Just a couple shots from today’s Maslenitsa celebrations in the park. Songs were performed by the same band from last year (I’ll link it tomorrow if I remember), so it was a bit disappointing. However, shashlyk and pierogis were eaten, samovar tea was drunk, dances were danced. Then this huge snowfall started (ironic for a goodbye winter celebration) and my feet got frozen, so that was it.
Day two of Maslenitsa, the Russian Pancake week.
Have you tried crepes the Russian way - with fillings? Some of typical fillings are tvorog (curd), apples, berries, minced meat, eggs with chives, liver, mushrooms, cabbage.
March 4 marks the first day of the Pancake Week in Russia!
(Postcard from 1988.)
Maslenitsa results are in. This week I had blinis with butter, sour cream, apples, whipped cream, sweet condensed milk, banana, Nutella, curd, spinach, and avocado. Good times. (Also, after all the pancakes fasting sounds like a great idea!)
What did you guys have? What’s your favourite way to eat pancakes?
We had a fun folk song ensemble from a nearby town who sang a bunch of cheery songs! Love the second video for the impromtu khorovod! :)
I went to the park today and now I proudly present - small town Maslenitsa celebrations! Featuring samovar, handmade toys, snow-covered pierogi and jolly folk music. :)
Antique Russian Maslenitsa postcards from 1900s-1910s (thanks )
The last one is interesting. It shows Father Maslenitsa (Масленичный дед) riding a flying pancake, holding a buffoon head baton in one hand and a barrel of beer in the other, a pretty lady by his side. Maslenitsa was a bacchanal type celebration esp. back in the day, with its excessive eating, drinking, loud carnivals, horse sleigh riding etc.
Now, Father Maslenitsa is a forgotten character.
«Ишь ты, масленица!» (Bah, Butterfeast!) — a super popular Soviet Armenian cartoon. It’s not about Maslenitsa per se, but it’s culturally iconic in its use of the word Maslenitsa. :)
Watch with English subtitles above!
Every day this week
(Image from Krestyanka 1969)
Day 3 of Maslenitsa. They say every household has their own pancake recipe. Here’s my (secret!) recipe of perfect blinis.
0.5 l kefir
1 egg
3-4 spoons sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
flour
Mix everything but flour (use whisker or electric mixer). Then add flour incrementally to get the desired consistence (the more flour, the thicker blini will be). Fry blinis on a well heated frying pan.
A little tip: for best results I use kefir that’s gone sour (I buy it about a week ahead and let it go sour). It gives blinis a tingly sour taste and also more bubbles. :)
The key ingredient in this is of course kefir. It’s a type of fermented milk. I know that you can get it in Germany and Austria. Hopefully in other countries too (maybe in Russian food stores?) In Austria I tried , I bought it for the Matryoshka packaging and it turned out surprisingly good!
If you try this recipe you must share your results with me. ;)
This week, February 12 to 18, is Maslenitsa—the Pancake week! It’s one of the biggest celebrations of old time Russia and my personal favourite, a very festive time that marks the turn of winter to spring. I’m sooo getting stuffed with pancakes and crepes this week!
I have some fun post ideas for this week, let’s celebrate Maslenitsa together!
This week in Russia is Maslenitsa — the Pancake Week, and the week we say “goodbye” to winter and “hello, finally” to spring. Also the week that we get stuffed with all sorts of pancakes and crepes. Good times, good times. Join in if you ilke pancakes and springs too! ;)
(Postcards here are from various postcard sets, published in 1987, 1989 and respectively.)
Invitation by Vladimir Zarubin, 1993