Understand Russian Names - Russian Culture
Tried and failed to read War and Peace? For my money, it's not the writing that makes it difficult, it's the fact that each character is referred to by at least three different names! What lies behind this inconvenient fact, and how do I properly ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Pryanniki - Russian Festive Biscuits - Russian Culture
Pryanniki are traditional Russian sweet foods, a cross between a biscuit and a cake, usually containing honey and spices. They come into their own in winter, and are good candidates for nibbling on at New Year celebrations, which in Russia is ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Museum of the Leningrad Blockade - Russian Culture
The rich and turbulent history of St Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad has left more galleries, churches and museums than you can shake a stick at, and certainly more than the average 3-day trip there can possibly encompass. You also need to leave ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Domovoi - Russian House Spirit - Russian Culture
Ever asked yourself if there's something spooky lurking under the stairs? Or got the feeling you weren't quite 'home alone'? In Western culture, film and fiction, house spirits usually have sinister associations, connected to spiteful ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Dacha - Russian Culture
A group of sleepy dachas, decorative wooden houses, curling smoke from the chimneys, fruit hanging from the trees - the untutored eye might take this for a simple village, untouched by time. This is not quite the case. Most people used part of ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Beetroot Cutlet Recipe - Russian Culture
When you think of Russian food, you may picture steaming bowls of fatty meat stew to ward off the winter cold. Many Russians themselves profess amazement at the concept of a vegetarian meal. At odds with perceptions at home and abroad, authentic, ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Maslenitsa - Russian Pancake Day - Russian Culture
Maslenitsa is the Russian version of Pancake Day, with bells on. This week-long burst of energy gives people a much needed boost at the end of winter. The name of the festival comes from the Russian word for butter, which is 'maslo', and ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Solovyovo - Margaret Paxson - Russian Culture
English language books/documentaries about life in Russia are ten-a-penny nowadays. They usually run thus; wide-eyed foreigner goes traipsing across great swathes of Russia, pausing for the odd vodka and to say 'Gosh, isn't everything strange! I ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Khingalash - Pumpkin Pie recipe from Chechnya - Russian ...
This simple and nutritious autumn recipe is not ethnic Russian in origin, hailing rather from Chechnya in the Caucasus. There are some on both sides of the whole Russian-Chechen mess who would still break bread together, and that's why I have ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Potato Pancake Recipe - Draniki - Russian Culture
These soft potato pancakes are quick to make and a good winter filler. They can be served with sour cream, or stuffed with the filling of your choice to make a light meal. Peel and grate the potato and the onion into a large mixing bowl. Don't ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Social drinking in Russia - Russian Culture
If alcohol is the social lubricant of choice for much of the Western world, you may expect to find Russian society pickling in the stuff. Not quite a fair perception, but then again, it's no baseless lie either. Mikhail Gorbachev was so concerned ... [... more]
Bella Online |
Street Etiquette - Russian Culture
If international cultural relations were merely a problem of language, the world would be a rather less fascinating place. As it is, we are separated from our fellow planet-dwellers by nuances in behavioural norms, which build up into an unspoken ... [... more]
Bella Online |
