Here is a list of some of the AMAZING food items that I have experienced so far in Russia. I couldn't help myself, they needed their own blog post.
1. Blini --- Like french crepes, these are thin pancakes that you can fill with anything you like. My favorites are cabbage and egg, or sour cream and jam. They can also be made smaller and thicker, in which case my Mother calls them Blinchiki.
2. Pirog --- This word translates as "pie," but that's hardly accurate. Imagine a cookie-sheet covered in inch-thick pie pastry. Now imagine the center of this pastry mass being filled with meat, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, eggs, etc. Now melt an entire stick of butter (or two) over the top of the whole thing. Amazing. They make small versions of this dish called Pirozhki, which can be baked or fried. Both variants are extremely tasty.
3. Soup --- Borsch, Schii, Rassolnik, or whatever. Russian soup is an ART FORM. I had to explain to my Russian mother that although we have soup in the US, it's not anything like the soup here. She was also shocked that people didn't eat soup on a regular basis! We always have a pot of soup at my house, and it's a beautiful thing.
4. Tea --- I mean, the tea here isn't necessarily better than anywhere else, but the fact that we sit down to have tea 3-5 times a day is perhaps the greatest incorporation I've made to my routine here in Russia. Tea doesn't just mean tea... it means you sit down, you talk or watch TV while you wait for kettle to boil, then you make your tea and eat something sweet. We have a sweet dish that sits on our kitchen table, which we constantly replenish with our stock of cookies, candy, cakes, and what have you. Tea is also the perfect way to take a break from homework, or an excuse to meet up with my Russian friends.
5. Dairy --- I'll make this one category, because otherwise my whole post would be full of different dairy products. First of all, our milk is 3.5% milkfat, which makes my LIFE. We also put sour cream on everything, because the sour cream here is so much BETTER than in the states! I can't explain it, it's a whole different thing. My mother also introduced me to Ryazhenka (A plain yogurt-type of thick, creamy drink), Tvorog (A sweet creamy cheese, often used as a filling for blini), and Sirok (like a brick of sweet tvorog, that I eat mixed with sour cream).
6. Fried Anything --- My mother is the queen of all foods fried. Mozarella cheese: Fry it in oil til the outside is nice and crisp. Squash: Bread it in flour, fry it in the pan, and cover it with slices of fresh garlic and our cream. Eggs: Fry sunny-side up with peppers, onions, and kielbasa. This morning my mom made me sweet squash pancakes from shredded squash, eggs, milk, sugar, and flour. I've eaten about a million of them today, I can't stop myself.
7. Barni --- This is a brand of little-debbie type pre-packaged snack. It's a little bear-shaped cake filled with milk chocolate cream. So cute, and so delicious --- I think I'll have one right now.
8. Shaverma --- The Russian (Georgian?) version of a Gyro. These have so much filling, that they are wrapped in TWO pitas instead of one. Cheap, Messy, and delicious.
9. Kompot --- Juice made from stewed fruit, which sink to the bottom of your glass so you can eat them when you're done. Another similar variant is Kisel --- A fruit drink made from stewed berries and thickened with starch. Mmmmm...
That's all for now, I'll probably make another food post later on. In the meantime, Priyatnovo Appetita!
Sarah
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