#buckwheat pancakes with sour cream and caviar

[moviesandfood]

Babettes gæstebud

[classyheartwombat]

“The Unique Food Culture of Russia”

By Lunce Carpio

Russia is known for its vast landscapes, rich history, and diverse traditions. But one of the most intriguing aspects of Russian life is its unique food culture. Russian cuisine, influenced by its geography, climate, and historical ties with various cultures, offers a hearty and comforting culinary experience. Let's dive into the flavors, traditions, and dishes that define Russian food culture.

A Rich History of Influence

Russian cuisine is a reflection of its historical crossroads with Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Over centuries, these influences have blended to create a diverse and complex culinary landscape. The harsh winters and short growing seasons in Russia have also shaped the dishes, making them hearty, filling, and ideal for cold weather.

Staples like rye bread, root vegetables, and hearty grains play a significant role in the cuisine. Historically, the reliance on preserved foods, such as pickled vegetables and smoked fish, helped Russian families survive the long winters. The result is a cuisine that is rich in fermented flavors, comforting soups, and warming stews.

Key Ingredients in Russian Cuisine

Russia's climate has limited the variety of crops that can be grown, so traditional Russian food revolves around a few staple ingredients:

- Potatoes: Used in many forms—boiled, mashed, fried, or in soups—potatoes are central to the Russian diet.

- Beets: Famous for borscht, a beetroot soup that has become a symbol of Eastern European cuisine.

- Cabbage: Frequently used in stews, soups, and as a key component in the popular dish, *sauerkraut* (fermented cabbage).

- Mushrooms: Foraged from the Russian forests, mushrooms are commonly found in many dishes.

- Sour Cream (Smetana): A ubiquitous condiment, often added to soups, salads, and meat dishes.

- Grains: Buckwheat (known as *kasha*), barley, and rye are fundamental in Russian breads and porridge-like dishes.

Traditional Russian Dishes

1. Borscht: A beet soup of Ukrainian origin but widely adopted in Russia, borscht can be served hot or cold. It’s a bright red soup made with beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, and often accompanied by sour cream. Its hearty ingredients make it a staple comfort food during colder months.

2. Pelmeni: These Russian dumplings, filled with minced meat (often pork or beef), are a popular dish served either boiled or fried, typically with butter, vinegar, or sour cream. Pelmeni are perfect for a quick, warming meal.

3. Blini: Russian pancakes that are similar to crepes. They can be served with both savory fillings like smoked salmon, caviar, or mushrooms, or sweet toppings like jam, honey, and sour cream.

4. Shchi: A cabbage soup that has been part of the Russian diet for over a thousand years. It can be made with fresh or fermented cabbage and is usually flavored with various meats, onions, and carrots.

5. Kulebyaka: A traditional Russian pastry filled with salmon, mushrooms, rice, and sometimes hard-boiled eggs. It's a savory pie that dates back to the 18th century and is often served during celebrations.

6. Pirozhki: Small buns stuffed with a variety of fillings such as meat, potatoes, cabbage, or sweet fillings like fruit. They are either baked or fried and are often enjoyed as street food.

7. Kvass: A traditional fermented drink made from rye bread. Although it contains a small amount of alcohol due to fermentation, it's considered a non-alcoholic beverage and is very popular, especially in summer.

(All images from google)

Russian Food Traditions

Russian meals are often centered around family and community. It is common to have large gatherings for meals, where multiple courses are served. A typical Russian meal may begin with appetizers such as pickled vegetables, smoked fish, or caviar, followed by a soup course, and then a hearty main dish.

Hospitality is a deeply ingrained value in Russian culture. Guests are often offered the best foods in the house, and it's considered impolite to refuse food during a meal. This tradition reflects the communal nature of Russian society, where food serves as a way to connect and celebrate with others.

Russian Tea Culture

Tea holds a special place in Russian life, with a history that dates back to the 17th century. Russians often serve tea in a traditional metal urn called a samovar, which keeps water hot for long periods, allowing for a leisurely tea-drinking experience.

Tea is usually accompanied by sweets, such as pryaniki (spiced honey cookies) or sushki (small, crunchy bread rings). Unlike many cultures that serve tea as a light beverage, Russians tend to enjoy strong, dark tea, often sweetened with sugar, jam, or honey.

A Changing Food Culture

While traditional Russian cuisine remains a central part of daily life, globalization and modernization have introduced new foods and trends. Today, many urban Russians enjoy a variety of international cuisines, and health-conscious diets are also becoming more popular. Nevertheless, classic Russian dishes, especially those associated with holidays and family gatherings, continue to be cherished.

