Small dumplings filled with a mixture of pork, beef, and sometimes game. In Siberian tradition, pelmeni were often prepared by the hundreds, frozen outdoors in winter and stored as a convenient food for the cold season. ¹⁾

A clear fish soup made from freshwater species such as pike, perch, pike-perch or burbot. The fish is usually cooked with onions and root vegetables, keeping the broth relatively simple. ²⁾

A large enclosed pie filled with freshwater fish, onions and herbs. The pastry helps preserve moisture in the fish and made such pies practical provisions for journeys and long winter days. ³⁾

Very thin slices shaved from a completely frozen piece of raw fish and eaten immediately. The preparation is associated particularly with northern and Siberian food traditions and demonstrates how freezing itself became a method of food preservation. ⁴⁾

Fresh raw fish is sliced thinly and marinated with onion, salt, pepper and sometimes vinegar or lemon juice. The dish is popular throughout Siberia and is especially well suited to freshly caught river fish. ⁵⁾

A simple soup based on locally caught river fish, sometimes combined with wild herbs and roots. Such dishes reflect Indigenous traditions in which the natural flavor of freshly caught fish was more important than elaborate seasoning. ⁶⁾

Forest mushrooms are simmered with potatoes, onions and sometimes barley or sour cream. Gathering mushrooms in the taiga was an important seasonal activity and provided valuable food for the winter. ⁷⁾

Milk mushrooms are layered with salt and spices and allowed to ferment before being stored. In Siberian households, salted mushrooms could remain an important source of food long after the forests were covered in snow. ⁸⁾

Venison, elk, wild boar or other game is roasted or stewed and served with tart lingonberries. The berries cut through the richness of the meat and provide a classic Siberian sweet-and-sour contrast. ⁹⁾

Open-faced round pastries traditionally topped with mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, sour cream or other fillings. They are closely associated with Russian Siberian baking and make a particularly satisfying accompaniment to tea. ¹⁰⁾

Grain porridge enriched with Siberian pine nuts. The nuts add a rich, buttery flavor and demonstrate how products gathered from the taiga could be incorporated into ordinary household dishes. ¹¹⁾

Dumplings filled with blueberries, cranberries, raspberries or other forest berries. They are generally served with sour cream, sugar or honey and provide a sweet use for the short but abundant Siberian berry season. ¹²⁾

Forest berries are cooked and their juice thickened with starch to create a smooth, semi-gelatinous dessert. Cranberries and lingonberries give it a particularly vivid sweet-and-sour flavor. ¹³⁾

Small baked pastries filled with locally gathered greens or herbs, sometimes combined with egg or cottage cheese. Such fillings allowed spring vegetation to be transformed into a substantial food during the earliest part of the growing season. ¹⁴⁾

Dense honey gingerbread flavored with spices and baked for holidays or tea drinking. Honey was one of the traditional sweeteners available in rural Siberia and also helped keep such pastries moist and aromatic. ¹⁵⁾