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Belarusian food. Belarusian cuisine - traditional national (folk) recipes with photos

Good zen! When going to another country, we always get acquainted with its national dishes and drinks. This has already become our good tradition. And since I didn’t limit myself to getting to know the sights of the capital, in the article I will talk about national cuisine of Belarus, and what's worth trying.

The content of the article:

The national cuisine of Belarus combines many flavor notes from other countries. It contains accents of Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian and even kosher Jewish cuisine. But despite this, it is unique and very diverse in its own way.

Surely, the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the national cuisine of Belarus is potatoes, or rather bulba. And indeed, it is special among Belarusians, with a high starch content. Due to this, the potato pancakes we are familiar with turn out much tastier and juicier. Bulba is included in many dishes, which are complemented with various products and sauces. Frequent neighbors of the bulb are cracklings. They add richness and incredible taste to dishes. My mouth is already watering. How are you still holding on?

National dishes of Belarus

Draniki have been and remain the constant leader in the list of national dishes. This is an international dish present in the cuisines of many nations. But each has its own cooking characteristics, which changes the taste and impressions.

Draniki

Draniki is the most popular national dishBelarus.I am not a representative of Belarusian nationality, but they are familiar to me from childhood. My grandmother often prepared pancakes. I remember how long it took to rub them to feed the whole family. Fortunately, this process now takes much less time. The name draniki comes from the method of preparing potatoes. The classic potato pancakes included: torn potatoes, that is, grated on a fine grater, salt and lard for frying. Please note that flour, onions and eggs were not added initially. The starch contained in potatoes served as a binding ingredient. Draniki are served hot in pots or on a plate with sour cream or various sauces.

Sorcerers

Well, how can you be in Belarus and not try sorcerers with meat?! It took a little longer to hunt for them, but they are worth it. We were able to try sorcerers at the Vasilki restaurant. There are several of them in Minsk. The closest place was near Jacob Kolos Street, where we rented an apartment. In ancient times, sorcerers cooked from a dough based on flour, eggs, onion juice and salt. This is considered a classic recipe for sorcerers. Nowadays, sorcerers often cook on the basis of potato dough. Outwardly, they look a little like potato pancakes, only thicker due to the filling. It can be very different for sorcerers. We tried it with meat and mushrooms.

The list goes on

Potato babka

National Belarusian dish based on potatoes. The bulba is grated, fried lard (cracklings), meat and onions are added. Then salt, pepper, add sour cream for tenderness and put in the oven. Potato babka is served hot with milk or sour cream.

Mochanka

Mochanka is a classic Belarusian dish. The name comes from the method of eating. Pancakes need to be dipped in sponge. This is a hearty and tasty dish, which is a thick gravy with different types of meat. The classic mochanka includes: pork ribs, homemade sausage, smoked meats (brisket) and lard. When they brought me this dish, I couldn’t understand how to eat it, but then I figured it out. It is most convenient to dip.) This is how the sponge is prepared. Fry the pork ribs in a frying pan in vegetable oil. You need to pour it in a little, as the ribs and sausage will give up their juice. Add a little water and simmer for about 15 minutes. Drain the meat broth from the frying pan, and use it to prepare machanka, adding flour, fried onions, salt and herbs. The consistency of the sauce is very similar to the famous Bechamel. We put the meat into the finished machanka, and voila! The national dish of Belarus is ready! Mochanka is served with thin or thick pancakes. Real jam!

Vereshchak

Vereshchaka was prepared back in the time of the Principality of Lithuania. According to one version, the dish was named after the author of the recipe, a cook under the Polish King Augustus. But there is another version, more traditional, in my opinion. When Vereshchaka is preparing, she “squeals and squeals”, making loud (alluring) sounds, hence the name. The composition of heather resembles Mochanka. It includes pork ribs (fresh and smoked), pork sausage, porcini mushrooms, carrots, celery, and onions. The meat is stewed in a frying pan, salt, pepper, and juniper seeds are added. Vegetables are sautéed. A sauce is prepared based on meat broth, adding flour and herbs.Vereshchaka is served with potato pancakes or pancakes.

Drachena

Another ancient dish of Belarus. It reminded me of an omelette. But, like many Belarusian dishes, it is not without lard. Beat eggs, add flour, milk. Pour the resulting mixture into a frying pan with fried lard. After which the rural housewives put the dish in the oven for 15 minutes. When the drachena was “prepared” and fried, they took it out, cut it like a cake, and fed the family. Thanks to the cracklings, the porridge turned out to be nourishing and high-calorie. Two pieces were enough for one person to renew his strength and continue working. Drachena was served with milk.

