Blini

Blini (plural ''blinis'' or ''blini'', rarely ''bliny''; pl., Ukrainian: млинці pl., ''mlyntsi''), singular: blin, are an Eastern European crêpe made from various kinds of flour of buckwheat, wheat, etc. They may be served with smetana, cottage cheese, caviar and other garnishes, or simply smeared with butter. They are a traditional Slavic dish.

In the West, blini traditionally refers to small savory pancakes made with leavened batter. In modern Russian, the term most often refers to pan-sized leavened thin pancakes, although smaller leavened pancakes are also called blini. Smaller and thicker pancakes (with several of them baked on one larger pan) are called '' oladyi''.

Blintzes, called ''blinchiki'' (little blinis) in Russian are an offshoot of blini or crêpes. They are basically rolls based on thin pancakes usually made of wheat flour, folded to form a casing for various kinds of filling, typically cheese, fruit, or (in Russian cuisine) pre-fried minced meat, and then sautéed or baked.

Etymology

The Proto-Slavic term for the Russian pancakes was probably ''mlinŭ,'' which transformed in Old East Slavic into (), (cf. (), Ukrainian for ''blin''). It is derived from the verb моло́ть, "to mill ", "to grind". Max Vasmer in his ''Etymological Dictionary of the Russian language'' notes that a similar word is used in many Slavic languages, as well as in Latvian and Lithuanian. While the Russian word (plural of ') refers in modern Russian also to the introduced foreign pancakes in general; meanwhile the term (Russian pancakes) is often emphasized in Russia for differentiation.

Some English dictionaries record usage of the forms ''blin'' as singular and ''blini'' or ''bliny'' as plural, which corresponds to the original Russian forms, but other dictionaries consider this usage so rare in English that they do not mention ''blin'' at all and only record the widespread modern regular usage of ''blini'' for the singular and ''blinis'' for the plural.

History

In Russian culture blini were traditionally prepared at the end of winter during Maslenitsa (butter week).

Traditional Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with milk, soured milk, and cold or boiling water. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as ''zavarnye bliny'' (the Russian term ''zavarnoe testo'' corresponds to "choux pastry"). A lighter and thinner form made from unyeasted batter (usually made of flour, eggs, milk, or soured milk, kefir, ryazhenka, varenets) is also common in Russia. All kinds of flour may be used, from wheat and buckwheat to oatmeal and millet, although wheat is currently the most popular. Historically, blini have been baked in a Russian oven, which was used for heat processing of all kinds of food. Even though blini are nowadays pan-fried, like pancakes, preparing blini is still referred to as "pech bliny" (i.e., "to bake blini") in Russian, and the word for "Russian oven" is a cognate, "(russkya) pech".

Varieties

Some ways that blini are prepared and served include the following:

* Blini made from batter containing various additions such as grated potato or apple and raisins.
* Blini covered with butter, sour cream, varenie or jam, honey or caviar ( whitefish, salmon or traditional sturgeon).

They may be folded or rolled into a tube with sweet or salty fillings such as varenye, fruit, berry, mashed potatoes, tvorog, cooked ground meat, cooked chicken, salmon, chopped boiled eggs with green onions or chopped mushrooms.

* Blini made by pouring batter over chopped vegetables, meat, or mushrooms put on a frying pan beforehand are called "blini s pripyokom."
* Caviar is a popular filling for blini during Russian-style cocktail parties.
* Buckwheat blini are part of traditional Russian cuisine. They are also widespread in Ukraine, where they are sometimes known as (), and Lithuania's Dzūkija region, the only region of the country in which buckwheat is grown, where they are called ''grikių blynai'' (which is in fact literally "buckwheat blini").

Gallery

File:Зворыкин С-широкой-масленицей.jpg, An old woman prepares blini in a Russian oven for Maslenitsa
File:Blini with salmon roe.jpg, Blini served with red caviar
File:Russian stamp no 1029.jpg, Russian stamp with blini and other stereotypes of Russian cuisine
File:Блины - мелна готовятся в печи 15 дек 2016.jpg, Blini fried in an oven in the Mari El Republic, Russia
File:Pancake week (silver coin)r.gif, Belarusian commemorative coin with Maslenitsa theme and the accompanying blini
File:Blini.jpg, Blini rolled up
File:С_широкой_масляницей.jpg, A pre-1917 ''Maslenitsa'' congratulation postcard
File:Street food, Novosibirsk 02.jpg, Blini shop in Novosibirsk, Russia
File:Blini Tanya.jpg, Lithuanian Blini (blynai or sklindziai)

In popular culture

Aside from referring to pancakes, the word ' () is used in Russian as a " minced oath" for the Russian swear word "блять" , used as an interjection to express a negative emotion, akin to the words "damn!" or saying "Holy Moly!" while meaning "Holy shit!".

There are many Russian proverbs involving ''blini''.Русские пословицы и поговорки о блинах и масленице
/ref> For example, " Первый блин комом" ("The first ''blin'' is lumpy") is a figurative saying that the first attempt to do something is expected to be unsuccessful, said to calm down the person who failed the first try. An English equivalent would be "You must spoil before you spin".

See also

References

{{Authority control

Jewish baked goods
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
Belarusian cuisine
German desserts
Lithuanian cuisine
Carnival foods
Pancakes
Russian desserts
Shavuot
Slavic cuisine
Ukrainian desserts
Ukrainian cuisine
Stuffed dishes
Lithuanian desserts
Soviet cuisine
Street food in Russia