Eastern European cuisine encompasses many different cultures, ethnicities, languages, and histories of Eastern Europe.
The cuisine of the region is strongly influenced by its climate and still varies, depending on a country. For example, East Slavic countries of the Sarmatic Plain (Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian cuisine) show many similarities.
According to the Ethnic Food Lover's Companion, all significant Eastern European cuisines are closely connected with the political, social and economic revival of the region, following the long periods of historical turmoil. "These are substantial cuisines, meaty, rooty, smoky – part comfort food, part extravagance." [1] Their main ingredients include eggs, used most frequently in doughs and pastries; dairy products (with yogurt and cheese among the staples); grains, including rye, barley, wheat, buckwheat and millet used in kashas and in the making of breads; vegetables, in cold storage and in pickling; fish (salmon, pike, carp and herring), birds and poultry (chicken, duck, goose, partridge, quail, turkey); red meats such as veal, beef, pork and mutton; and plentiful fruits including pears, plums, cherries, raspberries, pomegranates, dates, and figs, used for desserts and a variety of liqueurs. [1] The nutritional index of traditional dishes is generally high cholesterol, high sodium, and high fat. [1]
Borscht is a sour soup, made with meat stock, vegetables and seasonings, common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word borscht is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which give the dish its distinctive red color. The same name, however, is also used for a wide selection of sour-tasting soups without beetroots, such as sorrel-based green borscht, rye-based white borscht, and cabbage borscht.
Shashlik, or shashlyck, is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and from the 19th century became popular as shashlik across much of the Russian Empire and nowadays in the Russian Federation and former Soviet Union republics.
Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut, ground meat, mushrooms, fruits, and/or berries. Savory pierogi are often served with a topping of sour cream, fried onions, or both.
Pâté is a forcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in a pastry case; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in a terrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices, wine and brandy.
Chicken Kiev, also known as chicken à la Kyiv, is a dish made of chicken fillet pounded and rolled around cold butter, then coated with egg and bread crumbs, and either fried or baked. Since fillets are often referred to as suprêmes in professional cookery, the dish is also called "suprême de volaille à la Kiev". Stuffed chicken breast is generally known in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines as côtelette de volaille. Though it has disputed origins, the dish is particularly popular in the post-Soviet states, as well as in several other countries of the former Eastern Bloc, and in the English-speaking world.
Soviet cuisine, the common cuisine of the Soviet Union, was formed by the integration of the various national cuisines of the Soviet Union, in the course of the formation of the Soviet people. It is characterized by a limited number of ingredients and simplified cooking. This type of cuisine was prevalent in canteens everywhere in the Soviet Union. It became an integral part of household cuisine and was used in parallel with national dishes, particularly in large cities. Generally, Soviet cuisine was shaped by Soviet eating habits and a very limited availability of ingredients in most parts of the USSR. Most dishes were simplifications of French, Russian, Austro-Hungarian cuisines, and cuisines from other Eastern Bloc nations. Caucasian cuisines, particularly Georgian cuisine, contributed as well.
Sorrel soup is made from water or broth, sorrel leaves, and salt. Varieties of the same soup include spinach, garden orache, chard, nettle, and occasionally dandelion, goutweed or ramsons, together with or instead of sorrel. It is known in Ashkenazi Jewish, Belarusian, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Armenian, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian cuisines. Its other English names, spelled variously schav, shchav, shav, or shtshav, are borrowed from the Yiddish language, which in turn derives from Slavic languages, like for example Belarusian шчаўе, Russian and Ukrainian щавель, shchavel, Polish szczaw. The soup name comes ultimately from the Proto-Slavic ščаvĭ for sorrel. Due to its commonness as a soup in Eastern European cuisines, it is often called green borscht, as a cousin of the standard, reddish-purple beetroot borscht. In Russia, where shchi has been the staple soup, sorrel soup is also called green shchi. In old Russian cookbooks it was called simply green soup.
Vorschmack or forshmak is an originally East European dish made of salty minced fish or meat. Different variants of this dish are especially common in Ashkenazi Jewish and Finnish cuisine. Some varieties are also known in Ukrainian, and Russian cuisine, as well as cuisines of several countries within the Western cultural circle, like those of Poland and Germany.
Bublik is a traditional Eastern European bread roll. It is a ring of yeast-leavened wheat dough, that has been boiled in water for a short time before baking.
Pirog is a baked case of dough with either sweet or savory filling. The dish is common in Eastern European cuisines.
Oladyi are small thick pancakes or fritters common in Russian and Ukrainian cuisines. The batter for oladyi is made from wheat or buckwheat flour, eggs, milk, salt, and sugar with yeast or baking soda. The batter may also contain kefir, soured milk or yoghurt. Oladyi may also include various additions, such as apple or raisins.
Zefir is a type of soft confectionery made by whipping fruit and berry purée with sugar and egg whites with subsequent addition of a gelling agent like pectin, carrageenan, agar, or gelatine. It is produced in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The name given after the Greek god of the light west wind Zephyr symbolizes its delicate airy consistency.
Vinegret or Russian vinaigrette is a salad in Russian cuisine which is also popular in other post-Soviet states. This type of food includes diced cooked vegetables, chopped onions, as well as sauerkraut and/or brined pickles. Other ingredients, such as green peas or beans, are sometimes also added. The naming comes from vinaigrette, which is used as a dressing. However, in spite of the name, vinegar is often omitted in modern cooking, and sunflower or other vegetable oil is just used. Some cooks add the brine from the pickled cucumbers or sauerkraut.
Pickle soup is a style of soup prepared with various types of pickled vegetables. Dill pickle soup is a variety of pickle soup prepared with pickled cucumber. Some versions use grated dill pickle in their preparation. Some restaurants in the United States offer the dish to their patrons, such as Polish grocery stores and restaurants in Chicago's south side.
Ryazhenka, or ryazhanka, is a traditional fermented milk product in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. It is made from baked milk by lactic acid fermentation.
Peremech is an individual-sized fried dough pastry common for Volga Tatar and Bashkir cuisines. It is made from unleavened or leavened dough and usually filled with ground meat and chopped onion. Originally, finely chopped pre-cooked meat was used as a filling, but later raw ground meat became more common. Alternatively, peremech can be filled with potato or quark.
Bozbash is a traditional meat stew that is popular in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran.
Medivnyk or medovyk іs a Ukrainian honey cake.
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