Hits of simple Soviet recipes that are still very popular today

Russian dressed herring in shuba-coat or Olivier salads are complex dishes that most Soviet and today Russian families make for special events, like New Year's. Back during the Soviet days, there were also simple recipes that people used for their daily meals and as quick-to-make treats for guests.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Biswarup Ganguly, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Fried potatoes

Potatoes, some salt and a frying pan — delicious fried potatoes could help out in cases when there was not a very good selection of products in the fridge. It was simply enough to peel potatoes, cut them into cubes or slice them and fry them in vegetable oil under a lid for about ten minutes. Many preferred to add some onions, garlic to the dish and then sprinkle it on top with parsley and dill.

Pelmeni with vinegar

In today's Russia, few people make the renowned dish at home. Most prefer to buy frozen pelmeni in packages and just boil them for a few minutes before eating. Nowadays, pelmeni are served with sour cream, mayonnaise, ketchup and other sauces. In Soviet times, many preferred to have them with vinegar, perhaps because this dressing was quite cheap and could be easily found in almost every store.

Tinned stew meat with a side dish

Tinned stew meat was one of the most popular products in the Soviet years. Almost every Soviet had tins of stew meat in their kitchen cupboards. People would eat it at home, take it along on hikes, etc. The finished meat was served with various side dishes. For example, one could mix a tin of stewed meat with onions and carrots and add it to rice, pasta, buckwheat, or mashed potatoes.

Fried eggs with sausage

Bologna sausage is still commonly known in Russia as doctor's sausage. A couple of slices of doctor's sausage always makes delicious fried eggs. This is probably one of the most popular breakfast dishes in Russia today.

Sandwiches with smoked cheese

Smoked cheese can be found in any supermarket today. It does not enjoy great popularity today, but during the times of the USSR it was a hit. One could grate a block of smoked cheese and mix it with chopped ingredients whatever was at hand: boiled eggs, onions, garlic, pepper. This paste would then be spread on a slice of bread to make a sandwich.

Details

Soviet cuisine the common cuisine of the Soviet Union, was formed by the integration of the various national cuisines of the Soviet Union, in the course of the formation of the Soviet people. It is characterized by a limited number of ingredients and simplified cooking. This type of cuisine was prevalent in canteens everywhere in the Soviet Union. It became an integral part of household cuisine and was used in parallel with national dishes, particularly in large cities. Generally, Soviet cuisine was shaped by Soviet eating habits and a very limited availability of ingredients in most parts of the USSR. Most dishes were simplifications of French, Russian, Austro-Hungarian cuisines, and cuisines from other Eastern Bloc nations. Caucasian cuisines, particularly Georgian cuisine, contributed as well. To a significant extent it was reflected in and formed by The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, first printed in 1939, following the directions of Anastas Mikoyan.