What do you eat for lunch in Russia?
Hey… long time no see…
how’s your day going?
Pretty good… I was just going out for lunch.
Nice… So, what do you normally eat for lunch in Russia?
What do we eat for lunch?
Good question.
I guess… it’s hard to say…
different people have different preferences.
So, my answer might be biased… a little…
But I can tell you…
just from my own experience…
Yep, tell me…
I am very curious to find out.
OK… we usually have…
we call it… pervoe… or the first course…
for instance… we say…
we gonna have a chicken soup “na pervoe”.
So, it’s some kind of soup…
Could be a borsch…
you know this one, don’t you?
If it’s a borsch… it often comes with a sour cream.
Or soup with meat, veggies…
I don’t know… So many types of soups…
Can’t tell you which ones are the most popular.
Oh… and people often eat bread…
with soup or borsch.
All right. So, what else do you eat for lunch?
Next is… we say… vtoroe…
or the second course.
for instance…
“na vtoroe” we have cutlets with pasta…
Meat… or sometimes fish…
Sausage is pretty popular too…
Meat cutlet… with pasta… or… may be… rice.
Pasta… any type of pasta…
from spaghetti to any kind of a thick pasta.
Could be mushrooms… or pelmeni…
Potatoes… boiled or fried…
mashed potatoes…
or… anything else…
These are just examples.
Any salads?
Yes, they come with almost every meal.
Often it’s just a simple vegetable salad…
tomatoes, cucumbers, or anything else…
with salt and sunflower oil.
But… there are many other types of salads.
What about pirozhki?
Well… pirozhki… how should I put it…
it’s not really a meal…
we eat it with other lunch dishes,
but it’s not a lunch on it’s own.
More of a snack…
If you eat just pirozhki for lunch…
usually you do it on the go…
It’s not a lunch anymore…
it’s a just a snack.
Gotcha. Well… what can I say?
Sounds like a pretty substantial meal already.
Certainly not a small one… I should say…
Anything else… to follow… or that’s about it?
No way…
Don’t forget… we have tretye…
or you might call it a dessert.
It could be just a drink…
and nothing else…
Or you might go for a pirozhok… just one…
or pirozhnoe — a small cake…
Depending on… if you are on a diet or not.
Right. So, what do you normally drink with lunch?
Well… I don’t know…
juice… may be… or a soft drink…
Kompot is very popular…
Or at least used to be…
Kompot… what is it?
Never heard of this one before.
Well… it’s like a juice…
always a natural one…
often a homemade one…
It’s made of fruits… any kinds of fruits…
May be not tropical fruits…
Apples… plums… pears… are much more common.
Delicious… if it’s made at home…
Just for the family and friends.
OK. What about other drinks?
Like tea or coffee?
Yes, of course… they are very popular too.
I would say… tea is still a bit more popular than coffee.
And… soft drinks… soda… many people like those.
I see… well… it’s really interesting…
Russian lunch is… well… pretty substantial.
Right… I guess, it depends…
Sometimes people just eat a snack…
or a fast-food meal.
The one I was describing…
it’s more of a proper meal
people eat at home… with a family
or at a restaurant.
And, of course… a lunch at home… it’s tastier…
almost every time… it’s tastier… than at a restaurant.
Oh… One thing I forgot to ask…
What about alcohol drinks?
Is it common to drink some alcohol with lunch?
Again… it depends…
If you have lunch at home…
visiting friends or family…
Then… yes… it is highly likely that
there will be some alcohol on the table.
Vodka or wine…
Sometimes even a homemade wine…
Beer… this one is… probably… less common…
for lunch… at least.
I see.
Yes, but if you are having a lunch at work…
Then… no… it is far less common…
to drink alcohol while you are still at work.
People will have a soft drink instead…
or anything without alcohol in it.
Tea… coffee… or just water.
All right. I see.
Now, I am getting hungry…
with all your stories about Russian food…
Anyway, let’s have lunch sometime…
Yeah, why not?
Good idea… absolutely… let’s do it.
Great, see ya…
Catch you later, bye…
Head image: Pelmeni with sour cream. By Eugene Kim at Flickr, CC-BY