Dumplings with souls

Dumplings with souls are another national dish of Belarus. Dumplings have long been on the menu of residents of the Vitebsk region, but over time they entered the menu of many housewives and cooks. The main ingredient, who would doubt it, is potatoes. The filling is placed in the middle, which is called the “soul”. As a rule, this is minced meat. Dumplings are served at the table, topped with frying (onions and lard) or with sour cream, various sauces, or poured with the broth in which the dumplings were cooked.

In addition to the main awesome dishes, the national cuisine of Belarus presents no less interesting first courses. I will share with you the most popular of them, and which ones are worth trying in Belarus.

Krupenya or Krupnik

Krepenya is a sauce that is prepared in meat broth with the addition of pearl barley. Krupnik is a hearty thick soup based on pearl barley, rye or oatmeal. This is about classic cooking. Now progressive Belarusian housewives add rice, buckwheat, barley, often mixing one with the other. In addition to cereals, the soup includes potatoes. It is seasoned with sour cream, yolk and baked in the oven. It turns out to be a very tasty hearty soup. Nowadays there are many options for preparing krunik. In meat or fish broth. It is either boiled or baked, as I wrote above.

Zhur

Another interesting dish from Belarus. Soup based on oatmeal, which came from ancient times. Oatmeal is poured with water and left for 2-3 days. Then it is crushed and filtered. Bring the zest to a boil, add lard and onions fried in a frying pan. Add some salt. Zhur is served with boiled potatoes. There are many variations of serving this soup with different ingredients.

Kholodnik or beetroot

Beetroot soup is a cold soup (borscht) prepared with beetroot broth. An excellent dish during the hot season. Perfectly refreshing and no less healthy. Kholodnik is based on beets, as well as fresh cucumbers, boiled eggs and herbs (green onions, dill, beet tops). You can also add boiled potatoes for satiety. Beetroot soup can be prepared using beet broth or kvass with the addition of horseradish.Served cold with sour cream and egg.

Sour bread

Sourdough bread is a gastronomic favorite in Belarus. He is greatly appreciated by local Belarusians and missed by those who left the country. Since childhood, I have loved bread baked in the oven. We often helped my grandmother knead the adze in special barrels. I read how Belarusians made bread, the process is very similar to my grandmother’s. Only we, as a rule, used white flour, while they used dark flour. Bread in Belarus is delicious, as are dairy products, but I didn’t appreciate the sausages.

I could talk for a long time about the national dishes of Belarus, but I don’t have the energy anymore. When I come home I’ll cook potato pancakes. And definitely with sour cream.

Well, let's move on to desserts. I don’t consider myself a sweet tooth, so I hope desserts will be easier.

Nalistniki

During our trip to Minsk for the weekend, we often went to eat at the Lido establishment. This is like our home cooking. You walk around with a tray and take what you like. By the way, the prices there are quite reasonable and the food is not bad. There you can try potato pancakes and treat yourself to nalistniki (pancakes) with a variety of fillings (sour cream, jam, honey, etc.). I already wrote above that pancakes are served with main courses, but besides this, in Belarus they are considered a dessert.

Kulaga

Traditional Belarusian dessert. Kulaga is based on a variety of berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, bird cherry, etc.). Boil wild berries over low heat until they are softened. Then add flour (with water) and sugar. Cook until the consistency of jelly. Kulaga is served with pancakes or white bread.

Various salads

In restaurants you often find salads with traditionalnames "Minsky", "Belarusian". But besides them, there is also a fur coat that is well known to us, which we adore. I wanted to try how they prepare it in Belarus. The presentation is very original and the taste is very delicate.

Traditional drinks of Belarus

In addition to dishes and desserts, I would like to tell you about the drinks of Belarusians. Popular in the country are kvass, compote, beer, various tinctures and balms based on spices and herbs, and traditional vodka.

Sbiten

Sbiten is a kind of Belarusian mulled wine. It can be a soft drink or an alcoholic drink. It contains: cloves, bay leaves, nutmeg, linden blossom, birch leaves. Ingredients may vary according to the chef's preferences. For degrees, I add alcohol or beer to it. Traditionally, sbiten should be drunk hot, but now it is also consumed as a soft drink.

