Chef Andrei Marhov – Moscow’s First Celebrity Chef On TV

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Considered as Moscow’s best fine-dining restaurant that offers authentic Russian cuisine, Café Pushkin was named as the 93rd best restaurant in the world by the San Pellegrino group. This restaurant’s head chef, Chef Andrei Makhov, is best known for cuisine that is a perfect harmony between Russian and Slavonic cuisine with a hint of European influences. Chef Makhov is the country’s first celebrity chef on TV, and through him, he has brought back the tsarist era of food preparation, sharing it with the rest of the world.

Chef Makhov has had a very interesting culinary career. He first worked as a chef for a general of the Red Army where he prepared and cooked the dishes served at bouquets, the guests of which were dignitaries of the Party as well as other notable VIPs of the country. After serving as a Red Army chef, he then went on to become the head chef of the Metropol Hotel in Moscow where he stayed for about eight years.

It was in the early 2000s that Andrei Dellos, a restaurateur and an entrepreneur, approached him and gave him a very good offer. Dellos was going to launch several themed restaurants, and he wanted Chef Makhov to head one of his restaurants, the Café Pushkin, with the aim of bringing the Russian cuisine to the forefront of the culinary world. Chef Makhov agreed to become Café Pushkin’s head chef, and, as stated above, he brought back Russian cuisine worthy of a Tsar.

Each night, Chef Makhov would prepare exemplary Russian cuisine for some of the most venerable and notable Moscow aristocrats that, pretty soon, Café Pushkin began attracting more than just Russian celebrities but also esteemed guests coming from other countries. He has served famous people like Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan as well as Hollywood celebrities like Meryl Streep and John Malkovich.

The culinary skill of Chef Makhov not only brought recognition to the Russian cuisine but also elevated the meaning of fine-dining in Russia. Right now, Café Pushkin is considered as most famous restaurant in the country and a must-visit if you are traveling to Russia and are after authentic Russian cuisine.

Aside from being the head chef of Café Pushkin as well as managing other restaurants in the city, Chef Makhov has also written and published a book entitled “Contemporary Cuisine Classics,” a book that has been well received by the culinary world and the food lovers.

Chef Andrei Makhov’s Sweet Blini

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon active dry yeast (from a 1 1/4-oz envelope)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water (105°-115°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm whole milk (105°-115°F)
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup fine-quality apricot preserves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Directions:

Make Batter:

Stir together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and warm water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast, sugar, and warm water.)
Transfer yeast mixture to a blender and add flour, salt, milk, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, then blend until combined. Pour into a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm, draft-free place until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Return mixture to blender and add eggs and 2 tablespoons butter. Blend until smooth.

Make Blini:

Lightly brush a 10-inch nonstick skillet with melted butter, then heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Holding skillet off heat, pour in 1/3 cup batter, immediately tilting and rotating skillet to coat bottom. (If batter sets before skillet is coated, reduce heat slightly.) Return skillet to heat and cook crêpe until underside and edges are just set and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. (Loosen edge of crêpe with a heatproof rubber spatula to check.) Flip crêpe over carefully with your fingertips. Cook until other side is golden, about 1 minute more. Transfer crêpe to a plate. Brush skillet with more melted butter and make 7 more crêpes in same manner, stacking them as made and brushing skillet between each crêpe.
Purée preserves and lemon juice in a food processor until smooth. Spread 1/2 tablespoon preserves on a crêpe and fold in eighths to form a triangle. Repeat with remaining preserves and crêpes.
Brush a 12-inch heavy skillet with remaining butter and arrange crêpes in 1 layer with points at center of skillet. Cook over moderate heat until crêpes are beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip crêpes over with a spatula and cook 1 minute more. Transfer to a platter and dust with confectioners sugar.

Servings: Serves 8.

Image Credit: aeroflot.ru

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