March 02, 2000

Mealtime in Russia


Mealtime in Russia

As in many cultures, the kitchen is the favorite or central spot of the home. Russia is not different. It is where families gather for meals, friends get together to chat over a cup of tea and welcomed guests feel the warmth of Russian hospitality.

Depending on where you are from, we refer to the three meals of the day differently. To most Americans, these are breakfast, lunch and dinner or supper. Russians start the day with breakfast or zavtrak. It is a hearty meal, unlike most Americans who either skip breakfast or just grab a quick bagel. A Russian breakfast will include a protein such as eggs, sausage, cold cuts and cheese. This is accompanied by bread and butter with tea or coffee. Hot cereals are particularly popular with mothers. Yes, Russian children get their first shot of energy from a hot bowl of oatmeal, just as most of us did! Cold, boxed cereal was introduced to Russia in the early 1990's and is, generally speaking, found only in speciality stores.

Russians don't have a meal called lunch. In fact, this was a generally not understood term until the early 1990's. The second meal of the Russian day is taken about around 1 o'clock p.m. and is called obyed or dinner. This is the main meal of the day. Appetizers, or zakuski, highlight this meal. One can easily make the mistake of making a meal out of a selection from such delights as caviar {ikra}, pickles, smoked fish and various combinations of vegetables. Soup, or pyervoe, is a part of dinner along with the main course of meat or fish, vtoroye. The main dish is usually accompanied by a starch; potatoes, rice, noodles; and vegetables ; fresh or marinated. Finally, there is dessert! Tretye might be cake, stewed fruit or chocolates.

The evening meal is served around 7:00 p.m. or later. It is supper or uzhin. It is similar to dinner but without the soup and, often, dessert. One notable exception is, in the agricultural regions, field workers take their soup with supper and not with dinner.

Children and the elderly enjoy a mid-afternoon nap followed by a snack. Everyone, young and old, enjoys a nice cup of tea. It is the most common breakfast beverage. Orange juice is not a breakfast staple in Russia. Water or soft drinks may be served with dinner or supper. Americans would find it unusual to drink their cola at room temperature. Coffee and tea are offered at the end of these two meals. Of course, festive occasions and celebrations mean the presence of wine, vodka or cognac!

Traditional Russia cuisine is a delight to see and to eat. Popular and best known dishes include caviar {fish eggs}, served with beet soup or borshch, pancakes or bliny and, my favorite, beef stroganoff. The latter was actually created by a French chef for the Russian, Count Stroganov. What do you do if you have unexpected company? Serve up a spread of bliny, caviar, herring, sour cream, jams and a bit of vodka, of course!

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955