You can read our privacy policy here. Food is not only a source of pleasure and a sphere of creativity but also a guide to the history of cultures. The history of mayonnaise in Russia is very short. Russian cuisine has developed over centuries under different social, cultural, geographical, and regional influences. However, simple items like potatoes, mayonnaise, vinegar, olives remained. Almost every type of food or dish have their own historical basis, so by trying a local traditional dish we can get closer to understanding the history of the place. It’s sold in kofenyas, markets and stolovayas and usually had with tea. Also called Ocpocmaq, they are small triangular-shaped pastries much like a samosa, and are filled with a mixture of onions, potatoes, and meat. Originally from Yakutia, the Indigirka is a fish salad made with muksun or nelma fish. Basically, it's the midway point between a pot pie and a big-ass puff pastry. From former USSR dishes to classic Russian doughnuts, here’s our roundup of must-eats while in the nation’s capital. There are several variations of the marinade across the North, from ayran to yogurt to just plain water. What You Should Know Before You Travel Russia, Traditional Croatian Recipes: Roast Turkey With Mlinci, Coronavirus Rules & COVID-19 Updates Croatia, Reindeer Sticks, reindeer meat fried like fish sticks, Guriev kasha, a porridge made of semolina, milk, and nuts, Pozharskie kotlety, a very tender veal or chicken patty that has butter in the minced meat, Borodinsky bread, from the region of Moscow, is a sourdough rye bread, Shanga, small flaky bread rolls filled with a potato puree stuffing, Hychiny, flatbreads stuffed with potatoes, meat or cheese, Ayran, a fermented beverage of goat, sheep and cow’s milk, Sokhta , popular in Dombay, this is sausage stuffed with rice and minced liver, Zharuma, spicy sausages stuffed with onions and minced lamb, Pirozhki , bread stuffed with a filling of meat, onions, mushrooms, and rice, Sakharadzhin, a dish of beet leaves and cheese, Pastila pressed fruits that are candylike but soft, Chak-chak, sweet sticks made of flour and eggs and covered in honey, Chiburekki, a deep-fried dough filled with onions and minced meat, Qistibi, or roasted flatbreads stuffed with mashed potato, Tok-chok, a dessert made of crushed barley and pine nuts, Chegen, milk that is boiled and fermented, Muksun, a soft fish, bigger than the omul that is cured and eaten, Trepang, a type of sea cucumber served in salads or boiled, Buryati buuzy, little packets of dough filled with lamb meat and onions, Kvass, a beverage made of buckwheat, rye, barley with alcohol content less than 2%, Blini, thin crepes or pancakes are a typical breakfast food and may be topped with sour cream, butter or fruit preserves, Sharlotka, a popular apple pie that looks like a cake, Vatrushka, a cake with a ring of tvorok or cottage cheese in the middle, Mushroom julienne, is an appetizer of finely chopped mushrooms, onions, cheese, sour cream and white wine served in small ceramic bowls, Oladyi, small pancakes prepared with fermented kefir milk, Solyanka, popular as a cure for a hangover, is a soup made of tomatoes, olives, cabbage, and onions with either fish, mushrooms or meat, Borscht, a beetroot soup that also includes tomatoes, onions, celery, cabbage and carrots and is served with sour cream, Golubtsy, cabbage leaves stuffed with minced meat and rice. We need the support of readers just like you to continue our work.If you appreciate what we do, please consider donating today.Choose an amount for a monthly pledge or a single donation below.From all our team, thank you for your support. When Shchi is made without meat, it is called pustye or empty. Nowadays in Russia, herring remains popular and its traditional salting recipes are preserved. Somewhat of a national dish, it’s best enjoyed smothered in sourcream with a shot of vodka. The easy to prepare soup consists of cabbage, mushrooms, flour, and meat such as beef, pork, or poultry. Siberian cuisine tends to the exotic, with reindeer and bear being considered regular fare. The soup was a favorite in Russian courts of the 16th and 17th centuries. We travel all over seeking out food, accommodation and the best things to do in the Balkans so you’ll save time travel planning & travel like a local. Sturgeon spine. A cruciferous vegetable, Crocker says cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C, contains lots of antioxidants and is “packed with phytochemicals that help reduce risk for cancer and have anti-inflammatory effects.” https://learnrussianstepbystep.com/en/home/. PirozhkiWhat they are: Hand-held, bready pockets of dough stuffed with sweet or savory fillings, then baked or fried.What's the deal: Occupying an awesome, ethereal space between pasties, donuts, and Hot Pockets, pirozhki come in an endless array of flavors. Muksun, nelma or cisco are typically used for this dish. Some variations use whipped cream or butter. The substances in the oat-flakes reduce the levels of sugar and cholesterol in the blood, favorably affect the functions of the stomach, protect the face skin from irritations. Perhaps, that’s why in many countries buckwheat is not so popular as in Russia. This article can be considered a mini-guide on most prominent features of Russian cuisine that not many know about. Pelmeni. Andy Kryza is Thrillist's National Eat/Drink Senior Editor, and has proudly lived vegetable-free since 2001. