Belarusian cuisine

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Traditional potato dish babka

The Belarusian cuisine based on meat and various kinds of vegetables, like other cuisines of the countries of Eastern and Northern Europe.

Origin of Belarusian cuisine

The food culture developed differently in different regions and among different population groups in the country.

The different beliefs ( Orthodox-Christian among the small farmers, Union among the small nobility and Catholicism among the court nobility) led to an inconsistent development of the art of cooking. The influence of Jewish cuisine on the development of Belarusian cuisine should not be underestimated either.

Special features of the ingredients

vegetables

Draniki

In Belarusian cuisine you will mainly find cabbage , peas , beans , carrots and potatoes . In this point the Belarusian cuisine is closely related to the other East Slavic cuisines.

The potato was introduced to Belarus 75–90 years earlier than Russia . Starch- rich potato varieties that grow in Belarus are particularly popular . The most famous national dish is Draniki , a kind of potato pancake .

milk

There are no dairy foods in the strict sense of the word in Belarusian cuisine. However, many dishes are prepared with curd cheese , sour cream , whey or butter .

yeast

Yeast has long been unknown in Belarusian cuisine. This has led to a special shape of round pancakes, the bliny . Here, latching China , a self-acidified mixture of flour and water is used.

To this day, pastries are mostly baked with baking powder and not with yeast.

Flour

In Belarusian cuisine, mostly dark types of flour (oat, rye, barley, buckwheat and pea flour) are used. Bread is made from rye flour, dough and baked goods from oat flour. However, a look at Belarusian recipes shows that wheat flour has now also become established.

Mushrooms

In contrast to Russian cuisine, mushrooms are not fried, but boiled or steamed. They are served as a side dish and not eaten as a separate dish. Marinating and pickling mushrooms, a very popular method of preparation in other East Slavic kitchens, was unknown for a long time. It is popular to prepare vegetable and meat dishes with a powder made from dried mushrooms.

Fish and crabs

Belarus does not have access to the sea. That is why river fish and crabs are mainly used. The fish is usually baked whole (and often with scales) or formed into dumplings as a mince. Fish is usually not fried.

fruit

In Belarusian cuisine, native forest berries, apples and pears play a major role. Dishes are usually made using only one type of fruit.

beverages

In addition to alcoholic beverages such as vodka and beer , drinks such as kvass or compote are also very popular. Kvass is made from bread or cereals , while compote is made from fruits that are cooked in sugar water.

Desserts

A Belarusian specialty is syrok, a chocolate-coated curd bar. Syrok is produced in different regions, but the best known is Syrok from the city of Valozhyn in the Minsk region.

Special features of the preparation

The Russian oven is widely used in Belarusian cuisine.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Pochljobkin, WW: National cuisines. The culinary art of the Soviet peoples . Moscow / Leipzig 1984, pp. 80-96
  2. ↑ http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/cuisine/draniki
  3. ↑ http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/cuisine/drinks

literature

  • Belarusian cuisine . Leipzig 1984
  • Wladimir and Olga Kaminer: Kitchen totalitarian. The cookbook of socialism. 2006, pp. 33-45. ISBN 3-442-54610-9
  • Alexander Bely: The Belarusian Cookbook (English) Hippocrene Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7818-1209-2

Web links

Commons : Cuisine of Belarus  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files