👉 Napoleon is the Russian version of the French mille-feuille and one of the most popular cakes on New Year and birthday tables across the former Soviet Union. Eight or more crisp, flaky pastry layers are stacked with silky vanilla custard and left overnight until the cake becomes soft and…
👉 Chicken Kiev (often spelled Chicken Kyiv) is a crispy breaded chicken breast hiding a core of cold herb butter that bursts out when you cut into it. The idea came from French cooking in the Russian Empire, where it was known as “côtelette de volaille”, and the name Kiev…
👉 Beef Stroganoff is the most famous Russian dish outside Russia: tender strips of beef quickly seared, then folded into a silky sauce of onion, mushrooms, mustard and sour cream. It is named after the noble Stroganov family of St Petersburg, and the earliest known recipe appears in Elena Molokhovets’s…
👉 Pelmeni are Russia’s beloved little meat dumplings: thin, tender dough folded around a juicy filling of beef, pork and onion, boiled in salted water and served with sour cream or butter. They come from Siberia and the Ural region, where families once made hundreds at a time and kept…
👉 Plov (also called osh or palov) is the national dish of Uzbekistan and the heart of every celebration – so important that in 2016 UNESCO added Uzbek palov culture and tradition to its list of intangible cultural heritage. Pieces of lamb are fried in a heavy pot with onions…
👉 Medovik is the famous Russian honey cake: eight or more paper-thin, honey-scented biscuit layers stacked with a tangy sour cream frosting and left overnight until the whole cake turns soft, moist and almost melts in the mouth. A popular story says it was created in the early 1800s by…
👉 Borscht is the deep-red beet soup at the heart of Ukrainian cooking – so important that in 2022 UNESCO added the culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking to its list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Every family has its own version, but the classic is a rich…
👉 Olivier salad is the dish no New Year table in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia or the rest of the former Soviet Union is complete without. Small, even cubes of boiled potato, carrot and egg are mixed with ham or chicken, crunchy pickles, sweet green peas and a creamy mayonnaise dressing.…
👉 Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a savoury Japanese pancake packed with shredded cabbage, cooked on a hot griddle and covered with sweet-savoury sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and seaweed. The name means “grilled as you like it” – you can add pork, shrimp, squid, cheese or anything you have. It is the…
👉 Chirbuli (ჩირბული) is a traditional Georgian breakfast from the Adjara and Guria regions: eggs gently cooked in a thick sauce of fried onions, ripe tomatoes and ground walnuts, finished with garlic and lots of fresh herbs. It is often called the “Georgian shakshuka”, but the walnuts make it richer…
👉 Birria is a rich, spicy stew from the Mexican state of Jalisco, traditionally made with goat and now often with beef. The meat is slowly braised in a sauce of dried chiles and spices until it falls apart. For birria tacos (or quesabirria with cheese), tortillas are dipped in…
👉 Chicken tabaka (წიწილა ტაბაკა, tsitsila tabaka) is one of Georgia’s most famous dishes: a young chicken flattened, pressed under a heavy weight and fried in butter until the skin is deep golden and crackling. It is served with a sharp raw garlic sauce and tangy tkemali. The name comes…
