About Belarus

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Belarusian traditional cuisine

The history of the Belarusian cuisine as a part of the Belarus culture is very long - its development has been affected by the cuisines of the neighbor nations – Russians, Latvians, Ukrainians, etc. with whom the Belarusians always had close economic and cultural relations. This can be seen from the common names of the same dishes, beverages and even tableware in these cultures. For instance, krupnik (grain soup) is common for Belarusians, Poles and Lithuanians and vereshaka, a traditional Belarusian dish is known in Lithuania.

The research of the Belarusian cuisine started long ago and continued even after the revolution of 1917. A lot of information related to the way of life of the Belarusians was gathered and a lot of recipes. The peculiarities of the Belarusian cuisine included high standards of hygiene, economic use of products and deep respect of bread.

Belarusian peasants cultivated respect of the bread in their children. People took bread to celebrations – child births or weddings – and used it to meet the most revered guests. The presence of bread in a Belarusian family spoke of their income. A lot of proverbs and sayings in Belarus are related to bread. Poorer Belarusian villagers could only enjoy this product occasionally and very often added a lot of different grains into the dough. Belarusian bread that was baked using pure rye flour was referred to as cake by the poor.

As the time passed after the harvest season and the rye stock drained the quality of bread decreased respectively. The worst bread was baked in spring, often using whole meal or different types of grain. Speaking of this bread people said that it grew stale directly it was produced. In the years of famine even acorns, timber bark, saltbush and sorrel were used to bake Belarusian bread.

Potatoes were called the second bread in Belarus a few centuries ago. There is a lot of traditional Belarusian dishes that date back to the old times and are still very popular today – babka, draniki, kolduny, etc. Dairy products accompanied main dishes, e.g. butter and sour cream and milk were served with the potato pancakes. 

Some vegetables were consumed raw and some made ingredients in the national dishes. For instance, cabbage and cucumbers were made sour or were salted. Raw, dried and salted mushrooms were also considered a delicacy. Fruit and berries were used to cook jams, beverages (sbiten, medukha, kvass) and kissels.

A dinner in the village with its rules was almost equal to a diplomatic banquet. Old-standing traditions of the Belarusian culture allowed no talking at the table. Younger family members could sit at the table only after the elders took their place. People were very outgoing and very hospitable.

The modern Belarusian cuisine boasts of a wide range of potato, mushroom and pork dishes. They combine potato with meet and mushrooms, grated potato to cook popular dishes (draniki) and cook sausages using pork and potatoes. Various vegetable salads with mayonnaise or sour cream, mushrooms, meat or fish are also popular. The most beloved Belarusian dishes are draniki – potato pancakes, pork dishes stewed in clay pots with potatoes, potato babka (cake), village sausage, mushroom soups and many others. Seasonings are used moderately in Belarusian cuisine so the dishes are not very spicy.