Russia may be one of the largest countries in the world, but its cuisine is relatively under-represented on the global food scene. Western perceptions of it are tied up in the country’s Soviet history, including the time post-revolution Russia governed 15 republics (such as Ukraine, Armenia, Latvia and Lithuania). Naturally, what came to be emblematic of ‘Russian’ food was in fact a hodgepodge of ethnic, cultural and regional flavours and influences.
But in 2018 (and in front of a global audience for this year’s FIFA World Cup), Russian cuisine is making its mark. Innovative, Michelin-starred chefs are now just as at home in Moscow as they are in Barcelona, Paris and New York, while a thriving street-market culture is putting Russia’s particular brand of comfort snack foods on the map.
With the World Cup kicking off in Russia last week, we turn to the vendors peddling traditional street food to hungry soccer fans flocking to cities such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Saransk and Kaliningrad. If Russian street food was once a culinary mystery, consider it unravelled.
Chebureki
Part empanada, part apple turnover (minus the apple), chebureki are simple deep-fried, crescent-shaped pastries filled with minced meat, spices, cheese and vegetables. It sounds humble, but don’t underestimate these punchy pockets – they can be as big as a dinner plate.
Kolobok
Taking their name and shape from a creature in a Russian fairytale, kolobok are small spherical pasty puffs, perfect for snacking on during a soccer game. Usually made from flour, water and butter, some vendors add blends of meat and spices to their kolobok for an extra kick.
Pacat
Stop by the city of Saransk for a soccer game, and you may well spy street vendors pumping out plate after plate of pacat, pachi or Mordovian pancakes. Popularised by the Saransk restaurant Mordovian Farmstead, pacat are made with millet flour, milk and yeast – the dough is boiled into a porridge and then pan-fried, often served as a dessert with jam or honey.
Baked potatoes
Not even Russia can resist the ubiquity of the baked potato. The popular fast food chain Kroshka-Kartoshka is the place to carbo-load on giant baked potatoes with a variety of fillings, like cheese, salmon, dill, meat and vegetables and – of course – butter.
Ponchiki
What could be better than watching a soccer game with a traditional St Petersburg doughnut in hand? Ponchiki are sweet dough balls, fried and served out of a paper cone with a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your perspective) dusting of icing sugar. Retro carnival-snack sensibility aside, we suspect it’ll be hard to stop at one serving of this popular dessert (also known as pyshki in St Petersburg).
Öçpoçmaq
A staple of Tatar cuisine, these triangle-shaped pastries are chock-full of beef mince, onion and potatoes and served crispy and golden alongside a cup of tea or some broth.
Pirozhki
These bite-sized savoury pastries are typically stuffed with a meat filling and then deep-fried until golden brown, but the recipe differs slightly depending on who you’re asking. Stuffed with meat, rice, mushrooms or cabbage – no two mini-pies are exactly alike. The best part? Each one will set you back about 25 rubles, the equivalent of 53 Australian cents.
Goryachaya kukuruza
Hot corncobs are the antidote to the "too much fried dough" feeling you get from other Russian street food. Taking cues from American and Mexican traditions, vendors set up shop in Moscow parks and tempt passersby with the smell of boiled sweet corn, smothered in butter and salt.
Perepechi
Originally hailing from Udmurt republic in the Volga Federal District, these cupcake-style savoury snacks gained traction in 2012, when Eurovision contestants Buranovo Babushkas showed them off to Russia and the rest of the world. In 2018, perepechi are found in all good bakeries (Emeliny Pechi bakery, for example), made with rye flour, cabbage, meat, onions, mushrooms, potatoes and eggs.
Bublik
Bublik is Ukraine’s answer to an American bagel, only denser and slightly sweeter thanks to the milk, butter and eggwhite recipe. Stroll through a street food market in Russia to find bublik hanging up by their holes (bigger than those in your average bagel) in sets of 12.
Fancy a drink?
Russia is famous for vodka, but the potato-based spirit isn’t the only field-side beverage available. Try poza, a low-alcohol Mordovian vodka-alternative made from fermented sugar beets. Generally produced in household breweries (quality poza couldn’t possibly be manufactured in a factory), poza is a refreshing taste of Mordovian tradition.
