Maselga by Eugene MazilovFederal Agency for Tourism
Local Resto Trends
Karelia reserves offer a smack of genuine local cuisine at museum cafes. Among those things you must try at Solovki are local monastery pastry and the famous Solovki herring. Kenozero is a place to fish, while a special route will immerse you into traditional cooking.
Fishermen by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Local foods are easy to come by in Arkhangelsk and Murmanks as cod, and other White Sea species are regulars on local menus rounded out by some or other dish "a la Pomor".
Maselga by Nikolai GernetFederal Agency for Tourism
Since import foods are more expensive the regional food patriotism has a simple explanation, although sushi and steaks are widely served as well. Here are a few restaurants to go to first.
Restaurant "Post office 1786" by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Pochtovaya Kontora 1786 Restaurant
Chef Andrei Anikeyev's restaurant combines European techniques with both regional and imported products including arugula and shrimps, figs and goat cheese. It is founded on the Dvina embankment, once the Arkhangelsk city's oldest Torgovaya street.
Restaurant "Post office 1786" by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
A look at the local selection discovers more curiosities: for example, Pomorski cod with cottage cheese sauce, smoked catfish, salmon or halibut, cloudberry with honey mousse and kozuli-inspired northern meringue. That is not to mention Arkhangelsky salad where the chief ingredient is cod liver, a product everyone in Russia knows from childhood. In the north, however, they have learnt to give it the treatment it deserves.
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar by TUNDRA. Grill & BarFederal Agency for Tourism
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar in Murmansk
The menu of one of the city's best places has steaks, burgers, pizza and other international and typically Russian favourites. However, chef Sergei Balakshin has animated this cosmopolitan pot-pourri with local foods.
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar by TUNDRA. Grill & BarFederal Agency for Tourism
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar in Murmansk
Deer meat, halibut and cowberries on pizza and in burgers are not easy to forget, but there are picks that may ignite your genuine interest, such as miso sauce with cod liver "rafaello",
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar by TUNDRA. Grill & BarFederal Agency for Tourism
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar in Murmansk
Murmansk cod with "crab" puree and anise sauce, and mixed salad with smoked salmon, quinoa and cloudberry mayonnaise.There is also an original take on a Pomor small plate or afterbites.
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar by TUNDRA. Grill & BarFederal Agency for Tourism
TUNDRA. Grill & Bar in Murmansk
According to Balakshin, today, Pomor afterbite is supposed to contain crab, scallops, smoked catfish and salmon caviar.
Seafood (21st Century) by tm agencyFederal Agency for Tourism
What is Curious About the Local Seafood?
Murmansk seafood is a controversial subject with some alleging that it doesn't exist, while others insisting on the opposite. Historically, there were no crabs or scallops in Northern Russian cuisine. Kamchatka crab was introduced to the Barents Sea from the Far East as late as the 20th century and has since flourished.
Kamchatka crab was introduced to the Barents Sea from the Far East as late as the 20th century and has since flourished.
Octopus (21st Century) by tm agencyFederal Agency for Tourism
Whatever history may be, local chefs on a quest to imagine new Northern Russian cuisine make use of this new yet already familiar foods.
Production of scallops and sea urchins began only recently.
KalitkiFederal Agency for Tourism
Kalitki and Shangi Pies, as a Regional Specialty
Northern Russian kalitki, Ural or Siberian shanghai, Udmurtian perepechi are examples of open pies from unleavened rye or barley dough with sweet or salty fillings that have the same origins.
Shangi (21st Century) by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Some food researchers even suggest that the word "shanga" was loaned from Russian, and not the other way around.
The cuisine of the Russian north laid the foundation for the cuisine of Siberia since Northern Russian travellers were the first to settle that vast land taking way of life with them.
Snow peaks by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
An Arctic Wind
A new interest in the Arctic resulted in new kinds of tourism, including food tourism, taking shape.
Murmansk and the Nenets Autonomous District may lie beyond the polar circle just like similar areas in the Far East, but Moscow is far closer to the former than the latter.
Snow peaks by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
It will take you a two-hour flight from the Russian capital to reach Murmansk, while another two-hour drive will take you to the edge of the world.
Snow and ice by RustourismFederal Agency for Tourism
Golfstream keeps the Barents Sea free of ice in the winter which explains the location of the port of Murmansk.
TUNDRA Fest by TUNDRA FestFederal Agency for Tourism
Freezingly Warm Arctic Dishes
Even though the polar night and the polar day are not unlike Chukotka, the local climate is milder, and the food range richer.
TUNDRA Fest by TUNDRA FestFederal Agency for Tourism
One way to see this is to attend one of the regional festivals, for instance the Tundra Fest in Naryan-Mar.
Сhief Сonsultant — Ekaterina Drozdova, restaurateur, gastronomic entrepreneur, food and social activist, Contributors — Natalia Savinskaya, Anna Kukulina, Proximity Russia, Denis Yershov, Kirill Simakov, Natalia Rybalchenko, Rashid Rakhmanov, Sergey Ivanov
