Belarusian cuisine

Belarusian cuisine(Belarusian:Беларуская кухня,romanized:Biełaruskaja kuchnia) refers to the culinary traditions native toBelarus. It shares many similarities with cuisines of otherEastern,CentralandNortheastern Europeancountries, based predominantly onmeatand variousvegetablestypical for the region.
Belarus cuisine has predominantlySlavicroots. Along with aRuthenianinfluence, it  is also linked withLithuanianandPolishbecause of the long intermingling of these three peoples; first within theGrand Duchy of Lithuania(11th–16th centuries) and later within thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth(16th–17th centuries). Still, some of the borrowed dishes spread throughout the society, such aslazanki(a mixture of flourdumplingsand stewed meat, related to Italianlasagna) and, above all, various dishes made of gratedpotatoes, typical for German cuisine.
The political upheavals of the 20th century completely wiped out the former privileged classes and many traditional upper and middle class dishes went down the path of oblivion. The very idea of a separate Belarusian cuisine was treated with suspicion. Only after World War II did it occur to the communist authorities that the proclaimed ‘flourishing of national culture’ should also be evident in the cuisine. The only source permitted for such a culinary reconstruction was the heritage of the poorest peasants as of the 1880s, a time when primitive rural lifestyle was already on the wane. Chefs were instructed by the Party to create the new Belarusian cuisine from scratch. Dish names, recipes, "authentic" kitchenware – all were reinvented anew, as though ten centuries of history had never existed. Only the sudden advent of independence in 1991 brought an opportunity to restore these lost traditions, and a great deal still remains to be done here.
Modern Belarusian cuisine is still heavily influenced by its recent Soviet past, and many local restaurants feature Russian or Soviet dishes rather than true specialties of local cuisine. However,draniki(both plain and stuffed), boršč, chaładnik, mačanka, zrazy, cold meat rolls, eggs stuffed with mushrooms,hałubcy, fried raw pork sausage andbliniare likely to be found everywhere, as well as sour rye bread.
A traditional peasant or merchant's dinner consisted of just two dishes: soup and a main course. A special kind of pot, the sparysh, with two compartments, was used by farmers' children to bring lunch to their father working in the fields. Prior toWorld War II,saladsor other snacks were not very common, and recipes based on Russian models tended to appear in modern Belarusian postwar cookbooks.Fresh white cheeseand various kinds of cold meats (usually smoked) were available, however, at least on holidays.
Sincewheatdoes not grow well in a cold and wet climate,Belarusianswere always fond of a kind of somewhat sourrye bread, and the most traditional hard drink, the localvodkaorharelka(Belarusian:гарэлка), was distilled primarily from a rye malt.
Like otherSlavic peoples, Belarusians could boast of a huge variety ofbliny(pancakes) of various thickness, plain and filled, made mostly of wheat orbuckwheatflour, but also usingoatmeal(tsadaviki).
Various kinds ofcereal, especiallybarley,oatmealandbuckwheat, were common. Belarus was the likely centre of Europe's buckwheat culture, and dishes made with this healthy grain used to be very popular: various kinds ofbuns,cakesand dumplings which, except for the well-known "kasha", no longer exist today.
The mainvegetableswerecabbage(often made intosauerkraut) andbeets, whileturnips,swedes,parsnipandcarrotsboth stewed and boiled (with the addition of a small amount ofmilk) were somewhat less popular. As elsewhere in Europe,legumeswere the main source ofprotein, mainly in the form of kamy (puree ofpeasorbeanswith melted lard).
