The 20 most famous dishes of Russia
Russian cooking is the food of long winters — warming soups, dumplings, pies and buckwheat — with touches from the tsars' court and from the Caucasus and Central Asia.
1Pelmeni
Small dumplings of Siberian origin filled with minced meat and onion, boiled and served with butter and sour…
2Blini
Thin pancakes cooked during Maslenitsa week to welcome spring, served with sour cream, caviar or honey.
3Beef Stroganoff
Strips of beef in a sour cream, mushroom and onion sauce, served with potatoes or noodles — from the…
4Olivier Salad
Russian potato salad with peas, carrots, pickles, eggs, chicken and mayonnaise — never missing on New Year's…
5Shchi
Traditional Russian cabbage soup with beef and vegetables, served with sour cream and black bread.
6Solyanka
A rich sour-salty soup with mixed meats, pickles, olives and lemon, served hot with sour cream.
7Pirozhki
Small baked or fried buns filled with meat, cabbage or potato — street and home food across Russia.
8Syrniki
Small tvorog cheese pancakes fried golden, served for breakfast with sour cream and honey or jam.
9Kulebyaka
A grand fish pie with layers of salmon, rice, egg and mushrooms inside golden pastry.
10Grechka with Mushrooms
Toasted buckwheat kasha with mushrooms, onion and butter — Russia's most popular side dish.
11Shashlik
Big skewers of meat marinated in onion, vinegar and spices, grilled over charcoal on spring outings.
12Vinegret
A colourful vegetarian salad of beetroot, potato, carrot, pickles and sauerkraut dressed with sunflower oil.
13Okroshka
A cold summer soup of chopped vegetables, egg and meat, topped up with kefir or kvass.
14Ukha
Clear fish soup with potatoes, carrots, onion and dill — fishermen's food by the riverbank.
15Medovik (Honey Cake)
Russian honey cake of many thin honey-biscuit layers with sour cream frosting, rested overnight to soften.
16Paskha
An Easter dessert of tvorog, butter, cream and dried fruit, moulded into a pyramid.
17Shuba (Herring Under a Fur Coat)
A layered salad of salted herring, potato, carrot, egg, beetroot and mayonnaise in a striking purple.
18Kotlety
Tender minced-meat patties with onion and soaked bread, fried and served with mashed potatoes — everyday home…
19Ptichye Moloko
An ultra-light soufflé cake between sponge layers under a chocolate glaze — one of the most famous Soviet-era…
20Rassolnik
A sour soup with pickles, pearl barley, potatoes and kidneys or meat.