Introduction

Russia has some of the most delicious and mouthwatering foods in the world, from their Russian black bread to their sweet cabbage and teacakes. Because of its mass, Russia, like many other countries, is divided into a number of regions. Each region offers their own specialties when it comes to cuisine.

Russian food varies depending on region or geographical area in which you are traveling. In the northern regions of Russia, where weather is cooler and winters are longer, you will find a variety of soups to keep you warm and toasty throughout the year. Some of the most popular Russian soups include borscht, the ultimate Russian soup made out of beets and meat, typically served with a dollop of sour cream on top.

You will also enjoy a variety of vegetable soups that contain cabbage, meat, and potatoes. Cold soups are also popular in certain regions in Russia. Known as okroshka, cold soups may be a combination of potatoes, vegetables, eggs, and spices. Noodle soup, fish soup, chicken soup, and mushroom soup are also very popular, and usually contain dill, parsley, and spices, in addition to the main ingredients.

We mentioned in an earlier lesson that dinner, or the afternoon meal, is eaten in the middle of the day, while the evening meal, supper, is a little lighter, somewhat like a miniature version of lunch. Egg dishes such as omelets are typically eaten in the morning, and at lunch or dinner, you may find a lovely variety of mouthwatering options.

A traditional main course may also include pelmeni, which are small, poached minced balls of meat covered with pastry. Think of them as breaded meatballs. Other fillings such as potatoes, curds, and even berries may fill these little meatballs, in which case they are known as vareniki.

Beef, pork, and chicken are the most popular meat dishes, depending on availability in the region to which you travel. For holidays or very special occasions, you may also enjoy a taste of reindeer meat roast, stuffed suckling pig, bear meat cutlets, and roast duck. Christmas goose is always a holiday favorite.

Other culinary favorites include Russian style marinated fish, fish and wine, battered fish, and Russian fish soup. A fish chop known as Telnoye is also a favorite, consisting of a large fish fillet crushed and mixed with onions, dill, parsley, and flour and then boiled in lightly salted water for 15 minutes.

If you happen to travel to Russia during the Easter season, be prepared to try a Russian Easter Cake known as Kulich, consisting of flour, raisins, sugar, eggs, and sour cream, among other ingredients that are delicious and festive. Russian pancakes called Bliny are also extremely popular, made simply with milk, wheat flour, eggs, and a pinch of sugar and salt. They are served with a variety of fillings including caviar, jam, sour cream, honey, fish, and eggs.

As you can see, traditional Russian dishes are exquisite in taste and yet utilize relatively cheap ingredients that have been around for generations. Russian foods offer a variety of tastes, flavors, and preparations that reflect the unique spirit of the Russian people. Vegetable dishes, sauces, pasta dishes, breads, and pastry for daily and holiday meals are simply prepared, and taste great.

Because of this diversity, you will find a variety of cuisines throughout Russia as well as the CIS regions, including Armenian, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Jewish dishes. When traveling in Armenia, you may eat Amich, a traditional Armenian dish of baked chicken stuffed with dried fruits, spices, nuts, and rice.

While traveling in the Belarusian region, be prepared to dine on Slavic Borscht or Machanka, a traditional Belarusian dish made of meat sauce with sausages and served with pancakes. If you are traveling through Georgia, get your taste buds ready for some Georgian kebabs known as Basturma or some Buglama, more commonly known as spiced lamb stew.

Holiday Cuisine

During the Lenten season, try rice with dried apricots, which will stick to your ribs and please your taste buds at the same time. A combination of carrots, onions, dried apricots, and scallions is mixed with rice and served hot to curb your hunger. You may also be offered a traditional Lenten dish called Turia, a relatively tasteless soup made with sauerkraut, created stale bread, grated onion, and seasoned to taste. It may be bland to your palate, but it will fill you up for hours.

In Russia, whether you are eating pickles, breakfast, soups, or desserts created with lemons or apples, or you are eating strawberries with cream or delicious apples in wine sauce, give it a try, you are likely to enjoy it.

Daily and Family Life

Introduction

Russia is an extremely diverse country, one until only recently wreathed in mystery. For decades, life behind the "Iron Curtain" was believed (by foreigners) to be one of fear, struggle, starvation, and political heavy handedness. While any country has its difficulties, Russia is nevertheless a land of driven, humorous, and interesting people, just like any other country.

In the past, long held traditions and expectations placed certain restrictions on the people. For example, it was not too long ago that kids (even in high school) were not allowed to date. After all, most Russian students take their education seriously, and dating is often nothing more than a distraction. However, today, more Russian youth date in high school than ever before, although you are still not likely to find young couples in high school kissing in public, showing overt affection, and so forth.

In Russia, as in the United States, it is common to find groups of kids hanging out together, attending parties by friends, gathering at theaters, or just hanging out at the park. In many locations, social clubs of high schools and universities organize social dances.

Since the 1990s, caf�s and inexpensive restaurants have become very popular meeting places for teens. In Russia, cities often have a street that is known among teens as "the street of strolling," where teenagers can go to have fun, hang out with friends, and even develop romantic relationships.