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. There is no exact answer to it, but there is a legend that the son of one of the Soviet-era party leaders Anastas Mikoyan decided to conduct such an experiment and boiled a can of condensed milk, which, of course, exploded. Over time, these costly ingredients disappeared from everyday recipes and were replaced by diced chicken, eggs, carrots, green peas. The marinade can vary from yogurt to plain water. They're the ultimate use of the plentiful cabbage that's indigenous to the region, which is boiled then used to encase a brick of seasoned ground beef. On special occasions ("DEPARDIEU DAY 2015!! You usually hear a lot about traditional Russian blini, pelmeni and pies, but if you have the opportunity to try something new and unusual from Russian cuisine, do not miss your chance! The funny part is that if you forget to regularly add water that evaporates after a long time on fire, you risk to paint your kitchen walls and ceiling with condensed milk as the can will explode. Soup takes one of the central places in Russian cuisine. Most likely, you have heard of such a product as condensed milk. After making a long way around Asia, in the 15th century, it arrived to Russia and became popular due to its unpretentious nature. Don’t forget the drinks too! This new sauce was rich in calories and had a pleasant taste which compensated for the poor diet of Soviet people. Making pelmeni is favorite family pastime in the long winter months. Now imagine that you took a can of condensed milk, put it in a saucepan and boil it for 3 to 4 hours. This Tartar noodle soup soon found its way across all of Russia. This tradition of preserving the food for the winter has not lost its popularity after the invention of the refrigerator and remains relevant to this day. Fermented reindeer meat. GolubtsyWhat it is: A cabbage burrito filled with meatballs that are more like meatloaf, then frequently topped with tomato sauce.What's the deal: One of the most common dishes in the Russian cookbook, cabbage rolls -- not to be confused with the "cabbage patch", which has yet to make its way to Moscow nightclubs -- exist throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It can be savory or sweet. The 1871 edition of Elena Molokhovet’s Russian cookbook “A Gift to Young Housewives” holds one of the older recipes for Beef Stroganoff. It consists of a filling of salmon, mushrooms, onion, cabbage, and buckwheat or rice. Russian eating habits and food preferences. BorshtWhat it is: A hugely popular traditional beet soup that is served both hot and cold.What's the deal: Like Grandmaster Flash, Russia's got beets for days. Okroshka may be garnished with Smetana or sour cream and served with ice cubes to stay cold. Shulpa is a soup made of a duck, turkey or chicken that is cooked with carrots and onions for a few hours. A pie that’s often eaten in summer, limmonik is made of sugar and crushed lemons without taking their peel off. Not less popular are various pickled and fermented vegetables. "), they come with caviar, making for perhaps the most baller version of a dainty French food ever. Culturologist, PhD student at Herzen University, professor of Russian as a foreign language and promoter of Russian culture. Cabbage rolls. There are also cold soups which are eaten in hot summertime. An exotic Siberian dish where the bear paws are first marinated, then fried and stewed for hours. It is prepared by boiling the meat for 6 to 8 hours, then separating it from the bones and letting it cool down to form a jelly. Aleksandra gives Russian lessons via Skype. It formed the basis for a variety of Russian porridges. Russian food is rich in history and poor in PR… it's often stereotyped as nothing but boiled cabbage and meat. Especially loved in Russia is dark bread without which no lunch or dinner can go. We blog about the best travel destinations in Croatia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Nth. An age-old Russian food, sauerkraut, is one of the most low-calorie dishes in Slavic cuisine, containing only 10 calories per 100 grams. Popular in North Ossentia, this is a type of kachapuri pie that is filled with meat, cheese, pumpkin, beet leaves, and potatoes. The recipe is now famous the world over and sees many local variations. Corn, poultry, milk products, beef, and spices are a prominent feature of the North Caucasian Cuisine. This new sauce was rich in calories and had a pleasant taste which compensated for the poor diet of Soviet people. Macedonia, Romania, Russia and Serbia. It is served as a topping for cakes, pancakes, and more. – you ask surprised. Symbolizing fertility and stability, the kurnik was traditionally served at weddings. The sweet and sour is cooled down, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cut into squares before serving. Pelmeni are traditional Russian meat-filled dumplings. Lamb meat that has been marinated before being roasted over a fire. Our Russian grocery will satisfy everybody's taste! The food in Northern Russia includes a lot of fish and reindeer meat and some bear and squirrel. Berries and fruits, such as apples or plums, were also preserved in the form of jams and compotes. It's also the reason that white carpets are a dangerous prospect throughout Mother Russia. People began to invent various recipes for salads based on mayonnaise. We're adding to our traditional Croatian recipe menu! The history of Russian foods covers more than a thousand years. If you have ever been a guest of a Russian family or read the menu in a Russian restaurant, then surely you were surprised at the abundance of mayonnaise in Russian dishes. No two are the same. For foreigners who have never tried buckwheat, its taste may seem a bit bitter and too specific.