Casserole of Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes are so much a part of the Russian diet that they are fondly called the vtoroi khleb, “second bread,” of the people. But they were not always so popular. When the potato was first introduced to Russia in the early eighteenth century, the Russians were reluctant to cultivate this strange tuber. Under Catherine the Great attempts were made to popularize it, but people still felt suspicious of it, as Europeans did. The government’s determination to impose the potato on the populace led