Bizarre Russian Foods

[peacetraveler22]

Remember my post about the Ukrainian market? I wrote there that I love food and my position hasn't changed. In America, we're getting ready to enter the most delicious time of year. We'll celebrate Christmas in less than two weeks. For my family, this means big gatherings and feasts. I can't really say I love Russian food. During my visits I tried some local cuisine, but didn't like most of it. I'm a very picky eater, not liking fish, seafood or a lot of meat. Recently on a popular U.S. website there was an article entitled "17 Bizarre Foods Every Russian Grew Up With." Maybe you'll find it amusing. I picked the most interesting dishes from the list and I've tasted a lot of the items. For me, the most disgusting delicacies are all the food molds stuffed with meats, herring and other treats. Like this photo, where the dish is called "herring under fur coat." :)

1. Olivye salad. I tasted this last New Year's eve. I don't like mayonnaise, so I can't eat it. I never put dressing on anything, or even ketchup, mustard or other condiments. I eat most things plain.



2. Salo. I think this is now more closely associated with Ukraine. I tasted it in Kyiv - ah, chewy fat! Not to my liking. I eat a lot of chicken and steak and all fat must be trimmed. I know some people enjoy this part of the meat but it gags me.



3. Kvas. You can easily find this in America, but the taste is too strong for me. During my recent trip to Russia, I tasted birch beer for the first time. Delicious and lighter!



4. Kompot. This drink I really like! I've had it in several Russian cafes, including Cafe Mu-Mu where I tasted it for the first time. Similar to American fruit punch, but more tasty with the real fruit thrown in.



5. Varenyky. Is this common in modern day Russia? I remember it being the national dish in Ukraine, available everywhere with a wide variety of stuffing like meat, potatoes and sweet fruits.



6. Kishka. Never tasted it and there's too much meat involved!! I doubt I would like it. Maybe I'll be brave next time and take a bite.



7. Blini w/Caviar. I can't eat it though I tried during a New Year's eve celebration last year with a Russian family. Too salty, and I don't like the strong fishy taste.



8. Kholodets. This is the most interesting dish! I remember at the holidays seeing all kinds of creative molds made out of swans, birds, animals, etc. Very strange and funny. :) During Valentine's Day, maybe they produce heart shaped molds? I also ate a version of this at Cafe Mu-Mu and didn't like it. The jelly texture is odd and the minced meat wasn't very good quality.



9. Herring, mayo and pickle sandwich. When we were completely drunk at the seedy St. Petersburg vodka bar, the guys tried to get me to eat this as a snack. I refused and ate cheese and crackers instead. This thick brown bread would have been much better to soak up the poison!! Perhaps this is why I needed help walking home at the end of the night! :) Pickles - I hate this food more than any other!



10. No words for this photo! :))



11. In Russia, I'm completely addicted to the sweets and candies. This is my favorite. Each time I visit, my host always has a bunch in the refrigerator and I eat these bars daily. Delicious!



What's your favorite national dish?

Also, I wonder whether it's interesting to readers if I write about how an average American family celebrates Thanksgiving and Christmas? I can take photos and write about my family celebrations if it's an interesting topic? What do you think? Vote below please.

Comments

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

Do you know something about first picture dish?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't try it? Explain it. :)

[atlantis555.livejournal.com]

Оссподя, как уже достали эти иностранцы обсуждать холодец, сало и под шубой. Не жареные кузнечики с лягушками и то гут...

[real-marsel.livejournal.com]

Как легко тебя достать, однако.

[moebiuscat.livejournal.com]

M-m-m... I like "herring under a fur coat" and "holodetz" and Olivier salad which is a traditional dish at New Year's eve celebrations - this is a name of a french-born restaurant owner who invented this salad. Legend says that he actually took leftovers from other dishes he prepared for the high-born and threw them together as a salad to feed their valets and carriage drivers. But the fact is that original Olivier salad was much different from what it is now - in soviet times some more exotic ingredients were replaced with more mundane ones.

