National cuisine

Moscow restaurant system has almost any cuisine of the world. And still being in the capital of Russia it’s logical to taste exactly the dishes of Russian cuisine.

Russian cuisine has its own customs, its own "language" and special traditions of feasts and cooking. Nowadays Russian table is well-known namely for its festive food: smoked sturgeon back (balyk), starred sturgeon with horseradish, slightly salted salmon, red, black and pink (whitefish) caviar, pickled and salted mushrooms (saffron milk caps and ceps). All of this both in taste and look go well together with clear cold Moscow vodka. But this is only a small portion of what Russian national cuisine can offer.

From the earliest times and till the present days Russian cuisine kept dishes which made a basis and variety of Russian table. This is a famous brown bread, known in Russian from IX century, traditional kasha, soups, pancakes, pies with various filling (mushroom, meat, fish, berries) and many other products from yeast-containing dough, and also drinks — honey, kvass, mors (fruit drink), birch tree juice. All ancient flour products were created on the basis of sour rye dough under the influence of fungous cultures. This is how flour kissels — rye, oatmeal, pea — were created. Russian methods of fermentation and usage of dough made of wheat and rye flour combined gave in XIV—XV centuries new kinds of Russian national bread products: olad’i, shan’gi, pyshki (fried in oil), baranki, bubliki (from scalded dough), and also kalachi — main Russian national white baked bread. Approximately in the same time (not later then 1474) the famous Russian vodka appears in Russia. Even now some modern restaurants try if possible to cook at least some of their dishes according to ancient recipes.

Orthodox Culture has always played an important role in the culture of Russian ancient cuisine. Orthodox culture differentiated lenten (made of plats, fish and mushrooms) and ferial (made of milk, eggs and meat) food, which greatly influenced the development of all Russian cuisine until the end of XIX century. Considering that according to orthodox canons the number of fast days varied from 192 to 216 (в depending on the year), the meaning of lenten food in Russian cuisine increases twice as mush. On fast days it’s not allowed to eat all meat and milk dishes. Now that old traditions return to Russia on fast days restaurants of Russian cuisine can offer you dishes without meat, eggs and butter. But absence of these products is fully compensated by wonderful taste of traditional fish, vegetable, mushroom and berry courses. By the way famous caviar and salmon which now became festive dishes for a common Russian had been treated since old times as "semi-lenten" products: they cannot be eaten only during the strictest fast days.

Old Russian cuisine has two more interesting peculiarities. Firstly, most of the dishes were cooked in Russian oven in clay pots at a certain temperature mode, which cannot be repeated in contemporary conditions even by means of the most modern ovens. This very way of cooking "in the oven" gave many simple Russian dishes (kasha, soups, dairy products) a unique taste and color that is lost in modern cooking. Secondly, different kinds and types of products such as carrots, turnip, swede, cabbage and other vegetables have never been mixed in Russian cuisine and have always been served separately. Different kinds of mushrooms were salted separately: ceps, saffron milk caps, honey mushrooms were kept in separate tubs. This tradition has partially remained in Russian cuisine today.

Poultry dishes made of chicken, geese, ducks are considered to be festive courses in Russian cuisine. Until now dishes of stewed meat with cabbage or cereals are popular. Pozharskiye cutlets are known since XIX century. They were created by a talented wife of innkeeper Pozharskiy from Torzhok. Alexander I who accidentally dropped into this remote inn liked them so much that he turned the innkeeper into imperial court supplier. An ancient Russian dish which is worth trying is Kulesh — thick millet soup based on meat broth or water with addition of lard. The Russians liked to cook shchi with cabbage and meat. As the first course they often ate vegetable and fish pokhlebka — thin hot dishes looking like strong broths or light soups. Pokhlebka can be found in the menu of Russian restaurants till present time. Usually it’s based on one vegetable component, which defines its name: onion, potato, lentil or turnip pokhlebka. Pokhlebka always consists of onions and spices, garlic and spicy greens: parsley, fennel and celery.

From times immemorial Russia knew curd, though earlier it was often called cheese. That’s why a lot of dishes containing curd are now called cheesy. For example, oladyi made of curd with eggs and flour and fried in oil, are called syrniki (cheese cakes).

Since pagan times traditional pancakes were considered to be ritual food, which embodies the sun. A great many pancakes had been eaten in spring, at Pancake week. This tradition is kept till present time.

Sbiten’ and Kvass are ancient Russian drinks which nowadays return to Russian cuisine and which can be seen in menus of some restaurants. Sbiten’ — is a spicy warming drink which can be soft or flavored with vine. Since old times foreign guests of medieval Moscow called this alcohol sbiten’ "Russian milled wine". As for kvass there is a great variety of it: traditionally some of these drinks were based on malt, wheat (buckwheat) and rye flour, other bread and fruit kvass drinks were cooked out of sourdough.

Various vegetable and meat salads entered Russian cuisine much later, at the end of XVIII — XIX centuries. In this period vinegret appeared — boiled and pickled vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beetroot, cucumbers or cabbage) cut into cubes based on vegetable oil. Out of author dishes famous among Muscovites there is Olivie, named after its creator, a French cook. Here is a popular recipe: mayonnaise-based vegetables (potatoes, carrots, green peas, onions etс.) and boiled meat (beef or chicken). Now this salad is called "Moscow Olivie salad". Cooked sausage is sometimes added instead of meat.

Many borrowed dishes are so often included in Russian menu that they are considered to be national by right. Foreign guests often don’t the difference between Russian, Ukraine and Byelorussian cuisine. Borshch, lard, tea, shashlyk, pelmeni and other originally "not Russian" courses became everpresent in the "Russian" menu of many cafes and restaurants. As for tea, it became so Russified, that a traditional Russian samovar, which had been long since used to serve tea to guests, turned into an integral part of Russian culture abroad.