ZAVTRAK - BREAKFAST
This is usually a quick meal in the working week. Parents are
likely to have an open sandwich with cheese, ham or salami with a cup
of tea. The children tend to eat a cooked meal that consists of a
boiled egg, omlette or kasha is any cooked grain or cereal
(e.g. buckwheat) that is served with milk, sugar and butter.
OBED - DINNER
This is the main meal of the day and is eaten between 1pm and
3pm. Obed starts with a small zakuska (salted herring or some king of salad).
It is followed by soup that is made from a homemade stock. If it is a
chicken soup then a whole chicken will be put into the pot, if it is
meat soup than a chunk of beef is simmered for two to four hours with
vegetables, and is eaten with fresh vegetables, dried peas or beans,
pats, rice or barley. The favorite soups are cabbage soup, Shchi, and
Ukrainian beetroot soup, Borshch.
After soup the main course follows. Fish is a popular food and
Russians prefer freshwater fish like carp and pike. If meat stews are
eaten then they have flavourings of wild mushroom, pickled cucumber
or smetana (sourcream). Cabbage leaves, Golubtsy, are stuffed with meat and rice in a
tomato sauce. Sosiski arefrankfurter-type sausages and are also very popular.
Meatball dishes are Kotleti, Bitochki, and Tefteli. The main course is served with
potatoes, pasta, cereal, salt cucumbers, and are always served with
bread.
Obed is finished with either coffee, tea, kompot (stewed fruit)
or kisel (fruit juice thickened with cornflour).
POLDNIK - SNACK
This meal is mostly for children and is eaten in the mid-afternoon. It could be a sandwich, fruits,
tvorog (cottage cheese), milk and bread.
UZHIN - SUPPER
This meal is eaten with the family around the table and news is
exchanged. Soup can be served again and the main course can be from
vegetables like potato cakes with mushroom sauce or
tvorog (cottage cheese). Tea or milk follows.
