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Witold Szabłowski: Ce qui mijote au Kremlin. Editions Noir sur Blanc, 12 mars 2026

De Lénine à Poutine, la Russie racontée par ses cuisiniers

 Traduit du polonais par Véronique Patte

368 pages • 25 Euros • 30 CHF

Szabłowski nous emmène à travers la Russie de Poutine, l’Ukraine, la Géorgie et d’autres anciennes républiques soviétiques, au fil d’une enquête sur les cuisines du pouvoir.

On y découvrira l’histoire du feuilleté au pigeon que mangea le tsar Nicolas II avant d’être fusillé avec son cuisinier, et comment un chef de Staline apprit à un chef de Gorbatchev la façon de chanter pour faire monter la pâte au levain. On y rencontrera une Ukrainienne centenaire ayant survécu à la Grande Famine orchestrée par Staline ; une cantinière qui apprenait aux soldats du front de l’Est à rôtir des escargots et à faire de la soupe aux orties ; ou encore la femme qui cuisinait pour Youri Gagarine et les autres cosmonautes. On y entendra les femmes qui tenaient les cantines des pompiers de Tchernobyl, et les Tatars de Crimée, dont la cuisine est de pure nostalgie.

Ce qui mijote au Kremlin est une histoire de banquets, de popote et de famine. Tour à tour drôle et poignant, Witold Szabłowski éclaire la façon dont les repas racontent le pouvoir — et comment, en Russie, la grande histoire s’écrit toujours à table.

 Witold Szabłowski est né en 1980. Il est devenu à 25 ans le plus jeune grand reporter du quotidien polonais Gazeta Wyborcza. Ses reportages sur les migrants en Europe de l’Ouest ont reçu le prix du Parlement européen ; son enquête sur un massacre de Polonais en Ukraine en 1943 a été couronné par le prix Ryszard-Kapuściński, et son livre sur la Turquie a remporté le prix du PEN-Club anglais. En 2021, Noir sur Blanc a fait paraître son grand reportage sur l’univers de l’après-communisme, Les Ours dansants, et, en 2024, Comment nourrir un dictateur, salué par la presse comme « un tour de force d’écrivain journaliste » (Le Figaro).

A lire ma critique ici. 

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.

In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.

After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.

Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin (more than 35 years in Europe, 25 years spent in Switzerland) with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world at the international level. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.

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