Georgia
Adjika
Аджика
A pounded paste of hot red pepper, garlic, coriander seed, blue fenugreek and salt, made wet as a sauce or dry as a coarse rub.
eastern-europe
Russia
Explore 125 foods connected to Russia, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
125 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
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Russia Essentials
15 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Russia.
125 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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North Caucasus, Russia
Adygei Cheese
Адыгейский сыр
Soft Circassian cheese from the North Caucasus.
Russia
Apple Charlotte
Шарлотка
Apple Charlotte is a Russian home-style cake made with apples and whipped egg batter.
North Caucasus, Russia
Avar khinkal
Авар хинкал
Thick flattened dough dumplings from Dagestan's Avar community, boiled alongside mutton and served in the rich broth with soured cream and garlic.
Turkey
Ayran
Ajran
Ayran is a cold drink of yogurt, water and salt, whisked until lightly foamy. In Bulgaria it is a summer fountain and meal drink, never a sweet yogurt.
Russia
Baikal
Байкал
Baikal is a Soviet-era Russian herbal soft drink made with extracts from Siberian herbs.
Russia
Baklazhannaya ikra
Икра баклажанная
Roasted eggplant mashed with sweet pepper, tomato and onion into a smoky spread; Soviet cookbooks called it poor man's caviar.
Russia
Baranki
Баранки
Hard ring-shaped scalded-dough crackers somewhere between a bagel and a biscuit; the smaller drier versions are sushki.
Urals, Russia
Bashkir Honey
Башкирский мёд
Bashkir honey is honey from Bashkiria, especially linden (lipa) and buckwheat varieties.
Russia
Beef Stroganoff
Бефстроганов
Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish of tender beef strips in a creamy sour-cream sauce with mustard.
Kazan, Russia
Belyashi
Беляши
Belyashi are Tatar fried meat pies with open tops, seasoned ground meat, and onion filling.
Lithuania
Bird's Milk Cake
Птичье молоко
Bird's Milk Cake is a Soviet-era chocolate-covered soufflé cake with airy filling and thin sponge layers.
Russia
Blini
Блины
Blini are thin yeasted pancakes made from buckwheat or wheat flour, served with caviar, sour cream, jam, or smoked salmon, symbol of sun and Maslenitsa dish, thin delicate texture with yeast rise and golden color.
Russia
Borodinsky Bread
Бородинский хлеб
Dark sourdough rye scented with coriander and sweetened with molasses, named for the 1812 Borodino battle.
Ukraine
Borshch
Борщ
Deep ruby soup of beet, cabbage and pork finished with garlic dill and a spoon of smetana; UNESCO inscribed Ukrainian borscht culture in 2022.
Russia
Bortsoki
Борцоки
Kalmyk fried dough puffs of flour, milk and butter, torn apart and dipped into salty brewed milk tea.
Russia
Botvinya
Ботвинья
Botvinya is a Russian cold soup made with beet greens, kvass, and fish.
Russia
Buckwheat Kasha
Каша
Buckwheat kasha: roasted groats simmered until fluffy and nutty, the default hot side of Russian home cooking.
Mongolia
Buuz
Бууз
Steamed dumplings of minced mutton or beef with onion, garlic and plenty of fat, pleated shut so the juices pool inside. Buuz are especially associated with Tsagaan Sar, whose date follows the lunar calendar.
Russia
Buzhenina
Буженина
Pork loin or ham brined then slowly poached and baked to a pale roast, the Eastern Slavic holiday cold cut sliced thin.
Russia
Caviar
Икра
Caviar consists of salted sturgeon roe, including osetra, sevruga, and beluga varieties.
Siberia, Russia
Cedar Nuts
Кедровые орехи
Cedar nuts are Siberian pine nuts used in Russian cooking, baking, and snacks.
Kazakhstan
Chak Chak
Чак-чак
Tatar fried-dough mound tossed in honey and piled like a pinecone, crisp outside and syrup-soaked within; wedding-table centrepiece in Kazan.
Ukraine
Chebureki
Чебуреки
Chebureki are Crimean Tatar deep-fried half-moon turnovers filled with minced meat and onions.
Moscow, Russia
Coffee Raf
Раф
Espresso blended in a pitcher with cream and vanilla sugar into a silky foam, invented in 1996 at Moscow's Coffee Bean cafe for a regular named Rafael.
Estonia
Curd Snack
Kohuke
Sweet curd bar covered in chocolate, Estonia's most beloved snack in countless flavors from plain to berry.
Belarus
Doktorskaya Kolbasa
Докторская колбаса
The pale pink emulsified boiled sausage standardized by the 1936 Soviet GOST as doctor's sausage: beef, pork, milk and eggs.
Ukraine
Draniki
Драники
Draniki are Belarusian-style potato pancakes made from finely grated potato, fried crisp at the edges and served with sour cream; the form is also familiar across neighboring cuisines.
Kazan, Russia
Echpochmak
Эчпочмак
Tatar triangle pie of leavened dough stuffed with raw mutton, onion and potato, baked until the corners crisp.
Russia
Elesh
Элеш
Tatar raised pie filled with sweet rice, egg and golden raisins, baked until domed and cut into wedges.
Russia
Golubtsy
Голубцы
Golubtsy are Russian cabbage rolls filled with minced meat and rice and braised in tomato and sour-cream sauce.
Russia
Gubadiya
Губадия
Festive layered Tatar pie stacking sweet kort (dried cottage cheese), rice, egg and raisins between rounds of buttery dough.
Russia
Guryev Porridge
Гурьевская каша
Guryev Porridge is a semolina porridge with nuts, dried fruits, and caramelized milk, 19th-century aristocratic dessert, layers of ingredients with caramelized milk flavor and texture.
Russia
Herring Under Fur Coat
Сельдь под шубой
Herring under fur coat is a Russian layered salad of herring, potatoes, beets, carrots, eggs, and mayonnaise.
Russia
Kalach
Калач
Kalach is a ring-shaped Russian white-wheat bread with a handle, historically sold as portable market food.
Russian Far East, Russia
Kamchatka Crab
Камчатский краб
King crab from Far Eastern waters, sold live or cooked-frozen; legs are the prize.