Each country has its own traditions of cooking and national dishes. Russia is mainly a northern country with harsh winters, so food there is the source of energy and warmth. The essential components of Russian cuisine are bread and wheat products, vegetables, dairy produce, meat and fish. Russians usually have three meals a day: breakfast, dinner and supper. Breakfast is a quick meal, as the majority of people are in a hurry for work or school. It may contain a sandwich or two, an omelette, a cup of tea or coffee. Some people eat porridges or cornflakes in the morning. Dinner is a more sufficient meal. It is usually in the afternoon and may contain fresh salad, soup, main course and a glass of compote – stewed fruit drink. Typical Russian soups are shchi, solyanka, rassolnik, ukha. One of the people’s favourites in summer is okroshka – cold soup based on kvas or sour milk. Traditional Russian salads include Olivier and vinegret. Supper is served in the evening, when everybody comes home after work or studies. It is the second largest meal after dinner and it usually consists of the main course and dessert. Russians like meat and fish dishes, such as pelmeni, kotlety, shashlyk. Pelmeni are similar to dumplings with meat. Kotlety are like meatballs with spices. Shashlyk is a marinated meat grilled on a skewer. After nourishing dinner Russian people like to drink hot tea with jam or honey. Sometimes they cook blini or syrniki for the dessert. It is worth mentioning that Russians practice various techniques of preserving food, such as drying mushrooms and herbs, canning fruit and vegetables. Thus, in winter they can have a piece of summer goodies.