Like all dishes with mayonnaise and meat etc. they have to be prepared right. They are very easy to ruin. As a rule - you should only eat them at someone's home. I won't ever order them at a restaurant.

Vareniki and Pelmeni (same but with minced meat) are really nice and popular. Great solution when you need something fast. You keep them frozen and just boil for 12 min. and you have a dinner.

Blini w/Caviar (or without) are a treat when my mom makes them :-) You can eat bliny with anything sweet, also with smoked salmon, grated cheese, and of course with caviar if you like it (I do).

I don't like marinated herring, but I love low-salted herring. Hard to find in North America I guess.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Blini w/grated cheese - this sounds tasty! I would like it. I didn't know the history of the salad, thanks. Salted herring can easily be found in specialty shops in America. There are Russian stores in most major cities that will sell all these foods. Such stores aren't in Canada?

[nao-sim.livejournal.com]

I love them all. Except # 10 I guess. I eat a lot of #2 even here, in Saint-Petersburg. Though #2 is not a tipical dish here in a big city. The explanation is that I have belorussian grandparents who lived in a village when I was a child.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

St. Petersburg is an amazing city! I love it and remember my visit there fondly. I hope I can return this winter.

[barabaan.livejournal.com]

burgers, cheescakes, coca-cola.... oh no, im russian, so vodka, burgers with fresh meet of polar bears, and napoleon tart!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I rarely eat burgers, never drink Coca-Cola and hate hot dogs! Hmmm, am I really an American? :))

[yarowind.livejournal.com]

All what you shown - all very tasty :))
My wife makes a great kholodets and herring under a fur coat :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

She makes the kholodets with designs like swans, or plain? The decorative ones are nice to look at. :)

[skifa.livejournal.com]

Ok, sweet potatoes, tacos and burritos (well, not exactly american :), pumpkin pie were not in my "like" list when I first came to the States. But I grew to like them :)
I made olivye salad and borscht for Christmas for my american friends once and to their surprise they liked it :) So, all one has to do is try.
I know an american guy who was on an one-year internship in my town. His wife was Russian, but he would not eat anything from Russian cuisine. I still wonder how he ever managed to survive :)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Sweet potatoes w/brown sugar and marshmallows, pumpkin pie...these dishes are always served at my family's Thanksgiving meal. :) Another thing I noticed about Russian food is that a lot of it is served cold. In America, we eat mostly warm dishes. I forgot to mention that I like Russian soups. I had a very tasty one that was cheesy and mixed with some type of liquor. I don't remember the name.

[gella-key.livejournal.com]

That awful "kishka" isn't really a traditional Russian food, never saw it on the table, perhaps only in Soviet times we had something like that, what was called "liver sausage", it was very cheap, a kind of food for the poor, we fed our dog with it. Most of Russian definately like herring salad under fur coat and Olivier, of course... Although I'm a vegetarian, I still eat that salad, I only make it without meat or sousage.

[qtk.livejournal.com]

In kishka not liver. Probably potatoes with salo.

[qtk.livejournal.com]

9. It not food. It's horror. It's "nyamka". Complete antithesis of high cookery. The culinary idiot prepares the such.
8. Kholodets. In cafe do a forgery. Weak broth, water, dye, gelatin, bad meat, chemical fragrance.The real kholodets prepare from hind leg (golyonka) and tail. Cook many time with spices. All cartilages are dissolved. Fat clean. Meat becomes very soft. Jelly stiffens without gelatin.

[vasha-masha.livejournal.com]

8+ Употреблять обязательно с горчицей, настоящей (горчичный порошок , залитый острым рассолом от огурцов).

[sergechel.livejournal.com]

most popular russian food is pelmeni

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I ate a shitty version of this in a St. Petersburg restaurant, but I didn't like the meat inside. It would have been better for me if it was stuffed w/vegetables. Not sure if this is an option? But the cream on top was good!