The wordsoupwas not known inBelarusuntil the 18th century when the nobility borrowed it from German, but soup as a type of dish clearly existed centuries earlier. The old word for most traditional Belarusian soups waspoliŭka(Belarusian:поліўка), except for those named after the vegetable that was the main ingredient:kapusta(cabbage soup),buraki(beet soup),gryžanka(swede soup). For a typicalpoliŭkathe major ingredients (fishormushroomsduring fasts) were first boiled withspices; cereals such as barley ormilletwere boiled in the stock, and then flour blended with water, breadkvass, beet juice orbuttermilkwas added to the stock. Blackpoliŭka, made withgooseorporkblood, is closely related to theSwedish"black soup"svartsoppa. Offering a matchmaker blackpoliŭkawas the polite way for the bride's parents to decline a young man's proposal. Like the Ukrainians, Russians andPoles, Belarusians are fond ofborscht, a thick and rich beet and cabbage soup made with grains, potato and meat. Soups are much more authentic, both hot (shchi,boršč,sorrel soup) and especially cold sour soups which provide cooling relief during the hot summer.
The Belarusianchaladnik(Belarusian:халаднік), acold borschtmade of beets, beet leaves orsorreland served withsour cream, hard-boiledeggs, and boiled potatoes, has been a popular dish also inPolishandLithuaniancuisines since the late 18th century.
Meat was in rather scarce supply for most people, and was primarily eaten only on the mainChristianholidays. Avid consumers of pork, Belarusians are less partial tomuttonandbeef. Most common was raw porksausage– a pig intestine stuffed with minced or chopped meat seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. Its common name – "finger-stuffed sausage" (Belarusian:каўбаса, «пальцам пханая»or in short пальцоўка) – provided a graphic description of the primitive production technology.Kishkа(Belarusian:кішка), orkryvyanka(Belarusian:крывянка), was a localblood sausage(Belarusian:крывяная каўбаса) made ofpig's blood and buckwheat grain. Škalondza (Belarusian:шкалондза), orkindziuk(Belarusian:кіндзюк), a particular kind of round sausage made of pig stomach filled with pork minced with spices– a relative of the Lithuanianskilandis– was known throughout the country. Borrowed from Italian cuisine by nobility in the 16th century, cold meat rolls,salcesonsandbaleronswere common to all of society by the 19th century, and are still very popular. Smoked goose breastpauguski(Belarusian:паўгускі), a local Belarusian and Lithuanian delicacy, was once the pride of middle-class cuisine, but no longer exists today.
Veraščaka(Belarusian:верашчака), an 18th-century thick meat gravy with pieces of meat and sausage used as a dip or sauce for thick pancakes, is still one of the most popular specialties of Belarusian restaurants today, although it is now generally calledmačanka(Belarusian:мачанка, a dip). Also popular arezrazy, chopped pieces of beef rolled into a sausage shape and filled with vegetable, mushroom, eggs, potato etc. Pork dishes are usually fried or stewed, garnished with cheese or mushrooms. Beef steaks are also quite frequent, but mutton, once very popular, is almost entirely limited to Caucasian or Central Asian restaurants, although still quite a few eat it today.
Kalduny, small boiled dumplings related toRussianpelmeniand Italianravioli, were produced in endless combinations of dough, filling and sauce. Especially popular werekalduny Count Tyshkevich(filled with a mixture of fried local mushrooms and smokedham). In the late 19th century kalduny began to be made with grated potato rather than with a flour-based dough and the former huge variety of fillings shrank considerably.Today, kalduny have to struggle vigorously to regain their former popularity, now overtaken by the Russian pelmeni.
The maindairy foodsinclude a kind offresh white cheese(Belarusian:тварог) andsour cream(Belarusian:смятана), which is widely used both in cooking and as a garnish. Only in the mid-19th century was fermentedcheese(Belarusian:сыр) borrowed from theNetherlandsandSwitzerland, and the local version ofEdamwas very popular for decades in theRussian Empire. Sourbutterfrom the formerDzisna countywas exported to Britain, where it continued to be the most expensive variety up toWorld War I. Today, however, these traditions have become a thing of the past.
