Introduction

This book will acquaint the reader with the national cooking of the various Soviet peoples. Recent times have seen an increased interest in national cookery among the Soviet peoples themselves, as well as more interest elsewhere. There are now quite a large number of restaurants in Moscow serving special national dishes. They are popular among both Muscovites and visitors; and nowadays particular national dishes like shashlyk and belyashi are included in menus all over the world.

The national recipes of these regions have undergone changes due to widespread cultural mixing and also to progress in food manufacture and distribution. This makes it important to establish the individual characteristics of different national dishes –the source of their culinary creativity. This book contains only a small proportion of the dishes to be found but the selection does comprise a guide to each national cuisine. By national cuisine we mean the combination of techniques and other culinary practices formed over a long period of time, as well as the properties of the ingredients characteristic of each area.