A gastronomic marathon called the Russian North which is weekly held on Saturdays and Sundays in Nickel, a small Russian town, near the Norwegian border, has ended with a big celebration in the central square.

The Bright People group, the organizers of an unusual festival have developed quite a unique concept which combines several artistic spheres, such as culinary, music, theatre and applied arts typical for northern culture. It’s worthy to say that such a unique event for the legendary remote cities would not have been possible without support of the Nornickel Company.

Secrets of Northern Cuisine
The center of the festival is the tent of the clever culinary studio. Numerous culinary workshops have been organized throughout the summer period. The participants have learned the true secrets of the northern cuisine directly from leading Chefs of Russia. Typical recipes contain some local natural delights like berries, sea and river fish.

“There are no strict cooking rules. Today, we are going to improvise a little. Although we use traditional ingredients and techniques for the foundation, it’s not a classic recipe” explained Oleg Bokonsky, a Brand Chef of Clever studio.

The participants prepared a fish salad with cranberry dressing, a stewed cod stuffed with onion and cottage cheese, and a huge pie with two kinds of fish fillings: pike and salmon. Everybody who visited the central city square had a chance to taste this gigantic pie, which was prepared under an attentive supervision of the kitchen Chefs.

Veggies can sing
An artistic band – Playtronica organized a truly unusual performance. The guys developed a gadget which literally grants a voice to any objects capable of conducting electric current. As a result, the audience has witnessed “singing” of zucchini, eggplants, and pumpkin. And as if it was not enough, they also played melodies on lemons and watermelon.

“This tactile musical instrument allows extraction of sounds from objects, even from fruits and vegetables. Today, we show how pumpkin and watermelon can be drums, whereas zucchini and eggplants can extract bass, and lemons can play high-frequency melodies. The larger an object is, the higher the volume and deeper sound it extracts” shares one of the Playtronica members - Dmitry Rostotsky.

Immersive gastronomic theatre
A theatrical play directed by Yuriy Makeev was probably the warmest part of the festival. The name of the play, translated from Russian is “Family bakery”.
“Theatr Vkusa” presented a story of a baker’s family, which shares the brad’s recipe from one generation to the next. An immersive staging allows the audience to be literally involved in the play. It’s also funny to note, the characters playing the bread were the participants of the culinary workshop and actually cooked it together with the actors.

“Family plays a central role in our theatre. For me personally, the theatre gives me an opportunity to discuss family values. It’s extremely important to keep reminding people about their roots and traditions. The success of the story which was staged today will be determined by time. However, right after the performance, a lot of children and grown-ups came to hug me. I think we managed to touch the delicate strings of their hearts!” says Yuriy Makeev, the director of Family Bakery play.