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

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I was very drunk from the vodka bar, so it could have been dog food for all I know! :))

[sergechel.livejournal.com]

yes - it's a strange soviet tradition - killing time by making it.
http://stranamasterov.ru/img/i2011/05/27/p1070474_0.jpg

[atlantis555.livejournal.com]

Холодец - это ещё херня. Вот чё курили гуглы?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

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

[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. :)

[moebiuscat.livejournal.com]

Sure, there is a reason I put it in quotes... I do think that smiles are genuine, and most Russians just don't get it. They are genuine in a sense that they show at the least a general willingness to be well-disposed and polite to you. What more can you expect from a stranger? Russians usually smile only when they feel a genuine emotion towards something, that's why they mostly don't get smiles from strangers. That's one reason I feel very gloomy mood in a Russian neighborhood - I remember when I was looking where to rent my first apartment in Toronto - everybody was very concentrated, sad faces, no smiles. Rude attitudes. And then I saw some smiley faces on some scary criminal-looking noisy Russian guys on a BMW, in Adidas sport clothes, lots of golden chains... I thought "No, thank you very much. I'll look somewhere else". Well, it was 13 years ago... Maybe things got better since...

[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…

[pyenot.livejournal.com]

Kholodets is super! Only with gorchtsa!

[demonfrost.livejournal.com]

I also don't need those fats to get warmed, but I like such food nevertheless :) In the same time, I don't like fatty food from other cuisines (American fast-food, French foie gras etc.)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

French food is the worst for me, esp. foie gras. I ate it in Paris. Every time I'm in France, I starve because meal portions are so small. In Russia, portion sizes are good. Comparable to U.S. but not quite as large.

[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]

"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?

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

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

[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?

[inamora.livejournal.com]

Yes, I like it for breakfast most of all. Red caviar of course, not black )

[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.

[gella-key.livejournal.com]

No, not 100% yet, unfortunately, I sometimes still eat fish, but rarely. The same with eggs. Only in such salads (usually on holidays and in different blini and so on). Suprisingly there are pretty much dishes without meat (and fish) in our cuisine: first of all vareniki, than blini with different fillings and basically all the soups but with no meat, for example vegetarian borsch or green borsch (with dock). And surely beets rule! :-) Also I like stewed cabbage. And for me marshmallow sounds exotic! :-)

[gella-key.livejournal.com]

And still, it looks pretty disgusting, eww...

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

It's the same in the U.S., many vegetarians eat fish. That's why I asked. Speaking of marshmallows, have you heard of a sweet snack called "smores?" They're very good! It's most common to make them over a campfire but you can also do it at home in the microwave. You just need graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. Or, maybe you can't buy marshmallows in Russia? Here's a photo, and it's vegetarian friendly. :))

[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. :)

[qtk.livejournal.com]

===Or, maybe you can't buy marshmallows in Russia?

I want to tell honestly. Marshmallows not the tasty. Rubber and chemical taste. At us make "zephir".

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

I like them, but only melted. And in cocoa!

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I will be happy to meet readers if I come back.