Hvorostovky was born in the central Siberian City of Kransnoyarsk and studied with Yekaterina Yofel at the Krasnoyarsk High School of Arts. He has risen to become one of the most sought-after vocalists worldwide. He has given recitals in many of the most important music centers of the world, including Carnegie Hall (New York), La Scala (Milan), Liceu (Barcelona), Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (Moscow), Bastille Opera (Paris), Cultural Center (Hong Kong), Davies Hall (San Francisco) and the Roy Thompson Hall (Toronto). Dimitri Hvorostovsky made his Europena operatic debut in Pique Dame at the Nice Opera in France and his Italian debut in Eugene Onegin at La Fenice, Venice. He has sung in performances of I Puritani and Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (London) and in I Pagliacci at both La Scala (Milan) and the Liceo (Barcelona). Hvorostovsky's US operatic debut was in 1993, when he sang the role of Pere Germont in La Traviata at the Chicago Lyric Opera. In this episode, my film crew accused me of outrageous flirting in the kitchen. Who could not flirt with this charming and sexy Russian baritone? I watched in amazement as he pulled the dough to make the traditional Siberian pelmeni. As he kneaded the dough, he sang sad little Russian folk songs. I was a poor filler of the pasta dough because my little packages of meat filled pasta seemed destined to fall apart!! I could not quite grasp how the little parcels came together and was chided by Dmitri for my lack of expertise. I may have looked a bit skeptical, as I couldn't imagine that they would taste anything other than a bit boring. "O ye of little faith"!!! They tasted utterly delicious and were made even better by the ice-cold vodka served with the meal. This was a truly authentic Russian experience with a charming and attractive young man. What more could one want? Ingredients  2 cups of flour  2 eggs  1/2 pound each of ground beef, pork and veal (get a good butcher to do this for you)  1 finely chopped white onion  1 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper Mix eggs with flour adding enough water to make dough. Knead very well until smooth, glossy and pliable. (preferably find yourself a sexy man to add his strength to the process) Roll dough into a tube shape about two inches in diameter. Mix all the meats and onion together and put in a bowl. Clip off 1/8th inch slice of the dough and roll into a small 2 inch circle. Put one generous teaspoon of meat mixture onto one side of the circle. Pinch the two edges of the half circles together and bring the two edges together to form a "little hat" (so it looks like Italian tortellini). Flour lightly and freeze overnight on a dish. If you happen to be in Siberia, leave out overnight and pray the wolves don't get them!! Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop the pelmeni in and cook 5 to 7 minutes until they rise to the surface. Serve plain with sour cream and chopped parsley or in a bouillon. The bouillon can be made with either beef stock cubes, chicken cubes or good cartons of stock known as "Jewish penicillin". (This is what New Yorkers call good chicken broth). This recipe is good fun when the whole family gets involved as everyone loves to make these little parcels and comment on the lack of expertise as the parcels fall apart.!! It goes great with the accompaniment of cold glasses of vodka! Very Siberian! (but a word of caution about the vodka!)