Belarusian vodka or Garelka

Belarusian vodka can be classic and with various additives. These could be nuts, spices, herbs, birch buds, etc. The most popular in Belarus are:

garelka on birch buds or berezovitsa
bread garelka
Garelka with pepper
Garelka with honey
cranberry garelka

In addition to vodka, balms and tinctures are very popular in Belarus. These are alcoholic drinks that contain various medicinal herbs, roots, spices, berries, tree buds, honey, etc. Among them:

The famous Zubrovka, which contains bison grass collected in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Tinctures Belovezhskaya and Belovezhskaya Pushcha
Healing balms “Polesie”, “Sorcerer”, “Belorussky”
Krambabula This is a tincture based on honey and various spices. Krambambula is prepared using vodka or alcohol with the addition of nutmeg, honey, cinnamon, cloves, red and black pepper. Drinks both cold and hot.

And finally,

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. Spread the potato dough in the form of small cakes. Fry pancakes on one side for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Then turn over to the other side and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Serve hot with sour cream.

You can also serve pancakes with soaked lingonberries, sour cream-apple or sour cream-onion sauce, machanka. Or cook pancakes in a pot - with meat, sausages, mushrooms. Bon appetit!

Where to eat national cuisine of Belarus in Minsk

We visited the Vasilki restaurant. The menu is varied and the food is delicious. And most importantly, there are dishes of national cuisine. This is a chain of restaurants. There are several of them in Minsk. Here are the addresses:

st. Y. Kolasa, 37 MC "Iceberg"
Independence Avenue, 89
Independence Avenue, 16
st. Bobruiskaya, 6 shopping center "Galileo" (4th floor)
st. P. Glebki, 5 Shopping center "Skala"
st. Nalibokskaya, 1 Shopping center "Caravan"
Ave. Pobediteley, 9 shopping center "Galleria Minsk"
st. P. Mstislavets 11 SEC "Dana Mall"

We ate at the Lido bistro restaurant several times. There you can try potato pancakes and pancakes, and, by the way, it’s not bad to eat. There are three such cafes in Minsk:

on Kulman street, 5A
on Nezavisimosti Ave., 49, room 1, building 51, room 2
on Nemiga street, no. 5, room 47, 48, 59, 60

Thank you for reading our blog. See you soon on the pages of our

We can talk about the reasons and analyze them for a long time, but the conclusion will be the same - Belarusians have forgotten a lot in their culinary traditions, but these traditions are no less rich than German or French ones.

Most modern Belarusians will read the title and be surprised: “Where did the author find 10 Belarusian dishes that are worthy of being included in some kind of rating?”

So let's get started. When compiling the rating, various sources were carefully studied, which collected dishes of modern Belarusian cuisine and old Belarusian cuisine (let's call it that). Moreover, we studied both the diet of ordinary people and the “zamozhnaya” gentry.

1. Veraschaka

Photo source: oede.by

I am sure that everyone reading expected to see the ubiquitous “Draniki” in first place. Draniki are the most popular Belarusian dish, but in our opinion, “Verashchaka” is a worthy calling card of Belarus among meat dishes.

Recipe: There are several varieties of preparation of “Veraščaki”, we offer the most original one.

Ingredients: 0.5 kg. pork with ribs, 1-2 onions, 1 glass of bread kvass, salt, pepper, bay leaf.

Cooking process: Chop the pork, add salt and pepper, and fry on both sides. Fry finely chopped onion in the fat that is released. Place the meat and onions in a cast iron (saucepan), pour in bread kvass and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Served with mashed potatoes or pancakes.

If you try to include “Verashchaka” in a certain classification series, then according to the method of consumption this dish is “machanka”. Among the dishes of Belarusian cuisine you can find at least a dozen different “machankas”. We can be proud of these specialties (signature dish).

2. Beetroot soup

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But the second specialty that Belarusian cuisine can be proud of is, of course, cold soups made from beets, sorrel, and nettles. Cold soups are an exclusively Belarusian culinary tradition, and if a similar dish is found among our neighbors, then they borrowed it from us, and not we from them. And this is nice.

Recipe: In second place we placed “Beetroot soup”, prepared according to a traditional recipe. Although you can find many varieties of cold soups.

Ingredients: Beets with petioles and tops, cucumbers, green onions, dill, radishes, dill, eggs, vinegar, salt, sugar, sour cream.

Cooking process: Boil peeled, thoroughly washed, cut into strips or cubes young beets (along with finely chopped petioles) in a small amount of water and vinegar until tender. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add some chopped young beet tops, add salt, then cool. Wash, peel, and cut fresh cucumbers into cubes. Sort the green onions, dill, and radishes, rinse, and cut individually. Finely chop the eggs. Pour kvass into the cooled beet broth, add salt, sugar, chopped cucumbers, radishes, green onions, dill, eggs. Serve sour cream separately.

