Borshch In the west most people think of borshch as beetroot soup, but that's only one of the many varieties. With a dash of sour cream they're all delicious!
Other soups There are the Solyanka soups, made with pickled ingredients, Shchi, where the main ingredient is cabbage, the Ukha range of fish soups, a huge variety of broths with meatballs, dumplings, rice, and of course the Tatar Lagman and Shurpa from Turkmenistan. In summer there is Okroshka - chilled soup.
Zakuski (starters) include a wide variety of salads and cold meats and specialities such as Golubtsy (stuffed cabbage leaves), Sarma (stuffed vine leaves) or stuffed peppers. You can get caviar on an open sandwich or in pancakes (Blinchiki). Manty - originally from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, these steamed dumplings are filled with meat and usually eaten with a hot sauce. Can be eaten as a starter or a main course.
Shashlyk - Kebabs of pork, lamb or sturgeon grilled over charcoal and served with rice and garnished with lemon, onions and tomato. If you thought Greece and Turkey had a monopoly on kebabs, you were wrong!
Fish Large sea fish like sturgeon and beluga (these are white sturgeon, not whales!) are cooked in many different ways. Trout is also a favourite, stuffed with mushrooms or vegetables. And of course there's the full range of seafood dishes.
Meat Kotlety po-Kievsky - Chicken Kiev - is available in some restaurants, but in Crimea it's only one of countless ways of preparing chicken. In the same way, Beef Stroganoff - fillet of beef braised with sour cream - is just one of the many ways to make a beef stew. Pork may come as schnitzel in batter, as escalopes with mushrooms, or stewed with prunes. Every restaurant has its own names and its own creations. You just got to try them out...
Desserts These tend to be fairly simple - fruit or ice-cream in summer, although the more imaginative restaurants will offer their own confections
Snacks Street kiosks sell all sorts of drinks and snacks in the summer months - Chebureki are Caucasian deep fried pasties filled with minced lamb, Blinchiki are pancakes - either stuffed with minced lamb and doused with sour cream, or with any number of fruit and sweet fillings.
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