Russian Cuisine

The Russians, like everybody else, enjoy their food. Naturally, they have a national cuisine that is slightly different from their neighbours, but at the same time enjoys many familiar ingredients. When I mentioned I was off to Russia, many people said I would drown in borsch. This isn’t quite true. My landlady has made it maybe once. Schi (щи), or cabbage soup, is another Russian staple and I’ve only had that in restaurants. Another popular soup is noodle soup (I forget the local name) and is more Tatar than Russian.
But if there is one ingredient that is truly indicative of Russian cuisine, it would have to be sour cream (сметана). This gets applied to just about everything in sight – a spoonful in the borsch (борщ), fired over the blinis, onto the salad as dressing. The list is endless. It’s just as well I both like it and am not allergic or there could be a few problems. Beetroot may be used to make borsch, but I don’t think Galina has it in the house otherwise.
Blinis, of course, are another staple of the Russian table. They can be sweet, and filled with banana, or chocolate, or jam, or they can be savoury and jammed full of mushrooms, chicken, ham, vegetables, or whatever. Naturally, sour cream goes on top of either. Typically, Galina gives me small ones (about 10-15cm across) for breakfast once a week – delicious. The important ingredient is sour milk. I learnt this when some milk had turned and was about to pour it down the drain. No, no, that will do wonderfully for blinis tomorrow, I was told. As I’m not allowed in the kitchen when she cooks, I’m not sure of Galina’s exact recipe. But she makes then at the small end of the scale. Commercial ones can be 50cm in diameter and usually the kitchens have special hot plates just for cooking them.
Another popular feature is fish, or rather, trout. Russia is a land of rivers, and river fish make a considerable portion of the diet. The supermarket freezer has whole, filleted trout by the dozens. I don’t buy them simply because they make more than three meals. Kind of difficult when I’m cooking for one; but Galina cooks them every now and again. Nice, but plenty of bones.
Other things carry over from normal European cuisine: potatoes and pasta are popular. No matter how many potatoes or onions are served, in the house, used in the recipe, Russians only refer to them in the singular. All pasta is known as macaroni, doesn’t matter what shape it is. Another favourite is pelmeni, the Russian equivalent of ravioli. They come in a number of fillings, usually ground meat, and I love them. Another common dish is kasha, which may or may not be made of split millet. Usually boiled up like porridge and served for breakfast, it can also be reheated in the frying pan and served as the starchy bit of dinner.
And then there is the bread. Russian black bread is very tasty and filling. It is also heavy. I’m sure if it was cooked just a little longer, it would make excellent bricks. It is a lot stronger than ordinary New Zealand bread. But so is Russian white bread. Let’s face it, here they make GOOD bread, and in NZ they make rubbish. Bread is served with just about anything, and is still considered a staple.
Being as I live in Kazan, I also get Tatar food. This resembles Russian food, but with a theoretical Moslem influence. The only real difference I’ve been able to spot is that Tatar recipes tend to have no pork in them. Everybody eats triugols (three corners), sort of the Russian equivalent of a Cornish pasty. They have a big brother, called a samsa, and there are plenty of other filled pastries to kill hunger, as well as sausages and cheeses, cheesecakes, torts and biscuits.
It’s hard to go hungry in Russia. Next post: all about Kazan.