[alex winter (from livejournal.com)]

Селёдку под шубой я бы щас навернул

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You're in my area right? In Maryland? Finally some cool weather here. :)

[demonfrost.livejournal.com]

Traditional Russian cuisine has a lot of fat because it's the best nutrition during cold winters. Modern mayonaisse from stores is far from healthy food though, but home-made one is pretty good (but rare). "Salo" is very healthy (if taken from village grown pigs) and tasty if frozen in the right way with solt, garlic and black pepper.

Well, I like the most of tratidional Russian cuisine except kasha (porridge), but only home-made! In cafe like Mu-Mu it is often cooked by Middle Asian migrants, the same thing is at the stores. Kholodets in Mu-Mu has nothing common with true one, it is with gelatine while in home-made the jelly is cooled rich brine. I like it very much.

I like salty and fishy tastes so I find great caviar, herring, dried fish ("taranka") etc.

Vareniky and pelmeny (with meat) are still very common although it is very hard to find the natural ones at stores, without soya and artificial flavourings.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Your palate is suited for Russian foods! I don't need all these fatty foods to keep me warm. I actually almost never get cold. In winter, I don't even wear a coat. The whole time I was in Russia in February I never once felt frozen, even though I was only wearing a light coat. Something strange with my body that I'm always warm so I like cold temperatures. This is why I love Russian winter. :)

[jack-cracker29.livejournal.com]

I was eating my lunch salad when I came across this.
I remember some of this stuff never mind the names but it all looks so jelly fish like (top pix) and then reading about the furry herring(?!) whatever that might be and the toothy monster in a can… my lunch was about to come back out.
I ate a lot of the only thing you have on there, the blini, in most cases it was skinny crepes with caviar. I had to have it at every street vendor when in Moscow. And it was like 50cents or a $1, a while back.
Where is the borscht soup? That another thing my back when Russian girlfriend treated me to. First she made it on beef stock that she made herself and it was disgusting but veggy one was passable just too much cabbage.
There are good things in Russian cuisine we’re just not used to it.
Eating in exotic places is always a challenge. After college, being jobless and not sure what to do I travelled to Europe and spent a week or so in Egypt, my uncle’s friend was working for USAID there. I was mostly in Cairo, Suez and historic sites around it, Saqqara etc After traveling on their roads and seeing what passes for roadkill there, camels, I was in no mood for any meats… I ate pasta for entire week even in nice hotels in Ma’adi area. Only other thing I had was untreated raw dates straight from palm trees they grow on, huge tasty things you have a dozen or so and it could be yr lunch.
If pix.1 is a potato salad w/mayo it’s not so bad just not worth the calories…

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

"Toothy monster." :)) Yes, it's the most disgusting photo. The cuisine is so different from our typical food. Re road kill, have you been to West Virginia? There it's a delicacy as well, especially evil squirrels. :) Btw, maybe you could find a new Russian love here - http://www.sadanduseless.com/2013/11/russian-dating-sites/. Did you see this?

[pyenot.livejournal.com]

Kholodets is super! Only with gorchtsa!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I didn't know what "gorchtsa" is, so I looked it up. Similar to American mustard but stronger in taste.

[inamora.livejournal.com]

I adore Blini w/Caviar. Usually I make blini by myself almost every morning.
And Olivye salad I like on New Year Party )))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Caviar for breakfast? You're so high class! :)) Or, you eat it with something else?

[alsh4ka.livejournal.com]

))) I like olivie and "herring under fur coat", taste of holidays))) Kholodets - we buy it, only my Granny had enough time to do it herself... I don't like salo and never tasted blinis with caviar. I eat blinis with jam or condensed milk (сгущенка).
And about sweets... Have you tried Белёвская пастила? Or Коломенская пастила?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't tried these sweets. Next time! :)

[denvall.livejournal.com]

Do you know difference between pelmeni and vareniki? It's a big secret and not more russian people know it.
Vareniki with prepared stuffing. ( meat, cherry, potato, cabbage, cottage cheese and etc) To pelmeni - raw stuffing ( meat, fish and etc). Dough are same.
I know that many people in Ukraine liked solanka - spicy and sour soup. I very like this.
And potato pancake. it's simple and easy for cooking.

