Gala’s Russian Food Glossary – P R S T U
The cooking glossary includes Russian food, cooking terms, ingredients, dishes and our people culinary preferences. The glossary includes photos and pronunciation dishes and ingredients in Russian. The idea to add pronunciation of Russian words to my glossary told my American friend and I hope, it is going to help people. I will continue to add new words and descriptions to my glossary.
Паштет ( Pashtet ) – a type of food in paste consistency. Serve on bread. In French cuisine known as pate and should contain liver. However, in Russian cuisine pashtet does not necessarily contain liver. Pashtet can be made from fish, chicken meat, wild game, mushrooms and much more.
Печень трески ( Pechen Treski ) – cod liver. Canned cod liver is a common ingredient in many Russian dishes. We make salads, use as a spread, and make stuffed eggs with it. Beneficial for health. Available in most Russian stores in the USA.
Пельмени ( Pelmeni ) – Russian dumplings with ground meat filling. Can be made with mushrooms, fish, and different meats. The most common recipe mixed pork with beef.
Read more 〉 Siberian Pelmeni and Russian Beliefs
Пирог ( Pirog ) – a baked case of dough with different fillings. It can be sweet or savory, and different shapes and sizes. In Russian cuisine, it is baked or fried goods. We have a variety of pies called Kurnik, rastegai, vatrushki, coulibiac and others.
Пирожки ( Piroshki ) – a small version of pirog. We make pirozki baked and fried. Pirozki We make with sweet and savory fillings. Pirozki can be stuffed with berries, meat, vegetables, mushrooms and more. Dought can be different too. For example, we make dough with yeast or kefir.
Пломбир ( Plombir Ice cream ) – rich ice cream made from real cream and eggs. Ice cream is named after the French city of Plombières because this city was famous for extravagant frozen desserts since the late 18th century and the original recipe came from this city. The Russian version of the ice cream was changed from the original French recipe. Plombir ice cream contains butterfat 15%-20% and sugar 15%. Delicious ice cream! Available at stores in Russia.
Похлёбка ( Pochlebka Soup )– a vegetable soup based on one main vegetable. Example, potato pochlebka. However, very common you can see on the menu at Russian restaurants meat pochlebka or chicken pochlebka. In some Russian families, pochlebka is called basic soup.
Пряник ( Pryanik )– Russian gingerbread made from flour and honey, usually has inside berry jam. It has a unique taste! The most famous is the city of Tula pryanik. We have museums of the history of pryanik at Moscow, Tula and other cities. So many customs and traditions related to this very interesting Russian culinary creation. Tula prianik available in some Russian stores in the USA.
Пшено ( Psheno ) – millet grain. Mostly used to make kasha in pumpkin or squash. If you blanch in boiling water before cooking, it improves the taste of the product. A very common combination of millet porridge, cooked with or without pumpkin.
Птичье Молоко ( Birds milk candy or cake) – covered with chocolate and flavored with different flavors of souffle (chocolate, lemon, vanilla…) can be candy or can be cake. Named from a Russian fairy tale. Bird’s Milk means something rare. Recommend trying, very good candies from most companies. Candies and cake are available at Russian stores in the USA.
R
Раковое масло ( Rakovoe maslo) – Crayfish butter is an infusion from crayfish shells for flavoring dishes. Shells have more flavor than crayfish meat. Crayfish butter is well known in classic Russian cuisine.
Расольник ( Rasolnik Soup ) – the soup includes pickles, juice from pickles, and barley. It can be meat, fish, mushroom, or vegetable rassolnik.
Ряженка ( Riazenka ) – a dairy product made from melted milk by adding sour cream. Consistency is like yogurt. Available at stores in Russia.
S
Сало ( Salo ) – cured pork lard or pork belly. Most commonly salted or brined. Salo is not only eaten as is usually with potatoes or bread, we use it in many dishes for flavoring and frying potatoes.
