The richness of Russian cooking is due to its assimilation of many of the best dishes of foreign cuisine. Even back in the days of Ivan the Terrible, it was trendy to make duck with truffles.
Peter the Great made the steak and schnitzels widely popular. During the rule of Catherine the Great in Russia, there were many French chefs in the nation, who popularized broth in Russian cooking - consommé, various sauces and appetizers.
Russian cuisine not only borrows foreign dishes but enriches the cuisines of other nations. The famous Olivier salad (Russian salad) is actually borrowed from French cooking, hence the French name "Olivier".
Bakery goods are highly esteemed in the Russian kitchen. The celebrated Russian pie, that symbolizes a fruitful plain, can be made with many kinds of filling - meat, fish, vegetable. This is basically a stuffed pie.
In Russia, there is a preference toward many types of pastries, that can be either with a sweet or salty filling. Examples are Russian Pel'menis, chiburekki, pirozhki.
The Russian blin, that is similar to Bulgarian katmi pancakes, is a symbol of the sun. It is served with melted butter and a salty filling. This is a traditional dish for one of the major Russian holidays - Maslenitsa, which celebrates the end of winter.
Russian cuisine is also distinguished by its wide variety of meats. Meals are made from pork, lamb, beef, bird and wild game. An emblematic meat dish is Beef Stroganoff.
The recipe was invented by Count Stroganov's chef, since the count had a hard time chewing meat. Making this specialty is by no means difficult.
You will need beef tenderloin - the amount depends on your needs, a bit of flour, 2 tbsp butter, 1 onion head, salt, black pepper, 2 tbsp of cream, mustard, and 4/5 cup of broth.
The meat is cut into thin and short slices. Dry them and place in a plastic bag. Pour in a few spoonfuls of flour and salt them. Rub them in so that they can be absorbed by the meat.
Pour them out in a strainer and shake until the excess flour falls away. Fry the meat in preheated butter. Once ready, drain and set aside.
For the sauce, dice the onion finely and fry in the same butter. Then add in the fried meat, sprinkle with black pepper and stir.
After a few minutes, pour in the broth that has been blended with the cream and mustard. Boil everything while constantly stirring. After 5 min., remove the dish from the stove, cover and let it sit for 15 min.
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