Conclusion

Russia’s food culture is a testament to its rich history, vast geography, and unique blend of influences. From the warmth of borscht to the delightful crunch of pirozhki, each dish tells a story of resilience, adaptation, and communal spirit. The love for hearty, comforting food, paired with deep-rooted traditions, makes Russian cuisine both unique and deeply satisfying. Whether you're savoring a simple bowl of soup or celebrating with a feast, the flavors of Russia are sure to leave a lasting impression.

[caviarshah]

how to serve caviar ? | 7 Ways to Eat Caviar

1. Alone: Caviar is often served alone, usually eaten cold, with no other ingredients added. In its own dish, it is usually served on a bed of crushed ice with a pearl spoon, as the metal can alter the taste.

Buy beluga caviar (iranian beluga caviar) online is provided for you, dear customers, by the caviar store caviarshah.com

2. With blini: blini are small Russian pancakes made from buckwheat flour. They serve as a great base to help bring out the flavor of the caviar. Bellinis are usually topped with a small dollop of sour cream or sour cream and then delicately topped with caviar.

3. With toasted bread: thin and crispy slices of bread or toasted bread are used as a substitute for blini. These create a crunchy base that complements the silky texture of the caviar.

4. With scrambled eggs: Caviar and scrambled eggs make a luxurious combination. The creamy and soft texture of the eggs makes the rich and salty flavors of the caviar shine.

5. With Potato Chips: Although unconventional, pairing caviar with low-salt potato chips is a popular choice for a casual yet indulgent experience. Contrasting textures and flavors create a delightful combination.

6. In sushi or sashimi: Caviar can be used as a topping for sushi or sashimi rolls. Its distinctive taste adds a touch of luxury to these delicate Japanese dishes.

7. With seafood: Caviar can be served with other seafood such as oysters, smoked salmon or fried scallops. These combinations provide a combination of textures and flavors that complement each other.

In general, the key to serving caviar is to keep the accompaniments to a minimum and let the delicate, salty flavor of the caviar be the main flavor.

[yorugami]

Food Art Series: Blini + Caviar & Crème Fraîche

Blini is the Russian word for pancakes, it differs from the usual pancakes as it contains buckwheat, which gives it a nutty flavor. Caviar is a delicacy consisting of salt-cured sturgeon roe. Crème Fraîche is a type if soured cream.

[mountainmaster489]

Hi, @reve13​, I promised to tell you about the Russian holidays, I hope it comes in handy and will be fun😉:

1. The very first in the year and the most widely celebrated holiday is the Novyy god (New Year).

It's celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1. New Year holidays (weekends) last from January 1 to January 8. New Year is a secular holiday loved by almost all the inhabitants of the country, regardless of nationality or religion.

According to tradition, a few days before the New Year it is customary to install and decorate the fir-tree, as well as the house. As a rule, when the New Year is celebrated, close people gather at the New Year's table, usually on the evening of December 31 of the outgoing year.

The coming of the new year and the actual beginning of the celebration is marked by the Kremlin Clock striking twelve, i.e. midnight Moscow Time preceded by the New Year Address by President of Russia and followed by the playing of the National Anthem of Russia.

The most popular dishes of the New Year's table in Russia are "Olivier" salad (Russian salad), "Selyodka pod Shuboi" salad (Herring under a fur coat), Kholodets (aspic), caviar, champagne, tangerines, etc. Popular hot dishes include a roasted pig, roasted meat chunks, goose with apples, chicken stuffed with buckwheat and mushrooms, sour cream hare, venison, lamb, whole fish, etc...

Gifts to Russian children and adults are brings by Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost). This is a character of Slavic fairy-tale folklore. In its origins, he is a pagan personification of the forces of nature (winter and frost) and a wizard. Ded Moroz is depicted as an old man in a colored - blue, blue, red or white coat, with a long white beard and a staff in his hand, in felt boots. He rides three horses. Usually comes accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), who helps him. Snegurochka is also a fabulous folk character. At holidays, acts as an intermediary between children and Ded Moroz. Sometimes portrayed as a little girl, sometimes an adolescent. She wears long silver-blue robes and a furry cap or a snowflake-like crown. They can also be accompanied by forest animals.

We also have very popular fireworks. After midnight, it may resemble a small colorful war, hee hee.

