why I think LR is really an FSB agent.
Look what she did to your pro-Western stance in just a few days…
LA RUSSOPHOBE RESPONDS:
Seems like you really hate Russia, and want us to be more effective in turning the world’s opinion against it. Thanks for the advice!
D’oh! You don’t the the intelligence God gave the lemon.
“D’oh! You don’t the the intelligence God gave the lemon”.
Dear, you had some special relationships with lemons? So what is their IQ? Did you find a common language? Sang a song about KGB together?
Yep. I also came here looking forward to having an interesting discussion about Russia’s current system, its drawbacks and positives, how it should evolve and what the role of the West in this process could be. Any reaction I got from other commenters pretty much contains the mentionings of Stalin, Hitler and Putin’s sexual preferences. People who come here are not interested in making life better for Russia and its people — they glee about Russia’s failures, belittle Russia’s achievements and generally consider you a Mongoloid Slave Mentality Cancer-of-Human-Civilization Rapist Maskal Putin-worshipping Communist Racist Subhuman whose alcohol affected genetic make-up makes you unworthy of being converted into soap or anything useful for this blog mostly ex-Communist block immigrant readers.
They’ve not changed my pro-, well, perhaps not western, but pro reason or pro libertarian stance and it still has to be acknowledged that they do publish interesting articles sometimes, it’s just that when they resort to bashing Russian food (or supposed lack of cuisine here) or Russian fem tennis players that I totally cease to understand what it really is that makes LR tick. Pure irrational hatred of all things Russian, perhaps?
That’s what they call you become a Putinista. Take care, support of the government is the next step. Don’t:)
Well, you should probably take the name of the blog without a grain of salt. People who come and post here are pure and unadulterated russophobes. I guess, they all have their reasons. Some are aging cold warriors nostalgic for the old times, most are our former compatriots nursing their inferiority complexes and either justifying their decision to leave Russia or trying to settle their scores for Russia’s repressing their national agendas. For the rest, it maybe a job.
Regardless is says a lot more about “Russian culture” when they have the most racists, highest alcoholism, suicide and homicide deaths, most nuclear weapons and ex KGB rulers.
Злой чечен ползет на берег, точит свой кинжал.
Да какой это чечен, просто польская девочка взяла себе красивый ник…
Andrew,
It was quite refreshing for me to skim over the heated exchange between you and Dmitry over fat. Here is my summary response:
Indeed, it was erroneous to call Anglo-Saxon women “fat”. While here in USA, the majority of women look obese, in UK female obesity is is not too high. Certainly much lower than obesity in your own Maori/Pacific culture:
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/obesity-key-facts
The 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey found that:
* 41.7% of Māori adults were obese
* 63.7% of Pacific adults were obese
While young Russian women are much less fat than UK women (among the 16-24 y.o. group, Russia – 6%, UK – 22% and USA – 28%), older Russian women, who grew up on the Soviet meat-and-potato “diet”, are more fat that UK women but less fat than American women. I suspect the same is true in Georgia.
Now let’s move away from the issue of fat and to the issue of feminine beauty. The first thing that strikes me whenever I land in London or USA after a trip to Russia is the contrast in young women. It appears as if somebody came and removed their long necks, greatly shortened their legs, widened their waists and hips, and removed femininity from their faces. Truly, looks like women in UK and US have been on testosterone instead of estrogen. The same contrast can be seen if you travel from Russia/Ukraine/Poland to Western countries other than UK/USA, but not as much. My hypothesis is that femininity in Europe increases as you travel from West to East, with the Urals being the best.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/features/5207980/Miss-World-2008-Kseniya-Sukhinova-is-the-latest-Slavic-beauty.html
Miss World 2008 Kseniya Sukhinova is the latest Slavic beauty
Siberian-born Kseniya Sukhinova – Miss World 2008 – is not the first Russian model to make a splash on the international scene, just the latest in a long line of catwalk talent. Russians are universally visible in the modelling business these days, but it really began back in the 1920s. Indeed, one could claim that the modern, and lucrative, modelling business began with Russian girls.
Aristocratic Russians in fashion
The international success of Russian models is largely a consequence of the 1917 Revolution. Upper-class émigré girls had to model for Parisian dress-makers in order to make ends meet. Strikingly beautiful and well-bred, they were in great demand at the top fashion houses.
By 1930, about one-third of all models in Paris were Russian. They were sought-after for their fair skin, blue eyes, high cheek-bones and dark hair. Blondes, incidentally, didn’t come into vogue until 1930.
“They are like from another planet…and they are Russian!”
Since 2003-2004, the modelling business has grown to be largely a Russian one. “Now the girls are 16, 17 and Russian! They are like from an-other planet,” said Karl Lagerfeld. The invasion by models of Russian or Slavic origin is no longer a surprise – it is a trend. Maybe the elusiveness of the Slavic type is rooted in the endless variety of unconventional beauty blooming throughout the vastness of Russia? That is probably why European fashion agencies prefer the Urals and Siberia to Moscow for scouting new faces. So, the Russians are not just coming – they have arrived.
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-6529741_ITM
Publication: Vanity Fair
Slavs of Fashion: The New Beauties; Deep-set eyes, sculpted cheekbones, and fierce determination mark the new wave of models selling the world’s hottest labels – Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, etc.
Ok, not Anglo-Saxon. The US women.
But 25% of people 16+ obese is still too big a share.
Well I agree with you.
