🇷🇺 The cheeses of Russia
11 cheeses from Russia, best known first, across 5 towns, markets and caves.
Dairy is a minor component of Russian cuisine, which centers on grains, soups, and preserved meats. Smetana serves as the primary creamy element in many dishes. Cheese plays a very small part in traditional recipes.
- Smetana is the main dairy product used in Russian cooking
- Cheese is not a central ingredient in traditional dishes
- Soups like shchi are staples served with sour cream
- Cold soups often use kvass or kefir bases
Cheese in Russia
Russian food relies heavily on breads, cereals, and root vegetables due to the harsh climate. Dairy appears mainly as sour milk products rather than aged cheeses. The tradition emphasizes preservation through freezing or pickling. Neighboring cultures influence the meat and soup styles more than the dairy sector.
Dishes, breads and sweets
Smetana, a thick sour cream similar to crème fraîche, is essential. It tops cold soups like okroshka and hot cabbage soup called shchi. It mixes into beetroot salads known as svyokolnik. Hard-boiled eggs often accompany these dairy-rich meals. Traditional pies sometimes use cheese fillings, but this is rare compared to meat or berry options.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Russian cuisine", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. EveryCheese rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Cheese towns and markets of Russia
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreQuarkTvorog
A fresh, acid-set cow's milk cheese with a smooth texture and mild taste.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreTilsitTilsiter
A semi-hard smear-ripened cow's milk cheese from East Prussia with a dark yellow rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreTvorogтворог
A soft, white fermented cow's milk curd from Central and Eastern Europe.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇬🇪 Georgia and 1 moreSulguniსულგუნი
A brined, elastic Georgian cheese from Samegrelo, often deep-fried.Cow · Brined · Salty
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreBuffalo mozzarellamozzarella di bufala
A fresh, soft pasta filata cheese made from Italian Mediterranean buffalo milk.Buffalo · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇦🇲 Armenia and 4 moreChechilչեչիլ
A brined, stringy pasta filata cheese from the Caucasus region.Mixed · Brined · Salty
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreCircassian cheeseадыгейский сыр
A fresh, basket-molded cow's milk cheese from the North Caucasus that holds its shape when heated.Cow · Fresh
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian cheeseРоссийский сыр
A semi-hard cow's milk cheese aged for two months, developed in the Soviet Union.Cow · Semi-hard · Tangy and lactic
🇷🇺 RussiaKorallКоралл
A pink, shrimp-flavoured processed cheese made in Russia with fish paste and spices.Mixed · Processed · Savoury and brothy
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 morePaskhaпа́сха
A sweet, molded East Slavic Easter cheese made from tvorog and dairy.Cow · Fresh · Sweet and caramel
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Havarti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Buffalo mozzarella: Luigi Versaggi, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Circassian cheese: Tetk200, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sulguni: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Russian cheese: Original photo by User:Водник , label removal by User:Алексей Гоманков, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tvorog: Loyna, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Chechil: Valen1988, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Quark: SKopp, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Paskha: Mitrius, Public domain, source
The weekly digest
Every Monday: seven cheeses you may not know, the cheese days of the week ahead, and one dish explained step by step.