2. Christmas in Russia (Russian Orthodox Church), commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated on 7 January in the Gregorian calendar. Christmas is considered a high holiday by the Russian Orthodox Church. On Christmas Eve, 6 January, there are several long services, including the Royal Hours and Vespers combined with the Divine Liturgy. The family will then return home for the traditional Christmas Eve "Holy Supper", which consists of 12 dishes, one to honour each of the Twelve Apostles. Devout families will then return to church for the "всенощная" All Night Vigil. Then again, on Christmas Morning, for the "заутренняя" Divine Liturgy of the Nativity. This holiday is important for religious Orthodox Christians.

3. St. Valentine's Day is a holiday of Catholic origin, which is celebrated on February 14 in many countries of the world. Named after one of two early Christian martyrs with the name Valentine.

Those who celebrate this holiday give their beloved and dear people gifts, flowers, sweets, toys, balloons and special cards (often in the shape of a heart) with verses, love confessions or wishes of love - Valentine. This holiday gained popularity in the 90s in Russia. It is not a public holiday or a day off, but rather widely celebrated by young people.

Сompetition for Valentine's Day is All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness (The Day of Saint Peter and Saint Fevronia). This holiday is celebrated on July 8th. Its symbol is a white daisy. The history of the spouses of Peter and Fevronia is the embodiment of the unquenchable love and loyalty. This date are trying to popularize , because many Russians dislike the foreign Valentine's Day, which is called commercial.

4. Defender of the Fatherland Day (День защитника Отечества) is a holiday observed in Russia on 23 February.

Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrates people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women, both military and civilian personnel), but unofficially, nationally it has also come to include the celebration of men as a whole, and to act as a counterpart of International Women's Day on March 8. Because the majority of men in Russia undergo mandatory short military service.

The holiday is celebrated with parades and processions in honor of veterans, and women also give small gifts to men in their lives, especially husbands (or boyfriends, fiances), fathers, sons and brothers. As a part of the workplace culture, women often give small gifts to their male co-workers. State day off.

5. International Women's Day is celebrated on the 8th of March every year. It appeared as a day of women's solidarity in the struggle for equal rights and emancipation. State day off. The celebration of March 8 in Russia includes the established tradition of giving women flowers and other gifts.

6. Maslenitsa (Мaсленица) is an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday, which has retained a number of elements of Slavic mythology in its ritual, celebrated during the last week before Great Lent, that is, the eighth week before Eastern Orthodox Pascha. The date of Maslenitsa changes every year depending on the date of the celebration of Easter. The traditional attributes of the Maslenitsa celebration are the scarecrow of Maslenitsa (which burn), making visits, sleigh rides, dressing up, bonfires, snowball fights, the capture of the Snow Fortress, festivities. Russians people bake pancakes and tortillas. It is customary to eat them with various fillings and share with friends.

7. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter (Paskha/Пасха) according to the Orthodox calendar, and so it can occur in April or May. Russians celebrate Easter with decorated eggs, special foods, and customs. The day before Easter all churches hold night services and organize religious processions around churches. By that time, kulich, the traditional holiday baking symbolizing the body of Christ, had been already baked and Easter eggs painted. The morning starts from visiting neighbors and giving away Easter eggs. The common phrase you can hear on that day is: "Khristos voskres!" (Christ is risen!), which is to be followed by "Voistinu voskres" (Truly He is risen! This traditional greeting followed by hugging and triple kissing is called "kiss of peace". Christian Easter feast lasts seven days and is called the Holy Week or Sedmitsa.

8. Spring and Labor Day. 1st May Day in its present form arose in the middle of the 19th century in the labor movement, which put forward the introduction of an eight-hour working day as one of the main requirements. In today's Russia, the holiday has lost its original political character. Some political parties and labor unions may have demonstrations on this day, but most Russians use Spring and Labor Day for gardening or spending time with their families. It is also common for people to have picnics or barbecues. Men may give spring flowers, especially tulips and lilacs, to women, and parents may buy balloons and ice-cream to their children to celebrate the end of the cold season in Russia. 1 May is a public holiday.

9. Victory Day. May 9, Russia celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany, while remembering those who died in order to achieve it. On 9 May 1945 (by Moscow time) the German military surrendered to the Soviet Union and the Allies of World War II in Berlin. Victory Day is by far one of the biggest Russian holidays. It commemorates those who died in World War II and pays tribute to survivors and veterans. Flowers and wreaths are laid on wartime graves and special parties and concerts are organized for veterans. In the evening there is a firework display. A huge ground and air military parade, hosted by the President of the Russian Federation, is annually organized in Moscow on Red Square. Similar ground, air and marine parades are organized in several other Russian cities. It’s a public holiday.