3. Draniki

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It’s hard to imagine a Belarusian without potato pancakes. And indeed, pancakes made from raw grated potatoes are a wonderful invention. It’s not for nothing that all neighboring peoples have similar dishes in their national traditions. In Ukraine, a potato pancake festival was held not long ago, and in Germany, potato pancakes are eaten with jam, not sour cream... These facts about analogues of our potato pancakes came to mind right away, but they are not the only ones.

Recipe: Traditionally, potato pancakes are understood as potato pancakes, and potato flatbreads with filling are usually called sorcerers. Although 150-200 years ago, sorcerers meant completely different dishes. In this ranking, the third place is occupied by classic Belarusian potato pancakes.

Ingredients: potatoes, flour, curdled milk or kefir, salt.

Cooking process: Grate raw potatoes on a fine grater, add flour, curdled milk (kefir), salt and mix. Fry in vegetable oil. Ready pancakes are served with chopped, fried onions and fried lard.

In modern Belarusian cuisine, potato pancakes are popular without flour and are served with sour cream. Also, potato pancakes are perfect as a side dish for Belarusian “machankas” along with flour pancakes.

Third place with potato pancakes may well be shared by another famous Belarusian dish - babka or “drachona bulbyanaya”.

4. Krambambula

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What is national cuisine without a unique, local strong alcoholic drink. The Czechs are proud of their Becherovka, the Germans are proud of their schnapps, the British are proud of their whiskey, and the Russians are proud of their vodka. I could go on for a long time. We also have our own strong drink, which for the last ten years has been firmly associated with the musical project of Lyavon Volsky. Although to be fair, before this he was not associated with anything at all.

Recipe: This drink and its recipe are firmly forgotten by alcohol producers and restaurateurs. It could turn out to be an interesting brand for tourists.

Ingredients: 0.5 l. vodka or alcohol, a glass of water, a quarter of chopped nutmeg, 1-2 tbsp. spoons of honey, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 4 teaspoons of crushed cloves, red and black pepper.

Cooking process: Take vodka or alcohol, pour a glass and mix with the same amount of water. Add nutmeg, honey, cinnamon, crushed cloves, 4-5 grains of hot red pepper. Heat all this and boil for 10 minutes. Then carefully pour in the rest of the vodka and leave in a sealed container for 5 minutes, strain through 4 layers of gauze into a bottle, adding 2-3 black peppercorns first.

5. Belarusian sour black bread

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When I come abroad, I am always surprised at how delicious the bread in Belarus is. Black sour bread has always been popular with us. Its “industrial” representative is the famous “Narochansky”. You won’t be able to taste such delicious bread, which also practically doesn’t go stale, abroad.

Recipe: We present the traditional recipe for making bread, according to which our grandmothers baked it in real ovens.

Ingredients: flour, water, salt.

Cooking process: The dough is kneaded in the evening and the bread is baked in the morning. Add water to the flour and knead. The dough should not be very thick. To ensure the dough sours and rises well, cover it with a lid and place it in a warm place overnight. The dough is fermented using the so-called “roshchyna”, which is usually a small piece of dough left over from previous baking.

In the morning, add flour and salt to the dough, knead the dough with your fists. To ensure that the dough comes off your hands well, they are periodically moistened with water. Place a piece of dough on a wooden shovel sprinkled with flour, smooth it with your hands and place it in a hot oven. A cross was always drawn on the dough in front of the stove. The bread is considered ready when the steam rises smoothly from it.

The Czechs are proud of their Mationi mineral water. This is their brand, in the promotion of which they invest a lot of effort and money. And these efforts are yielding serious results. Belarusian sour bread is not just our yet unpromoted brand, it is the pride of the Belarusian people.

6. Beer stew

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The Czech Republic and Germany are considered beer countries. It is very unfortunate that Belarus did not join this duet. But beer traditions at one time in the Belarusian lands were very extensive. It’s worth reading Henryk Sienkiewicz - no matter what Mr. Zagloba’s feast is, there’s beer or honey or beer stew with cheese or sour cream. But time decreed otherwise and, unfortunately, beer in Belarus gave way to stronger and more harmful vodka.

Ingredients: 1 l. beer, sugar, 6 egg yolks, ginger, bread croutons.

