“Dubetchnya, as our first station was called, was a little under twelve miles from the town. I walked. The cornfields, bathed in the morning sunshine, were bright green. It was a flat, cheerful country, and in the distance there were the distinct outlines of the station, of ancient barrows, and far-away homesteads. . . . How nice it was out there in the open! And how I longed to be filled with the sense of freedom, if only for that one morning, that I might not think of what was being done in the town, not think of my needs, not feel hungry! Nothing has so marred my existence as an acute feeling of hunger, which made images of buckwheat porridge, rissoles, and baked fish mingle strangely with my best thoughts. Here I was standing alone in the open country, gazing upward at a lark which hovered in the air at the same spot, trilling as though in hysterics, and meanwhile I was thinking: "How nice it would be to eat a piece of bread and butter!"”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
1147. INGREDIENTS.--Mashed potatoes, salt and pepper to taste; when liked, a very little minced parsley, egg, and bread crumbs. [Illustration: POTATO RISSOLES.] _Mode_.--Boil and mash the potatoes by recipe No. 1145; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and, when liked, a little minced parsley. Roll the potatoes into small balls, cover them with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot lard for about 10 minutes; let them drain before the fire, dish them on a napkin, and serve. _Time_,--10 minutes to fry the rissoles. _Seasonable_ at any time. _Note_.--The flavour of these rissoles may be very much increased by adding finely-minced tongue or ham, or even chopped onions, when these are liked. QUALITIES OF POTATOES.--In making a choice from the many varieties of potatoes which are everywhere found, the best way is to get a sample and taste them, and then fix upon the kind which best pleases your palate.
Sources: The passage is from Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — moss cloth, teapot stamp.