Russian Recipes

• Many cereal crops, including wheat, rye, millet and barley are grown in the rich Russian soil, and these provide the raw materials for breads, pancakes, kvass (a weakly alcoholic "bread drink") as well as bread and vodka.
  
  
• Vegetables include beet, carrots, cucumber, potatoes, rutabagas (yellow turnips) and turnips.
  
  
• Berries, mushrooms and honey are also used, as are meats, poultry, fish and game.

• Borshch - The Russian version of borscht. It is a vegetable soup that is primarily made from bets, although meat, cabbage and potatoes are often added.
  
  
• Shchi - Russia's traditional cabbage soup. This soup comes in many varieties, for example their is a poor-man's version made from only cabbage and onions, and richer versions which add additional ingredients such as meat, carrots, parsley, spices and herbs, as well as apples, smetana (Russian sour cream) or pickle water.
  
  
• Soljanka - This is a thick soup with a sour spicy flavor. The dish always contains pickled cucumbers, and may also include cabbage, cream, dill and salty mushrooms. Mushrooms, meat or fish are also present in the soup.
  
  
  
• Okroshka - This traditional Russian soup is made from kvas (the Russian bread drink), and served cold. There are several varieties of this soup, respectively based around fish, meat or vegetables. In all cases the soup is made from a combination of neutral-tasting vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, rutabagas (yellow turnips) and turnips, together with green onions and other spicy vegetables such as celery,chervil, dill, parsley or tarragon. Spices are often added to the soup, and these may include black pepper, mustard or pickled cucumber.
  
  
• Teur - This soup is very similar to okroshka, however it is made using bread instead of vegetables.
  
  

• Studen (Kholodets) - This is jellied meat (pork or veal) made using spices and a small amount of added vegetables. The meat is boiled for a long-time and the chilled. This dish can be used as a garnish for other dishes, or may be eaten cold, in the latter case it is served with horse radish, mustard or smetana (Russian sour cream).
  
  
• Pirozhki - This dish is similar pie. It is a bun stuffed with a cooked filling. Most fillings include chopped hard-boiled eggs as well as other ingredients. The other ingredients may be mashed potatoes and sour cream, chopped boiled meat, or fish sautéed with onions.
  
  
• Blini - Blini is one of the better known dishes outside of Russia - they are thin pancakes, made from wheat or buckwheat, which are usually served topped with caviar or sour cream (but never both).
  
  
• Katlyeti - These are small meatloves made from beef or pork that are cooked by pan-frying.
  
  
• Shashlyk - Shashlyk is the Russian version of shish kebab (a kebab made using alternating slices of meat and onions) Although not brought into the country until the 19th century, it soon became a popular dish, and remains a popular street food throughout Russia.
  
  
  

• Veal Orloff - This dish was created by Urbain Dubois, who was the chef to Prince Orloff (the Russian ambassador to France). A braised loin of veal is cut thinly into slices, and then the slices are restacked with layers of pureed mushrooms and onions inbetween each slice. The dish is then topped with white sauce and cheese, and browned in the oven.
  
  
  
• Beef Stoganoff - Although the exact origins of this dish remain obscure it is believed to trace its roots to the 19th century. The dish consists of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream.
  
  
• Sharlotka (charlotte russe) - This dessert was created by Marie Antoine Carême, the chef to Czar Alexander I. A mould is lined with lady fingers (small light sponge cakes, each about the size of a finger), and then filled with Bavarian creme, which is a type of thick custard (it is thickened using gelatin).

Related Links

• Russian Recipes & Cookbooks