10. Russia Day (День России/Den Rossii) National Day, celebrated on 12 June. On this day, in 1991, Russian parliament formally declared Russian sovereignty from the Soviet Union.

11. Unity Day (День народного единства/Denʹ narodnava yedinstva) is a national holiday in Russia held on November 4. It commemorates the popular uprising which expelled Polish–Lithuanian occupation forces from Moscow in November 1612, and more generally the end of the Time of Troubles. The day's name alludes to the idea that all classes of Russian society united to preserve Russian statehood when there was neither a tsar nor a patriarch to guide them.

Celebrations of these days are accompanied by: Flag hoisting, parades, fireworks, award ceremonies, singing patriotic songs and the national anthem, speeches by the President, entertainment and cultural programs.

[harrietgreensladespace]

Food ides for the entree:

different types of blinis, 26/03/18, https://www.google.co.nz/search?safe=active&biw=1280&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=UaO4WuaYMcbK0ASu5I7QDA&q=different+types+of+blinis&oq=different+types+of+blinis&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.59984.65881.0.66035.31.22.0.1.1.0.335.2250.2-3j5.9.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..21.9.2268.0..0i67k1.343.7yeUhH5992w#imgrc=GAqpqtyAQPMs0M: 

Blini entree, 26/03/18, https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=blini+entree&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXpMvPvYnaAhWMG5QKHSagAFYQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=662#imgrc=AD-iU6LeWTNYgM: 

The history of blini: Blini, or pancakes, are thin, flat cakes prepared from batter and cooked on a hot frying pan - first on one side and then flipped to cook on the other side. The origins of this traditional Russian dish, which recently celebrated its thousandth birthday, can be traced back to ancient times. Its ancestor was made from oat jelly; a hungry traveler wishing to warm the composition up on the fire probably got distracted by something very amusing, leaving the jelly to fry and thus creating the first blin. Since then blini have changed, but not dramatically – they are now made not only from oats but also wheat, rye, buckwheat and barley.

The sun on your plate: In pagan times blini were made for Maslenitsa, also known as “Butter Week,” “Pancake Week” or “Cheese Fare Week.” It was – and still is - celebrated during the last week before the Great Lent. Maslenitsa was a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of winter and the coming of spring. It lasted for a week, during which time people tended to eat nothing but pancakes. The blin itself, round and golden, symbolized the sun.Tradition has it that if a woman prepares many tasty pancakes spring and summer would bring a rich harvest, health and success.

Blini traditionally accompanied a person from birth to his very last day – a woman who had just delivered a child was given a pancake that was supposed to bring luck to the newborn and when a person died blini were an absolute must at the funeral feast. Blini are eaten with as many fillings and as one can possibly imagine – mushrooms, meat, wild berries, sour cream, onions and potatoes, fish, honey, condensed milk, jam, caviar, cheese and what not.

Traditions associated with blini: The process of preparing pancakes used to be long and mysterious. First, a good housewife made sponge dough from warm water, yeast and some flour. The mere place where the sponge dough was prepared was of great significance – women set off to lakeshores or the forest’s edge. The first pancakes were put on windowsills for the poor. Griddles on which bliny were made were cast-iron and without a handle. Such griddles were to be used for preparing blini only; no other dish could be cooked on it. Blini didn’t burn on such frying pans, and it was possible to jolt them high into the air while flipping them to the other side. In ancient Russia special races were held, where people had to run while jolting blini.

Blini in books: Nowadays blini remain not only one of the quickest, tastiest and diverse dishes (due to the large variety of fillings), but they are also much written about - and not just in cookery books. Many Russian writers including Chekhov , Pushkin and Gogol have dedicated pages and even stories to blini. They also appear in many poems, songs and proverbs. Over the last thousand years much has changed in the process of cooking blini and many traditions have been linked to Russian pancakes. But one thing remains unaltered – these small, tasty symbols of the sun are still loved and eaten everywhere.

blini background, 26/03/18, https://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/blini/ 

different types of blinis, 26/03/18, https://www.google.co.nz/search?safe=active&biw=1280&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=UaO4WuaYMcbK0ASu5I7QDA&q=different+types+of+blinis&oq=different+types+of+blinis&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.59984.65881.0.66035.31.22.0.1.1.0.335.2250.2-3j5.9.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..21.9.2268.0..0i67k1.343.7yeUhH5992w#imgrc=_gxO1V4wVIa7bM: 