Самовар ( Samovar ) – Russian metal beverage jug to heat water to drink tea. An electric version is more popular these days. Originally it was heated from inside by wood and on top placed small cattle to keep the tea warm.
Селедка ( Seledka )– herring. A very popular fish usually sold pickled or seldom smoked. We often eat pickled herring as a cold appetizer with a little vegetable oil, acid, and slices of onion or green onion. A very popular salad called “Herring under a coat” is served mostly on Holidays. The salad is herring layered with chopped (I like shredded) cooked vegetables and cooked eggs. Each layer is covered with mayonnaise. Garnish with ingredients included in salad and green onion or parsley (dill). Pickled herring is available at Russian stores in the USA.
Щавель ( Shavel ) – Sorrel. A very common plant in Russian gardens. Has a slightly pleasant sour taste. Can be eaten as is. Use in soups.
Щи ( Shchi Soup )– Russian soup with cabbage or sauerkraut (depends on the season) with a wheat flour roux. Shchi can be made with meat, fish or mushrooms.
Сметана ( Smetana ) – Russian sour cream. Very popular in Russian cuisine ingredient. We add to some soups, and dishes, use in baking, making sauces use in baking, and much more!
Солянка ( Solyanka Soup ) – Russian soup, mostly included in restaurant menus rather than at home cooking, because of the many ingredients. Very rich in flavors and thick consistency soup. Ingredients are very rich stock, tomato paste, pickles or pickled mushrooms, and a variety of different meat or fish. Garnished with sour cream (for meat), olives, fresh parsley(dill), and lemon without the peel. Solyanka can be meat, mushroom or fish. Very interesting soup to try, if you are going to travel to Russia.
Строганина ( Stroganina )- Russian sashimi raw fish dish more known in the North of the country.
Сушки ( Sushki) – Russian traditional small 2″-3″ in diameter bread in the shape of rings, crunchy and slightly sweet. Very good with tea. Suski is very often garnished with poppy seeds. Very good for long storage. Before baking, they are boiled in water. Available at Russian stores in the USA.
*Baranka is the same just slightly softer than Sushka.
Суп ( Sup ) – soup. Traditionally we eat soup every day for lunch.
On the photo recipe 〉 Russian Beef Meatball Soup With Chickpeas
Сырники Syrniki (tvorozniki) – small pancakes made from tvorog (farmer cheese) and fried in a small amount of oil. Serve with sour cream, and sweet sauces, and garnish with sugar powder. Сommon Russian breakfast dish.
T
Тархун ( Tarkhun) – a carbonated drink, one of the popular soft beverages in Russia, named after the tarragon plant. A unique flavor. Something slightly close to lemon spearmint.
Tongue beef or calve ( Язык ) – delicacy and includes in some restaurant menus in Russia. Serves mostly as a cold appetizer- smoked, cooked, and served with horseradish sauce, in aspic, includes as an ingredient in salads or just part of a meat platter. The tongue is tricky to cook, and needs little experience because if we overcook it, the tongue has a soapy taste.
Check how I cook beef tongue (very important don’t overcook it!) ⇒ How I Cook Beef Tongue Russian Style
Топлёное молоко ( Toplionoe Moloko )– melted milk. Milk bake for hours in an oven. A very popular beverage in Russia. It has beige color and a very nice pleasant taste, good to add to coffee or tea. Use to make other dairy products (riazenka and varenez), cookies, candies, and other baked goods and desserts. Available at stores in Russia.
Творог ( Tvorog ) – in the USA, it is called farmer cheese. We make so many dishes with tvorog – vatrushki, vareniki, pasha, sweet spreads, and use it in desserts. We eat as is with honey, sweet sauces, fruits, and berries.
U
Уха ( Ucha) – Russian fish soup. The meaning of dish ucha changed in 2 centuries, the word ucha meant any broth and now only means fish soup. ( Dictionary V. E. Dal )
