Thread: Russian Bini

Cool, Friendy, I didn't know that. Is Чайная short for чайная комната or something like that, then?

Lindsy- YOU GO GIRL!! (high 5)

If you ever fly to Moscow we'll go to Propoganda Cafe and have some (fat and fluffy) blini with jam. Since we both hate those nasty fish eggs we don't have to order them. Most Russians I know DO NOT eat caviar with their blini in restaurants because it's TOO EXPENSIVE. But when there is a special guest or holiday they splurge on the best and that's why I get to eat the stuff at holiday dinners. And my aunts and uncles do not think feeding Americans blini with caviar is some sort of joke.
VM I've never heard of "English pancakes", not even when I was in England. I don't quite understand what the lemon juice mixture is. Can any Brits explane this?

JB, I just may take you up on that offer. I expect to be in Moscow next summer Yay, blini with jam!

Then we'll also go to Solkoniki Park for a beer and blinchiki, those flat little blini made into ham and cheese burritos!!

Man, my mouth is watering. My favorite food in Russia was apple blinchiki with honey. Dammit, I'm gonna have to go back SOON. Or possibly just learn to cook.

Originally Posted by Линдзи

Is Чайная short for чайная комната or something like that, then?

Most likely.

Making homemade blinchiki is a pain. You have to keep messing with the batter until it is the right thickness to not stick to the pan. But if you don't get it right it sticks and glops up and is a big mess

About 'British' pancakes .. it's not really a very popular food in the UK. I remember I went to a 'Dutch pancake house' restaurant in Manchester many moons ago. Maybe Jasper has a comment on that

Traditionally, we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday ('Pancake Day'), and usually we have lemon juice and sugar on them. But I don't really know if that tradition is very popular any more, I remember it from my childhood.

As to blinchiki with apple and honey, that sounds really good too.. I remember having them with apple and chocolate sauce once in Izhevsk, it was really good..

A final note: I can't believe nobody has tried to make a блин pun yet :P

Nothing will ever convince me that a masculine noun самовар can be proceeded by a feminine adjective чайная. It's чайный самовар - this is the only possible combination. Adjectives agree with nouns in gender, case and number. чайный самовар, чайного самовара, чайному самовару, чайных самоваров etc. Incorrect agreement gives out a foreigner in you.

Now, as for that silly noun чайная - supposedly a cafe where they drink tea. If that was the case then самовар would be the name of it and therefore two thingies like this one here - " - should be placed around it like that - Чайная "Самовар", otherwise it's as I said above - incorrect agreement.

Now, about English pancakes. The juice (with a lot of sugar mixed into it) is used for dunking those pancakes into during the process of eating. The chef who made them was a Londoner, a retired Royal Navy cook. His whole household in England has blinis at least once a month.

Originally Posted by waxwing

A final note: I can't believe nobody has tried to make a блин pun yet :P

What sort of pun are you talking about

Originally Posted by JB

Making homemade blinchiki is a pain. You have to keep messing with the batter until it is the right thickness to not stick to the pan. But if you don't get it right it sticks and glops up and is a big mess

And what lesson can we learn from that Russian-language-studying-wise? We can add a nice Russian proverb to our active vocabulary: первый блин комом. This means that your first attempt is an unsuccessful one but that's ok cos that's the way it is, your next one is going to be better.

Originally Posted by Линдзи

Hee. It sure it a good thing you caught me in that lie, VM. Because otherwise some other poster might have believed what I wrote and thought I did all that!

Weirdly enough, though, the чайная самовар is a real restaurant. I used to eat lunch there occasionally. They're a branch of чайная ложка, actually, and I think the poor grammar of their name is supposed to be a joke, albeit a rather stupid one.

Oh yeah? And you even gave a link? And did you check that link out? If you had, you'd've known that 'чайная' is not part of the name, but a type of establishment. Saying чайная самовар restaurant is the same as saying "pub red lion pub". You see, it's this sloppy attitude of yours that gets you into trouble - you see, details are important, but you shrug them off and this makes you sound so awfully ignorant but opinionated. Please be more careful - your sloppy attitude to detail has nearly cost me my membership here - they tried to ban me, but, of course, we all know that truth finds a way and I'm still here. I've hacked my way through the ban to be with all of you here again, so that I could watch and help your Russian and knowledge of our culture grow and blossom.

Just took a look at the link. Even though the sign on the outside of the building has Tearoom and Samovar on different places, the painted window sign (behind the sunflowers) has the name arranged in a way that reads Tearoom, Samovar. Which in English would be translated as Samovar, a Tearoom. But I thought this was about those crazy pancakes they sell in that tearoom. Looking at the link I can't tell if the customers are 100% Russian or foreigners. Hmmm, what do you think VM? But don't claim that guy in the baseball cap is a foreigner because my 100% Russian stepson has just requested me to bring home a suitcase full of American baseball caps for him and all of his college friends. :P

JB - although Shrove Tuesday is traditionally the day that pancakes are eaten, many families have them at all times of the year. They are a cheap easy and popular pudding. When the pancake is cooked it is laid on a plate and caster sugar sprinkled over the top then lemon juice or orange juice is squeezed on top and the whole thing melts on the hot pancake. Some people roll them up to eat, others just cut up the circle on the plate.