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Foodie culture is obsessed
with authenticity.
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But when we get Moroccan honey,
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San Marzano tomatoes,
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that means shipping food,
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carbon emissions,
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plenty of waste,
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and excess packaging
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for food that, sometimes,
not even as fresh or as delicious.
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Adding COVID-19,
and you have a whole new problem:
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frozen supply chains
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or closed borders.
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That's changing how we eat and
forcing us to also look at what's local.
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Some countries, like Russia,
have a lot of experience with this.
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MADE IN RUSSIA
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(Alec) Jay Klouz has been
a nightclub promoter in Spain,
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a tour boat owner in France,
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and a celebrity chef in Australia.
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Now, the American lives in Russia
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where he's added cheesemaker to the list.
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(Klouz) Every person has a different hand,
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and this hand makes cheese.
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You could be more aggressive,
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and you'll have another cheese.
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You could be more careful,
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and you'll have another cheese.
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You can even be half a degree higher,
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and you'll have another cheese.
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(Alec) Klouz uses local ingredients
to make European favorites
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like feta, gouda, and ricotta.
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Flavors that began to make their way here
after the fall of the Soviet Union.
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(Alec) So, I grew up in Wisconsin,
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and we've always had cheddar,
pepper jack, all sorts of--
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you know, real sharp cheeses.
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Love this stuff.
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And then I came to Russia,
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and it was like, cheese was white
and didn't taste like anything.
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Tastes like plastic.
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What made you decide to start
making your own cheese?
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You know, one thing you learn in Russia,
the winters are rough.
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The Russians prepare for winter
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so, being prepared means,
also eating good stuff.
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(Alec) For years, Russia imported
as much cheese as it produced
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until 2014.
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Russia annexed Crimea.
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The US and the EU
slap sanctions on Russia,
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and President Putin responded by
banning food imports from those countries.
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Cheesemakers like Klouz
saw sales go way up.
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Russian production
increased by at least 50%.
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(Klouz) Please don't forget
to return my spoon.
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(Sofia) Yes, return the spoon. Thanks.
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After Russia stopped purchasing
cheeses abroad,
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the cheese market changed a lot.
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So we started buying here.
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We are very satisfied
with the price and quality.
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(Alec) And how have the current sanctions
changed the industry?
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(Klouz) With the sanctions there's
more interest in the people making cheese.
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Like, "Oh, we don't need you,
we have Jay."
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I'm like, "Yeah, right."
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Fifty kilos a day,
how am I going to feed Russians?
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"Jay will save us!"
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I'm like, what?
(laughter)
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People are funny here.
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(Alec) But some people are more confident
in local producers' ability
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to fill the giant cheesy hole
left by the counter sanctions.
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Klrill Sharshukov imported Italian cheese
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until the food embargo forced him
to start making his own.
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(Sharshuko) Here we have
Caciocavallo cheese.
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A classic Italian Caciocavallo cheese.
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It is fermented for about 6 to 12 months
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and has a specific, light taste.
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And here we added fenugreek seeds.
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Tastes like cheese with with walnut,
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kind of a sweet dessert-y crunch.
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It doesn't have nuts?
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No, no. This doesn't have any nuts,
but is has that flavor.
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I don't know if this is allowed on TV,
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but these seeds are
healthy for men, apparently.
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So this is delicious and healthy for me?
(laughter)
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(Alec) After the embargo,
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the government started giving
out subsidies and tax breaks
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to boost domestic production.
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Something Sharshuko believes
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is giving Russians a chance to catch up
to the world's cheesemakers.
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(Sharshuko) The longer this goes on,
the more experiences we have.
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We reproduce Italy's cheeses here,
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replace its classic cheeses,
and produce them.
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So it would be very difficult to return.
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(Alec) But the Russian cheese revolution
isn't for everybody.
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Imported foods were always
too expensive for most Russians.
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Meaning locally-made burrata will probably
never be on their shopping list.
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And economists are skeptical
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that the people
who could afford fancy cheese
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are going to see local versions
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as anything other than
a secondary substitute.
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When we imported cheese, it had quality.
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We, the small portion of affluent people,
got used to it.
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When that cheese disappeared,
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those people stopped buying
Russian copies of cheese
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because they don't trust the quality.
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Well, I hear from the cheese producers--
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Russian cheese producers--
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who say sanctions have been a huge help.
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Those you spoke to are very few
because, as a matter of fact,
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90% of the Russian cheese market
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is mass market cheeses.
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I wanted to ask what will happen
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to Russian cheesemakers
if sanctions are lifted tomorrow?
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There will be
competition again for 15 to 20%
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of wealthy people in Russia.
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People who have invested
in cheese production
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will be hit hard.
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(Alec) The drive for food Independence
has protected Russia
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from supply disruptions during
the pandemic, the government says.
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It's also helped a fledgling,
farm-to-table movement here.
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- Five more minutes.
- No, two and a half.
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(Alec) Ivan and Sergey Berezutskly have
their own farm to produce ingredients
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for their restaurant,
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which in 2019 was named
one of the best in the world.
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It's a simple dish: potato with caviar.
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Here you are.
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The majority of our guests
need healthy and fresh food.
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This is a development Russia
and other countries have come to.
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The sanctions have
accelerated the process.