Russian traditional food

Russian cuisine The Russian cuisine is a significant part of the Russian culture. Food is a very important part a person’s life; this is especially true for any Russian person. It has been a longstanding Russian tradition when guests come to your house you must have a table set up for them with the best and most delicious dishes. The food should always be fresh and homemade.

Russian soups

Okroshka Okroshka is a cold soup based on kvass or, less often, sour milk. The main ingredients of both types are vegetables that can be mixed with cold boiled meat or fish in a 1:1 proportion . There must be two sorts of vegetables in okroshka. The first must have a neutral taste, such as boiled potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, or fresh cucumbers. The second must be spicy, consisting of mainly green onion as well as other herbs—greens of dill, parsley, chervil, celery, or tarragon. Different meat and poultry can be used in the same soup. The most common ingredient is beef alone or with poultry. If it is made with fish, the best choice would be tench, European perch, pike-perch, cod, or other neutral-tasting fish.

Shchi Shchi – hot cabbage soup. The richer variant of shchi includes several ingredients, but the first and last components are a must: 1) Cabbage. 2) Meat (very rarely fish or mushrooms). 3) Carrots or parsley roots. 4) Spicy herbs (onions, celery, dill, garlic, pepper, bay leaf). 5) Sour components (smetana, apples, sauerkraut, pickle water).

Solyanka Solyanka is a thick, piquant soup that combines components from schi (cabbage, smetana) and rassolnik (pickle water and cucumbers), spices such as olives, capers, tomatoes, lemons, lemon juice, kvass, salted and pickled mushrooms are make up a considerably strong sour-salty base of the soup. Solyanka is much thicker than other soups, about 1/3 less liquid ratio. Three types are distinguished: meat, fish, and simple solyanka. The first two are cooked on strong meat or fish broths, and the last on mushroom or vegetable broth. All the broths are mixed with cucumber pickle water.

Main dishes

Main dishes In traditional Russian cuisine three basic variations of meat dishes can be highlighted: 1) a large boiled piece of meat cooked in a soup or porridge, and then used as second course or served cold 2) offal dishes (liver, tripe, etc.), baked in pots together with cereals; 3) whole fowl dishes or parts of fowl (legs or breasts), or a large piece of meat (rump) baked on a baking tray in an oven, so-called "zharkoye" As a garnish to meat dishes in the past the most common were porridges and cereals, in which the meat was boiled, later on boiled or rather steamed and baked root vegetables (turnips, carrots) as well as mushrooms; additionally the meat, without taking account its type, was garnished with pickled products—pickled cabbage, sour and "soaked" (marinated) apples (mochoniye yabloki), soaked cranberries. Pan juices, alone or mixed with sour cream or melted butter is used as gravy to pour on garnishing vegetables and porridges. Meat sauces i.e. gravies based on flour, butter, eggs and milk, are not common for traditional Russian cuisine.

Kholodets Kholodets: Jellied chopped pieces of pork or veal meat with some spices added (pepper, parsley, garlic, bay leaf) and minor amounts of vegetables (carrots, onions). The meat is boiled in large pieces for long periods of time, then chopped, boiled a few times again and finally chilled for 3–4 hours (hence the name) forming a jelly mass, though gelatine is not used because calves' feet, pigs' heads and other such offal is gelatinous enough on its own. It is served with horseradish, mustard, or ground garlic with smetana.

Pelmeni Pelmeni are a traditional Eastern European (mainly Russian) dish usually made with minced meat filling, wrapped in thin dough (made out of flour and eggs, sometimes with milk or water added). For filling, pork, lamb, beef, or any other kind of meat can be used; mixing several kinds is popular. The traditional Ural recipe requires the filling be made with 45% of beef, 35% of lamb, and 20% of pork. Traditionally, various spices, such as pepper, onions, and garlic, are mixed into the filling.

Kotlety Kotlety (cotelettes, meatballs), a Western European dish popular in modern Russian households, are small pan-fried meat balls, not dissimilar from Salisbury steak and other such dishes. Made primarily from pork and beef (sometimes also from chicken or fish), they are easily made and require little time. Milk, onions, ground beef, and pork are put in a bowl and mixed thoroughly until it becomes relatively consistent. Once this effect is achieved, balls are formed and then put into a hot frying pan to cook. When meat was in short supply, a portion of it could be substituted with bread to protect the size and flavour of the kotlety.

Salads

Salads 1) Olivje (from French surname Olivier) salad: a mayonnaise-based potato salad distinguished by its diced texture and the contrasting flavors of pickles, capers, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and peas. See Russian salad for history and discussion. 2) Vinegret (from French vinaigrette): boiled red beet root salad with onions, pickled cucumbers, boiled potatoes, carrots, and the vinaigrette dressing of sunflower oil and vinegar 3) Sel'd' pod shuboy: chopped salted herring under a "coat" of shredded cooked beet, sometimes with a layer of egg or other vegetables.

Drinks

Drinks 1) Mors: is made of berry juice, mixed in different proportions with water. 2) Kvas: is a bread drink.

The end.