List of Russian dishes facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Russian cuisine is a super interesting mix of cooking styles from the huge country of Russia! It has been influenced by many different places, like Northern Europe, the Baltic countries, the Caucasus mountains, Central Asia, Siberia, East Asia, and the Middle East. This amazing variety comes from Russia's massive size and its many different cultures.

Delicious Russian Dishes
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Delicious Russian Dishes

Tasty Appetizers (Zakuski)

Zakuski are like a buffet of small dishes, snacks, and appetizers. They are usually served before the main meal. You might find cold meats, cured fish, different salads, jellied meats, pickled vegetables, mushrooms, small pies, caviar, deviled eggs, and open sandwiches.

Caviar: These are processed, salty fish eggs, often from sturgeon fish.
Courgette caviar: This is a cold dish made from stewed vegetables, mostly courgettes (zucchini). People usually eat it with bread.
Julienne: This dish features mushrooms in a creamy sauce, topped with grated cheese and baked. Sometimes, chicken, fish, or seafood are added too.
Kholodets: This is a savory meat jelly, also known as studen.
Salo: This dish is made of cured slabs of pork fat, sometimes with the skin on.
Stroganina: A dish from the native people of northern Siberia. It's made of raw, very thin slices of frozen fish.

Warm and Cold Soups

Soups are a big part of Russian meals, and there are many kinds!

Borscht: This is a traditional Russian soup. It's usually made with meat or bone broth, cooked vegetables, and a sour beet juice. It's famous for its bright red color!
Okroshka: A cold soup perfect for summer! It's made with raw vegetables like cucumbers and spring onions, boiled potatoes, eggs, and cooked meat (like beef or ham). It's mixed with kvass (a fermented drink) and topped with sour cream.
Rassolnik: This soup is made with pickled cucumbers, pearl barley, and often pork or beef kidneys.
Shchi: A classic cabbage soup. It can also be made with sauerkraut (fermented cabbage).
Solyanka: A thick, spicy, and sour soup that includes meat and pickled cucumbers. There's also a Fish Solyanka version that uses fish instead of meat.
Shchavel soup (Green shchi): This soup uses sorrel leaves, which give it a slightly sour taste. It often has potatoes, carrots, and sometimes eggs or rice.
Ukha: A clear soup made from different types of fish.

Fresh Salads

Russian cuisine has many delicious salads, often with unique ingredients.

Dressed herring (Seld pod shuboi): This salad has layers! It starts with diced, salted herring, then layers of grated, boiled vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets), chopped onions, and mayonnaise.
Mimosa salad: A special salad often served at celebrations. Its main ingredients are cheese, eggs, canned fish, onion, and mayonnaise.
Olivier salad (Stolichniy salad): This popular salad has diced potatoes, eggs, chicken or bologna sausage, sweet peas, and pickles, all mixed with mayonnaise. Sometimes carrots or fresh cucumbers are added too.
Vinegret: Made with diced boiled vegetables like beets, potatoes, and carrots, plus chopped onions and sauerkraut or pickled cucumbers. It's usually dressed with vinaigrette or sunflower oil.

Hearty Meat Dishes

Russian meals often feature satisfying meat dishes.

Beef Stroganov: This dish has tender pieces of sautéed (quickly fried) beef in a creamy sour cream sauce.
Chicken Kiev: A chicken fillet is pounded flat, wrapped around cold butter, then coated in eggs and bread crumbs. It's then fried or baked until crispy.
Golubtsy: These are cooked cabbage leaves wrapped around different fillings, often meat and rice.
Makarony po-flotski: This means "navy-style pasta." It's cooked pasta (like macaroni) mixed with ground meat, fried onions, and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Pelmeni: These are delicious dumplings with a meat filling wrapped in thin pasta dough.
Pozharsky cutlet: A breaded patty made from ground chicken.
Shashlyk: A dish of meat cubes skewered and grilled, similar to kebabs.
Veal Orlov: This dish was created by the French. It features thinly sliced veal with pureed mushrooms and onions between each slice, topped with a creamy sauce and cheese. In Russia today, similar dishes are often called "French-style meat."

Pancakes and Fritters

Pancakes are a beloved part of Russian food, enjoyed in many forms.