Nutrients in a blini:

Serving Size: 1 serving Amount Per Serving • Calories 66.0 • Total Fat 1.5 g • Saturated Fat 0.4 g • Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g • Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g • Cholesterol 27.1 mg • Sodium 127.1 mg • Potassium 21.6 mg • Total Carbohydrate 10.5 g • Dietary Fiber 1.0 g • Sugars 2.3 g • Protein 2.6 g • Vitamin A 1.6 % • Vitamin B-12 1.1 % • Vitamin B-6 0.8 % • Vitamin C 0.2 % • Vitamin D 3.2 % • Vitamin E 0.2 % • Calcium 3.7 % • Copper 0.7 % • Folate 1.5 % • Iron 1.6 % • Magnesium 0.5 % • Manganese 4.5 % • Niacin 0.6 % • Pantothenic Acid 0.4 % • Phosphorus 2.8 % • Riboflavin 1.7 % • Selenium 4.3 % • Thiamin 0.7 % • Zinc 1.0 %

nutrients in blinis - https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calories.asp?recipe=2265312

26/03/18

[from-russia-with-mixed-feelings]

Hi! For the ambassador ask exchange, I'd like to know about cuisine. Not fancy traditional foods, or special occasion sort of things, but what you and your people eat every day, or at school, etc. Thanks!

Alright!! Thank you for the question :D As soon as I saw it I knew that this was going to turn into me raiding our fridge and taking photos of everything in it. Or, well, everything that was neither a common food pretty much everywhere, like eggs or milk, nor something that was unique to this particular household rather than to all of Russia, like my liquorice and avocados.

Warning: this is a long and image heavy post. My apologies.

First, some raw materials, so to say:

Left to right: Капуста (kapusta) - cabbage is eaten raw, salted, leavened, and as part of various dishes. Творог (tvorog) - quark is a good breakfast food, plain or with honey or jam, also gets used in baking sometimes. Редис (redis) - radish is almost always of the red variety and is almost always eaten raw, sometimes in salads.

There was no свёкла (svyokla) - beetroot in our fridge at the moment, because all of it went into this:

Yup! That’s борщ (borsh’)! (or borsch or borschcht or whatever monstrous way you spell it with Latin alphabet) It’s still a common dish in an average Russian household (mun herself is not a fan tho). The colour is off because I was too lazy to heat it up, but trust me, it is very much red.

The jar is there to prop up the lid, but it’s actually a Russian staple in itself - homemade jam (in this case, black currant) stuffed into a container emptied of its original contents (in this case, pickled suillus mushrooms).

Now for something that no борщ is complete without:

Ah, yes, сметана (smetana) - sour cream! Russians love to eat it with everything, be it meat or soup or dessert, as evidenced by the fact that I found three (3!) packs of it in our fridge. But then again, if you look closely, you can see that all of them are expired, so maybe not so much love after all? Certainly not from me :P Into the trash it goes.

Continuing the weird dairy lineup:

Простокваша (prostokvasha) - soured milk and сгущёнка (sgushyonka) - condensed milk! I wouldn’t touch the former with a ten foot pole, but the latter is the light of my life and the joy of my childhood. Not pictured here but also quite well-liked in Russia - ряженка (ryazhenka) and кефир (kefir).

There’s not much “national identity” in our main courses, so I didn’t bother taking any photos of them. You can expect cutlets, sausages, all kinds of fried meat and fish, with potatoes, macaroni, vegetables and buckwheat as side dishes both in cafeterias and in home cuisine.

Next is kind of a pitiful sight:

Because there’s only one блин (blin, plural form - blini) left D: But you can still see the thickness, or lack of it, more like. You eat these thin holey pancakes by rolling them up with some filling and/or dipping them in something. They’re good with honey, caviar, baked ham and the aforementioned quark, sour cream, jam and condensed milk. Blini are actually super beloved and have an entire holiday based around them; more on that some other time.

And finally, some desserts:

Just some candy and what is probably the most recognisable chocolate in all of Russia - Алёнка (Alyonka).

