Russian cuisine

Before the 17th century Russian cuisine was quite plain and natural, without any gourmet luxuries. It was based, as a

rule, on turnip and cabbage, cooked in different combinations and in all possible ways, often flavoured with spices. Russians also consumed all sorts of fish, as well as

berries, mushrooms and numerous porridges (kasha). Fasting was an integral part of living, in accordance with the

lent schedule prescribed by the Orthodox Church. About 216 days a year it was improper to eat meat and milk

products.

Instead there was an abundance of fish dishes (fish was cooked, baked, dried, smoked, salted and fried) and dozens of grades of caviar, not to mention vegetables and cereals.

Unfortunately, not so many records of exact recipes of ancient and medieval dishes of the Russian cuisine have come down to us. The first known cook book in Russian

history dates back to 1547, but it has only enumeration of dishes, without disclosure of components or a way of

preparation. The majority of records still remain unresolved by modern researchers.

However, some recipes seem to be unfading: Russian pancakes (bliny),

porridges (kasha), stuffed pies (pirogi), spice cakes and rye bread (black bread),

the recipes of which almost have not changed throughout centuries.

The 17th century brought the Tatar dishes to the table of common Russians. It was one of the consequences of the

Russian conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan, as well as taking Bashkiria and a part of Siberia. This is when the well-known Russian meat dumplings (pelmeni) and noodles came to be. Besides, the nation developed a habit of tea-drinking to such

an extent that today it can be considered a national drink, rather than vodka, as many people believe. That alcoholic

drink appeared later and was brought from China. Besides, a variety of spices was imported to Russia in the 17th century and added tons of bakery food recipes. Besides, there was

time when “Korean style” grated carrot and grated black radish with pepper were devised.

The cuisine fashion was sharply changed in the 18th century. It became fashionable among Russian

aristocracy to employ foreign cooks, mainly from France. Using a combination of Russian recipes and their own

methods of cooking, those cooks brought new understanding of the traditional Russian cuisine, which later became standard in Europe and America –there

were even Russian cuisine courses.

In due course, the Russian cuisine became more complicated and refined. Even in the Soviet period with its tendency to simplify

substantially everything, the variety of recipes used in daily Russian cuisine was not reduced. On the contrary, daily food menu during that period was enriched with traditional recipes from 15 republics

of the Soviet Union.

The tsar of the Russian cuisine is, certainly, the soup. The range of soups is huge – borsch (beetroot soup), shchi (cabbage soup), solyanka (a spicy soup of vegetables and meat or fish), salamata, pottage, botvinia (cold soup of fish, pot-herbs, and kvas), etc. And each of those has tens of versions! French writer Alexander Duma was so impressed by the traditional Russian cabbage soup (shchi) that he asked for the recipe and included it into his private cookbook.

Okroshka is a mix of finely cut vegetables of neutral taste (such as, for example, boiled potato, turnip, carrot, rutabaga, and fresh cucumber), potherbs (chopped spring onions, parsley, fennel, celery, chervil, and tarragon), and hard boiled eggs. The variegated mixture is filled with

special okroshka seasoning blend made of mustard, spring onions, black pepper, horse-radish and egg yolks, ground in a small amount of kvass or

salted cucumber brine and diluted with special okroshka kvass or okroshka kvass in half with ordinary bread kvass, and made rich with sour

cream.

Borsch is probably the most widespread dish in Slavic

cuisines. This type of vegetable soup got its name after the old Slavic name of

beetroot – “byrsch” – the vegetable compulsory for

this dish.

Borsch without beetroot is not borsch, even though all

other components have been precisely observed.

Green borsches, which are prepared in an absolutely different way, are not an

exception either.

SHI:Its a variety of soup seasoned and consists of a famous Russian dish.

The taste is sour, due to the large use of cabbage in preparation. Another element to highlight concerns the vegetables, which are added to the soup raw, and without any previous cooking without being fried.

Shi is usually prepared in the beef broth, although in the western regions of Russia is also using pork or poultry.

SMETANA: is often used for its resistance to curdling in a range of dishes, from savory starters to sweet desserts. Tasting like a thicker and slightly sourer form of sour cream or French creme fraiche, this yogurt-like

dairy product is off-white in color and made by leading a precise mixture of dairy liquids through the curdling process. Though adding this cultured milk to a recipe means adding a product with a milk fat

percentage of 40 percent or more, it is still considered a low-fat dairy product due to minuscule levels of saturated fats.

Porridge is undoubtedly a primordially Russian dish. Moreover, porridge is a cult dish. Following old Russian traditions, on wedding ceremony the groom and the bride necessarily cooked porridge. It is evidently this tradition that

brought about the saying: “One cannot possibly cook porridge with him/her”. Even entire history of the Russian state is inseparably linked with porridge.

So, Russian porridge can be justly called the most important dish of the national Russian cuisine.

It was not simply a meal, but a ritual dish. No celebrations or holidays were possible without traditional Russian porridge on the

table. It is remarkable that every significant event had a special ceremonial porridge pertaining to it.

Aspic is a dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatin

made from a meat stock or consommé. Non-savory dishes,

often made with commercial gelatin mixes without stock or consommé, are usually called

gelatin salads.Historically, meat aspics were

made before fruit- and vegetable-flavored aspics or 'jellies' (UK)

and 'gelatins/jellos' (North America). By the Middle Ages at the latest, cooks had discovered that a thickened meat broth could

be made into a jelly. A detailed recipe for aspic is found in Le Viandier, written in or around

1375.