Cooking process: Boil beer, add sugar to taste, whipped yolks, and you can add ginger. Serve soup with croutons.

7. Kulaga

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National cuisine without its own dessert is incomplete. There are many interesting sweet dishes in the Belarusian culinary tradition, but we considered kulaga worthy of being included in the top ten.

Recipe: Kulaga is a wonderfully sweet dish made from fresh berries.

Ingredients: 400 g of berries (blueberries, lingonberries, rowan, viburnum or raspberry), 70 g of honey, 2-3 tbsp. spoons of wheat flour.

Cooking process: Sort out the fresh berries, rinse, and put on the fire. When the berries are boiled, add wheat flour diluted in a small amount of water, and also add honey or sugar. Stir and cook over low heat until the dish has the consistency of jelly. Kulaga is served with pancakes, white bread and milk.

8. Pyachysto

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Sweets are good, but any cuisine is primarily distinguished by meat dishes. One of them is “Pyachysto”. This is a lamb dish. An attentive reader will ask: “What kind of lamb is there in Belarus, we’re not in the Caucasus mountains?” Yes, indeed, we do not have mountains, but before the start of the last war, sheep breeding on the territory of Belarus occupied a leading position in the balance of all livestock farming. After the devastating war, they decided not to restore this traditional industry for Belarusians. Gradually (and maybe quickly) lamb disappeared from the diet of Belarusians. But many recipes remain, and the most interesting of them is “Pyachysty”.

Recipe: There are many references to the mysterious “Pyachysto” in literature. But there is no exact recipe anywhere. Why is that? After all, so many researchers have dealt with culinary issues.

Ingredients: Mutton.

Cooking process: Lean lamb is baked in large pieces (usually the entire back part).

This is all that is known about this mysterious dish. But this small description paints a very appetizing picture.

9. Sbiten

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The top ten cannot do without a soft drink. Sbiten is more than suitable for this role. It is healthy, it quenches thirst and it is certainly very tasty. It is worth noting that there are many recipes for sbitney. Today it is more associated with a soft drink (you can buy it cold in some stores), but classic sbiten was consumed very hot. Let's present a traditional recipe.

Recipe: Sbiten can be either alcoholic or non-alcoholic. In addition to spices, it is advisable to add herbs to sbiten.

Ingredients: water, honey, pepper, cloves, bay leaf, nutmeg.

Cooking process: Boil water with honey (you can add sugar or molasses), add pepper, cloves, bay leaf, grated nutmeg, and other seasonings to taste. Sometimes beer or alcohol is added to sbiten. Drink hot.

Sbiten was popular in Belarus in the 18th-19th centuries. In folk medicine it was used as an antiscorbutic remedy.

10. Nalisniki

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In our opinion, the bottom of the top ten should be a dish that can claim to be the national Belarusian fast food. There were a decent number of such dishes. But for potato pancakes the role of fast food is not enough, for Belarusian home-made sausages it is banal, but Polesie pancakes “Nalisniki” are excellent for this role.

Recipe: Nalisniki are traditional Polesie pancakes, the recipe for which was recorded during one of the ethnographic expeditions in the Rechitsa region. I am sure that this dish is familiar to many, but you will never try such pancakes in street stalls.

Ingredients: flour, milk, cottage cheese, cheese, butter.

Cooking process: Flour is mixed with fresh milk and stirred to form a thin dough. Thin pancakes are fried in a hot frying pan. Pancakes are filled with cottage cheese or cheese, wrapped in a tube or folded in four. The top of the pancake is spread with butter and fried in a frying pan. Fried pancakes are placed in a pot, butter or sour cream is added and simmered in the oven.

At least two dozen interesting Belarusian dishes did not fit into our rating. One thing is good: this is the first rating on our blog, but not the last.

99 percent of modern Belarusians will read the headline and be surprised: “Where did the author find 10 Belarusian dishes that are worthy of being included in some kind of rating?” All these people will be even more surprised when they learn about the author’s long thoughts: “Still, TOP-10 or TOP-20...”

Somehow it has happened over the past decades that literally 3-4 dishes are associated with Belarusian cuisine. We can talk about the reasons and analyze them for a long time, but the conclusion will be the same - Belarusians have forgotten a lot in their culinary traditions, but these traditions are no less rich than German or French ones.

First place. Veraschak

Recipe: There are several varieties of “Verashchaki” preparation, we offer the most original one.

Ingredients: 0.5 kg. pork with ribs, 1-2 onions, 1 glass of bread kvass, salt, pepper, bay leaf.

