What is Russian food?

On the surface, the answer is simple: it is the cuisine of the Russian people. The reality, however, is much more complicated. To start with, the population of Russia is anything but homogenous. Even though the majority of Russians are of Slavic roots, there are dozens of smaller ethnic groups within the boundaries of the Russian Federation each with its own culinary tradition. Even among Russians of Slavic origin, the cuisine varies from region to region: Russia is a vast country.

In addition to its internal diversity, until recently, Russia was a part of the Soviet Union, an empire that included fourteen additional republics that are now independent counties. Each of those republics –Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries as well as Baltic states enjoyed their own distinct languages, cultures, and cuisines. On top of that, regional culinary differences existed within each of those countries. The list could be endless. Jewish cuisine existed as a distinct entity in both the European and Asian parts of the USSR for a very long time and many of its dishes became a part of, or at least influenced the mainstream “Russian” food, often unbeknown to its connoisseurs.

 While diverse culinary traditions of the peoples of the former USSR strongly influenced each other for decades with many dishes enjoyed across regional borders, emigration to the United States and other countries created a true melting pot of cuisines. Most ex-Soviets living in the West speak Russian even if their native language is different, and in the minds of outsiders they are all lumped together in one category of “Russians.” Immigrants from the former USSR often live in the same neighborhoods where the so-called Russian stores offer items from many ethnic and regional cuisines that end up simply called “Russian food.”

 As a result, Russian cuisine, particularly in its broader definition enhanced by the multitude of ethnic traditions of the former Soviet Union offers variety unsurpassed by any ethnic cuisine. We are talking about true diversity of ingredients, their combinations, cooking techniques, and the appearance of the final product and not simply changing an ingredient or two just to be able to give a dish a different name. No offense to Italian, Indian, Mexican, or any other cuisine aficionados, but it is hard to beat the combined strength of dozens in not hundreds of culinary traditions!

 Unfortunately, whether due to historic circumstances or cultural stereotypes, Russian food enjoys only a small fraction of the popularity of some other cuisines such as Italian in the English-speaking world. Even a simple recipe or keyword search on the Internet can attest to that. The only exception to this pattern of popularity contest lost to other cuisines can be found in the neighborhoods surrounding Russian food stores and restaurants. In those areas, people of all backgrounds enjoy the vast richness of the culinary culture of the peoples of the former USSR.

RussianRecipeBook.com is therefore on a mission to promote the greatness of Russian food to the rest of the world. While there are plenty of Russian-language recipe sites with hundreds and thousands of recipes, English-language Russian recipe sites are much fewer in numbers. We would like to see the popularity of Russian (in the broader sense) food grow in the United States and other countries because quite frankly, people are missing out on a great experience.

 In carrying out its educational mission, Russian Recipe Book focuses on the following principles:

 Detail

We are growing our recipe database slowly but we strive to offer the best experience for those interested in trying our recipes. We provide detailed instructions, cooking tips along the way, and do our best to include a photo of the actual dish or at least one that would give a very good idea of what the final results should look like.

 Quality

We do our best to ensure the recipes we offer actually work. This is particularly important for baked goods. There are, however, too many variables to guarantee spectacular results to everyone.  Having basic cooking/baking skills and paying attention to instructions will increase your chance of success.

 Authenticity

This is a controversial subject. Everyone cooks differently; after all, meal preparation is a creative process. So nobody, be that a professional chef or a home cook, should claim to possess the only “correct” recipe or a way of making a dish. That said, we do our best to be in line with naming conventions, overall recipe formula, as well as the appearance of the “traditional” dishes, particularly the more common ones. We verify those facts using cookbooks of the Soviet, post-Soviet, and even sometimes pre-Soviet era that are commonly accepted as authority sources.

 Who is this site for?

With its detailed instructions and ingredients listed as absolute quantities rather than just ratios, RussianRecipeBook.com is primarily aimed at home cooks. We would be delighted, however, if a professional chef took interest in our recipes and offered Russian dishes to his or her customers. As we stated earlier, our goal is to increase the popularity of Russian food, so feel free to email us with any questions or requests for specific recipes not yet published on our site. We’ll be happy to help!

Thank you for your interest in Russian food and our site. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay in touch and receive occasional updates when we publish new recipes and articles about food and cooking!

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