A thousand pages, very little partying, & nary a recipe -- didn’t these people eat? A heartless Thanksgiving dinner and a few cafeteria scenes are about the only food references in Atlas Shrugged. One might think an extensive work about fighting for the good things in life would include food & wine. Of course, no one wants to read about evil-minded, gluttonous looters scarfing & drooling; but a merry little feast in the Valley might have been nice.
Most of the characters support a dichotomy of mind & body, separating pleasure from higher thought and reason from emotion. Perhaps food was equated with bodily appetite; therefore, sorta naughty; and thereby, sorta omitted. On the other hand, Dagny is acutely aware of the mind/body integration, and probably knows that daily sustenance is not only rational & necessary, but convivial, sensuous, soul-satisfying and connective. That said, she can’t be blamed for the lack of fetes, especially with impending doom on the horizon. Understandably, Dagny is busy in a vain attempt to "save the railroad, save the world," but she could have had at least one dinner party, even if hiring a caterer was the only way to pull it off.
With Pjotr Leschenko crooning in the background, chilled vodka & blinis with Beluga caviar to start, Dagny could then serve pelmeni, a national dish of Ayn Rand’s Russian home. Pelmeni follow the basic themes of Atlas Shrugged: rational thought, the philosophy of the ego, mind/body integration, and belief in the free market & the value of money.
• Pelmeni are rational: they are comforting & inexpensive in a time of financial & moral crises.
• Pelmeni are egotistical: they will coexist peacefully in a bowl, focusing only on themselves & their own filling, obligating nothing to another pelmen, save a mutual respect for the rights of all dumplings to puddle up in the butter as well.
• Pelmeni unify the mind & body: they combine ingenuity with pleasure, high thoughts with low actions, heaven with earth, flying geese with subterranean potatoes. (Conventionally, pelmeni aren’t made with poultry, but in the spirit of the novel, I’m going to create my own regardless of public opinion.)
• Pelmeni depict money: they look like little stuffed purses.
Pelmeni are perfectly suited for them & us, then & now. Dagny was written into a world of economic & ethical disaster; Ayn was living under harsh communism; we are bunkered down in a blizzard with a pretty gloomy recession -- warm, comforting peasant food seems apropos all around. So does vodka. (Vashe Zdorovie!)
Although Atlas Shrugged seems benevolently sexist in parts, my suggestion to give “the woman” this dinner party project is coincidentally sexist -- Dagny is well-known for her mind/body viewpoint, and seems best suited for the task. However, John Galt could just as easily invite a few of those brilliant minds-on-strike over for dinner in his ideal society. And yes, John can have his party catered as well -- he’s got his hands full with that "hiding the intellectuals to save humankind from their own mediocrity & utter destruction" thing.
Rational thought cannot be separated from the things it creates or the world it powers.
Russian Pelmeni
In Siberia, pelmeni are frozen outdoors in winter and treated as preserved peasant food -- something all Washingtonians can do today in light of the recession & the blizzard -- super yay! Pelmeni are about 2-3 cm in diameter (smaller than pierogi, potstickers or ravioli) and most commonly served with melted butter or sour cream; but mustard, vinegar, tomato sauce & horseradish are also popular. They can be boiled then fried or served in soup, although in Siberia, pelmeni in soup is considered bad taste.
serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk or water
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for cooking
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Goose & potato filling
Method:
Mound flour on counter top; make a well in the center of the flour and crack eggs into the well. Add a milk, salt and vegetable oil. Using a fork, whip the egg mixture, gradually incorporating the flour as you work around & around the well. When most of the flour is incorporated, bring the dough together and begin to knead. Dusting counter with flour as needed, continue to knead for 5-6 minutes, until dough is smooth and soft. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
From here, there are several ways to shape the pelmeni:
Divide dough into four pieces; roll each through a pasta machine until dough is thin, about 1/16-inch thick. Using a 3 cm round cookie cutter, cut out circles from sheets of dough. Place a small mound of filling on half the dough circles & brush edges with water; place a remaining dough circle atop each filled circle and press to seal.
Divide dough into four pieces; roll each into a 3/4-inch diameter rope and cut each rope into 1” pieces. Roll each little piece into a 3 cm circle and fill them as previously stated.
or
Divide dough into four pieces; with a rolling pin, roll each into a sheet to fit a pelmeni mold. Place the dough on the mold, fitting into the holes. Place a small mound of filling into each cup. Roll another sheet of dough out for the top. Roll the pin along the top of the mold to cut away excess dough and create a couple dozen finished pelmeni.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a rolling boil; sprinkle salt into water. When water returns to a boil, slide a couple handfuls of pelmeni into the pot. Cook until pelmeni float to the top and then another 3-5 minutes, until al dente. Scoop out with a spider and dump into a very hot pan of browned butter; saute until crispy. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a lashing of fresh nutmeg & snipped chives.
Side Note: Pelmeni freeze beautifully.
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