Unit 1 Portfolio Entry--Traditional Russian Food

Since Russia is located towards the north, they have been known for their extremely cold and long lasting winters. Their traditional foods all contain ingredients that would keep one warm, the ones that produce carbohydrates and fat instead of protein. The majority of their ingredients are potatoes, meat, eggs, butter, and bread. Also commonly used are cabbage, milk, sour cream, curds, mushrooms, lard, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, berries, honey, sugar, salt, garlic, and onions. If you regularly eat traditional Russian cuisine, you will notice a lack of fruit and vegetables.

-Borscht is one of the most well-known dishes not only in Russia, but in the majority of the slavic region. Borscht is a soup that often contains beets, meat, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, buckwheat, and is topped with sour cream. There are various types of Borscht depending regionally where you are. The above listed would be considered as "Krasnee Borscht" (red borscht). There is also "Zeloniy Borscht" (green borscht). In this borscht, there are eggs, cucumbers, celery, meet carrots, spinach, potatoes, lemon, and a few other ingredients. Usually, red borscht is served hot and green borscht is served cold. Other than borscht, other soups are very common dishes in Russia.

-Potatoes and Buckwheat are very commonly used as garnishes and side dishes. Boiled, fried, steamed, baked, and any other way you could possible make potatoes, they make them. Potatoes could be in virtually almost every traditional Russian dish. Sour cream and mayonnaise are also used as toppings for almost everything.

-Blini are Russian's version of pancakes. They are basically potato pancakes. They can be made thick or thin but are generally smaller than our "pancakes" and they are fried. They are topped with sour cream, jam, sugar, honey, or butter.

-Vereniki are similar to the American "dunpling". Vereniki is a more western Russian/eastern European dish. They have a dough-like outside and are filled with either meat, berries, potatoes, or sweet cheese. Often times they are topped with sour cream.