BELARUSIAN CUISINE TODAY
he contemporary Belarusian cuisine is eclectic. It has preserved old traditional recipes which are gradually being revived. Meanwhile dishes from other countries are becoming increasingly popular, too.
Today’s restaurants offer modern intake on traditional Belarusian dishes which reflect original ideas of chefs and principles of Grande cuisine, which takes into account the diversity of products and seasonal changes.
You will definitely appreciate such delicious dishes as:
Marinated white mushrooms with vegetable oil, hot potatoes, pieces of toasted wheat bread and leek
Zhur with eggs, smoked meat and sour cream
Cutlets from buckwheat and chopped meat (grechaniki) with sour cream and leek sauce
Draniki with apple and sour-cream sauce
Meat sauce (vereshchaka) with buckwheat pancakes
Bigos (a dish from sour cabbage) with smoked meat, mushrooms and prunes
Pyachisto (large pieces of gammon)
A pear roasted in honey with spices (the recipe of the Radziwill family)
In the 20th century, in the times of the Soviet Union, the Belarusians were widely exposed to the culinary traditions of other countries, like Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia. In those times many West European meat dishes appeared on the menu of Belarusian restaurants and canteens.
The main changes that the Belarusian cuisine underwent in the 20th century were:
wheat flour and dishes from it became very popular (for centuries the Belarusians used mainly rye flour)
salads became quite common.
oday the menu of Belarusian restaurants features dishes of the Belarusian, European, and Asian cuisines, and modern culinary trends (wellness, fusion).
But if you are in Belarus, you must taste the national cuisine, the dishes that can be “Belarusian” only in Belarus.
You will see how delicious, interesting, sometimes even exclusive and unpredictable the Belarusian cuisine is!