Russian Inventions - Early East Slavs

Early East Slavs

Baked milk / Ryazhenka

• Baked milk is made by simmering milk on low heat for eight hours or longer. The product has a light brown color, a specific taste and the ability to be stored safely at room temperature for up to forty hours, much longer than most milk-based beverages. It has been produced since ancient times, typically using a Russian oven. Nowadays it is produced on an industrial scale. Soured or fermented baked milk, traditionally known as ryazhenka, is especially popular in Russia.

Banya

• Banya is a traditional Russian wet steam bath, where bathing takes place inside special rooms or stand-alone wooden houses, with steam being produced by splashing water upon heated rocks. Historically, banya developed simultaneously with its closest relative, the Finnish sauna. However, modern saunas converted to dry steam, while banyas continue to use wet steam. Banya temperatures may exceed 110°C, and people often hit themselves or others with bunches of dried branches and leaves from white birch, oak or eucalyptus in order to improve the circulation. It is customary to cool off outdoors or splash around in cold water, or even in a lake or river. In the winter, people may roll in the snow or jump into the water through holes in the ice. After two or three sessions of sweating and cooling off, the ritual ends with drinking beverages or tea, playing games or relaxing in good company in an antechamber off the steam room. Banya has a strong positive effect on health, helps prevent a number of diseases and strengthens the immune system.

Blini

• Blini are thin pancakes made with yeast. Blin comes from Old Slavic mlin, that means "to mill". Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise. It is then diluted with cold or boiling water or milk. Blini may have originated in the time of the Slavic unity, and they had a somewhat ritual significance for the early Slavs in pre-Christian times, since they were a symbol of the sun due to their round form. Blini were traditionally prepared at the end of the winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Butter Week, or Maslenitsa). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church and is carried on to the present day.

Gusli

• Gusli is the oldest Slavic and Russian multi-string plucked instrument. Preserved instruments discovered by archaeologists have between 5 and 9 strings, in one case even 12. Gusli may have derived from a Byzantine form of the Greek kythare and have a number of relative instruments, like the Finnish kantele. The first mention of gusli dates back to 591 AD, to a treatise by the Greek historian Theophylact Simocatta, which describes the instrument being used by Slavs from the area of the later Kievan Rus'. The gusli are thought to have been the instrument used by the legendary Boyan (a singer of tales) and other heroes of Russian mythology. In later times gusli were widely used by wandering musicians and entertainers - Skomorokh.

Izba

• An izba is a traditional Russian countryside dwelling, a type of log house, suited to the colder climate of North-Eastern Europe and Siberia. Traditional, old-style izba construction involved the use of simple tools, such as ropes, axes, knives, and spades. Nails were not generally used, as metal was relatively expensive, and neither were saws. Both the interior and exterior were made of split tree trunks, the gap between was usually filled with clay from the riverbed. From the 15th century on, the central element of the interior of an izba was the Russian oven. Outside izbas were often embellished by various special architectural features, for example rich wood carving decorations on windows. Such decorative elements and the use of the Russian oven are still commonly found in many modern Russian countryside houses.

Kosovorotka

• A kosovorotka is a Russian skewed-collared shirt, long sleeved and reaching down to the mid-thigh, a traditional top garment going back to ancient times. The name derived from koso (askew), and vorot (collar), since the collar of this shirt appears skewed when it is left unbuttoned. The collar and sleeves of kosovorotka were often decorated with a traditional Slavic ornament. It was worn by peasants and townsmen of various social categories until the early 20th century, until being replaced by less elaborate clothing. The garment is also known as a tolstovka, or the Tolstoy-shirt, because the writer Count Leo Tolstoy customarily wore one in the later years of his life. Now kosovorotkas appear mostly as souvenirs and as decorative garments in Russian folk art ensembles.

Lapti

• Lapti is an East Slavic version of bast shoes. A kind of basket fit to the shape of a foot, lapti were woven primarily from bast of the linden tree or from birch bark. They were easy to manufacture, but not very durable. In Russia, lapti were worn until the 1920s, or 1930s, as a cheap replacement for leather shoes, just like clogs in the Western Europe.

Shchi

• Shchi is a Russian soup with cabbage as the primary ingredient, which makes it possible for the prepared dish to be stored safely for a rather long time without it losing its taste qualities. Generally it is made with either fresh cabbage or sauerkraut and other winter vegetables, although meat can be added. Shchi made with sauerkraut has a sour taste and is called sour shchi. A summer sorrel soup, also popular in pre-Revolutionary and today's Russia, is known as green shchi. Usually smetana cream is added into shchi before serving.

Smetana

• Smetana is a thick, yellowish-white and slightly sour-tasting cream which contains about 40% of milk fat. It is made by curdling pasteurized cream. In Russian cooking, it is used in virtually everything from appetizers and main courses to desserts. It is somewhat close to a crème fraîche (28%), but much heavier and thicker, with usually 36% to 42% milkfat or even higher, and more sour in taste. Smetana is ideal to be used in dishes requiring a long cooking time in the oven, since it will not curdle when cooked or added to hot dishes.