Russian American Food: Immigration Patterns

The first Russian immigrants to contribute significantly to American food culture were Jews escaping the pogroms of 1881 to 1884 and 1903 to 1906. They brought foods that Americans now identify more closely with Russian than with Jewish cuisine, namely borscht (beet soup), black bread, and stuffed cabbage.

The so-called first wave of ethnic Russian immigration to the United States occurred following the Russian Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czar and established the Soviet Union. These immigrants consisted largely of aristocrats, whose plight captured the American imagination. They seemed tragic, glamorous, and exotic, and the foods they introduced in lavish restaurants like New York’s Russian Tea Room thrilled the American palate. Sophisticated diners came to appreciate elegant dishes like blini (raised pancakes) with caviar, Nesselrode pudding, and beef Stroganoff.