Cooking process: Chop the pork, add salt and pepper, and fry on both sides. Fry finely chopped onion in the fat that is released. Place the meat and onions in a cast iron (saucepan), pour in bread kvass and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Served with mashed potatoes or pancakes.

Second place. Beetroot

Recipe: In second place we placed “Beetroot soup”, prepared according to a traditional recipe. Although you can find many varieties of cold soups.

Ingredients: Beets with petioles and tops, cucumbers, green onions, dill, radishes, dill, eggs, vinegar, salt, sugar, sour cream.

Cooking process: Boil peeled, thoroughly washed, cut into strips or cubes young beets (along with finely chopped petioles) in a small amount of water and vinegar until tender. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add some chopped young beet tops, add salt, then cool. Wash, peel, and cut fresh cucumbers into cubes. Sort the green onions, dill, and radishes, rinse, and cut individually. Finely chop the eggs. Pour kvass into the cooled beet broth, add salt, sugar, chopped cucumbers, radishes, green onions, dill, eggs. Serve sour cream separately.

Third place. Draniki

Recipe: Traditionally, potato pancakes are understood as potato pancakes, and potato flatbreads with filling are usually called sorcerers. Although 150-200 years ago, sorcerers meant completely different dishes. In this ranking, the third place is occupied by classic Belarusian potato pancakes.

Ingredients: potatoes, flour, curdled milk or kefir, salt.

Cooking process: Grate raw potatoes on a fine grater, add flour, curdled milk (kefir), salt and mix. Fry in vegetable oil. Ready pancakes are served with chopped, fried onions and fried lard.

Third place with potato pancakes may well be shared by another famous Belarusian dish -.

Belarusian cuisine. Top 5 potato dishes.

One of the most characteristic features of Belarusian national cuisine is the widespread use of potatoes, which are called second bread. It is rare to find a dish in which potatoes are not used in one form or another. Potatoes are used to prepare independent dishes and are also used as a side dish.

Belarusians especially love traditional potato pancakes. Let's start with them.

Draniki

The most authentic Belarusian dish. Some people call them potato pancakes and think that they are very easy to prepare. But that's not true. One wrong move and the pancakes will turn out gray and sticky.

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 5-7 pcs. or 500-700 g
Onions - 1/2-1 pcs. or 100-150 g
Egg - 1 pc.
Flour - 2 tbsp. with a slide
Vegetable oil
Salt
Ground black pepper

Preparation:
Peel the potatoes and grate them on a fine grater. For simplicity, some people prefer to grind the potatoes in a blender or grind them through a meat grinder... They say that then the potato pancakes can turn out tough. I didn’t notice much of a difference, but I always grate with a grater, if only because it’s easier for me to wash than a blender or a meat grinder))) You can even grate potatoes with a coarse grater if you’re really hungry)
Peel the onion and grate it on a fine grater. It is advisable to quickly add the onion to the potatoes so that they do not start to darken. If there is a large quantity, I rub one at a time - three potatoes, then an onion, etc. Also, to prevent the potatoes from darkening, you can add a spoonful of kefir or sour cream.
Add egg, salt, ground black pepper, and flour to the potato-onion mixture. You can add a little soda for splendor.
Mix the dough until smooth.
Pour vegetable oil into a hot frying pan, spoon out the potato mixture in the form of small pancakes.

Fry the pancakes on both sides over medium heat until golden brown.
Reduce heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Draniki are served mainly with sour cream, but I also recommend frying: lard cut into small cubes (preferably with layers of meat) and onion, cut into rings, fried together with lard.

Sorcerers

These are Belarusian pancakes with filling (usually meat or mushroom). Sometimes they make sorcerers with cabbage and carrots, pumpkin, beans, pea puree, lentils, cheese - that is, with whatever goes well with the taste of potato pancakes. Even ordinary fried onions found inside such a potato pie pleasantly diversify its taste. The sorcerers consist of three layers: potatoes on top and bottom, and filling in the middle (in our case, minced meat).

