SNACK ATTACK

WORLD CUP ON MENU

The Socceroos’ World Cup campaign kicks off on Saturday when Australia faces France at Kazan Arena, about 900kms from Moscow.

Barring a Steven Bradbury-style miracle we’re not going to take home the Cup — we’re ranked 40th in the world and you’ll get around 300 to 1 odds if you have nothing better to do with a tenner — but we’ll be hoping to match our best finish when made the round of 16 in 2006.

Of course, watching the football in Russia from the comfort of the couch calls for one thing — vodka.

And just like they do in Russia, drinking equals eating.

Food educator and presenter Alice Zaslavsky, whose family’s Russian-Georgian heritage meant she grew up on the famous beetroot soup called borsch, says snacking is essential when thinking — and drinking — Russian.

“One thing the Russians do before they drink vodka is to take a shot of oil, to coat their stomachs,” she says. “Then the next thing would be to eat some pickled mushrooms, which also help.”

Also popular are pelmeni, or Russian dumplings.

“One of my favourites is vareniki, which are filled with mashed potato and caramelised onion,” says Alice.

Her new new online series phenomenom.com.au introduces kids to the pleasures of eating vegetables.

She suggests adding the boiled dumplings to a pan of caramelised onions to double down on dumpling deliciousness.

Other easy-to-make snacks perfect for late night Cup munchies include the Georgian pie known as khachapuri.

Take a tablespoon of a four-cheese mix of cheddar, mozzarella, haloumi and ricotta bound with egg and add to a square of puff pastry. Fold into a triangle, seal with egg wash and bake in the oven until golden.

Alice also suggests picking up some pirozhki from the deli, which are Russian meat doughnuts.

“I reckon if you got a load of these your friends would love you.”

And finally, no Russian feast would be complete without at least a sip of borsch, so why not toast a goal with a borsch shooter?

Add a splash of vodka to coldpressed beetroot juice and down it in one.

Roaming personal chef, Frenchman Romuald Oudeyer (romu.com.au), says simple snacks are the name of the game when adding some Gallic flair to football fare.

“A classic saucisson tranche et fresh baguette is always good,” he says, and doesn’t a roll with salami sound so much better when it’s said in French.

Another snack that sounds tres bien in French is baguette aperitif — a warm baguette stuffed with cheese and ham and toasted — while a classic cheeseboard filled with oozy brie and stinky blue is an easy win.

Serve alongside fresh veg cut into batons — think radish, celery, carrots — to dip into a vinegar-spiked yoghurt and you have a simple yet satisfying World Cup supper.

He suggests ceviche on corn chips, emapadas, and mussels with salsa as his go-to Peruvianinspired snacks for the match.

For the ceviche, slice 500g kingfish, 1 avocado, 1 small red onion and the leaves from 2 coriander stalks and set aside together. Using a blender, blitz 100g celery, 100g white onion, 2 garlic cloves, 30g ginger, 50g salt, 10g sugar and two coriander stems, then strain reserving the liquid. Mix the liquid with 100ml lime juice, 150ml orange juice, and 70ml pisco or vodka. Pour over the fish for fivee minutes, then serve immediatelyately with corn chips.

Charlie useses lamb in the empanadasas for an Aussie take onn the South American can snack.

First, fry 400g lamb mince until the he fat starts to render.

Then add 1 white onion andnd 1 tomato both finely inely diced, 2 tsp aji amarillo chilli paste andd 20g palm sugar and slowlywly cook until mince is browned. Season with 1 tsp cumin and allow to cool. Add 2 finely chopped boiled eggs and 100g of goat’s cheese and set aside.

Cut 10cm circles of puff pastry, add 1 tbsp of filling, fold like a taco and push edges together with a fork. Bake in 180C oven for 25 mins. Serve with uchucuta — a Peruvian chilli sauce. Blend 2 jalapenos, ½ a large cucumber, 2 tsp chopped mint, ¼ red onion, 1 tsp coriander and 50g evaporated milk until smooth. Season with salt and lime juice to taste. Finally, Charlie puts a twist on oysters as an aperitivo-style snack by using mussels instead. Heat a large pot with a splash of oil and add 2kg mussels. Cover and let steam untuntil shells open. Take the top shell off each mussel and set the bottoms aside.aside Reserve the pan juicjuices and add to a salsa of 2 finely diced tomatoes, 1 diced white onion and ½ coriander bunch, chopped. Season wwith lime juice and 5050g chia seeds (hydratehydrated in 100ml water). Top each mussel with a tsp of salssalsa.

“One thing Russians do before they drink vodka is to take a shot of oil, to coat their stomachs” ALICE Z AS LA V SKY