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Thursday, August 03, 2000 By Nancy Anderson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
For two months, John and Jackie Righetti have been making and freezing palachinka, a delectable cheese- or apricot-filled crepe with origins in Eastern Europe.
Here's finger food you can sink your teeth into.
The tasty little bites will be served with a dollop of sour cream or honey today, tomorrow and Saturday at the seventh annual Rusyn Food Festival at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Ambridge.
Although traditional Rusyns (known as Carpatho-Rusyns in the United States) also use prune butter as a filling, John Righetti, chairman of the festival, says he doesn't.
"Many American taste buds aren't into prune," he said, "They like apricot, and they love the ricotta cheese. It's the most popular."
The Rusyns, a small Slavic group indigenous to the Carpathian Mountain region of East Central Europe, have been shepherds for centuries.
When they make palachinke (one crepe is a palachinka), they use brindza, a sheep's milk cheese that is more pungent than ricotta.
Although brindza is available at Alex's International on Smallman Street in the Strip, Righetti believes that ricotta is better attuned to American tastes.
The men do their share of the cooking at this ethnic feast.
"The kitchen is not the reserve of women," Righetti said. "Our pierogi crew consists of men who roll and fill; the women pinch. All of the halusky is made by men."
They must be the masters of their domain. The event's organizers decided that the way to make the festival food the best it can be is to draw on individual culinary strengths.
"One woman makes great cheregi (crispy batter cookies), so that's what she's making," he said. "Three of the best soup-makers are making the borscht and chicken soup, and the same goes for the nut, apricot and poppyseed rolls."
Overseeing the food production is a parishioner who was a Navy cook during World War II. He knows how to feed a crowd.
Righetti hopes the festival will not only be a successful fund-raiser but also will foster a recognition of food as cuisine, not provincial fodder.
"My father was a Northern Italian, so I grew up on so-called 'peasant' foods, such as polenta and risotto, which are now in vogue," he said.
"[Rusyn food] isn't peasant food, and I'd like to see it getting the appreciation it deserves."
Church cooks have been preparing foods that can be frozen (last year 1,000 dozen pierogies were sold) since April.
Most of the work, however, happens in the few days before the festival to ensure freshness.
The food will be served cafeteria-style in the church's air-conditioned parish center on Fifth Street.
St. John's will be open for tours during the festival. The almost 80-year-old church has an ornate interior with a floor-to-ceiling screen covered with icons. An unusual aspect of the screen is that the frame was constructed by men from the church.
"Most Byzantine churches have their screen brought in from another city or imported from Europe," Righetti said. "But many of the men in the parish were ironworkers at American Bridge and ARMCO, so they made it themselves."
Icons that depict religious figures and scenes also cover the ceiling.
Another highlight of the festival will be a multivideo presentation on Rusyn life in Eastern Europe. One video, "Ladomyrova," is a series of interviews with survivors of this town's German occupation in both World Wars.
The feature film was produced by Peter Kerekes, a Slovakian filmmaker, and made available to the festival by the Society of Rusyn Intelligencia. Subtitled in English, the film lasts one hour. It will be shown at 2 p.m. today, 6 p.m. tomorrow and 7 p.m. Saturday.
Other videos include a performance by the Transcarpathian Folk Ensemble of the Uzhorod in Ukraine and footage of Rusyn villages and churches.
Live entertainment includes the 60-member Slavjane Folk Ensemble of McKees Rocks, which will perform Rusyn songs and dances at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Parishioners skilled in Rusyn arts will demonstrate icon writing, woodcarving, pysanky (Easter egg decorating) and weaving.
Some wares will be for sale, along with plates, candelabra and jewelry boxes imported from Rusyn villages in Europe.
Western Pennsylvania houses the largest contingent of this ethnic group -- about 60,000 -- in the United States.
For Rusyns interested in returning to their homeland, Righetti conducts Rusyn Heritage tours.
When the Iron Curtain fell, it was difficult for Rusyns to keep in touch with relatives. The KGB (Russian secret police) kept tabs on letters coming to and from the U.S., and often mail wasn't delivered. Getting a visa to visit was almost impossible.
"Since the fall of Communism, Rusyns can go back and experience the connection that had been lost," said Righetti, whose mother is Rusyn.
"They can walk where their ancestors walked, meet relatives they didn't know they had and do research. They say to me, 'I feel like I'm home.' "
Righetti, who lives in Ohio Township, is executive director of communications at Butler Memorial Hospital.
He and Jackie are the parents of Caitlin, 12, Alexander, 10, Ileana, 7, and Andrew, 2.
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What: seventh annual Rusyn Food Festival
