Russian Food Trying different cuisines is a wonderful way to experience another culture. Finding some favorites that you might be able to incorporate into your family meals when you arrive home is a great way to help your child maintain a connection to their birth culture.
Once you get to Russia, you’ve got to make sure to try the variety of the native cuisine! Here is some information to give you an idea of what to expect and what to go for once you are in a region.
The pies... Pie recipes are handed down from mother to daughter. There are sweet pies (with various berries, cottage cheese, jam...), with cabbage, potatoes, meat, fish... Large and small ("rastyagai"). Open pies ("vatrushki") with cottage cheese, cabbage or potatoes are especially good. "Vatrushki" with potatoes used to be made from rye flour earlier. Hot, just from the oven, they are especially very tasty with cold milk. In general rye flour was very popular in Russia in the old times. Now rye flour is basically used just to make rye (or " black " as it is called) bread.
Russian "pelmeni" (more known in the West as ravioli) is another interesting story. Nowadays people often buy ready-made "pelmeni" in grocery stores. But real Russian "pelmeni" are prepared only at home.. One buys fresh meat, and prepares ground meat. It's better if "pelmeni" are moulded manually. It is considered that this way they are more tasty. Meat selection for ground meat is very important, and usually includes proportions of beef and pork. "Pelmeni"are served with sour cream, vinegar, with mayonnaise or ketchup. Caucasian ravioli ("khinkali") differ from Russian "pelmeni" by the size and abundance of spices. Asian ravioli ("manti") are also bigger in size and are steam prepared. In general each nation has a dish similar to "pelmeni". But Russian "pelmeni" is a special subject. In Siberia and in the Urals this is a usual dish.
Borsch is a type of soup, but it is "Borsch", nobody calls it a soup in Russia. History says, that borsch was and is one of the most popular dishes in Russia. It appeared at the end of 18-19 centuries. The main ingredients are red beets and broths made from meat or fish, or mushrooms, or smoked sausages. People also add cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, sorrel. The sour taste it can have because of vinegar. In old times people ate borsch with pancakes, different porridges, and pies. Poor people made borsch without meat, only with vegetables (than it was called “Schi”).
Vareniki are a kind of stuffed dumpling associated with Ukrainian cuisine. But they are also very popular in Russia. Varenyky are square- or crescent-shaped dumplings of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, meat, hard-boiled eggs (a Mennonite tradition) or a combination of these, or with a fruit filling. Varenyky are very popular in Ukraine. During preparation, the filling is wrapped with dough, boiled for several minutes, and then covered with butter or cooking oil. The name varenyk, in fact, simply means "boiled thing," from the adjective varenyy. Varenyky are typically topped with fried salo bits (shkvarky) and onions and accompanied with sour cream ( smetana). Left-over varenyky may be fried. Sweet, fruit-filled varenyky are served with sour cream and sugar. Raw varenyky (with the dough uncooked) can be stored frozen, then cooked in three minutes, which makes them a convenience food.
Salads. You do NOT have a Russian table without salads. The most popular one is “Olivier’s Salad”. This salad was invented by a French Chef, M. Olivier, who served it in Moscow around 1860. Variations, sometimes called "Salade Olivier", "Russian Salad" or "Sour Russian Potato Salad", abound worldwide. It is the most favorite and ever popular salad that no holiday table can do without. You just HAVE to try it!
Okroshka is Russian cold soup. The name originates from the Russian "kroshit" which means to chop (into small pieces). The classic soup is a mix of mostly raw vegetables (like cucumbers, spring onion, radish), boiled potatoes, eggs, ham with the beverage kvass. An alternate version uses light or diluted kefir instead of kvass. The ingredients are chopped into small squares and are mixed with kvass just before eating. The ratio of chopped food to kvas is similar to that of cereal to milk. This allows the vegetables to preserve crunchiness. For that same reason, even though the ingredients are similar to those in the Russian salad, the taste of okroshka is nothing like that of the Olivier. Okroshka is sometimes considered a perfect soup for summer time since it combines the refreshing taste of kvas and lightness of a salad. Most people prefer to top it off with a spoon of sour cream and Russian (bitter) mustard. Salt and sugar can be added.
Kvass or kvas (literally "leaven"; sometimes translated into English as bread drink), is a fermented mildly alcoholic beverage made from black or rye bread. It is popular in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other Eastern and Central European countries as well as in all ex-Soviet states, like Uzbekistan, where one can see many kvass vendors in the streets. The alcohol content is so low (0.05%) that it is considered acceptable for consumption by children. It is often flavoured with fruits or herbs such as strawberries or mint. Kvass is also used for preparing a summer cold soup, okroshka.
Some words about vodka... Yes, it is an important part of Russian table. In Russia they say that a meal becomes uninteresting if it ceases to be hors d'oevres... Usually men prefer vodka to all alcohol drinks. Women more typically drink sweet or dry wine. Home-made wine from berries grown in own garden is often offered to plain fare. Though recently people usually buy wine in stores.
Learn to Speak Russian to Your Child:
Salt – соль – [sol’] Sugar – сахар– [sahar] Bitter – горький – [gor’kiy] Sweet – сладкий– [sladkii] Sour – кислый– [kislyi] Sandwitch – бутерброд – [booterbrod] Tea – чай – [chai] Milk – молоко – [malako] Bread – хлеб– [hleb] Spoon – ложка– [lozhka] Fork – вилка– [vilka]
The Russia Program Team
Kate Engle Vica Nikitina Kim Bernstein Tiana Baker [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 781-419-0316 781-419-0315 781-419-0380 781-419-0304