Must-Eat Foods From Eastern Europe

Like other cuisines, Eastern European cuisine is just one of the many. The cuisine is influenced by traditions from Central Asia, East Asia, and Siberia which prioritizes food safety. I’ll talk about some foods I love in the following guide, starting with the ones I like the most.

Borscht Soup

Borscht is a very famous soup that is eaten in Ukraine and Russia. Beet soup is one of my favorite dishes to eat in winter in Ukraine. It is made from potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, and tomato.

Okroshka Soup

Okroshka is a typical summer soup, which is usually eaten cold. The soup also contains vegetables – usually cucumbers and spring flowers – mixed with sausages and hard-boiled eggs, all cut into small cubes.

Pirozhki

Pirozhki are a quick meal or snack. They are rolls filled with various ingredients, such as cabbage, poultry, fish, liver, mushrooms, or combinations of vegetables and meat. They can be fried or grilled and served hot or warm. I like to eat pirozhki with tea or coffee on days when I can’t have my usual breakfast. My favorite fillings are cabbage and meat.

Salat Olivye

This salad is one of the traditional dishes prepared during New Year celebrations in Russia and Ukraine. The ingredients are boiled potatoes, carrots, eggs, and meat. All are mixed with salt and pepper.

Blini

Blini are wrapped sausages that can be either sour or sweet. Sweet fillings include apples, bananas, or strawberries. You often see blini advertised as street food.

Pickled Vegetables

In Russia, there is a long tradition of pickling summer fruits in saltwater so they can be eaten during the cold winter season. I like to eat pickled vegetables as a side dish – they still taste great.

Shashlik

Shashlik is fried meat skewers. They are usually made in the summer as part of the traditional seasonal ritual of going to the forest with family and friends for picnics and shashlik.