Belarusian Food Dishes You Need to Try

Belarusian cuisine! How many feelings this phrase evokes from anyone who has ever got to know Belarusian national dishes. Juicy, appetizing, nourishing Belarusian food is undoubtedly liked by everyone. Modern Belarusian cookery is based on old national traditions which have undergone a long historical evolution.

Draniki

Draniki, thick pancakes, prepared from shredded potatoes, is the most typical dish found in Belarus cuisine and the most popular. Draniki’s main ingredients are grated potatoes and onions though some recipes also include meat, bacon, mushrooms and cheese. They’re generally served with sour cream.

Sauerkraut

Traditional Belarusian dish of vegetables is sauerkraut (sour cabbage). This popular Belarusian food is finely cut raw cabbage that has been pickled in brine. Chopped cabbage is often pickled together with shredded carrots. The resulting sauerkraut salad is typically served cold, as a side dish.

Pickled mushrooms

The choice Belarusian food are salted and pickled mushrooms. They could be used in salads, pies, as a side dish, as a perfect snack. There are several methods to prepare pickled mushrooms, but two main ways are marinated and salted. Marinated mushrooms are prepared with salt and vinegar (and sometimes with sugar), whereas salted just with salt. Spices may vary, but mostly used are garlic, dill, bay leaf, and black pepper corns.

Pirozhki

Belarusian pirozhki is a small baked or fried pies which consists of individual-sized buns stuffed with a variety of fillings. They commonly contain meat or a vegetable filling (mashed potatoes, mushrooms, onions and egg, or cabbage). Pirozhki could also be stuffed with fish. Sweet-based fillings could include stewed or fresh fruit (apples, cherries, apricots, chopped lemon, etc.), jam, quark or cottage cheese.

 Salo

Salo is a traditional Belarusian food consisting of cured slabs of fatback (rarely pork belly), with or without skin. It is usually dry salt or brine cured. The Slavic word “salo” as applied to this type of food is often translated to English as “bacon” or “lard”. Belarusian salo uses salt, garlic, black pepper and sometimes coriander in curing process. Thinly sliced salo on rye bread rubbed with garlic is a traditional snack in Belarus.

Sausage

Belarusian sausage is a cylindrical meat product usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef, or veal, along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Belarusian sausages are made according to the traditional technology from high-quality meat with addition of natural spices and have a distinctive delicious aroma and taste.

Vinegret

Vinegret is a salad that includes diced cooked vegetables (beetroots, potatoes, carrots), chopped onions, as well as sauerkraut and/or brined pickles. Other ingredients, such as green peas or beans, are sometimes also added. The naming comes from vinaigrette, which is used as a dressing. However, in spite of the name, vinegar is often omitted in modern cooking, and sunflower or other vegetable oil is just used. Some cooks add the brine from the pickled cucumbers or sauerkraut.

 Rye bread

The pride of the national cuisine is a traditional Belarusian bread baked with the use of rye flour. Instead of yeast Belarusians used a special leaven. This is a very healthy product. Belarusian bread is heavier and is a bit sour. In old recipes different additives were used like caraway seeds, linseeds and sunflower seeds. Bread was sometimes baked on the ‘pillow’ made from birch and oak leaves. 

Zefir

Zefir is a type of soft confectionery made by whipping fruit and berry purée (mostly apple puree) with sugar and egg whites with subsequent addition of a gelling agent. Zefir has a pleasant sweet aroma, tastes from sweet to sour and sweet, with a dash of fruit shades. In addition, zefir is very useful product. The composition of raw materials for cooking zefir include pectin and agar, with unique properties.

 Marmalade

Marmalade was prepared by thickening the pulp or juice of various fruits sweet using gelatin, pectin or agar-agar. Marmalade — a delicious and very healthy delicacy that will interest all sweet teeth.

Roll cake

A Swiss roll, roll cake, or cream roll is a type of sponge cake roll filled with whipped cream, jam, or icing. Rolls can be coated with chocolate icing or powdered with icing sugar. A variety of fillings includes pieces of fresh fruits and berries, condensed milk, whipped cream, chocolate, jam. Also, the roll can be decorated with pieces of fruit, berries or cream on top.

 Candies and sweets

Belarus is famous for its variety of sweets. Among the products are chocolate, candies (candies with cranberry, blueberry, blackcurrant, ashberry), chocolate bars, candy sets.  It uses only natural, environmentally friendly raw materials. After all, the assortment is great, the taste is good, and the price is democratic.

 Sugared cranberries

Healthy and organic sugared cranberries are produced according to a patented technology, which makes them really exclusive worldwide. They are sweet and absolutely delicious.

Kvass

Kvass – a drink made on the basis of dry rye bread, sometimes with the addition of beets, fruits and berries. It has a pleasant sour taste and bread flavour. Kvass improves digestion and boosts metabolism. It helps prevent infections and keep the heart and circulatory system healthy.

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