Buns with cheese

The unique boxwood grove and ancient fortresses of Khosta and Krasnaya Polyana, majestic Soviet sanatoriums and modern ski slopes, luxurious roads and railways cutting through the mountains and seaside dive bars with live chanson music, the languid subtropical humidity and the pure oxygen of snowy peaks all mean modern Sochi. A synonym for ‘seaside vacation’ and the country’s most prestigious resort during the Soviet times, Sochi added the Caucasian Ridge beauty after the 2014 Olympics which popularised the mountain resort of Krasnaya Polyana, previously a fishing, skiing and camping destination for mostly locals. The implacable mountains have exerted a strong influence on Sochi cuisine with careful treatment of foods and sumptuous meals so unlike the lighter seaside cooking. Fish will be thoroughly dredged in flour and fried, cheese will be salted to preserve it for a long trip while meat will be marinated in ample doses of fruit acid and roasted until crispy. Sochi’s chief stars are chebureks and khinkali.