Almost forgot about this, but... Hey, how many types of plain bread rings made of almost nothing but flour, yeast and water can one culture tolerate as a dessert? Apparently at least three:

Behold! Баранки (baranki), сушки (sushki) and бублики (bubliki) (not actually pictured here, since they have the shortest shelf life and the nearest stores were all out). Their biggest differentiating factors are their size and hardness (from smallest and hardest to largest and softest: sushki, baranki, bubliki), but overall they are very similar and very bland. Still nice to have with tea, which, btw, is the most popular drink in Russia.

Wow, ok, that’s not all I could show, but I think this is quite enough stretching for your poor dashes xD Once again, thank you for the question, and thank you @aphaskevent for organizing this!!

[clamjumper5-blog]

From Russia With Love: How to Make Blini, Two Ways

[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

More

Pancakes

Serious Eats digs into pancakes around the world.

New Year's Eve isn't a lot of fun when you're cooking in restaurants. As with other holidays, restaurants often offer a special prix fixe New Year's Eve menu ("complete with a champagne toast!") to lure diners. Special one-night menus translate to a lot of extra prep and scrambling for cooks who have to prepare dishes they often haven’t seen before. It’s stressful.

Odds are, you'll still be in the kitchen when the clock strikes midnight, and the best-case scenario is that you'll get to raise a deli container of bubbly with your coworkers. But there is one good thing about working on New Year's Eve in a nice restaurant: There will be caviar.

Caviar is the unofficial food of New Year's, which means restaurants are more or less obligated to offer it. I could always count on being able to swipe a few mother-of-pearl spoonfuls throughout service in the name of "quality control." At the end of the night, chefs share what’s left of the open caviar containers, scooping it up with potato chips that someone ran out and got at a bodega.

While I love the combination of potato chips and caviar, most people prefer to pair them with something a little more sophisticated, like Russian blini. Blini are what I want pancakes to be: more savory than sweet, and traditionally imbued with a good amount of tang thanks to a yeasted batter.

In the States, when we think of Russian blini, we commonly associate them with small buckwheat-flour pancakes, to be paired with smoked fish and caviar. Buckwheat blini are served in Russia, but, according to Anya von Bremzen in Please to the Table, you're more likely to find them made with regular flour there, and they're usually much larger than the silver-dollar versions served in Western Europe and in the US. I wanted to explore the blini possibilities, but with the goal of serving those small pancakes we expect with celebratory caviar.

I started down the blini rabbit hole by ordering a bunch of caviar and mixing up batch after batch of savory pancake batters. I made yeasted batters with 100% buckwheat flour and 100% all-purpose flour. I experimented with a 50/50 blend of the two and several ratios in between. Some yeasted batters I made with active dry yeast, others with instant yeast. I made sponges, and I made batters that required multiple proofing stages. I also made blini with no yeast at all. I tried my hand at Thomas Keller’s famous potato blini (which are, unsurprisingly, delicious) and French-style blini that have not only whipped egg whites but also whipped heavy cream folded into the batter right before cooking.

I held tastings in which we tried all these blini, first on their own and then paired with caviar and crème fraîche. The tricky part about making blini with the purpose of serving them as a vehicle for caviar is that you don’t want the flavor of the blini to overpower the expensive salted fish roe that you've shelled out all that money for. At the same time, you don’t want them to be bland and one-note boring. They need to complement the salinity of the caviar, not compete with it.

Tasters agreed that the blini made with only buckwheat flour were too intense, especially when the batter was yeasted. Even when the buckwheat flour was cut with all-purpose, the yeasted versions tasted too sour, as the yeast drowned out the earthy sweetness of the buckwheat. Once I'd eliminated yeast entirely from the batter, using baking powder and baking soda instead, the nuttiness of the buckwheat was able to shine through, and play the perfect foil to the creamy tang of cultured crème fraîche and the briny pop of caviar pearls.

I still wanted to develop a recipe for yeasted blini, so decided to take on a second version. Many traditional recipes for yeasted blini start with making a sponge, a fermented precursor for doughs and batters that's made with yeast, flour, warm liquid (either milk or water), and often a little sugar. After the yeast has had time to do its thing, the sponge is combined with the rest of the blini batter ingredients, and the batter is set aside again for another stage of fermentation.

This double fermentation means that you're spending upwards of three hours on a pancake batter. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, if the payoff is big enough. But, as I mentioned earlier, when you're going all out and having blini and caviar, you want the star of the show to shine.

I decided to experiment with a yeasted batter that eliminated the second fermentation step. And it worked! These blini have just the right amount of tang from the sponge fermentation, and just a hint of sweetness for balance.

Both the buckwheat and the yeasted blini go perfectly with caviar and bubbly. Read on for more on how to make them both.

