The Savour of Central Russia

The modern Russian central region occupies roughly the same areas as the 15th-century Grand Duchy of Muscovy, with the areas around the capital and a short way to the west, north or south considered the archetypical Russia.

In the early 16th century, the Tsardom of Russia expanded beyond its ethnic boundaries and had by the late 19th century grown into a vast land stretching from what is now Poland in the west to what is now the Russian Far East. 

This evolution shaped the diverse culture of Russia and its national cuisine.

The typically Russian dishes are to be found within 300 to 600 km around Moscow, an area dwarfed by the country's gigantic scale and confined by Smolensk in the west, Kostroma in the north and Belgorod in the south.

The Golden Ring officially comprises the variably traditional towns of Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Suzdal and Vladimir, which have all contributed to the development of the Russian nation.

However, it is sometimes expanded by tour operators or local authorities to include the picturesque towns of the Upper Volga — Uglich, Myshkin and Ples. Wherever you choose to go, you are promised preserved historical landmarks, ethnic Russian crafts and even traditional dishes.

The Golden Gates and the Dormition Cathedral may be the main tourist attractions in Vladimir, but a short walk will take you to the Spoon Museum with thousands of items from a private collection. According to legend, it was Prince Vladimir the Fair Sun who commanded his subjects to use cutlery, primarily spoons.

The display presents the spoons from that time and tracks the changes in spoon shapes and decoration over the centuries. In addition to Russian wooden and silver spoons, the collection features coronation spoons of the House of Windsor, copies of spoons from Ancient Egypt and other peculiar items. 

A few years ago, Suzdal launched a Cucumber Festival to celebrate this important ingredient after discovering a sentence in the town's earliest 18th-century historical record that read: “In the town of Suzdal, the goodness of the soil and the pleasantness of the air produce an abundance of onions, garlic and, above all, cucumbers.”

The festival offers a taste of fresh and salted cucumbers, cucumber soups and even jams, and a chance to get the hang of cucumber salting. Lukhovtsy and Istobensk are two other major cucumber destinations in Russia.