This is a small selection of eight traditional Russian fast food snacks that you probably won’t find elsewhere, and that’s a big pity, as they could be easily appreciated and enjoyed by people of many other nations.
First – sausage rolls. We realize that these can sometimes be bought elsewhere besides Russia, but still they have not spread worldwide.
Second – cucumber flavoured Sprite drink. Would you dare to try this one? We are still puzzled why they choose cucumber to use as a local Sprite flavour in Russia. Russian people aren’t really fans of cucumbers in any way, if they are not in the form of pickles, of course.
Third – speaking about pickles here we go – pickle flavoured Lays chips. Very Russian, much wow.
Fourth – and speaking of Lays chips, there is one more flavour of those chips worth mentioning. In Russia we have Lays flavoured with porcini mushrooms and sour cream. Why porcini mushrooms and sour cream – because that’s a pretty traditional Russian cuisine.
Five – cold Okroshka soup. The okroshka word is derived from the word “kroshit” which means to chop. They say it’s called that because Russian housewives chopped everything they had left and put it into this soup, mainly fresh veggies, sausages, boiled potatoes, sometimes boiled eggs and all of this is then being drowned in fresh kefir or traditional Russian Kvas drink. Served cold, never boiled.
Sixth – rye bread crackers. These were traditionally made from leftovers of rye sourdough bread – the most popular bread in Russia. When the bread becomes too firm and hard to munch on, they chop it into small pieces like in this pic and put into the oven for a while, then sprinkled it with salt. There it turns into a yummy snack. It’s sold everywhere in Russia in small bags, similar to chips or peanuts in plastic bags. Used by many as a beer snack, too.
Seventh – a sweet condensed milk – the favourite dessert of millions of Soviet kids. It was probably the most beloved and most affordable sweet treat Soviet kids could get their hands on. Just take a piece of white bread and dip it into it, then eat – yum.
…and eighth – of course a Russian favourite – marinated herring, served with fresh onions. Probably most famous Russian snack that goes with vodka. Traditionally, there was not any Russian wedding or other big party without big plates of them.
It’s also sold in some Northern Europe countries, but it’s often different there. Finns and Swedes for example, use sweet-salty marinade for their herring, making it taste weird for Russian taste buds, though from the outside it does look like the same dish.
If you instantly felt a craving for something from this collection – just head to your local Russian or Ukrainian deli shop – they probably have all of these and much more.
We have the pickle flavored chips here in the USA to include the sausage rolls called “pigs in a blanket”. Lol
Pigs in Blankets are sausages wrapped in bacon
Many Russians have unusual tastes. One of my Ru friends likes to eat a whole jar of pickled tomatoes and then he drinks the pickle juice from the jar…..all of it at one time.
The Dutch eat raw herring with fresh onions, sometimes on buns with pickles.
We have dill pickle Lays in Canada Too.
Spirit with cucumber flavor is good for cocktail,expecially with vodka.
Here in America, Lays has some REALLY strange flavors. We do have the dill pickle flavor chips, along with: Bacon Mac & Chedar, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Chicken & Waffles, Spicy Ketchup, Kettle cooked Wasabi & Ginger,
Mango Salsa, Srircha, BLT flavor (not bad),Southern Biscuits and Gravy
Orange Juice & Toothpaste (I do NOT understand that!)
I compared russian recipe for pickled herring, its used sugar just as in nordic countries. Man difference being russian recipe has no salt, just sugar.
Her Ring with onion is the king of snacks!With 0,5 liters of vodka…….
“Pigs in a blanket” are NOT sausage wrapped in bacon. Sausage in pastry, similar to the Russian version although not wrapped pastry like in the photo. Made that way more than 100 years, origin UK, and found everywhere on earth british subjects have migrated.
Dill Pickle chips originated in Canada; around for 50 years, same with Ketchup flavour. Another unusual chip flavour not found elsewhere is Onion & Garlic. The other chip flavour that is very old in Canada is Sour Cream & Onion.
In the U.S. we have pigs in a blanket which are hot dogs wrapped in cresent rolls which look really similar…we also have dill pickle chips…we also have Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk but normally we bake with it…I’ve never eaten it straight from the can? We also take old bread (rye, wheat, white, etc) and bake and then use as croutons for salads or soups. Picked herrings are common on bagels with cream cheese…I don’t think I can think of anything to compare to the chopped soup though?
Here in Denmark, we have the Heering, sausage rolls (which we call sausage horns), the condenced milk is also available here. Rye bread crackers are also commonly available here.
there used to be a little Russian deli down the street where I lived in Sacramento called “Moscow Market”. Nothing but Russian food and beer. Forget it Germany, Russian beer is the best by FAR!
I would buy a half pound (about .25kg) of these little 2″ long dried fish. They were hard as a rock, but most have eggs in them. I would watch football, while eating these fish, and drinking Baltika #5 beer! I would also buy a big jar of those pickled tomatoes, slice them up, and eat with the “spiced pork fat”, and Baltica $9.
The Russian owner and I became good friends, and he actually got me some “Hakarl” from Iceland. WHEWWW! Smells like ammonia, but tastes much better than it smells… GREAT with Russian beer!
BTW, I have all your “recipe” pages bookmarked. 😀
that condensed milk is like eating syrups