30 kilometers from Pskov is the old Russian city of Izborsk. The first mention of Izborsk is in 862 in the country’s oldest chronicle, the Tale of Bygone Years. From the moment it was founded, Izborsk became the Russian government’s outpost on the north-western frontier and maintained that status until the end of the 16th century. Having lost its military importance, the city transformed into a large merchant center. Flax was grown in the outskirts of town and sold in large quantities by local tradesmen -­ both to neighboring provinces and abroad. Throughout the whole city lived wealthy merchant families who built beautiful houses and manors. Nowadays in two of these houses – the house of the merchant Belyanin and the manor of the merchant Garshek, found next door – you can find the Izborsk hotel complex and restaurant. RTG TV host Maria Mumicheva went there to prepare a few traditional Izborsk dishes with the help of the restaurant’s chef.   Recipe «Chicken roll in a berry sauce» Recipe «Fish salad in a boat-shaped cucumber bowl» Recipe «Forest’s edge»   Recipe «Turya soup Izborsk-style with young potatoes»   Chicken roll in a berry sauce recipe serves 1 person; preparation time ~ 20 minutes; cooking time ~ 50 minutes Ingredients: 250 g. chicken fillet, 30 g. breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, 1 potato, 1 tomato, 30 g. strawberries, 10 g. black currants, 20 g. cranberries, 35 ml. dry red wine, 20 g. lettuce, garlic powder, vegetable oil, olive oil, fresh green herbs, salt, sugar. Directions: Pound the chicken and rub a sauce you make from chopped green herbs and olive oil on it. Sprinkle on some garlic powder and salt. Beat the 2 eggs together and add salt. Divide this mixture into two. Make an omelette out of one of them and lay it on the pounded chicken. Next roll up the chicken and omelette and dip it into what is left of the beaten eggs. Roll it in the breadcrumbs and cook it in a frying pan with oil for 5-7 minutes. Then put it in the cooker to finish roasting for 5-10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. To make the side dish, boil the potato. Then slice both the potato and tomato into thick slices and fry them in a pan with oil. To make the berry sauce, place the cranberries, strawberries and black currants in a saucepan. Pour in the wine, sugar and a little salt. Once the wine has had a chance to boil off a little, turn off the stove and put the sauce in the blender. When plating the dish, arrange the tomato and potato slices in the form of a pyramid. Place the chicken roll on a leaf of lettuce and put the berry sauce on the side. Fish salad in a boat-shaped cucumber bowl recipe serves 1 person; preparation time ~ 20 minutes; cooking time ~ 15 minutes Ingredients: 1 cucumber, 60 g. trout fillet, 1 medium-sized potato, 1 red onion, 1 tsp. red wine vinegar, 50 ml. mineral water, 1 egg, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 kiwi, 2 tbsp. mayonnaise, 30 g. Parmesan cheese, 2 olives, salt. Directions: First boil the potato and egg. Then finely chop the red onion, put it in a bowl and sprinkle some sugar on it. Pour in the red wine vinegar and water and let the onion sit and marinate in this mixture for 10 minutes. Cut the trout fillet, kiwi, boiled potato and half of the egg into small cubes. Put these ingredients into a bowl and add in the marinated onion. Next add in the mayonnaise and mix everything together. Slice the cucumber length-wise down the middle and remove the seeds. Scoop the fish salad into the cucumber where the seeds used to be. Make a sail for the cucumber boat using a slice of cheese, a wooden skewer and olives. Forest’s edge recipe serves 1 person; preparation time ~ 20 minutes; cooking time ~ 50 minutes Ingredients: 120 g. mushrooms, ½ a white onion, 1 red bell pepper, 3-4 medium-sized potatoes, 60 g. sour cream, 80 g. pork, vegetable oil, 1 tomato, 35 g. cheese, lettuce, fresh dill. Directions: To make the stuffed mushrooms, separate the caps from the stems and boil the caps in salted water for 2-3 minutes. When making the stuffing, chop the onion, pepper and pork into small pieces and fry them in oil. Then scoop this mixture into the mushroom caps. Set the stuffed caps on a baking sheet and sprinkle grated cheese on top of them. Bake them for 10-15 minutes at 160-170 degrees Celsius. In order to make the potato mushrooms, first boil the potatoes and then cut them into mushroom shapes. Finally, fry them in a bit of oil. To make the sour cream sauce, chop the onion into small pieces and saute it. Then add the sour cream and some salt into the same pan, along with a dressing made from freshly chopped greens and olive oil. Scoop out the top and inside of the tomato in order to make a basket. Use a slice of red pepper to make the basket handle. Pour and serve the sour cream sauce in this basket. Lay the leaves of lettuce on the serving plate. Then arrange the mushroom-shaped potatoes and stuffed mushrooms. Place the vegetable basket holding the sauce on the side and garnish the dish with fresh greens before serving. Turya soup Izborsk-style with young potatoes recipe serves 1 person; preparation time and cooking time ~ 25 minutes Ingredients: 100 g. cottage cheese, 1 cucumber, 50 g. sour cream, 4-5 young potatoes, 1 radish, 200 ml. spring water, vegetable oil, onion, fresh dill, salt. Directions: Cut the cucumber into small cubes. Then finely chop the fresh greens and put everything into a deep bowl. Next put in the cottage cheese, water, sour cream and salt. Mix. Fry the young potatoes in oil and set them on a separate plate. Garnish with fresh green herbs and a radish.