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Lena Pochetova
Every year, Russians celebrate the New Year with unprecedented scale, spending days, weeks, even months preparing for it. After the holiday, the entire country takes a break. Tables groan with traditional dishes that may seem odd to the untrained eye. The New Year's dinner would lose much of its flavor if it were not imbued with the mixed smells of freshly cut fir trees and the much-loved New Year's dessert - tangerines.
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Olivier. The famous Russian salad "Olivier" or another well-known but less popular "Beetroot salad." "Olivier" is a mixture of finely chopped boiled eggs, sausages and marinated cucumbers, seasoned with the mayonnaise sauce. "Beetroot salad" is composed of kraut, diced boiled beets and white beans. Salads are an essential part of any Russian meal on the eve of Russia's biggest holiday, New Year.
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Red or black caviar. If we consider black sturgeon caviar, then gray or beluga caviar is the more exquisite variety. Caviar is usually served on small, white bread pieces with butter. If caviar is served as a separate dish, the bowl with caviar is placed on chipped ice.
Lena Pochetova
"Herring under fur coat": a layered salad where the herring fillet layer is followed by boiled vegetables (including, incidentally, beetroots) and green apples.
Lena Pochetova
Pickled cucumbers. The most traditional snacks that "go with vodka" - sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers. Grown in Russia's temperate climate, these vegetables have a far more delicious taste than cucumbers or cabbage grown in the gastronomic paradise of the Mediterranean, which might be a piece of news even to the greatest patriots of Russia.
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Fried or baked suckling pig. This is either served with sour cream and horseradish (in classic Russian style), or, stuffed with buckwheat porridge and roasted. A distinctive aftertaste remains when a glass of cold vodka is followed by a piece of hot meat.
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Vinaigrette. Another Russian salad with a French name, "vinaigrette,' or beetroot salad, is also fairly easy to make: the above ingredients are supplemented with boiled beet roots, which is a very common vegetable in Russian cuisine. Naturally enough, it is dressed with vinegar, as follows from its title, and can also contain herring fillets salted with spices.
Lena Pochetova
Russian vegetables and mushrooms are traditionally salted with the help of natural lactic acid fermentation, and are usually called kvashennie, or sour – a major branch of Russian cuisine.
LENA POCHETOVA
Stewed fish, skhara. The recipe is almost universal, from Sochi, to Anapa, to Odessa or any other city on the Black Sea coast.
Lena Pochetova
The jelly from a pig's head, rich beef bones and rooster are especially popular, because the broth creates a rich amber color and a particular taste. The famous Russian root - grated horseradish or mustard? is traditionally served with these various kinds of meat jelly.
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Pies. For Russian, pies are not just for festive occasions, but everyday fare. There are thousands of different recipes, ranging from the most common (chicken, meat, or fish pie) to unique homemade specialties. Such secret recipes are handed down from generation to generation.
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Ducks are plentiful in most parts of European Russia, the autumnal tradition of shooting and hunting wild game has always been popular, and, from both a seasonal and a culinary angle, duck and apples go together like caviar and blini.
LENA POCHETOVA
Champagne. At the midnight open the champagne while the bells chime at the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower and the Russian national anthem plays. The bells ring for one minute, during which you need to open the bottle, pour the champagne, make a wish and clink glasses with your loved ones precisely when the clock strikes 12.