Vinegret is a salad in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines. It includes diced cooked vegetables (beetroots, potatoes, carrots), chopped onions, as well as sauerkraut аnd/or

brined pickles.Despite its widespread popularity in Russia and Ukraine, the basic vinegret recipes were adopted from Western

and Northern European cuisines as late as the 19th century

OLIV'E SALAT:In Russia its very popular and gets its name from the French

chef who invented it in Moscow in the middle of the 19th century: Lucien Olivier. These are the ingredients: boiled potatoes, boiled

meat, cooked carrots, boiled eggs, cucumbers, peas, mayonnaise. The whole shredded in diced and mixed with

mayonnaise.

It is unclear when pelmeni entered the cuisines of the indigenous Siberian people and when they first appeared in Russian cuisine.

One theory suggests pelmeni, or stuffed boiled dumplings in general, originated in Siberia, possibly a simplified adaptation of the Chinese

Wonton (in some dialect is called Bāomiàn "包面 "). Pelmeni are particularly good means of quickly preserving meat during long Siberian winter, especially eliminating the need to feed livestock

during the long winter months.

BEEFSTROGANOFF:Its a Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with

sour cream. From its origins in the 19th century in Russia, has become popular throughout the world, with considerable variation from the

original recipe. Various explanations are given for the name, probably derived from some member of the large and important Stroganov family, perhaps Alexander Grigorievich Stroganoff of Odessa or a

diplomat, Count Pavel Stroganov.

Zakuski (from the Russian plural закуски [zɐˈkuskʲɪ]; singular закуска, zakuska) is a Russian term for hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, snacks,

appetizers, served before the main course. Usually presented buffet style, it often consists of cold cuts, cured fishes, mixed salads, kholodets, pirozhki,

various pickled vegetables such as tomatoes, beets, cucumbers, sauerkraut, pickled mushrooms, deviled eggs, hard cheeses, caviar, canapés, open

sandwiches, and breads.

In Russia and other post-Soviet countries, these appetizers are often present at parties or receptions. Usually zakuski are the first course already laid on the table when guests are called to the dining room. Iced vodka or other alcoholic

beverages is often served with the appetizers. The word literally means something to bite after, to soften the alcohol effect on the taste receptors.

Pickles

Cabbage, potatoes, and cold tolerant greens are common in Russian and other Eastern European cuisines. Pickling cabbage (sauerkraut), cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables in brine is used to preserve vegetables for winter use.

Pickled apples and some other fruit also used to be widely popular. These are sources of vitamins during periods when fresh fruit and vegetables are traditionally not available.

Desserts

Pirozhki, blini, syrniki, vatrushka Russian traditional dessert dishes are baked apples and other fruits and berries baked.

BARANKI:There are simple baranki, baranki with poppy seeds or cumin seeds, baranki with vanilla or salt. Then the baranki are dried and baked in the oven.

Ту́# льский пря́# ник — региональная разновидность печатного пряника, самый известный вид русских пряников

In Russian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Ukrainian cuisines, syrniki are fried

quark pancakes, garnished with sour cream, varenye, jam, honey, or apple sauce. The

cheese mixture may contain raisins for extra flavor. In Russia they are also known as

tvorozhniki (твороk жники). Syrniki are made from creamy quark, mixed with flour, eggs,

and sugar, sometimes adding vanilla extract.

Vatrushka (Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian: Ватрушка) is an Eastern Europe pastry formed as a ring of dough with quark or cottage cheese in the middle, often with the addition of raisins or bits of fruit.

Oladi Oladi is a variant of pancakes that we like to cook for breakfast. They differ from blini (another variant of pancakes),

because we use kefir, a traditional Russian drink, for

cooking them

Pancakes

Pirog is a pie that can have either a sweet or savoury filling. The name is derived from the ancient Proto-Slavic word pir, meaning "banquet" or "festivity". Pirogi or pyrohy are full-sized pies, while pirozhki are individual-sized buns that can be eaten with one hand.

SGUSHENKA:Condensed milk, concentrated milk, usually with sugar. The first factory for the production of condensed milk in Russia is appeared in the city of Orenburg in 1881. The condensed milk produced in the USSR, packed

in tins with paper labels blue-white-blue. This was so constant from decade to decade, the label is still used as a sort of "brand." Condensed

milk is obtained by the evaporation of whole milk with the addition of 12% granulated sugar.

The very word “kvass” is undoubtedly of Russian origin and means “sour drink”, or “fermented drink”. Though it is pungent rather than sour. Kvass based on bread fermentation has been a traditional drink for many centuries for Russians. It is also used as the liquid base for famous Russian cold soups, namely Okroshka and Botvinya.Archeologists date the origins of kvass brewing to 8000 years B.C. at least. Kvass was most probably invented simultaneously with baking of bread – after all they are based on similar processes. In Russia the first record of kvass dates to the year 989, when the Kievan Prince Vladimir converted Russian people into Christianity. The chronicles contain his order on that occasion: “to distribute food, honey and kvass to people”.

Kissel or kisel is a viscous fruit dish, popular as a dessert. It consists of sweetened juice, thickened with arrowroot, cornstarch or potato starch, and

sometimes red wine or fresh or dried fruits are added.

Kissel can be served either hot or cold, also together with sweetened quark or semolina pudding. Kissel can also be served on pancakes or with ice

cream. If the kissel is made using less thickening starch, it can be drunk — this is common in Russia. .

KEFIR: It is made by inoculating a milk with kefir grains, a mixture of yeasts

and bacteria which will sour the milk slightly, creating a drink which is almost like liquid yogurt. Traditional forms have a tangy, rich flavor

which may be altered with the addition of ingredients like pureed fruits and sweeteners, or consumed plain. Some markets and natural food

stores stock kefir, and it is also possible to order the grains from suppliers to make it at home.

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