Small dumplings filled with minced meat, traditionally made from a mixture of pork, beef and sometimes game. Pelmeni became one of the defining foods of the Urals, where they could be prepared in large quantities, frozen outdoors and stored through winter. ¹⁾

Open-faced round pastries made from wheat or rye dough and topped with mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, sour cream or other fillings. Savory shangi are a classic example of the region's northern-Ural baking tradition. ²⁾

Tiny fried meat pies particularly associated with the wider Ural culinary tradition. Their filling contains enough broth or meat juices that biting into a freshly cooked one can release a surprisingly hot splash—hence the amusing name. ³⁾

Thin baked or fried pancakes associated with Ural home cooking. They can be served with sour cream, butter, cottage cheese, berries or savory fillings, making them useful for both everyday and festive meals. ⁴⁾

A fragrant soup made from forest mushrooms, potatoes, onions and sometimes barley or sour cream. Mushroom gathering has long been an important seasonal activity in the forests surrounding Yekaterinburg and other Ural settlements. ⁵⁾

Fresh pike from Ural rivers is boiled, baked or stewed and served with sharp grated horseradish. The combination of mild freshwater fish and pungent root vegetable is characteristic of traditional Russian river cuisine. ⁶⁾

A closed pastry filled with freshwater fish, onions and herbs, sometimes accompanied by rice or buckwheat. The dough acts almost like a natural container, keeping the fish moist while making the pie convenient to transport. ⁷⁾

Pearl barley is slowly cooked and mixed with fried wild mushrooms and onions. It is an excellent example of the practical cuisine of the Urals, combining an inexpensive grain with ingredients gathered from the forest. ⁸⁾

Venison, elk or other game can be roasted or stewed and accompanied by tart lingonberry sauce. The sweet-and-sour berries provide a striking contrast to the rich flavor of meat from the Ural forests. ⁹⁾

Forest milk mushrooms are layered with salt and spices and allowed to ferment before being served with onions and vegetable oil. Preserving mushrooms in this way was an important means of storing the short summer harvest for winter. ¹⁰⁾

Grated potatoes are combined with onions and pieces of pork or bacon before being slowly baked until the surface becomes golden and crisp. It is a particularly hearty example of economical rural cooking. ¹¹⁾

Honey and spice gingerbread represents the region's old tradition of tea-time baking and confectionery. Dense, fragrant cakes could be prepared for holidays, fairs and family celebrations. ¹²⁾

Cranberries, bilberries, lingonberries or other forest berries are cooked and their juice thickened with starch. The resulting dessert has a characteristic sweet-and-tart flavor and makes excellent use of the Ural forest harvest. ¹³⁾

Siberian pine nuts, available through trade from the wider Ural and Siberian regions, are used in sweets, pastries and nut-based confections. Their rich, buttery taste provides a distinctly northern character to desserts. ¹⁴⁾

Forest herbs are brewed together with dried berries such as rowan, rosehip, raspberry or lingonberry. More than simply a beverage, such herbal infusions reflect the traditional knowledge of plants gathered from the Ural forests. ¹⁵⁾