1. Fulfilled by M.Kuznetsova, K-512

2. 1) History 2) Soups 3) Meat dishes 4) Fish 5) Pies and pan cakes 6) Vegetables 7) Beverages 8) Bread

3. Before the 17th century Russian cuisine was quite plain and natural, without any gourmet luxuries. It was based, as a rule, on turnip and cabbage, cooked in different combinations and in all possible ways, often flavoured with spices. Russians also consumed all sorts of fish, as well as berries, mushrooms and numerous porridges (kasha). Fasting was an integral part of living, in accordance with the lent schedule prescribed by the Orthodox Church. About 216 days a year it was improper to eat meat and milk products.

4. The cuisine fashion was sharply changed in the 18th century. It became fashionable among Russian aristocracy to employ foreign cooks, mainly from France. Using a combination of Russian recipes and their own methods of cooking, those cooks brought new understanding of the traditional Russian cuisine, which later became standard in Europe and America –there were even Russian cuisine courses. Instead of serving all the food at once, (as the custom had been), now the dishes were served in turn. Soups became the first course, followed with salads accompanied by the main course and drinks. French cooks suggested to cut meat, game and fish into pieces before cooking them, and introduced into Russian cuisine thick soups and lighter dishes with lesser amount of fat and wheat. At the same time there appeared the first Russian home-made sausages, cutlets, and T-shaped bone stakes, together with exact recipes and the trick of mixing many products into one dish. In due course, the Russian cuisine became more complicated and refined. Even in the Soviet period with its tendency to simplify substantially everything, the variety of recipes used in daily Russian cuisine was not reduced. On the contrary, daily food menu during that period was enriched with traditional recipes from 15 republics of the Soviet Union.

5. Soups have always played an important role in the Russian meal. The traditional staple of soups such as borscht, shchi, ukha, rassolnik, solyanka, botvinya, okroshka and tyurya. Tyurya is very similar to okroshka, the main difference being that instead of vegetables, bread is soaked in kvass.

6. Okroshka is a cold soup based on kvass or,sour milk. The main ingredients are two types of vegetables that can be mixed with cold boiled meat or fish in a 1:1 proportion. Thus vegetable, meat, and fish varieties of okroshka are made.

7. Shchi (cabbage soup) had been the predominant first course in Russian cuisine for over a thousand years. Although tastes have changed, it steadily made its way through several epochs. Shchi knew no social class boundaries, and even if the rich had richer ingredients and the poor made it solely of cabbage and onions, all these "poor" and "rich" variations were cooked in the same tradition. The unique taste of this cabbage soup was from the fact that after cooking it was left to draw (stew) in a Russian stove. The "Spirit of shchi" was inseparable from a Russian izba (log hut). Many Russian proverbs are connected to this soup, such as Shchi da kasha pishcha nasha

8. Ukha is a warm watery fish dish, however calling it a fish soup would not be absolutely correct. "Ukha" as a name for fish broth was established only in the late 17th to early 18th centuries. A minimum of vegetables is added in preparation, and in classical cooking ukha was simply a rich fish broth served to accompany fish pies (rasstegai, kuliebiaka, etc.). These days it is more often a fish soup, cooked with potatoes and other vegetables. A wide variety of freshwater fish is traditionally used.

9. Rassolnik is a hot soup in a salty-sour cucumber base. This dish formed in Russian cuisine quite late—only in the 19th century. About this time the name rassolnik was attached to it, originating from the Russian word "rassol" which means brine (pickle water). The latest are moderately sour-salty soups on pickled cucumber base. Some are vegetarian, but more often with products like veal or beef kidneys or all poultry giblets (stomach, liver, heart, neck, feet). Typical rassolnik is based on kidneys, brine (and pickles), vegetables and barley.

10.  Solyanka is a thick, piquant soup that combines components from schi (cabbage, smetana) and rassolnik (pickle water and cucumbers), spices such as olives, capers, tomatoes, lemons, lemon juice, kvass, salted and pickled mushrooms make up a considerably strong sour-salty base of the soup. Solyanka is much thicker than other soups, about 1/3 less liquid ratio. Three types are distinguished: meat, fish, and simple solyanka. The first two are cooked on strong meat or fish broths, and the last on mushroom or vegetable broth. All the broths are mixed with cucumber pickle water.

11.  In traditional Russian cuisine three basic variations of meat dishes can be highlighted:  a large boiled piece of meat cooked in a soup or porridge, and then used as second course or served cold (particularly in jellied stock—see Kholodets' below)  offal dishes (liver, tripe, etc.), baked in pots together with cereals;  whole fowl dishes or parts of fowl (legs or breasts), or a large piece of meat (rump) baked on a baking tray in an oven, so-called "zharkoye" (from the word "zhar"(жар) meaning "heat")  The 16th century "Domostroi" aimed at affluent households also mentions sausage- making, spit-roasted meats, stews and many other meat dishes.  As a garnish to meat dishes in the past the most common were porridges and cereals, in which the meat was boiled, later on boiled or rather steamed and baked root vegetables (turnips, carrots) as well as mushrooms; additionally the meat, without taking account its type, was garnished with pickled products—pickled cabbage, sour and "soaked" (marinated) apples (mochoniye yabloki), soaked cranberries, “vzvars”. Pan juices, alone or mixed with sour cream or melted butter is used as gravy to pour on garnishing vegetables and porridges. Meat sauces i.e. gravies based on flour, butter, eggs and milk, are not common for traditional Russian cuisine.

