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Pelmeni - Russian dumplings

Vareniki - non-meat dumplings

Kholodets - meat jelly

Syrniki - curd pancake

Blini - Russian flapjacks

Golubtsy - cabbage rolls

National food

Buckwheat as side dish

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Natonal soups

Borscht - famous red soup

Shchi - cabbage soup

Okroshka - soup with kvass

Solyanka - salted soup

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Zefir - light dessert

Varenie - main Russian dessert

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Kvass - Russian drink #1

Kefir - sour milk drink

Mors - berry drink

Kissel - dense drink

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Fast-foods

McDonalds in Russia

Syrniki – Russian curd pancakes named after cheese


Contents

1 Introduction

2 Ingredients and cooking technology

3 How to eat syrniki in a Russian way

4 Interesting about the name “syrnik”

5 There and how to taste syrniki in Moscow

6 How to bring syrniki from Russia back home

7 Syrniki in Russian culture

Introduction

All the pages of our website are created by Russian journalists. We work hard to provide you with a most valuable and actual information. The English language is not native to us, and we misspell sometimes. If you catch sight of a mistake, then please will not throw tomatoes at us, and leave the comment with the description of the mistake. A comment may be left at the end of every page.

Curd appeared in the ancient Russia in the 10th century. Syrniki appeared in the same time. It is a simple, healthy and delicious dish very popular among Russians until nowadays. The first reference can be found in the old Russian text called “Supralskaya manuscript”.

According to the research of the largest Russian national web searching system Yandex, the phrase “Syrniki recipe” is most frequently requested by Russian users of internet among all dishes of all cuisines of the world.

We do not claim syrniki as the most popular dish in Russia; this position is owned by pelmeni. The statistic shows us, that syrniki are very popular as a self-made dish. Many people prefer not to buy it in a supermarket, but to prepare these pancakes at home.

Ingredients and cooking technology

The main ingredient for syrnik is curd, but not every type of curd is suitable. The curd should be dry and crushed. It is possible to cook syrniki from granular curd but the taste will not be good. To show you how the suited curd should look like, we prepared the photo, please find it below.

The technology is simple. You should mix 500 grams of curd, 2 eggs, 100 grams of flour and small amount of salt. This mix should be divided into pieces and fried on a pan with sunflower oil.

Some of cooks claim that original Syrniki should be cooked without flour. According to our experience this is possible, but the taste is little different from classical dish. It is very tasty in any case.

There are two types of syrniki. The first is the sweet type is more popular. In this case one teaspoon of sugar should be added into the mix. The second type is sour. In this case no sugar should be used. Depending on the type, syrniki can play the role of dessert or main dish.

Flour can be replaced with semolina. There are also some recipes without using eggs; thanks to vegetarians for this idea. Anyway, curd is the only necessary ingredient.



Some fillers can be added to recieve the better taste. The most popular filler is raisins. Pieces of apple, pear, dried apricots or carrot are also welcome.

How to eat syrniki in a Russian way

The most widespread way to eat this dish is with sour cream. If you read other articles at our website, you will think we Russians consume every dish with sour cream. It is almost true. Not all the dishes, but many of them - bliny, vareniki, borscht, shchi, and pelmeni.

The second popular way is to eat syrniki with varenye. We call it "the sweetest manner". The third way is to eat this dish with concentrated milk. This manner is "too milky", because curd is made from milk as you remember.

The Genuine Russian syrnik should have a dark brown hard skin have formed while frying. If there is no skin or skin is black, then we will advise to demand the money back.

Syrniki are popular as food for children, because it is a healthy dish. It contains a lot of calcium, that children need to grow. Many kids like to eat the skin separately and after to finish the middle part.

Interesting about the name “syrnik”

The word “syrnik” may be translated as “made of cheese”. It is amazing, because there is no cheese inside, only curd. Why this dish was called like this? 9 of 10 Russians do not know the answer. Read more; we will tell you.

Modern hard cheese came to Russia from France in the 18th century with famous Russian king Peter the Great. The Russian word “syr” now means “cheese”, but before the 18th century it had meant “curd”. Curd had got the new name "tvorog", but all the dishes made of curd still have the old names. “Syrnik”, “syrok” and “syrnaya massa” – all these dishes made of curd but named after cheese.

For example, no changes have happened in Ukranian language; the Ukranian word “sir” means curd and cheese in the same time. In some regions of Russia this dish has another name “tvorojnik”, it translates as “made of curd”.

There and how to taste syrniki in Moscow

You may find it in every restaurant of Russian cuisine. Some national fast-foods may offer you syrniki, but not all the time. Their menu often changes very quickly.

The better idea is to visit a supermarket. The first type you may find there is a frozen type. These syrniki should be fried on a pan, and it is a bad choice for traveller, because you will need to find a kitchen. In the small gallery below you will see how it is looking like and the full cooking process.

There is a division of cooked food in most of the supermarkets in Russia. There you may buy already cooked syrniki. This second kind is convenient for travellers. You may eat it just after paying for it.

How to bring syrniki from Russia back home

You should choose the already cooked type. The storage time is one or two days. You just need to purchase fresh syrniki at the last day before departure, and it will not become waste when you will arrive home. Syrniki is a good idea as the sweet and tasty present for friends and family.

Syrniki in Russian culture

Curd was always a mark of wealthiness and syrniki was food of rich people.

There is a proverb in Russia: “kak syr v masle katalsya”. It translates as “to roll like cheese in butter”. It means - to live without problems and worry. If we tell like this, it does not means somebody is rich, but it means he/she have everything he need without working or doing something.

There is the word “syrnichat” in Russian language, but it very rarely used now. It means to eat without calculating money.

Next fact is very interesting. Curd and syrniki in old Russia had a legal power. We will tell about in details. In old Russia when parents of future wife and husband discussed the details of future marriage, they were eating curd or syrniki. Only in this case the treaty was legal.

Eating curd or syrniki was something like signing contract. This law was written by famed Russian ruler Yaroslav the Wise. He published the first Russian code of laws.

Curd or syrniki was a necessary dish while wedding. It should be offered to all guests.

Today syrniki is a common dish among Russians and it is magnificent.

Let you voyage to Russia be tasty and read our articles (link may be found below and at the left from the main text)



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