 "Photo: Chidinma Ogbuaku / For The South End")
The aroma of freshly-made pancakes wafted down the hallway as Wayne State’s Slavic Studies Program celebrated Maslenitsa Feb. 9 in Manoogian’s fourth floor lounge.
In the lounge, a blini-making workshop drew about 15 people.
The blini, a thin pancake, is the traditional way of celebrating Maslenitsa, which literally means ‘butter week,’ because of the butter used to make the pancakes. The Russian holiday preceding Lent, Maslenitsa is a week-long celebration. According to Laura Kline, Russian instructor, the celebration was originally a pagan one that was incorporated into the celebration of Easter. The blinis were round and golden, made to resemble the sun and ask the gods for the spring season to come, Kline said.
Olga Blum, another Russian instructor, was the main chef of the day, teaching the art of making blini.
“In the past people cooked all seven days. My mother cooked a small mountain of them,” Olga Moeller, a Russian teaching assistant from Russia, said. Moeller was glad to tell everyone about Russian culture, as the movie “The Barber of Siberia” played on a screen off to the side gave a glimpse into Russian history.
The room was full of people willing to listen and share stories of memories growing up making the thin pancakes, and how they keep the tradition going.
“My girlfriend makes blinis for me but this is the first time I’ve made them properly,” said Jason Esmacher, a second-year Russian student.
A table in the room was stocked with all of the ingredients necessary to make a blini, from flour and eggs to butter and milk. A stove in the corner was constantly in use as blini experts and novices alike tried their hand at making blinis. When they were done, all types of jellies to garnish the blinis lined the table.
“Blinis can be eaten with all kinds of things: sour cream, cheese, meat, caviar,” Moeller said.
She went on to say that blinis were very popular in Russian families and are cooked year-round.
“I promise my husband pancakes when he begs for them, but it depends on his behavior,” Moeller said, jokingly.
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