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 6-8 pcs. or 600-800 g
Onions - 1 pc. or 150 g
Minced meat (pork, pork-beef or chicken) - 300 g
Egg - 2 pcs.
Flour - 1-2 tablespoons
Salt
Ground black pepper

Preparation:
Let's start with the filling. If the minced meat is already prepared, peel the onion and grate it on a coarse grater (if you have meat, you know what to do). Pepper and salt. Mix everything well, cover and refrigerate (let the minced meat soak in the spices while you prepare the potato dough). If the minced meat turns out to be liquid, you can add a little semolina to it, it will absorb excess moisture.
Let's make the dough. Peel the potatoes and grate them on a fine grater. Squeeze lightly and drain the resulting juice. Add eggs, flour. Stir and add salt. Unlike simple potato pancakes, we don’t put onions in the dough; onions are in the minced meat!
Let's fry. Heat the oil in a frying pan (oil layer - 1 cm). Place the potato dough in hot oil (1-2 tablespoons for each potato pancake). Flatten the flatbreads in a frying pan so that they do not lie in a heap. Make small flat cakes from the minced meat, slightly smaller in size than potato pancakes in a frying pan. Place a meat patty on each pancake (also level). Place a layer of potato dough on top of the minced meat (a little less than you used for the base, 1 tablespoon) and press down a little. Fry over low heat for three minutes. Turn over. Cover with a lid and fry over low heat for 5-6 minutes. Ready!

After all the sorcerers are fried, you can put them in a frying pan, add a little water, cover with a lid and simmer for five minutes. But I usually don’t have enough patience for this)))

Pyzy

Delicious balls made from unusual dough with meat filling! We love this dish just as people in Russia love dumplings, and they prepare pyzy both for holidays and on weekdays. This is a very tasty and satisfying dish, made from available products, does not take much time, is easy to prepare - even a novice housewife can easily make pyzy.

Ingredients:
Cottage cheese - 1 pack or 250 g (you can take homemade one, it will only taste better!)
Flour – 1 tbsp.
Starch – 1 tbsp.
Potatoes – 3-4 pcs. or 300-400 g
salt
Filling:
Minced meat - 500 g (pork + beef + onion, salt, egg, spices - the same as for dumplings)

Preparation:
Mix cottage cheese, starch, finely grated potatoes, flour and salt - you get a very dense dough. No water or eggs are added to the dough, and yet it never falls apart or breaks. If the dough does not stick together into one lump, it means there is not enough moisture and you need to add a little more grated potatoes.

Then we begin to cut this dough in the same way as dumplings - we roll sausages, cut them into pieces and roll them out like dumplings, only thick ones - 5-6 mm. The dough is very easy to work with, it is plastic and does not stick to your hands.

Then the most interesting thing: we begin to sculpt pyzy. Place the minced meat on the flatbread and pinch it into a knot, forming a ball. The result is cute koloboks - pyzy, in size - something between dumplings and dumplings.

There are 30-35 of these beauties. Once molded, heat generously poured vegetable oil in a frying pan (ideally, you can probably do it with cracklings) and begin to fry the pyzy until golden brown on both sides.

I already want to eat them, but it’s too early: put the fried pyzy tightly in a saucepan, add a little salt, bay leaf, allspice, coriander - whoever likes what, and pour hot boiled water so that the pyzy are just covered, but didn't swim!

Simmer the pyzy over low heat for 20-25 minutes until the minced meat is cooked. During this time, the broth is almost absorbed, and the pyzy become juicy, tender and very tasty! They eat them hot, with sour cream - just delicious!

Tarkovans

These are potato cutlets with minced meat. They were dubbed Tarkovans from the method of grating potatoes and obtaining potato mass - it is called tarkovana (raw grated potatoes, after grating, not strained, but used together with the released juice).

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 5 pcs. or 500 g
Minced meat 600-650 g
Onions – 1-2 pcs. or 100-200 g
Chicken egg - 1 pc.
Carrots - 1 pc.
Bell pepper - 1 pc.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Cream – 0.5 liters (or sour cream)
Garlic - 1 clove
Flour - 2 tbsp. l.
Salt, spices to taste
Vegetable oil

Preparation:
Grate the potatoes on a coarse(!) grater, then combine with minced meat. Then beat a chicken egg into the potato-meat mixture, add salt, add spices and mix well.
Make plump cutlets from the resulting minced meat, then roll in flour and fry over high heat until golden brown.
Cut the garlic into slices, bell pepper into strips, carrot into circles, onion into rings.
Place the cutlets in a cauldron or saucepan, place chopped vegetables on top, pour cream (or sour cream). Add salt to taste and put on fire to simmer. Simmer vegetables and cutlets until cooked.

Serve with vegetables; sour cream or tomato sauce can be served separately.

Potato babka

In Belarus, potato babka is one of the favorite national dishes. It seems like a simple set of ingredients (potatoes, onions and fresh lard with a layer of meat), but the aroma from the dish in the house is wonderful! What can we say about the taste! Especially if you cook potato babka in a pot... Yummy - beyond words! Be sure to try it!

