Cossack cuisine

Varenyky is a traditional dish of Cossack cuisine.

Cossack cuisine is the ethnic cuisine of the Cossack people of present-day Ukraine and Russia.

Foods and products

Cossack cuisine reflects the life and culture of the Cossack people.

Main food groups

Many Cossack troops were named after rivers (Amur, Volga, Don, Yenisey, Kuban, Terek, Ussuri, and Yaik), and this connection to rivers has influenced the Cossack diet, which is dominated by an abundance of fish dishes. The Don Cossacks bake carp or bream and prepare soups and stews with fish, such as ukha and kulesh. The Don Cossacks' fish dishes include sturgeon, balyk, Don herring, scherba (ukha), and small fish fried with onions and eggs. They also eat porridges, noodles, bread and pies. Common drinks include uzvar (a sweet, nonalcoholic drink made with dried fruits) and kvass (a low-alcohol grain-based beverage). Stuffed cabbage rolls and aspic are also common. A well-known Don dish is watermelon pickled in brine, which is often used as an appetizer for strong alcoholic drinks.

Desserts

A traditional Cossack dessert is nardek (watermelon honey). It is usually eaten with bursak (bursachki). The influence of oriental cuisine is seen in the use of raisins, which are added to porridge.

Alcohol

Historically, a traditional alcoholic beverage of the Don Cossacks was wine, and winemaking emerged on the Don with the appearance of the first Greek colonies, approximately in the sixth-century B.C.E. The ancient Greek historian Strabo wrote that during his travels, he visited the mouth of the Don, where the vines were covered with earth for the winter to protect them from snow and frost.

However, when the Polovtsians came to the Don region, followed by the Tatar-Mongols, winemaking disappeared. 

Peter the Great had an opportunity to revive viticulture on the Don. In 1697, the tsar ordered the Azov governor, Prozorovsky, "to start vineyards". Soon, wine became the most popular wine of the Don again.

Kuban Cossacks

Kuban Cossacks eat borscht, dumplings, pancakes, and shish kebabs. Goulash is common in the cuisine of the Cossacks of Southern Russia. The most common soups are okroshka and shulum (a thick soup of broth, meat, and potatoes). Meat (pork, poultry) is usually baked in the oven. The round bread (loaf, palyanytsa) is surrounded with honors. They drink kissels, brews, and Iryan, a Cossack variant of ayran from suzma.

Equipment and etiquette

Cossacks use bowls and wooden spoons for cutlery. Cossacks eat three times a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Before eating, they wash and wipe their hands. The eldest at the table usually signals the start of the meal. Often they eat from a common bowl. Drinks are served in pitchers.