For weekend morning I cooking fritter or syrniki.
with sour cream or jam - very tasty.

I don't know, is people in USA eat porridge, except oat? I like buckwheat and wheaten porridge, example
In last day our hikes we always eat combined porridge. buckwheat, wheaten, ground barley, artek, rice. Very strange taste.
And never try eat porridge with canned fish!!! this is terrible.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

You can buy buckwheat here, but most people eat oatmeal. I really like the dough stuffed with sweet fruits and in Ukraine I ate them with poppy seeds. Also stuffed w/potatoes and cheese. Much better than the meat variety. :)

[lovigin.livejournal.com]

№8 it's bueeeeeeeeeee((((

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I prefer vodka! But Belenkiy won't let me get drunk when I visit. :))

[nagolny.livejournal.com]

Kishka? Actually we don't eat this shit in Russia, where did you find it lol

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I didn't make this list! I'm only showing what was in the article, although I recognized most of the foods from my visits to Russia. But not kishka, so I believe you that it's not typically eaten there. I have no desire to taste it! :)

[marinasposad.livejournal.com]

Никогда не ела кишку.... А вот компотика бы попила:)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yes, the drink is tasty! :)

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

"
I don't like mayonnaise, so I can't eat it. I never put dressing on anything, or even ketchup, mustard or other condiments. I eat most things plain.
"

Oh! Just like me :)
But there are exceptions. Ex: I prefer steaks with A1 sauce. It has a lot of oranges and I like all types of citrus.


You probably can eat Olivier salad with sour cream instead of mayonnaise. It can be made without meats too.

Salo is very good with black bread only. They compensate each other tastes.

I do not like any sweet drinks be it cola or kompot. Sweet drinks do not satisfy my thirst.
Only tea. Tea party :))

Kholodets can be very tasty if made at home from quality meats. But it should be eat with white khren (horseradish) to complement meat's thickness and ease digestion.
en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Chrain

BTW about Mu-Mu, it's not the best place to taste new foods :)
It's just a cheap eatery and many foods there are unnecessary salty, fatty, stay in open pans for long time or just not tasty.

I always try to eat home food prepared by my mother or my wife.
Our diner at work is also not bad...

Yes, sweets in Russia are generally better than in America but beware cheap varieties with vegetable oils.
The only brand of sweets I liked in America was Mrs.See's chocolates.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

A-1 steak sauce! You can buy this in Russia? Sasha is always asking me to bring it to Moscow when I visit. Sure, I understand Mu-Mu isn't high quality food, but my Russian friends are men. They aren't into making homemade dishes, and I have no idea how to make this Russian food. I guess I could find a recipe online and do an experiment here in Virginia. :)) See's candies - yes, they are very good!

[pasha1980.livejournal.com]

Last summer I overheard two American ladies talking on the boardwalk at Brighton Beach in New York about Russian restaurants and food. "I went to this Volna restaurant once," one of the ladies said, "it's not healthy stuff."

Basically, Russians have no notion of healthy eating. They eat lots of highly nutritious meat and fat to stuff themselves and get some energy out of it but they don't have a delicate palate.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about American food? Do you miss native food during your long visits here?

[krisa-rat.livejournal.com]

I like bliny but with sour cream. And now in Poland I really miss them. In Russia I could buy bliny with different stuffing near the university but there are only bliny with cavier in Poland. And I don't like them at all.
I lived in Volgograd, it is near Kazakhstan and we have the same beverage - kumys, milk of horses, For me it is magnificent!)
and I really miss rye bread

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Rye bread - it's one of my favorites! It's easy to find in the U.S.

[the-most-human.livejournal.com]

"Russian cuisine" is a good example of oxymoron, heheh.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Yes, for me it's an oxymoron! :))

[the-most-human.livejournal.com]

Who was so stupid as to put mayonnaise between bread and herring in no.9?
Bread, herrung and onions.
And a 100 of vodka, heheh.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Onions are great! I eat them with lots of things, but as I wrote I don't like herring or any fish. And vodka also is good, esp. cranberry flavored. :))