Russian food Archives - Chasing the adventure

Sorrel – grass or soup ingredient?

Sorrel is in season. But what is it?

Wikipedia says: “Common sorrel or garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa), often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock. It is a common plant in grassland habitats and is cultivated as a garden herb or salad vegetable (pot herb)”.

Sorrel - ingredient of Russian Green Soup

Sorrel looks something similar to spinach, but the taste is very different. It is extremely sour. Sorrel contains many nutrients. There are a number of vitamins: A, C, K, B1, B2, PP, E. Sorrel is saturated with trace elements. These are iron, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, nickel, sodium, fluorine and zinc.

Spring, Maslenitsa, Blini

Why is Spring associated with blini (Russian-style pancakes) for Russians? Just because in Spring they eat a lot of blini.

Russian pancakes, also known as blini or blinchiki, are really special for people raised in Russia. Blini are a really important part of Russian culture as they are a pearl of Russian cuisine.

Blini are much wider and thinner than American-style pancakes, but not as thin and wide as crepes. It allows you to stuff them with everything you like; such as ground-beef, ham, cheese, and salmon. You also can eat them with caviar, sour cream, jam, chocolate cream, honey, condense milk, berries, or other sweets.