Start by scalding two cups of whole milk in a small saucepan. Transfer the milk to a large bowl, and let it cool until it registers between 105°F (41°C) and 115°F (46°C)—any hotter, and you risk killing the yeast; any colder, and you'll slow down the yeast's activity.

Add a packet of active dry yeast and one teaspoon of sugar, and let that mixture hang out for a few minutes. You should see the mixture begin to foam and bubble. If you don't, there's a good chance your yeast is dead—go buy some new yeast and start again.

Next, whisk in three-quarters of a cup of all-purpose flour, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and leave the mixture in a warm place until it has roughly doubled in size.

To bring the batter together, I whisk another three-quarters of a cup all-purpose flour into the sponge, along with egg yolks, melted butter, vegetable oil, sugar, and a little salt. Treat the batter as you would a breakfast pancake batter; you don’t want to over-mix it, because gluten development will lead to tough blini. Leave it a little lumpy.

Right before cooking, whisk two egg whites until they hold soft peaks, then gently fold them into the batter.

To cook the blini, heat up a nonstick skillet or electric griddle and brush it with vegetable oil. Traditional blini recipes call for a potato dipped in oil, but as you can see, a paper towel does a much better job of spreading a thin film of oil on a nonstick cooking surface.

Can you use a cast iron skillet instead of a nonstick? Of course you can. But pancakes are one of the few things that I prefer to cook in a nonstick skillet. No matter how well you’ve seasoned your cast iron pan, it really can’t compete when you need to guarantee that nothing will adhere. (Cast iron is also a poor conductor of heat, making it more prone to hot and cold spots and thus more likely to produce unevenly browned pancakes.)

Use a spoon to portion out little silver dollar pancake–sized blini, about two and a half inches in diameter. Because these are yeasted pancakes, you can’t just go by the old rule of flipping them once you see bubbles, because they'll bubble right from the start. When you first drop the batter in the pan, you'll notice that the bubbles on the surface of the blini are reabsorbed into the batter. After a couple of minutes, though, the bubbles will stop collapsing back into the batter and will hold their shape. That’s when you want to flip them, checking first that they're a nice, pale golden brown on the bottom side.

Cook them for a couple minutes on the second side, then get them out of the pan. Wrap them in a clean kitchen towel so that they don’t dry out, and transfer them to a warm oven. Keep cooking and flipping blini until you're out of batter.

The process for making buckwheat blini is a lot simpler. Start by whisking together the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. I settled on a ratio of two parts buckwheat flour to one part all-purpose, which highlights the pleasant, nutty bitterness of buckwheat without making it overpowering.

Because I did away with the yeast in this recipe, I'm using traditional American-breakfast-pancake leavening agents here instead: baking powder and soda.

I then whisk together buttermilk, egg yolks, melted butter, and a little vegetable oil. Buttermilk helps stand in for the tang that's lost without the yeast. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until just combined. Again, you don’t want to over-mix. Lumps are good.

Right before cooking, whisk a couple of egg whites in a bowl until they form stiff peaks. I go for stiff peaks here, instead of the soft peaks we want in the yeasted blini—buckwheat pancakes are denser and struggle to get the same amount of lift as ones made with all-purpose flour alone, so they need all the help they can get. Gently fold the whites into the batter, and you’re good to go.

Cook these the same way as the yeasted blini: a couple minutes per side in a nonstick pan or on an electric griddle.

With the blini squared away, all you have left to do is pop some bottles, get your fish eggs on ice, and prepare some garnishes. Traditional caviar accompaniments include chopped hard-cooked eggs, sliced chives, perfectly minced shallots (check out my guide to serving oysters at home for a primer on shallot-cutting), and crème fraîche.

As for the caviar itself, there are a lot of options out there, and not all of them are as expensive as you might think. During testing, I got the green light to order a selection of different caviars from Browne Trading Company, one of the top seafood purveyors in the Northeast. They sell caviars that range from $40 to $300 per tin.

Of the caviars that we tried, the Prime Osetra was the consensus favorite. Its salinity is restrained, and it has a hint of sweetness, with well-rounded and balanced flavor. If you like your caviar on the saltier side, then spoonbill caviar might be up your alley; a number of tasters liked its briny pop. To be honest, once you spoon caviar on a blin, or a potato chip, it’s all delicious.

