Belyashi (21st Century)Federal Agency for Tourism
Tatar and Bashkir pastry
Tatar and Baskhir pastry recipes are an exercise in skill for novice cooks, a regular on the menu in fast food chains, and a staple for weekdays and holidays.
Belyashi, or round, oil-fried buns made with unleavened or yeast dough and stuffed with minced meat, are widespread and called peremichi in Tatar or vak belishi in Bashkir.
Echpochmak by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Also popular are triangular buns made with yeast or unleavened dough and stuffed with meat and mashed potatoes.
Сhak-chak by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
These are called echpochmak or uchpochmak in Bashkir. The region's chief dessert treat is the sweet chak-chak with bits of dough fried in oil and glued together with honey syrup.
A Goose and a Gander with their Goslings Honking in Alarm as Two Foxes with their Cubs Emerge from the Rushes (mid-18th–early 19th century) by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm TischbeinThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Cured Goose
The Volga Region has jamon of its own, which is cured goose, an old Tatar and Bashkir recipe that is virtually unknown in the rest of Russia due to its localised traditional production process.
Cured Goose
The process, however, is not unlike that for the iconic Spanish product: fat goose carcasses are rubbed with coarse salt, wrapped in paper and cured at length in a room protected from sun and wind.
dried goose by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
The meat turns out dark red, firm and fatty, and, like the Iberian pork, contains almost no cholesterol. This goose product has a long shelf life and is marketed whole or in half.
Fish by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Beer with Fish
This ideal marriage of drink and snack is popular far beyond the region.
Locals equally enjoy mass produced lagers and craft varieties, including those produced in Cheboksary or Yoshkar-Ola. A professional can find the right fish, whether more or less expensive, to match any type of beer.
Manti by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Pelmeni and Manti
The Volga Region people are partial to the variety of dumplings called manty / manti that came here from the former Soviet Asia.
Pelmeni by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
With manty, minced meat is wrapped in thinly-rolled dough, which is pinned in an envelope and steamed.
Pelmeni, which, unlike manty, are boiled, have enjoyed greater popularity in the Lower Volga region where they are also filled with zander or pike.
Pelmeni by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
The Tatars consider meat-filled pelmeni a meal for a special occasion that should never be served without its broth.
Milk ukha by Nikolai GernetFederal Agency for Tourism
Ukha
Common all over Russia, the Volga Region has accorded this type of soup a cult status.
Ukha
The more popular recipe has broth boiled with less-valuable fish, which is then strained out for the final product to feature the likes of zander.
Ukha by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
The Astrakhan treble ukha is made with perch or bream before adding zander or sturgeon. If there is no sturgeon, it can be replaced with carp. If there is, sturgeon will be the one and only fish to flavor the soup.
Kyzylyk by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Horse Meat
Horse meat, the favorite treat of nomads, is popular in the Volga Region as well. In Bashkiria, horses are even grown to market.
In Bashkiria, horses are even grown to market.
The most common recipes include cured and spiced meat called basturma and raw cured sausage with fat bits known as kazy in Kazakhstan or kyzylyk in Tatarstan.
Progressive chefs value this type of meat very much and use it to make tartars and steaks.
Главный консультант: Екатерина Дроздова, ресторатор и гастрономическая активистка
Фото: tm agency
Над проектом работали: Proximity Russia, Денис Ершов, Александра Григорьева
