Did someone say чудесно? You will, no doubt, if you attend the annual Russian Food Festival in Brookside, Ala., this Saturday and Sunday. A former mining town in western Jefferson County bisected by Five-Mile Creek, Brookside was settled by European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century. Sloss Iron and Steel Company owned and operated four mines in the area; many of the laborers who worked in the mines had been recruited from the former Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries. A Russian Orthodox Church called St. Nicholas was founded in 1916 and since 1981 has hosted an annual festival that includes tours of the temple as well as food, drink, music and dancing that reflects the citizens’ cultural heritage.
The ladies of the Sisterhood of St. Olga prepare hot foods and baked goods every year, including a beet-and-meat soup called borshch; kolbasa and kraut; a cabbage dished called holupki; a meat pie called piroshki; potato and cheese dumplings called pirogi haluski; kolachis, rolled loaves filled with pecans, cheese, poppy seeds or almonds; and much more.
Festival hours are Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. The “Russian Beauties” ensemble of the Nastasha Russo Dance Arts company will perform at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Directions to St. Nicholas and a complete menu are online at www.brooksidealabama.com