This interview is part of WNYC and Gothamist’s “Food Memoir” series, in which we invite New Yorkers to share stories behind their cooking experiences and favorite recipes.
In the midst of the mundane and often bleak existence of the Stalinist era in the former Soviet Union, a young Larisa Frumkin discovered a refuge – the kitchen. The 89-year-old, who was born in the Black Sea port of Odessa and later moved to Moscow with her family, recalls a life marked by scarcity and boredom. Long lines for food and chronic shortages were daily challenges.
Yet, in the face of adversity, the kitchen emerged as Frumkin’s sanctuary when she was 13. She said she could find time to be alone in her family's crowded apartment, and often cooked for her grandfather when the rest of the family was on vacation.
Frumkin said the kitchen was a place for experimentation, and recalled a time when she made pizza from an Italian cookbook. She cooking made her feel like an "adventurer.”
Frumkin fled Soviet rule in 1974 with her then 10-year-old daughter. They first went to Vienna and Italy before coming to the United States and settling in Philadelphia and then New York. She’s been living in Jackson Heights, Queens for about 40 years. Frumkin has worked as a teacher and a docent with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is now a cooking instructor with League of Kitchens, an organization that offers cooking classes led by immigrant women from around the world. Frumkin’s daughter, Anya von Bremzen, pursued a career as a professional food writer and earned a James Beard award for her cookbook "Please to the Table," which features her mother's recipes.
We talked with Frumkin about her passion for cooking and asked her to share one of her cherished recipes.
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and content.
Gothamist: What are your earliest memories of the kitchen?
Larisa Frumkin: It started when I was 13. Cooking was a way to escape from everyday life. Cooking became my passion, because it was very bleak and boring during Soviet times. Sometimes I needed to be alone in the kitchen. I needed privacy. We had a very big family. It was a small apartment, kitchen – two rooms. When everyone went on vacation, I stayed at home with my grandfather, who was old and never went, and we stayed together and I cooked.
What were you focused on in the kitchen at that time?
I wanted to cook something special. I tried to imitate food I couldn't get in the store. For example, I had an Italian cookbook, and I wanted to do something in Italian, but ingredients weren’t available in the stores. But I was thinking, what is available, how can I substitute, and what can be done?
Sometimes I was successful in that.
How did your cooking evolve from that?
When I got married, it became a normal thing to cook for the family. And also, we had lots of friends coming for dinner, for lunch, for just a cup of tea. And I cooked and I baked. I started teaching my mother, because my mother was an architect, and she didn't like to cook. But she was a very good mother and wife, and she, of course, did her best, but without any enthusiasm. So, I added some recipes to her repertoire. And when we went to see my mother, she said ‘I made pirozhki for you.’ It was my recipe and we all were happy.
What does it mean to you to cook for other people?
I love feeding people, and that means everything for me. Sometimes I have to cook for myself, and I don't do that. I eat whatever I can grab. But when someone calls and asks ‘Do you think I can come for dinner tomorrow?’ Then life is beginning again. I rush to the store, buy food, prepare and it makes me very, very happy. And not only to make the food, but also the conversation.
One dessert that you might find on Frumkin’s table when guests come over is sharlotka s yablokami, which translates to Charlotte with apples, but Frumkin calls it Russian “Guest-at-the-Doorstep” Apple Charlotte.
Larisa Frumkin's sharlotka s yablokami recipe
Serve this dish with: any meal as dessert, or as a snack.
- 1 stick (½ cup or 115 grams) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup (133 grams) white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ pound (225 grams) Granny Smith apple (about 1 medium)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
- 6 ounces (170 grams) blackberries or raspberries (about 1 small box)
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Bring the butter to room temperature: At least an hour before you want to bake the cake, take the 1 stick (½ cup or 115 grams) of butter butter out of the refrigerator to let it come to room temperature. (You can also microwave it just until it’s soft.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and make sure the rack is in the center of the oven.
Make the batter: Put the all-purpose flour in a large mixing bowl with the 1 teaspoon baking powder, mix it together, and set it aside.
In a separate large bowl, mix the sugar butter, vanilla extract and a small pinch of salt using a hand mixer on high speed just until everything is mixed, usually less than a minute.
Add the sour cream or yogurt and one of the eggs to the bowl with the butter and sugar. Use the hand mixer to beat the mix at a high speed just until the ingredients come together, less than a minute. Add the second egg, and mix again to incorporate the egg. Don’t overmix.
Add half of the flour mix to the bowl, and mix it with the hand mixer just until the flour is fully incorporated. Add the rest of the flour, and mix it until it is fully incorporated. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir it until everything is smooth. The batter will be thick with the consistency of frosting.
Prepare the pan: Line the bottom of a 9-inch (23 cm) cake pan with a circle of parchment paper. (The easiest way to do this is by tracing the bottom of the pan on the parchment with a pencil, then cutting out the traced circle.)
Put the parchment in the bottom of the pan. Then spread the 1 tablespoon butter on the bottom of the parchment and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides using your fingers or a spatula. (If you use your fingers, you can keep the butter in its wrapper and use that to grip it.)
Compose the cake: Use the spatula to dollop the batter evenly over the pan, then spread it into an even layer about 1 inch (2.5 cm). The batter will feel a little hard to place and spread – and the parchment may wrinkle or buckle around the sides. That’s normal — just do your best to get it as evenly as possible. Set the pan aside.
Peel and quarter the apple , removing the core with a sharp knife. Slice each quarter as thinly as possible, about ⅛ inch (6 cm) thick, and put the slices in a small mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over the sliced apples, and toss gently until they are all coated. (The lemon keeps the slices from browning, but Larisa also loves the lemony taste.)
Place the apples evenly across the batter, they can overlap slightly. Then use your fingers to press them into the batter, so that the slices are still visible on top of the batter, but sunken in.
Sprinkle the blackberries or raspberries evenly over the top of the batter. Use your fingers to gently press them into the batter. It’s okay if they’re resting on the top of the apples – the batter rises and engulfs all of the fruit.
Bake the cake: Put the cake on the center rack and bake it at 350 degrees F for 50 to 55 minutes or until it’s nicely browned. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Run a cake server under the edge of the pan and remove the cake on the parchment paper to a serving plate, then pull out the parchment paper.
Serve and eat the cake: You can serve the cake warm or room temperature (it’s very good the next day, as well), with tea or for dessert. When you are ready to serve it, dust the top with the powdered sugar (you can sprinkle it on directly or you can sift it through a strainer for a more even application) and then cut it into wedges.
