A Cooking Adventure: Russian Pancakes

I’ve had another cooking adventure recently. This one did not end poorly, unlike the macaroni and cheese a few months back. Feel free to read about that escapade here.

Perhaps, it did not fail because I wasn’t the one who cooked. Some friends did, actually. Even though I did not cook, I still consider it an adventure because of the food we made.

Russian pancakes.

Yes, we made Russian pancakes.

For those of you who may not know, I was born in Russia. And besides the time I ate food in Russia before flying to America when I was adopted, I don’t recall ever having any Russian food. And the food I did eat back then, I don’t have any memory of since I was five at the time.

Needless to say, this adventure was quite necessary for the sake of my heritage. I just had to have a small idea of what Russians ate.

So, here’s what I discovered.

Russian pancakes are like crepes, but a little bit thinner—at least the ones we made. They are not like the thick buttermilk American ones. I honestly don’t know if there are other versions of them. But, I do know that Bulgarian pancakes are like crepes, too. Perhaps, it is just a non-American tradition.

To tell you the truth, I was rather curious to see what they tasteed like. I am not much of a crepe person. Granted, I am pretty sure the only time I’ve had a crepe is at IHOP, which could be part of my problem.

Plus, I absolutely love pancakes. In fact, I am that person who has a preference between pancakes and waffles. I’ve made both and much preferred the pancakes over the waffles.

Although I have a preference, I don’t really understand why there is this competition between the two of them. They are made practically the same way. Maybe it is a question of who wants to put their syrup in little compartments. I’d love to hear if you all know why there is this battle between the battered breakfast items.

Regardless, it took quite a bit of time to make the Russian pancakes. It took much longer than one may anticipate, which is probably why my friends don’t make them often. And from what I could see, they can be a bit difficult to make, depending on the size of one’s pan.

We had some with cinnamon and sugar inside them. Then, there were others with cherries on top of them. Again, I don’t know if that is the traditional way, but it is how my friends preferred to eat them, so I went with it. Much like the crepes I’ve had before, they can be a bit of a sweet meal.

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed them! I usually don’t like sweet food, especially for breakfast. I quite liked the subtle sweetness of the cinnamon and sugar with the thin crepe. It helped greatly that I controlled how much cinnamon and sugar was on them.

I would not consider the ones we made to be enough for a full meal, which is why we had to have other items alongside them. Honestly, that was a bit of a let-down for me.  But, I usually don’t like to have a large breakfast so maybe I’d fit right in. We had ours for dinner, thus my need for more substance.

All in all, though, I am extremely thankful for my friends’ hospitality and willingness to make the Russian pancakes. I don’t know about you, guys, but it sure does mean a lot to me when those around me embrace my heritage and identity right alongside me. Or, better yet, in this case, they help me learn even more!

Because, as I’ve said before, my Russian heritage will always be a part of who I am, even though I don’t know much about it or understand it completely. Therefore, I am grateful to anyone who helps me make greater sense of it.

I don’t know what Russian food I’ll be cooking next or when I will tackle the Russian pancakes recipe myself. But, I do know I want to go to a restaurant that serves Russian food for my birthday. Here’s to hoping I can give you all an update about that in the near future!

Regardless, my call to you is this: Be honest about who you are and where you come from. You never know who knows a little something about your heritage. It is a part of you, even in the form of a breakfast item.

Blessings,

Renata

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Thank you dearly for taking time out of your lives to read my blog! Your support means the world to me. I praise God you found this blog, whether you stumbled upon it accidentally or sought it out intentionally.

I’d LOVE to hear from you all! Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at coffee.soothes.the.soul@gmail.com.

I pray God would bless you and be with you always, no matter where you find yourselves in life.

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He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. – Romans 4:25 (NIV).