Bukharan Brunch

A quick follow-up to my Russian grocery shopping in Queens: The green beans are nothing like the ones favored by my dad. They are wonderfully crisp but so powerfully infused with garlic that just one will probably send your nearest and dearest scattering for the hills. Chopped fine and tossed in a salad, though, the beans made a piquant addition to some shredded romaine, arugula, and endive.

I cooked the pierogies according to the package directions (thankfully, not in Russian), and stirred in some goat butter and Reggiano parmesan (we are nothing if not multicultural here at BYB). Yum. But I think goat butter is an acquired taste and might work better on dark pumpernickel or melba toast. The Moscow Biscuits are like airy vanilla-scented Zwieback, excellent dipped in coffee. Starbuck’s should stock them.

And taramosalata is always splendid on water biscuits or as a dip for crudités. It’s also tasty at 3 a.m., using the time-honored two-fingered scoop.

Brunch Reading: Try to track down Janet Malcolm's spellbinding account of a murder trial in the Bukharan community in The New Yorker. Alas, you will have to be a subscriber to get the full story, but an abstract is available at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/05/03/100503fa_fact_malcolm