But claiming that Russia does not have obese women (1 in 4 Russian women are OBESE according to the WHO) is just stupid
“But claiming that Russia does not have obese women” – never said that..
Dimwitry ,
What is a Ukrainian nazi ? Is he someone that
wants to be independant , speak his own
language , rule his own land and have as little as possible to do with Moscovites ? Than here is
a flash for you Dimmy , most of us are like that .
Never mind quoting your phony moscovite
statistics about how Ukrainians are crazy
about Putkin , Moscovia , Dimunitive Dimitry
and whatever other crap that you think of .
Your ” landsman ” Ouch , seems to know about
Ukrainians , maybe you should consult him
as well .
Don’t most of you moskali , still cling to that
old standby that Ukraine is a German invention
and that there is no such thing as Ukrainians ?
Strangely enough , the name Ukraina was
already used in the mid 1300 ths , that’s quite
a bit sooner than either Germany or Russia .
The word ukraina is first recorded in the fifteenth-century Hypatian Codex of the twelfth and thirteenth-century Primary Chronicle, whose 1187 entry on the death of Prince Volodymyr of Pereyaslav says “The Ukraina groaned for him”, ѡ нем же Оукраина много постона (o nem že Ukraina mnogo postona).[1] The term is also mentioned for the years 1189, 1213, 1280, and 1282 for various East Slavic lands (for example, Galician Ukrayina, etc)
Интересно, Максим – это тоже Богдан, или все эти недоумки – Георг, Богдан, Максим, Лес – разные особи? Если второе – когда же такая напасть приключилась на западноукраинский генофонд?!
Наверно это произошло еще на заре человечества, когда древнеримские греки выродились в укров.
Which means:
“This might have happened at the dawn of mankind, when ancient Roman Greeks have degenerated into Ukres.”
The theory Simon laughs about was seriously supported by the Ukrainian Academy of science, to make sure noone was going to take Ukrainians for Russians.
Here’s the picture of the ancient “Ukred” (pra-Ukrainians) from the real, modern school textbook on History of Ukraine:
The wonderful heading below the picture hails:The ancient history of Ukraine.
The even more wonderful text follows: The earliest period of the history of Ukrainian people started 140 000 years ago. Basically, in this period of history a man became what he is now. And a question is thrown at the kids after that: “Guess what region is the cradle of mankind?”
Well, it looks we are Ukres today.
At least, descendants of ancient Ukres. That simple.
I think half of people on this blog are clones. That’s all I’ll say. And there are retards on both sides of the Dnieper, trust me.
Yes. Unfortunately, the moskali that occupied Ukraine remained rather than returning back to their beloved russia.
logical, because Ukraine is a poor province of Russia.
RHat’s what happens when you live in the same country: some New Yorkers move to Chicago, some Chicagoans move to New York; some Ukrainians moved to Russia, some Russians moved to Ukraine.
Why do we have so many Ukrainian nazis here?
Ukraine is an oligarchy. It’s economics destroyed. External debt overwhelming. During the last 20 years no government was supported by the nation for longer than three years. Country loses population in millions.
The only thing that may help the elites to stay in power is what? You bet – fear of demonic Moscals.
Mykola Sereda was very sincere with his poem.
“ And guess what: Not a single restaurant in the top fifty is even located in Russia, much less does it prepare Russian cuisine. Meanwhile, Russia has not developed any manner of genuinely interesting domestic cuisine.”
Why don’t we look at the remaining restaurants in the To 100:
http://www.theworlds50best.com/awards/51-100-winners
75 Varvari Russia
85 Doce Uvas Russia
93 Cafe Pushkin Russia
94 Semifreddo Russia
Moscow has 4 out of 100 top restaurants in the World. Los Angeles, which is a larger city than Moscow, has 0 (zero) restaurants in the top 100.
Moreover, both Varvari and Cafe Pushkin feature the traditional Russian cuisine, while I don’t see a single American restaurant in the top 100 which is based on the traditional American cuisine.
Clearly, the traditional Russian cuisine is far superior to the traditional American cuisine, just as blini and caviar are superior to macaroni and cheese.
Yes, VOR, I do like blini indeed.
Caviar not so much, but thats more for environmental reasons than anything else.
“based on the traditional American cuisine”
They don’t have McDonalds listed???
Make up your mind, Andrew. The previous time you told us that the reason why you refuse it when your wife offers you caviar is because you want your fish eggs fire-roasted:
Andrew // February 6, 2010 at 1:16 pm
From a culture of imbeciles that considers raw fish eggs to be a delicacy (probably because they were so backward they had to wait for the caucasians or europeans to teach them the secrets of fire before learning to cook somewhere in the 9th century….)
——————
So, child, you think that Russians didn’t know about the fire until they met Georgians, and that the reason why the entire World loves Japanese sushi and aristocrats love caviar is because they haven’t heard of fire. Is this what they teach you in school? That only the sushi-hating peasants from New Zealand and Georgia know about the fire?
Oh I was just winding you up little girl.
You really are so easy to bait Voice Of Retardation.
But I still say that “cuisine” requires some effort in preparation.
After all I love mandarins and apples, but they are not “cuisine”
Grow up ReTaRd.
Andrew, you are the only one who swallows baits, hook and sinker. Mother Nature must have economized when it created your brain, for environmental reasons. :-)
Yes, she gave me your share as well.
Nature hates wast, and you are the proverbial waste of space.
Yawn.
:)
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