In Russia, you must be 18 years old to marry, and in Russia, most young men are married by the age of 26. Girls tend to marry in their late teens, and require special permission from parents to marry if they are 17 years of age or younger, similar to laws in the United States. In Russia, growing numbers of common law marriages are noted, while "traditional" marriage is in the majority.

Before the wedding, a young couple must obtain a wedding certificate with a waiting period of roughly three months, although the wait may be shortened if it is discovered that the young bride is pregnant!

Wedding certificates are obtained at the local civil registry office or in a Wedding Palace, called a Dvortsi brakosochetaniya. Yes, it is a mouthful, but before the 1990s, and the vast changes within Russian culture and lifestyle (we will address some of these further in later lessons), the Wedding Palace was 'the place' to get married. Today, more couples are being married in churches. In Russia, couples who are married in a church must also receive a certificate of marriage, not by the preacher or the local notary, but by a government entity.

Interestingly, a traditional Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony is a fancy affair swathed in tradition and culture. During such a ceremony, wedding crowns are held above the groom and bride's heads during parts of the ceremony, quite a sight to see.

Following the wedding ceremony, the newly wed couple traditionally visit historical locations, where they leave flowers in honor of or in remembrance to, something historically significant. For example, in Moscow, a young couple might visit Sparrow Hill near the Moscow State University, or if in St. Petersburg, the couple might visit the grave of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin, or a young couple may visit the statue of Peter the Great, more commonly known as the Bronze Horseman.

The wedding in Russia is traditionally followed by a feast, which we in the United States celebrate at the wedding reception. In Russia, the wedding feast can be held at a banquet hall, an apartment, or a restaurant. The families of the bride and the groom share expenses when feeding the guests a variety of appetizers, and a multitude of fish and meat dishes. Throughout the meal, toasts are made and songs are sung.

When the festivities are over, a couple may move in with either the groom or bride's parents, due to the vast shortage of apartments in major cities. Unfortunately, the divorce rate in Russia is quite high (similar to the divorce rate in the United States), most often due to housing shortages and the resulting lack of privacy, also alcoholism, and cultural differences between the bride and groom.

Since the 1990s, restaurants have sprouted up throughout Russia's larger cities. In the "old days," restaurants were relatively rare, and crowded, often impossible to get in. Actually, most restaurants at the time catered to traveling foreigners.

By the mid-1980s, the advent of cooperative restaurants allowed certain individuals and families to renovate unused spaces to create restaurants. However, food in cooperative restaurants was more expensive than those run by the state. Today, cooperative restaurants are outdated, replaced by limited liability partnerships and private restaurants.

Such restaurants typically only served Russian ethnic foods, but still, it was expensive to dine out, with the group spending four to five hours enjoying appetizers, main course, desserts, and numerous drinks including wine, champagne, and vodka. Slow service was expected, and many restaurant goers knew that they would have a chance to dance between courses.

By the year 2000, fast food, carryout, and small caf� restaurants sprouted up throughout Russia. Today, visitors to Russia can, not only sit down to a slow paced traditional Russian dinner, but also eat at a street kiosk, enjoy a hot dog, as well as ice cream vendors, beer, and soft drinks on the streets. In Russia's larger cities, "foreign" food is prevalent, including Italian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese sushi bars, and even French restaurants. In Moscow, you might find McDonald's, but do not expect the menu to be the same as you are used to in the states. McDonald's main competitor in Russia, known as Russkoe Bistro, gives the global fast food chain a run for their money.

Whether you are looking for cafeteria style or restaurant dining, you will find plenty to eat in Russia, although vegetarian diets and menus are not common in Russia, even today.

Shopping for either food or merchandise in Russia in the past few decades provided a different experience for Americans. Russian store shelves, depending on location, are mostly government owned, and prices are set in all similar stores, such as one that sells meat, one that sells groceries and vegetables, and one that sells non-food items. In the past, many of these stores were off-limits to native Russians, who were not allowed to carry hard currency (U.S. dollars, French Francs, German Marks, Euros, and others).

Today, stores are mostly privately owned, especially after Russia converted to a market economy in the early 1990s. Because of this, store shelves, most of them filled with foreign goods became extremely popular for both grocery and non-food item purchases. More Western-style supermarkets appeared throughout Russia. Just so you know, the quality of supermarket foods is generally higher.

Do not be offended if a Russian cashier does not put change in your hand. Rather, change is placed in a little dish on the counter. Payment is expected to be made in rubles. Some shops and stores in Russia accept credit cards, but not all of them do. Russian establishments typically close for an hour at lunchtime, usually anywhere between one o'clock and three o'clock in the afternoon.......

We will discuss various forms of entertainment in Russia in a later lesson, but visitors traveling to Russia for business or pleasure may enjoy localized shopping and sightseeing, as long as expectations are not too high. Of course, expectations depend on whether you are traveling to a large city in Russia, or a small town, but do expect fewer choices when shopping for anything in Russia that you may be accustomed to in the United States.