page_title: Pancake
section_title: Belarus, Russia, Ukraine
hierarchical_section_title: Pancake / Regional varieties / Europe / Belarus, Russia, Ukraine
caption_attribution_description: Cheese blintzes with blackberries.
context_page_description: A pancake is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably the earliest and most widespread cereal food eaten in prehistoric societies.
  The pancake's shape and structure varies worldwide. In England, pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe. In North America, a leavening agent is used creating a thick fluffy pancake. A crêpe is a thin Breton pancake of French origin cooked on one or both sides in a special pan or crepe maker to achieve a lacelike network of fine bubbles. A well-known variation originating from southeast Europe is a palačinke, a thin moist pancake fried on both sides and filled with jam, cream cheese, chocolate, or ground walnuts, but many other fillings—sweet or savoury—can also be used.
  When potato is used as a major portion of the batter, the result is a potato pancake. Commercially prepared pancake mixes are available in some countries.
context_section_description: Eastern-Slavic cuisines have a long tradition of pancake cooking and include a large variety of pancake types. In Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, pancakes may be breakfast food, appetizer, main course, or dessert.
  Blini (Russian: блины) and mlynci (Ukrainian: млинцi) are thin pancakes, somewhat thicker than crêpes, made from wheat or buckwheat flour, butter, eggs, and milk, with yeast added to the batter. Blini/mlynci cooking dates back to pagan traditions and feasts, which are reflected in today's "pancake week" celebrated in the winter before the Great Lent. In pre-Christian times, blini and mlynci were symbolically considered by early Slavic peoples as a symbol of the sun, due to their round form.
  Blintzes (Russian: блинчики blinchiki) are thin crêpes made without yeast. Filled blintzes are also referred to as nalysnyky (Ukrainian: налисники), nalistniki (Russian: налистники) or nalesniki (Russian: налесники). A filling such as jam, fruits, quark, or cottage cheese, potato, cooked ground meat or chicken, and even chopped mushrooms, bean sprouts, cabbage, and onions, is rolled or enveloped into a pre-fried blintz and then the blintz is lightly re-fried, sautéed, or baked.
  Small thick pancakes are called oladyi (Russian: оладьи) or oladky (Ukrainian: оладки). The batter may contain various additions, such as apple and raisins.
caption: Blinchiki filled with cheese and topped with blackberries
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