Culture

There are over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples in Russia.
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Ethnic
Russians with their Slavic Orthodox traditions, Tatars and Bashkirs with their Turkic
Muslim culture, Buddhist nomadic Buryats and Kalmyks, Shamanistic peoples of the
Extreme North and Siberia, highlanders of the Northern Caucasus, Finno-Ugric peoples of
the Russian North West and Volga Region all contribute to the cultural diversity of the
country.
Handicraft, like Dymkovo toy, khokhloma, gzhel and palekh miniature represent an
important aspect of Russian folk culture. Ethnic Russian clothes include kaftan,
kosovorotka and ushanka for men, sarafan and kokoshnik for women, with lapti and
valenki as common shoes. The clothes of Cossacks from Southern Russia include burka
and papaha, which they share with the peoples of the Northern Caucasus.
Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye,
wheat, barley, and millet provide the ingredients for various breads, pancakes and cereals,
as well as for kvass, beer and vodka drinks. Black bread is rather popular in Russia,
compared to the rest of the world. Flavourful soups and stews include shchi, borsch, ukha,
solyanka and okroshka. Smetana (a heavy sour cream) is often added to soups and salads.
Pirozhki, blini and syrniki are native types of pancakes. Chicken Kiev, pelmeni and
shashlyk are popular meat dishes, the last two being of Tatar and Caucasus origin
respectively. Other meat dishes include stuffed cabbage rolls (golubtsy) usually filled with
meat.
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Salads include Olivier salad, Vinaigrette and Dressed herring.
Russia's large number of ethnic groups have distinctive traditions regarding folk music.
Typical ethnic Russian musical instruments are gusli, balalaika, zhaleika, and garmoshka.
Folk music had a significant influence on Russian classical composers, and in modern
times it is a source of inspiration for a number of popular folk bands, like Melnitsa. Russian
folk songs, as well as patriotic Soviet songs, constitute the bulk of the repertoire of the
world-renown Red Army choir and other popular ensembles.
Russians have many traditions, including the washing in banya, a hot steam bath somewhat
similar to sauna.
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Old Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan Slavic religion. Many
Russian fairy tales and epic bylinas were adaptated for animation films, or for feature
movies by the prominent directors like Aleksandr Ptushko (Ilya Muromets, Sadko) and
Aleksandr Rou (Morozko, Vasilisa the Beautiful). Russian poets, including Pyotr Yershov
and Leonid Filatov, made a number of well-known poetical interpretations of the classical
fairy tales, and in some cases, like that of Alexander Pushkin, also created fully original
fairy tale poems of great popularity.


National holidays and symbols
Main articles: Public holidays in Russia and Cultural icons of Russia
There are seven public holidays in Russia,
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except those always celebrated on Sunday.
Russian New Year traditions resemble those of the Western Christmas, with New Year
Trees and gifts, and Ded Moroz (Father Frost) playing the same role as Santa Claus.
Orthodox Christmas falls on 7 January, because Russian Orthodox Church still follows the
Julian calendar and all Orthodox holidays are 13 days after Western ones. Another two
major Christian holidays are Easter and Trinity Sunday. Kurban Bayram and Uraza Bayram
are celebrated by Russian Muslims.
Further Russian public holidays include Defender of the Fatherland Day (23 February),
which honors Russian men, especially those serving in the army; International Women's
Day (8 March), which combines the traditions of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day; Spring
and Labor Day (1 May); Victory Day (9 May); Russia Day (12 June); and Unity Day (4
November), commemorating the popular uprising which expelled the Polish occupation
force from Moscow in 1612.
Russian cuisine
Cold soups
Okroshka is a cold soup based on kvass or sour milk. Okroshka is also a salad. The main
ingredients are two types of vegetables that can be mixed with cold boiled meat or fish in a
1:1 proportion . Thus vegetable, meat, poultry, and fish varieties of okroshka are made.
There are typically two types of vegetables in okroshka. The first must have a neutral taste,
such as boiled potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, carrots, or fresh cucumbers. The second must be
spicy, consisting of mainly green onion as well as other herbsgreens of dill, parsley,
chervil, celery, or tarragon. Different meat and poultry can be used in the same soup. The
most common ingredient is beef alone or with poultry. If it is made with fish, the best
choice would be tench, European perch, pike-perch, cod, or other neutral-tasting fish.
The kvass most commonly used in cooking is white okroshka kvass, which is much more
sour than drinking kvass. Spices used include mustard, black pepper and pickled cucumber
(specifically, the liquid from the pickles), solely or in combination. For the final touch,
boiled eggs and smetana (similar to crme frache) are added.
For sour milk based okroshka, well shaken up natural sour milk(often with the addition of
seed oil) is used with the addition of pure water and ground garlic. Sometimes
manufactured kefir is used instead of natural sour milk for time saving reasons, though
some say it detracts from the original taste of okroshka.
Tyurya is very similar to okroshka, the main difference being that instead of vegetables,
bread is soaked in kvass. It is was commonly consumed during rough times (the Russian
Revolution, World War I, World War II) and by poor peasants. Also, due to its simplicity,
it was very common as a meal during religious fasting.
Botvinya is another type of cold soup. The name of the soup comes from the Russian word
botva, which means "leafy tops of root vegetables", and, true to its name, it is made with
the leafy tops of young beets, sorrel, scallions, dill, cucumbers, and two types of kvass.
Mustard, garlic, and horseradish are then added for flavor. The vegetables are rubbed
through a sieve and kvass is poured over.
Hot soups
Shchi (cabbage soup) had been the predominant first course in Russian cuisine for over a
thousand years. Although tastes have changed, it steadily made its way through several
epochs. Shchi knew no social class boundaries, and even if the rich had richer ingredients
and the poor made it solely of cabbage and onions, all these "poor" and "rich" variations
were cooked in the same tradition. The unique taste of this cabbage soup was from the fact
that after cooking it was left to draw (stew) in a Russian stove. The "Spirit of shchi" was
inseparable from a Russian izba (log hut). Many Russian proverbs are connected to this
soup, such as Shchi da kasha pishcha nasha (Russian: , "Shchi
and porridge are our staples"). It can be eaten regularly, and at any time of the year.
The richer variant of shchi includes several ingredients, but the first and last components
are a must:
1. Cabbage.
2. Meat (very rarely fish or mushrooms).
3. Carrots, basil or parsley roots.
4. Spicy herbs (onions, celery, dill, garlic, pepper, bay leaf).
5. Sour components (smetana, apples, sauerkraut, pickle water).