HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mordovian cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the
Mordovians The Mordvins (also Unified Mordvin people, Mordvinians, Mordovians; russian: мордва, Mordva, Mordvins (no equivalents in Moksha and Erzya)) is an obsolete but official term used in the Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Moksh ...
, who now live in
Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...
and surrounding areas. It consists of a variety of dishes, based on geographical, cultural and climate features of the region, with fish traditionally featured heavily.


Fish

Volga Finns The Volga Finns (sometimes referred to as Eastern Finns) are a historical group of indigenous peoples of Russia living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the ...
settled on the riversides, in places convenient for fishing. Traditionally Mordvians pay a great attention to the support of nature. Fish dishes varied by the type of cooking; fish was eaten raw, frozen, dried, salty, and boiled. Fish liver, fish eggs, milt, cod-liver oil were used as cooking ingredients.


Meat

Meat and poultry was stewed, baked and boiled. There were no fried meat dishes in Finnic cuisine, only roasted dishes which also were borrowed from
Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary
is an umbrella term for different
cuisine in the 19th century. Beef, mutton and pork were preserved in several ways. The most ancient preservation method was drying. Pre-boiled meat was dried in an oven or under the sun. Fat from broth was collected and used for cooking. Meat was also frozen for preservation. In ancient times,
horsemeat Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in Eurasia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3 million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early existen ...
was used for food, but later it was used only in rituals (''molyam'') associated with horse worship.


Herbs and vegetables

Many farms grew
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...
,
cucumbers Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
es,
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
,
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
s,
bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s,
beet The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...
s,
turnip The turnip or white turnip ('' Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound of ''turn'' as in turned/rounded on a lathe and ...
s,
radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw ...
es, and
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
s. In summer and autumn, a great deal of fruit were eaten fresh. Pickled cucumbers were used for preparing dishes. Beets and pumpkins were eaten steamed as a dessert. ''Shschi'' (cabbage soup) was a traditional soup consisting of cabbage and potatoes cooked in chicken broth with onions and carrots added at the end. Herbs such as
watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...
,
horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...
,
onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
, cow parsnip,
horsetail ''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass ...
,
nettle {{redirect, Nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" includ ...
, and wild goutweed were used for preparing dishes instead of spices.


Mushrooms

Mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
were one of the main ingredients in traditional dishes. They were boiled, salted, fried, soured and dried.


Grains

Grains had a special place in Mordovian cuisine.
Finnic peoples The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...
mostly used wheat, barley, spelt and rye (black cereal). Ritual meals in Mordovia were associated with agricultural period, family and public holidays. For example, millet porridge was not only a delicious meal on weddings. christenings, funerals, but also there was a special ritual ''baba's porridge'' (female porridge) made at the last day of a bride at home.


Bliny (pancakes)

Bliny (
pancakes A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying w ...
)Mordovian Pancakes (in Russian), (as of June 16, 2012)
/ref> were a favorite dish of Mordovians. They were called ''pachat'' and were made from rye, wheat, millet and pea flour. Traditionally Mordovians liked the pancakes to be rather thick and added boiled potatoes into the dough. Such pancakes were served with milk and honey.


References


External links


Mordovian national cuisine (Elite life Tatar materials)
{{Cuisine Mordovian culture Russian cuisine