The traditional hard drink isvodkaorharelka(Belarusian:гарэлка), including varieties made frombirch sap(biarozavik,Belarusian:бярозавік) or flavored with forestherbs(zubrovka,Belarusian:зуброўка).Meadand similar alcoholic drinks made ofhoneyandspiceswere very common up until the 19th century and then more or less disappeared until the latest  revival of the national cuisine. A notable example in this group iskrambambula(Belarusian:крамбамбуля), vodka diluted with water, mixed with honey, and flavored with spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, red and black pepper). In the 18th century this drink competed with French champagne in Belarus and only wealthy people could afford it. Today it is enjoying a popular revival, as is evident from the appearance ofkrambambularecipes and histories on the Internet.
Kvasstraditionally was and still remains the main local non-alcoholic drink, although it is increasingly made withsugarsand artificial flavorings rather than with genuine rye malt and natural flavorings.Kompotis also a relatively popular beverage, normally made of dried or fresh fruit, boiled, and then cooled. Every small town boasts a local variety ofmineral water. Belarusians prefer carbonated water.
Тraditional liquid desserts that accompany a meal includesaladucha(Belarusian:саладуха), a thick liquid made ofryeflour andhoneythat was popular in the 18th century, andkissel, the traditional jelly drink of Eastern Europe made from the pulp of forest berries or cooked fruits, originally thickened with oatmeal (now replaced bypotato starch flourorcornstarch).
Belarusian cuisine owes much toJewish cooking. In the 19th century, Jewish influence was especially noticeable in bringing in potato dishes of German origin, such asbabka. This was a two-way gastronomic street, for the famousbulbe latkes, the potato pancakes of the East European Jews, may have been borrowed from the Belarusiandraniki.
Another important minority ethnic group which influenced Belarusian cuisine were theLipka Tatars, whoseTatar cuisinewas especially strong in various cakes with fillings, mutton and vegetable dishes.
Belarus is known for farming potatoes just like Ukraine is known for farming wheat. The humble potato became so common in the 19th century that there are more than 300 potato dishes recorded in Belarus and it came to be considered the core ingredient of the national cuisine.Draniki, pancakes made from grated potatoes, are often considered a "signature" national dish.Belarus is regularly ranked as top country for potato consumption per capita, with each Belarusian consuming around 160-180 kg of potatoes yearly.
In theRussian EmpireandSoviet Union, Belarusians were sometimes calledbulbashi, a pejorative conjugation of the Belarusian word for potato.
Typical salads are made of a fairly short list of ingredients, combining boiled beef orchicken, potato, beet, carrot,apple,herring, diced cheese, cannedpeasandcorn, canned fish, ‘crab fingers’,onionsand mushrooms, generously seasoned withmayonnaiseorsunflower oil. One of the most typical local salads is the "Belaya Vezha" salad (named after theBelaya Vezha Forest), which combines boiled chicken meat with friedmushrooms,onions, andpickled cucumbers, mixed with mayonnaise and garnished with choppedhard-boiled egg.Freshvegetablesalads are also widely available:tomatoes(also mixed withcucumbers) and onions seasoned with sour cream;radisheswithdilland sunflower oil (or sour cream); shredded cabbage salad seasoned with sunflower oil or mayonnaise (similar to coleslaw); andpickled cabbagewithcaraway seedsorcranberrieswith onions seasoned with sunflower oil are common.
Historically, Belarusians had little access to seafood, and this is still evident in the cuisine. The most common sea fish (after herring, which has been the most common appetizer all along theBalticcoast and its vicinity ever since the 14th century) arehakeandcodand there are relatively few dishes with such fish. Much more traditional and common are lake fish, notablyzander, cooked in a wide variety of ways, andcarp(especially the famous stuffed carp, thegefilte fishof Jewish cuisine).Eels, smoked or stuffed, are the specialty of the lake country in the northwestern part of Belarus, adjacent toLatviaand Lithuania.
Side dishesare usually boiled, fried ormashed potatoes,buckwheat kasha,riceorpasta. Meat dishes are frequently served with bliny or draniki stacked in round clay pots.