Hi, I'm Peter Kolesnichenko, and my last name is so long, it doesn't easily fit in my own website! 😂 I live in sunny Perth, Western Australia in one of the world's most isolated cities. Living the sunniest capital city in Australia, we enjoy long summers, incredible beaches, and have a thriving food and wine industry.
I love food and travel, and travelling to eat new foods is very inspiring for me. Making food to feed others is my happy place, I say that food is my love language. I really like authentic foods, especially the Russian foods that we grew up eating. I have a beautiful God-given wife and 2 sons who have grown up faster than I liked. I want to pass down our food traditions that we enjoy to my children and the next generation.
How did this all begin?
I love food and cooking, and always watched my mom and grandmother cook. I started training to cook in a commercial kitchen as part of my high school education. The website journey all began after a spinal injury which had me off work for an entire year. The goal was to write down all my recipes of the foods we eat and how we make them. When I got stuck or forgot how to make something, I called my mom for help, and she reminded me. She is the one who taught me all the Russian recipes, and is an amazing cook.
Instead of a writing cooking instructions in a recipe book, I figured my kids would appreciate a digital version on a website, which turned into having a Russian food blog. The recipes I make aren't only Russian, and include many of my favorite American foods and multicultural recipes from around the world. These are all foods and recipes that we eat at home.
What's my background?
I was born and raised in British Columbia Canada, part of a small Russian community. My grandparents fled the USSR via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan into China, where my parents were born. Back then, there were some small Russian communities living in Northern China near the Russian border, but after China turned to communism, they had to either return to the USSR or leave China. Thousands of Russian families arrived to Australia in late 1950's, settling around Australia in Sydney, Adelaide, Orange and Melbourne. Some of the community later moved to Canada in the 1970's, where I was born. We are known as White Russians, who's families emigrated from the Soviet Union.
While we are not part of the post Soviet migration from Europe in the 1990's, we all share the same roots, language and recipes. I grew up in a typical Russian immigrant household, where we only spoke Russian at home, and held onto our cultural roots. For some, I am too American to be Russian, and for others, the exact opposite. 😂 We still have relatives in Russia, some we have re-connected with since the Soviet Union collapsed, and others have been lost.
I am part of the millions of Russian people who live outside of Russia. We speak, think and live in the English language (although many are fluent in Russian) and are very proud to be of Russian heritage. As a proud Australian and Canadian of Russian heritage, I think it's important not to forget your family history and roots. I'm too Russian for my western friends and too Americanized for my friends in Russia. I know I'm not alone in straddling 2 cultures. For all the newer immigrants, just think of me as what your kids and grandkids might be like in your future.
As you can imagine the foods we eat are quite multicultural. From classic Russian and Slavic foods, modern Australian, American recipes, to Central Asian foods that most people in the West have never heard of. My wife Rita (who is also Russian) is an amazing cook, who influences my cooking and keeps me sharp! We love cooking together, but I always make the bigger mess in the kitchen.
Peter's Food Adventures Philosophy
They say you're supposed to share a reason for having a website, like a mission statement. I found this really hard to articulate. I just want to share the Russian foods and favorite recipes that I love, and hopefully you will love as well! I am genuinely happy to share recipes that make me and my family happy. And hopefully yours too.
These are recipes we eat, some are quick and easy while others need planning and time to make. I hope you find them all delicious. I don't follow any diet trends like keto, vegan or paleo, but some of my recipes might fall into those categories. Food made with love makes me happy.
There aren't too many English speaking Russian food bloggers that are men, most of them are women. This might have to do with some traditional cultural norms, but that's slowly changing, even in Russia. Many of my Russian recipes are rustic, home cooking style, like babushka made. There won't be any fancy froo-froo cakes because that's not me. I tried to be all things to all people and couldn't. I love savory foods, give me an onion and some meat and I can do amazing things with it! My recipes aren't diet food. I often say 'Everything tastes better with butter' because it truly does. At the end of the day, I can't be all things to all people, just a genuine version of me.
Food and Travel
There has always been a link between my food and travelling. I've been to every continent (except Antarctica). Travel gives me so much inspiration in the kitchen. I suppose it was always somehow going to link to Peter’s Food Adventures. I've started to share some of my travel adventures with you, but don’t worry, this will always showcase recipes on this website. I promise the videos will continue to improve over time. You can see more of them on my YouTube channel. YouTube.com/petersfoodadventures
Drop me a line if you've tried one of my recipes, or hashtag it with #petersfoodadventures. I'd love to hear about it. Your follows on my Facebook and Instagram are appreciated. Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!
Welcome to my world!
Official Disclaimer! All opinions and photos in Peter's Food Adventures are my own unless otherwise stated, and are not professional advice. Attempt these recipes at your own risk, be careful and don't burn your house down, injure yourself or poison yourself while following my recipes and seek advice from your doctor for dietary needs! In general, you shouldn't listen to advice from people on the internet, me included. Most of my photos and videos were shot on an iPhone. Spoon graphic by Flaticon using Logomakr under Creative Commons 3.0.