Thread: How is food in Russia?

I have read google results about Russian food, but many times that is just fancy people talking and since I know there are regular Russians who post here I thought I would ask what is considered regular food? In America there is a huge mix of all kinds of cultures plus fast food everything ( )

What is it like to eat traditional in Russia?

Main foods are: bread (mostly made from rye and wheat), meat (beef, pork), chicken, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, cereals, vegetables (the principal ones are onions, potato, cucumbers, tomatoes) and pasta.

Well, if you imagine every possible combination from the above listed you will get the picture There are thousands of ways to combine all that and we probably use all of them.

Ramil, you forgot to mention fish, its also important part (although I, personally, don't like it very much).

Yes, fish.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Yes, fish.

If you add mushrooms and a lobster (which is a traditional beer snack), you get pretty much the same thing you'd have in North America except for the fast food.

But the way those ingredients are cooked makes all the difference. There are meatballs in both countries, but they taste very different.

Russian version:


American version:

[s:dlpywegz]lobster[/s:dlpywegz]

crawfish.
Lobster lives in the ocean and crawfish lives in rivers.

Besides, the question was about regular foods. I don't think that fish, crawfish and mushrooms can be considered 'regular' or otherwise I could add caviar too

I'd say, the Queen of Russian food is potato. Honestly, I can't imagine a dinner or supper without it in some form. For soups (borsch, shtshi, other soups), you need it. For the second course, you need it as a garnish - boiled, fried, or in the form of purée. Although some people prefer rice, buckwheat or pasta as a garnish. But I, personally, would never eat pasta if I can choose among pasta and potato. I would never prefer rice or buckwheat either.

By the way, there is a proverb in Russian which says "Potato is a second bread". I wonder is it only Russian?

Now this thread is making me hungry.

I don't think I have ever heard of a potato referred to as a second bread, although we do love our potatoes in America (mostly in french fry form though).

Is there one dish that Russia is especially known for? America is pretty diverse so I can't really think of much because every country brought their own dish here.

Wikipedia has a good article on this here

Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn

Is there one dish that Russia is especially known for?

Hmmm... I wonder if it could be пельмени. If you don't have пельмени in America, then probably I am right.

But... Pelmeni is not Russian

There is an ancient saying: щи да каша - еда наша.

Originally Posted by Ramil

But... Pelmeni is not Russian

... originally, you mean?

щи да каша - [s:ivx26rdz]еда[/s:ivx26rdz] пища наша.

I've never heard this with "еда".

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Ramil

But... Pelmeni is not Russian

... originally, you mean?

yup

Originally Posted by Оля

щи да каша - [s:y6zwui0p]еда[/s:y6zwui0p] пища наша.

I've never heard this with "еда".

Maybe, my granddad used to say 'еда'.

Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn

we do love our potatoes in America (mostly in french fry form though).
.

I don't agree with the "mostly in French Fry form" -- I think potatoes are equally popular here baked "in their jackets", mashed, and as hash browns.

[quote=Оля]

Originally Posted by "Zombie Acorn":1fh4uimy

Is there one dish that Russia is especially known for?

Hmmm... I wonder if it could be пельмени. If you don't have пельмени in America, then probably I am right.[/quote:1fh4uimy]

Мне вечно грустно, что в наших супермаркетах, пельмени не бывают!

An English-language wikipedia article about pelmeni, for those who are unfamiliar with these delicious little meat-filled dumplings.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Мне [s:23ywktuo]вечно[/s:23ywktuo] всегда грустно, что в наших супермаркетах_ (no comma) пельменей не бывает!

One of my favorite soups in Russian cuisine, Solyanka:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyanka

Also I love pancakes with caviar:

I like dark Russian style dark bread (what's it called? I'd like to try baking it because I like breadmaking). I knew that potato is staple food like in all colder countries.

Other than that I hardly knew anything about it!

But I am guessing that Russians have eat more sensibly/more healthy than a lot of people in Western Europe - I think it's less common for people in Russia to be overweight. Hope it stays that way!

(Here in England a LOT of people send their children to school with a packed lunch of crisps, chocolate and Coca Cola! Insane... )

The caviar pancakes look great!!! I'm sure I'd like that.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Ramil

But... Pelmeni is not Russian

... originally, you mean?

My Russian exercise book has an exercise about "identify the Russian foods" from lots of foods written in Russian (it mixes cultural stuff with the language exercises, it's a school book). "Pelmeni" is said to be Russian according to this book. But they could be wrong, I suppose... Just did this exercise on the train home from work today as chance would have it. The chapter was about food and learning the names of lots of different foods. Until I read that I always thought Pelmeni was from Finland.. lol. It even sounds like a Finnish word.

PS - Re meatballs, pictured above: Excuse me people but meatballs is a Swedish dish, not Russian or American!

Pelmeni originally came from China in 13th centurty with the Mongols. The word itself is Komi - "pyel" (ear) - "nyan" (bread). So, Johanna you were partially correct about thinking that it's a Finnish word (the Komi language belongs to the Finno-Ugric group).