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Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/2018/12/how-to-make-blini-and-caviar.html

[lowcarbannie]

🌱Green Blinis 🥞

Do you know blinies? Blinies come from Russia and are traditionally made with yeast dough or traditionally buckwheat flour. 💁🏻Mine are low-carb and sugar-free and their green color comes from spinach. ✨ – Enjoy Annie

Ingredients – Blinies:

2 tbsp. protein powder (neutral)

2 eggs

1 tbsp. organic spelt four

1 tbsp. almond meal

1 handful spinach

A pinch of salt

Ingredients – Blue Cheese Cream

100 g  blue cheese

2 tbsp. sour cream

½ garlic clove

Extra:

1 sm. cooked beetroot

 2 hard-boiled eggs

Caviar for decoration

Preparation:

Put all ingredients in your blender and shake them with a bit of water so the dough gets the consistency that is typical for pancakes.

Bake the blinies in a small pan.

Then put all cream ingredients in a kitchen machine and blend until creamy.

Put half of the cream aside and mix the rest with the beetroot.

Line the blinies with the creams and slices of egg.

Enjoy!!❣

[menubot]

Only $3.00 for BLINI with FRESH BELUGA CAVIAR (Pancakes made of buckwheat flour, served with Sour Cream, Melted Butter, etc.) at Russian Bear? Bargain! http://menus.nypl.org/menus/30478

[toomanyskeletons]

Tell me the favourite foods of three of your ocs

— (i’m not entirely sure if i fucked up the ask, i don’t use tumblr on my computer often)

well for this i suppose the best thing to do here is to pick the favourite foods of my ocs who food actually comes up for, so that would be Ashlee, Linda, and actually i cant think of another, so the DM. 

Another thing to keep in mind here is that where these characters live, there is a sort of food chain dictatorship where there is only one food chain with various subsets, and so food that is not homecooked is fairly limited.

Ashlee has really gourmet taste, and takes food very seriously, so her favourite foods are very fancy and specific and things I, personally, would never lay my tastebuds on. Her favorite foods are filet mignon, which is a really fancy beef steak that is taken from the cow’s ass or something, home cooked gnocchi with tomato paste (the one that has all the bits in it and also weird garlic-y shit), and blini, which is tiny buckwheat pancakes served with other stuff. Ashlee’s favourite is the pancake, sour cream, and caviar. there’s also some green vegetable shit on top but i have no idea what it is so i’m going to pretend i didn’t google it and guess like basil or something.

Linda is a vegan who also takes food very seriously, and likes to orient her diet towards healthy food, but her favourite foods are not particularly healthy. She also tries to stay gluten-free if its possible but gluten-free vegan food isn’t all that easy to cook for, particularly at a friend’s house or restaurant. Linda’s favourite foods are (gluten-free, vegan) ice cream, green smoothie, which is that one where you put all the green vegetables and fruits in, and chocolate chip cookies, which, i have just discovered, does exist in a gluten free vegan form.

I don’t even know about the DM. I know that they have popcorn on hand in their main office, so that’s probably one of them. I imagine they also like snack-y foods? one that is particularly striking me at this moment is florentine biscuits, so that’s another one. and doritos. the cheese ones.

so there’s an essay you definitely did not ask for, but i gave it to you anyway. 

(send me questions about my ocs)

[teacheralexiavega-blog]

Russia food

Russian pancakes

Blini are Russia's version of the thin French crêpe and a staple on most Moscovian menus, typically made with buckwheat for savoury fillings or white flour for sweet toppings. You'll see accompaniments of smoked salmon, creamy mushrooms, sour cream, jams and condensed milk– to name a few– but the high-end, revered combination is a spoonful of red salmon or black sturgeon caviar. Another tasty Russian pancake is the cottage cheese version called syrniki, a denser form of ricotta-pancakes, which are eaten for breakfast or dessert. They're best served with homemade jams made from Russia's large array of berries, although condensed milk, honey and sour cream are also served as condiments.

Grab it from: https://www.expatica.com/ru/about/Top-10-Russian-foods-and-recipes_108678.html

[anujtikku1974]

Refreshing Recipes from Russia: Russian Pancakes

Refreshing Recipes from Russia: Russian Pancakes

Blini are Russia’s version of the thin French crêpe, made with buckwheat for savoury fillings or white flour for sweet toppings. Accompaniments include smoked salmon, creamy mushrooms, sour cream, jams and condensed milk. The savoury version can also include a spoonful of salmon or caviar. Another Russian pancake is the cottage cheese version called Syrniki, a thicker form of ricotta-pancakes…