Ingredients (for 2 half-liter pots):
Potatoes – 800 g-1 kg
Brisket with meat layer – 250 g
Mushrooms - 200 g (preferably wild ones, of course)
Onion – 150 g
Sour cream – 2 tbsp. l.
Flour – 1 tbsp. l.
Egg – 1 pc.
Salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation:
Cut the brisket into small cubes and fry for a few minutes, then add chopped onion to it and bring it to a golden color. After a few minutes, add the mushrooms and saute everything together until done. Finally season with salt and pepper. Then cool.
Peel the potatoes last (before adding, so as not to darken, and grate them on a fine grater (do not drain the liquid!). Combine the grated potatoes with sour cream, egg, flour and salt. Mix everything well. To make the babka more flavorful, you can add garlic clove small garlic clove.
Add the fry to the potato mixture, place in pots greased inside and place in the oven.
If you are cooking in a ceramic pot, the oven should be initially cold and you will preheat it to 200 degrees. If the dishes are metal, place them in an oven already preheated to 200 degrees. Cooking for 45-60 minutes. Then remove the lids, and another 15 minutes to get the most amazing golden brown crust)))

These are the simple but incredibly appetizing dishes in Belarus.

That's not all, to be continued...

Belarusian cuisine was formed under the influence of neighboring states - Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine, plus differences between the culinary tastes of ordinary people and the dominant gentry. The latter preferred German cuisine; the artisans borrowed a lot from the Jews who populated the country en masse since the 17th century.

Features of Belarusian cuisine

The main food product - the second bread - was and remains potatoes: sorcerers, pancakes, casseroles, drachena, babka, as well as dishes from meat, vegetables, mushrooms with the constant addition of potatoes. There are three ways to prepare potato mass:

Tarkovannye potatoes - raw potatoes are grated and cooked together with juice.
Wedge mass - after grating, the raw potato mass is filtered.
Mashed potatoes are boiled and crushed mass.

In the national cuisine of Belarus, “black flour” was actively used - rye, oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, pea. Raschin Belarusian pancakes based on oat flour bear little resemblance to Russian ones, since they are baked from raschin - a spontaneously fermented leaven made from flour and water. Pies are not found in Belarusian cuisine at all.

Among dairy products, butter, sour cream, whey and cottage cheese are actively used as a “whitening”, “sourdough”, “volog” for many dishes with the addition of flour, vegetables, mushrooms and potatoes.

Pork is most often used to make sausages and wandlina - lightly smoked ham or loin. It, like lamb, is baked to prepare the national dish “pyachisty”. Among other meat dishes, “bigus” – cabbage stewed with meat – is popular.

Vodka ("garelka"), "zubrovka" (tincture of "garelka"), and "krambambulya" (an alcoholic drink made from vodka and honey) are used as alcoholic drinks.

Kissel, kvass, kulaga, purees, and casseroles are prepared from fruits and berries. Kissel in Belarus can hardly be called a drink - it is very thick and healthy, with the addition of wild berries.

Belarusian national dishes

The main products used in Belarusian cuisine have remained almost unchanged. But the processing methods and quality composition of dishes are different today. Previously, festive machanka was prepared from liquid rye or wheat dough, into which lard, onions, sausage, and pepper were crumbled and baked in a pot in the oven. Now all the products are fried in a frying pan, preparing a sauce from them. Pancakes are made from flour and served with this sauce.

Traditional menu for Belarusian lunch

Cold appetizer – Minsky salad. Cut the boiled potatoes into cubes, add shredded cabbage and chopped boiled champignons. Season with oil, sugar, vinegar.

The first dish is broth with “sorcerers” and ears. Place “sorcerers” (similar to large-sized dumplings), pre-boiled for 5 minutes in boiling water, into clear bone broth and cook until tender. Ears are prepared from unleavened dough, cutting the layer into diamonds. Pinch the opposite ends, bake in the oven and serve with broth.

Hot meat dish - potato fray. Flour, salt, soda, pepper, onion, fried with bacon, and fried pork slices are added to grated raw potatoes. Mix everything thoroughly and bake in a greased frying pan. Serve drachena hot, with butter.

Sweet – Belarusian jelly. Leaven is made from cold oatmeal and water. When it sours well, filter and brew thick jelly. Cool in molds, and when serving, pour over berry syrup. Can be served with cold milk.

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