The following highlights some of the popular Traditional Crimean Foods. If you manage to be in an Crimean restaurant or you are visiting Crimea, I recommend the following:
1. Manti
These are calculating meatballs made from seasoned minced lamb, beef or horse meat. Depending on the region, pumpkin and courgette are also added to the filling. It is usually boiled or steamed in its own juices, served with butter, sour cream or onion sauce. If served as street food, it can be eaten as is, sprinkled with red chilli powder.
2. Kazylyk
This is horse sausage. Traditionally preserved by drying it in the sun and prairie wind, it is still the most common method of preservation, although it can be boiled, grilled or baked, and is often seasoned with cumin and coriander. Thinly sliced pickled onions are served as a main dish and are considered a delicacy.
3. Chak-Chak
Served at parties, weddings and celebrations, it is perhaps the most iconic tartar dessert. Flatbread is rolled into hazelnut-sized balls and deep-fried. The balls are then dipped in honey and divided into individual portions or stacked like choux pastry. It is often decorated with nuts and dried fruit.
4. Cheburek
The word cheburek comes from the Crimean Tatar language and literally means ‘raw cake’. This dish is popular not only in Tatar and Russian cuisine, but also in many Asian and Caucasian menus. It is a fried pie served in Crimea, filled with minced meat and onion. It is made from a piece of dough that is folded into a crescent-shaped filling.
5. Gubadiya
This is a sweet and savoury layered cheesecake that is also perfect for parties. Place rice, ricotta or cottage cheese, ground beef or lamb, a hard-boiled egg and a mixture of sultanas or dried fruits such as figs, prunes and apricots on one side of the pie crust. Pour melted butter over the filling, then close the pie and bake.
6. Echpochmak
These are triangular pies filled with minced meat and potatoes. When the dough has risen and is filled, the corners are folded back a little to leave a small hole in the top of the pie. Halfway through the baking process, the echpochmak is removed from the oven and a spoonful of stock or broth is poured through the hole for the filling. This ensures that the raw meat remains moist, tender and tasty.
7. Belish
This is a pie that you can buy a small one (vak belish) or share a large one (zur belish) with a friend. The hard, crispy puff pastry shell is often filled with grains, potatoes and meat, and then another strip of puff pastry is placed on top of it. They are usually made with fatty meats such as duck, goose and veal because they are tasty and do not dry out easily.
8. Sherbet
Tartar sherbet is a sweet fruit and honey-based drink that gives a temporary liqueur, so drink it fresh. It is usually made with cherries, strawberries and raspberries, as well as sultanas and dried apricots.
9. Talkysh Kaleve
This is another favourite dessert of the Crimean people, but to master this dish you need to be a professional chef. Honey and sugar are twisted into a tight fairy floss and then dusted with melted butter and flour to harden it, but not before it is shaped into miniature cones. Serve with a cup of hot tea to cut the sweetness.
10. Kystyby
These hot delicacies are real comfort food. The round flatbreads are stuffed with buttered potatoes or hearty millet porridge, then folded in half and pan-fried. They can be eaten as a snack.
If you found this list useful, here are some more Traditional European Foods to try out on my Pinterest channel.