Blini: These are thin pancakes, similar to crepes, and can be made with various ingredients.
Oladyi: Small, thick pancakes, often served with jam or sour cream.
Syrniki (tvorozhniki): Fried pancakes made from tvorog (a type of farmer's cheese). They are usually topped with sour cream, jam, honey, or apple sauce.

Traditional Breads

Bread is very important in Russian culture, with many unique types.

Baranka: A dough ring that's smaller, thinner, and drier than a bublik.
Borodinsky bread: A dark brown sourdough rye bread with a distinct flavor.
Bublik: A ring of yeast-leavened wheat dough that's briefly boiled before baking, giving it a chewy texture.
Karavai: A large, round, braided bread, traditionally baked for special occasions like weddings. It's decorated with symbolic shapes like suns and birds.
Kalach: Historically, this referred to any kind of white bread. Before modern milling, white bread was considered a fancy treat.
Kulich: A special type of Easter bread, often tall and cylindrical, decorated with icing. It's a must-have for Russian Easter celebrations.
Sushki: Small, crunchy, mildly sweet bread rings, often eaten as a dessert with tea or coffee.

Pirogi (Pies)

Pirogi are a wide variety of pies, both sweet and savory, that are very popular in Russia.

Kulyebyaka: A fish loaf, usually made with salmon or sturgeon, along with rice, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, and dill.
Karelsky pirog: A traditional pie from the Karelia region.
Kurnik: A dome-shaped savory Russian pie, often filled with chicken or turkey, eggs, onions, and rice.
Rasstegai: These pies usually have a fish filling, but can also contain meat, liver, rice, or mushrooms.
Pirog: This is a general term for a pie, which can have either a sweet or savory filling.
Pirozhki: These are small pies, often filled with meat, cabbage, potatoes, or fruit.
Vatrushka: A pastry with a ring of dough and sweet tvorog (farmer's cheese) in the middle.

Kasha (Porridge)

Kasha is a type of porridge, a common and comforting dish in Russia, especially for breakfast.

Kasha: This is the general term for porridge. Buckwheat, millet, oat, and wheat porridges are very popular.
Gorokhovaya kasha: Pea porridge, similar to the British pease pudding.
Guriev porridge: A sweet Russian porridge made from semolina and milk, often with nuts (like hazelnuts or almonds), creamy foams, and dried fruits.
Kutia: A ceremonial grain dish with a sweet sauce, often eaten during holidays.
Mannaya kasha: Semolina porridge, similar to Guriev porridge but usually simpler.
Perlovka (Pearl barley kasha): Porridge made from pearl barley.

Sauces and Condiments

These add extra flavor to many Russian dishes.

Khren: A spicy paste made from grated horseradish.
Khrenovina: A very spicy horseradish sauce, popular in Siberia, often served with main courses.
Smetana: A dairy product similar to sour cream, made by souring heavy cream. It's used in many dishes and as a topping.

Sweet Desserts

Russian cuisine offers many delightful sweet treats.

Russian-style Charlotte: A cold dessert with Bavarian cream set in a mold lined with ladyfingers.
Medovik: A popular honey cake with many thin layers, often made with honey and sour cream or condensed milk.
Russian-style Napoleon cake: A dessert made of many layers of puff pastry with creamy pastry cream in between.
Paskha: A traditional Easter dessert made from tvorog (farmer's cheese), heavy cream, butter, and sugar. It's usually shaped like a pyramid.
Pryanik: A range of traditional sweet baked goods made from flour and honey, similar to gingerbread.
Pastila: Described as "small squares of pressed fruit paste" or "light, airy puffs with a delicate apple flavor."
Syrok: A sweet dairy snack made from glazed or unglazed curd cheese, sometimes with a filling.
Khvorost: A traditional sweet, crispy pastry shaped into thin twisted ribbons, deep-fried, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Pyshka (or Ponchik): A Russian type of doughnut.
Varenye: A preserve made by cooking berries, fruits, nuts, vegetables, or even flowers in sugar syrup. It's similar to jam but often has whole pieces of fruit.
Zefir: A soft, airy confectionery made by whipping fruit puree with sugar and egg whites, then adding a gelling agent. It's similar to marshmallows.