12.  Kholodets (or Studen'): Jellied chopped pieces of pork or veal meat with some spices added (pepper, parsley, garlic, bay leaf) and minor amounts of vegetables (carrots, onions). The meat is boiled in large pieces for long periods of time, then chopped, boiled a few times again and finally chilled for 3–4 hours (hence the name) forming a jelly mass, though gelatine is not used because calves' feet, pigs' heads and other such offal is gelatinous enough on its own. It is served with horseradish, mustard, or ground garlic with smetana.

13. Pelmeni are a traditional Eastern European (mainly Russian) dish usually made with minced meat filling, wrapped in thin dough (made out of flour and eggs, sometimes with milk or water added). For filling, pork, lamb, beef, or any other kind of meat can be used; mixing several kinds is popular. The traditional Ural recipe requires the filling be made with 45% of beef, 35% of lamb, and 20% of pork. Traditionally, various spices, such as pepper, onions, and garlic, are mixed into the filling. Russians seem to have learned to make pelmeni from Finnic and Tatar peoples of the Taiga, the Urals and Siberia. The word means "ear-shaped bread" in Finnic languages such as Udmurt and Komi. In Siberia they were made in large quantities and stored safely frozen outside for several winter months. In mainland Russia, the term "Siberian Pel'meni" refers to pel'meni made with a mix of meats (whether the 45/35/20 mix mentioned above, or another ratio), rather than a single meat. By the late 19th century, they became a staple throughout urban European Russia. They are prepared immediately before eating by boiling in water until they float, and then 2–5 minutes more. The resulting dish is served with butter and/or sour cream (mustard, horseradish, and vinegar are popular as well). Some recipes suggest frying pelmeni after boiling until they turn golden brown.

14. Kotlety (cotelettes, meatballs), a Western European dish popular in modern Russian households, are small pan-fried meat balls, not dissimilar from Salisbury steak and other such dishes. Made primarily from pork and beef (sometimes also from chicken or fish), they are easily made and require little time. Ground beef, pork, onions and bread are put in a bowl and mixed thoroughly until it becomes relatively consistent. Once this effect is achieved, balls are formed and then put into a hot frying pan to cook.

15. Fish was important in pre-revolutionary cuisine, especially on Russian Orthodox fast days when meat was forbidden, similar to the Catholic custom of eating fish instead of meat on Fridays. Strictly freshwater fish such as carp and sudak (Sander lucioperca, Zander) were commonly eaten in inland areas, as well as anadromous sturgeon and in northern areas salmon, pike and trout. A greater variety of fish—including saltwater species—were preserved by salting, pickling or smoking and consumed as "zakuski" (hors d'oeuvres).

16. Pirozhki (singular: pirozhok; diminutive of "pirog" [pie]) are small stuffed buns (pies) made of either yeast dough or short pastry. They are filled with one of many different fillings and are either baked (the ancient Slavic method) or shallow- fried (known as "priazhenie", this method was borrowed from the Tatars in the 16th century). One feature of pirozhki that sets them apart from, for example, English pies is that the fillings used are almost invariably fully cooked. The use of chopped hard-boiled eggs in fillings is another interesting feature. Six typical fillings for traditional pirozhki are: 1. Chopped boiled meat mixed with sautéed onions 2. Rice and boiled eggs with dill 3. Fish sautéed with onions and mixed with hard-boiled chopped eggs and rice 4. Mashed potatoes mixed with dill and green onion 5. Sautéed cabbage 6. Sautéed mushrooms with onions and sometimes carrots

19. Blini are thin pancakes made with yeasted batter which are often served in connection with a religious rite or festival. The word "blin" (singular of blini) comes from Old Slavic "mlin", which means "to mill". Blins had a somewhat ritual significance for early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun during Maslenitsa (Масленица, Butter Week; also known as Pancake Week). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox Church and is carried on to the present day, as the last week of dairy and egg products before Lent. Bliny are still often served at wakes, to commemorate the recently deceased. Blini can be made from wheat, buckwheat, or other grains, although wheat blini are most popular in Russia. They may be topped with butter, smetana (sour cream), fruit preserves or caviar.

20. Vegetables Cabbage, potatoes, and cold tolerant greens are common in Russian and other Eastern European cuisines. Pickling cabbage, cucumbers, rutabagas and other vegetables in brine is used to preserve vegetables for winter use. Pickled apples and some other fruit also used to be widely popular. These are sources of vitamins during periods when fresh fruit and vegetables are traditionally not available.

21. Many traditional drinks are indigenous to Russia and are not present in other national cuisines. The most notable of these are vodka, sbiten, kvass, medovukha and mors. Many of them are no longer common and have been replaced by drinks originating in Europe. Nonetheless, these beverages were formerly drunk as a complement to meat and poultry dishes, sweet porridge, and dessert. Of particular note is sbiten, an immensely popular medieval drink which has since been replaced by tea as the Russian mainstay beverage.

23. Russian bread is a staple of Russian cuisine and holds a very special place in almost all Russian meals. The bread in Russia is made of different grains including rye, wheat, buckwheat and oats. Russian breads are generally heavier than the American breads. Even the shape of the Russian breads varies between round, square, long and flat. Bread has cultural significance in Russia. This food has been regarded the symbol of hospitality in the Russian tradition along with salt that signifies the long friendship. Both salt and bread together are used in Russia as part of ‘greeting’ or ‘welcome ceremony’.

24. 1. What kind of soups do you know? 2. What meat dish is the most popular in Russian Cuisine? 3. What is kholodets? 4. What filling is in pies? 5. What do you know about Russian bread?