National cuisine. Russia is a multinational country, where you can taste a variety of different, sometimes very exotic, dishes of many nationalities - from Tatar chak-chak (dessert made of dough with honey) to Yakut stroganina (fresh-frozen fish or meat). But you can find traditional Russian dishes anywhere in the country. Here are 12 dishes you must try in Russia.
Shchi is a soup with cabbage, which was invented back in the 11th century. The list of ingredients includes meat, seasonings and a sour dressing of cabbage brine. However, the components can vary depending on the type of soup (lean, fish, green) and the culinary skill of the cook - many Russians prepare this soup according to their own recipes. They eat this soup with rye bread and dress it with sour cream or spices.
Dumplings are without exaggeration the most famous dish of Russian cuisine abroad. Appeared in the Urals at the end of XIV century. The name "dumplings" itself comes from a similar word of the Finno-Ugric language group, which literally means "bread ear". Classic dumplings are minced meat, consisting of beef, lamb, pork, wrapped in unleavened dough of flour, eggs and water. Ready dumplings are boiled in boiling salted water. They are served with butter, mustard, mayonnaise or other seasonings. Many generations of Russians are familiar with the tradition of making pelmeni as a family. The larger the family, the greater the amount of preparations. Some of the cooked meat was cooked immediately and the rest was frozen.
Kashi, like soups, is something without which the Russian cuisine is unthinkable. Russians, especially in childhood, always eat porridge for breakfast - they are healthy and nutritious. Manna, pearl, oat, buckwheat and a few dozen other varieties... Porridge is likely to be offered to you for breakfast at a hotel, café, student canteen or as a guest. It is served hot and generously flavored with butter. As they say in Russia, you can't spoil porridge with butter, which means that even in large quantities it won't be harmful.
Russian pies.
Pie in Russian cuisine has about the same meaning as pizza in Italian cuisine. Russian pies are baked mostly from unsweetened dough with a variety of fillings - from meat and fish to fruit and cottage cheese. Dumplings, kulebyaki, rastegai, kulichiki, shanyagi, kalitki, kurniki - not a complete list of varieties of this dish. If you manage to try homemade pies, consider yourself lucky. However in many catering establishments they are in no way inferior in quality to home-made pies.
Bliny is the oldest dish of Russian cuisine, which appeared in the IX century. The recipe for one of the most famous Russian dishes is quite simple - milk, eggs and salt, but the cooking process is akin to skill, which not every housewife can master. The liquid batter is poured on a frying pan heated in oil, the task of the cook is to bake a crumbly even pancake without lumps and not to let it burn before time. The thinner the pancakes, the higher the level of skill. In Russia, the proverb "The first pancake is a pancake", meaning failure in the beginning of any business, is still in circulation. Usually pancakes are served hot with sour cream, butter, honey, or wrapped in a variety of fillings - meat, fish, vegetables, sweet, fruit and others. Pancakes with caviar are a special treat.
Olivier.
Just as Americans find it hard to imagine Thanksgiving without the traditional turkey, and Italians Christmas table without lentils and zampone, so the New Year's table in many Russian families is unthinkable without "Olivier," known abroad as "Russian salad." Named in honor of its creator - chef Lucien Olivier, who worked in Moscow in the XIX century - it gained particular popularity in the Soviet years. Simplicity of preparation and availability of ingredients played an important role in this. Classic Soviet "Olivier" included boiled potatoes and carrots, sausage, hard-boiled eggs, pickles, green peas and dill. All this was cut into small cubes and dressed with mayonnaise.
Vinaigrette.
This salad appeared in Russian cuisine in the 19th century. It is made of boiled beets, potatoes, beans, carrots, pickles and onions. It is dressed with sunflower oil. It resembles a "dry" borscht.
Pickles.
Any feast in Russia is rarely without pickles. Often cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, pickled mushrooms are a special pride of the hospitality hosts. Crunchy pickles that smell of dill and horseradish are a common snack of the traditional Russian digestif - vodka.
Jam.
Jam is a homemade dessert. It is the same as confiture or jam, only liquid and with whole berries or pieces of fruit. Most of the time, jam is made from berries and fruits, either grown on one's own garden plot or harvested from the forest. The consistency, taste and recipe largely depend on the skill and preference of the hostess. If you will be offered a guest to try your grandmother's or mother's jam, do not deny yourself this pleasure.
Pastila.
Pastila is a traditional Russian sweet, known since the XIV century. In shape and consistency, it resembles a marshmallow, but
You must be logged in to post a comment.