Honey Wine

A great way to warm up on a chilly Russian winter day evening is to drink some hot medovukha, or honey wine. This traditional folk drink can be found in bottles at grocery stores but is also sold at outdoor holiday markets, where I recently tried some. It's sweet and slightly alcoholic flavor is appealing, while the warmth of the liquid going down your throat on a frigid day will help keep you going when you feel you have reached your limit!

Russian-Style Junk Food

It seems that every culture has its own tastes, and marketers are quick to test new flavors in different markets. For example, here in Russia, I've come across a few interesting flavors of chocolate bars and potato chips.

The picture above shows a bag of shashlyk-flavored potato chips. Shashlyk is a type of meat kabob that probably originated in the Caucasus but today is popular throughout Russia and Central Asia. These chips are flavored with the vinegary, meaty taste of shashlyk, much as American chips often come in barbeque flavor.

I have also tried a Snickers bar with hazelnuts instead of peanuts. However, the taste is a bit more gourmet but seems to lose the essence of the Snickers bar (in my American opinion!).

Bliny: Russian-Style Pancakes

Bliny are thin, Russian pancakes similar to the French crepes. Although Russian cuisine also boasts thick pancakes (called oladi) and pancakes made with vegetables (called bitochki), the thin doughy bliny are far more popular and widespread. They are eaten with a variety of fillings, from sweet to salty and rich to starchy.

At home, Russians often make piles of bliny from scratch and enjoy them simply with butter or sour cream. Honey and jam are also popular fillings. However, bliny are more than just dessert: they are often eaten as a snack or a small meal. At lunchtime, long lines usually form at food stands that make bliny to order on round grills in front of your eyes. These stands serve sweet bliny but oftentimes specialize in "mealtime" versions. Popular fillings include: red caviar (see above picture), smoked salmon (see below picture), mushrooms in sour cream, potatoes and dill, tvorog (a soft, sweet cheese), brynza (a soft, salty cheese), or ham and cheese. Thanks to my meat-eating husband, I have included a few pictures on this blog with meat in them. :)

Bliny can also be purchased frozen and then are often filled with jam, tvorog, or beef. This is a popular quick dinner or breakfast, since they can be easily reheated on the stovetop or in a microwave. Of course, bliny can also be found at expensive, five-star restaurants and at coffee shops.

Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Pie)

As a vegetarian, one of my mainstays in Russia has been khachapuri. Although khachapuri is a Georgian dish, it is extremely popular throughout Russia and can be found at both roadside food stands and in fancy restaurants.

Authentic Georgian khachapuri is a little like a pizza or the Turkish pide. Even within Georgia there is some variation, but khachapuri is typically a round of leavened bread filled like a pizza (or in some cases like a calzone, with bread on top) with a mound of mouth-watering cheese. Some Georgian versions also include melted butter and/or a raw egg. All are served hot so that the cheese is stringy and soft.

In Russia, there are even more versions of this delicacy. It seems that Russians and other ethnic groups have adopted the idea of khachapuri but modified it to fit their desires. For example, although traditional khachapuri is about the size of a plate, most khachapuri sold at roadside food stands is smaller: about the size of the somsa or pirozhki sold along side it. Oftentimes it is filled with a variety of cheeses, sometimes the slightly sweet tvorog.

At Central Asian food stands that specialize in somsa (meat-filled Central Asian pastries), khachapuri is sometimes made with unleavened, flaky dough so that it is similar to a somsa. While on a trip to Yaroslavl, I even had khachapuri with cheese and mayonnaise!

Ikra

Many people know the Russian word "ikra" as "caviar," but in fact, it is also means vegetable puree/pate. I have not been able to figure out the reason for the use of the same word to mean both things, but I'm guessing it has something to do with "ikra" being a spread of some type (?).

I like several versions of vegetable ikra very much. One is made with eggplant and the other with squash. The pictures in this post are of the squash version. The ingredients are squash, onions, carrots, tomatoes, vegetable oil, and a little cayenne pepper.

Many people make homemade ikra, and I used to love my host mom's baklazhannaya ikra (eggplant ikra) in Uzbekistan. The process of making ikra basically involves stewing a mixture of vegetables. Most people make a large batch and then can the extras for use during the wintertime, when fresh vegetables are more expensive.

Store-bought versions of ikra are also quite good, however, and usually do not contain many extra preservatives or artificial ingredients. The "Veres" version in these pictures is relatively inexpensive but good. As you can see below, it is basically a puree of vegetables with a rich flavor.

Ikra is good on bread or crackers, and I enjoy it on top of rice or pasta. I have heard that many people also use it as a sauce or type of marinade for meats. Although the picture below may not look too thrilling, the vegetable ikra itself is delicious!

Qovoqli Manti

When I lived in Uzbekistan, my host mom used to make me delicious homemade qovoqli honum (is this the correct spelling??), which is a steamed, rolled dumpling filled with pumpkin. I recently had the chance to eat at an Uzbek restaurant in Tatarstan and was excited to see that they served qovoqli manti, pumpkin-filled dumplings that are similar to honum.

These qovoqli manti were delicious and tasted very authentic, minus the chunks of beef fat I sometimes found in pumpkin manti in Uzbekistan. I am used to eating manti and honum with qatiq (a type of plain yogurt) on top. Here they were served with an herb yogurt, which was also delicious.

In addition to manti, we had Uzbek flatbread and black tea that the server poured into a teacup and back into the pot three times, as is a tradition in Uzbekistan. The food was served on traditional blue-and-while Uzbek china, and in the background there was Uzbek music playing. All of this made me miss Uzbekistan and my friends there!

Tatar Pies

While in Kazan for a week and a half, I've been exploring Tatar food again. Tatar food includes elements of Russian and Central Asian cuisine, as well as unique regional dishes.

One of my favorite aspects of Tatar food are the many pastries. I've already written about gubadiya, which is a pie filled with rice, kort (a curd cheese), and raisins. I've also written about kystybyy, which are like tortillas filled with potatoes. In addition, there are pastries filled with chicken and rice and other assorted elements.

For an American, however, one of the most exciting elements of Tatar cuisine is that there are pastries that look like American pies! The slice above is from a pie made with dried lemons, apricots, and prunes. The tartness of the lemons mixes with the sweetness of the apricots and prunes for a sharp but sweet dessert. Delicious! There are also pies made with sour cream (and sometimes cranberries) that look and even taste somewhat like cheesecake.