Russian Cuisine

Russian people have come up with a large variety of recipes during the long history of their country. Russian cuisine was disregarded for many centuries because cooks in Europe considered it to be uncivilized. However, even though Russian cuisine did not gain much popularity until 19th century, it did not stop Russian cooks from adopting the skills of diverse nationalities on Russian territory in order to invent new kinds of meals, courses, dishes and recipes.

It is an interesting fact that Old Russian cuisine was not considered to be particularly diverse. The recipes did not change for many centuries, even though there were a great variety of names for different dishes, which differed only in one of two ingredients. However, later with foreign influences and new nations settling into Russian territories there came about many new derivations in traditional cooking. Russian cuisine has a lot of dishes with mushrooms or fish, grain, vegetables, and herbs because many Orthodox people avoided eating meat during the season of lent.

Kasha

The special dish every Russian is familiar with is Kasha – a dish made of cooked grains. It is usually served hot with a glass of cold milk. It could be made of boiled buckwheat, rice or oatmeal, depending on the diversity of grains available to a Russian family.

Tvorog

Another famous and still very common Russian dish is Tvorog – something similar to curds or a drier version of cottage cheese. It is made out of sour milk cooked on a stove for several hours. This special cooking technique makes it possible to store Tvorog for a very long time, which was a valuable property in old Russia. It is usually mixed with sour cream, sugar and raisins, and becomes a delicacy for small kids, who live in the Russian countryside.

Pelmeni

Pelmeni (plural) are similar to Italian ravioli or Chinese dumplings. They are made with meet (preferably half beef, half pork) and onion wrapped into dough. Pelmeni came from Siberia, and became a common traditional meal in various parts of Russia. They are usually served with sour cream.

Soups

There are two traditional Russian soups: borscht (beetroot soup often served with sour cream) and shchi (fresh cabbage soup). Both dishes are usually served as a first course, and are loved for their great aroma and beneficial effect on people’s health and digestion. Each Russian housewife establishes her own techniques for cooking borscht and shchi in her favorite way. While borscht is more traditional and less affected by changes, shchi can differ a lot from one home to another, where typical variations are shchi with beans or shchi with sour cabbage.

Pancakes

Pancakes are a symbol of the bright and warm spring sun in Russia, which is why they are traditionally served on Maslenitsa – a Russian holiday which celebrates the coming of spring. Even though pancakes are common in many other cultures, Russian pancakes are different since they are sometimes made of sour milk which makes them very fluffy and are filled with meat, caviar, tvorog, sour cream, fruit and other interesting ingredients.

Holodets

Holodets is a dish that came from the Northern parts of Russia. It is made of minced meat (usually pork) which is cooked for a very long time. After it is cooled off it becomes jellied (without any gelatin) and can be served right away.

Drinks

Among traditional Russian drinks the following ones are very popular: braga or brazhka, kvass and vodka. Brazhka is a weak alcoholic drink, which is prepared during an incomplete fermentation and short aging process (less than two weeks). Kvass is an even weaker drink, which is made of bread and has a negligent amount of alcohol. Vodka has become a symbol of Russia and Russian stern character for being one of the strongest drinks widely consumed all over the world.