Many of us do not even suspect how many interesting things you can learn while traveling across the vastness of our vast homeland.
It’s not only about natural beauty or architectural and historical monuments. The richness of the regional culture and the variety of culinary dishes are also amazing. A real expert told us about the intricacies of gastronomic tourism within our country.
Coordinator of the federal project “Gastronomic Map of Russia”, speaker of the forum “Russia: Tourism-2020”
Trying new
For Europeans, national dishes are an inseparable part of life. For example, the same Italians enjoy eating pasta and pizza both at home and abroad. Tourists from Russia are very enthusiastic about gastronomic experiments, and not only outside the country. As it turned out, regional cuisine is also of great interest to them. To our surprise, at gastronomic festivals, for example, in Pyatigorsk, people swept away Arctic cuisine with great pleasure. Fish soup with crab and venison were especially popular. Shish kebab, traditional for the Caucasus, suffered a crushing defeat in this culinary battle.
One-hand food
We have done a great job of identifying foods that are convenient to eat outside. As it turned out, it is quite possible to develop a street version for almost any dish of our national cuisine. In addition, the format, when you can just take something quickly and have a snack, without staying long in place, is very convenient. The buffet and banquet menu of regional dishes, from receptions of the country’s top officials to business events, always goes off with a bang. Also a good format – regional breakfast at the hotel. For many people traveling for work or business, this is the only way to taste the local cuisine.
Honeycomb as an art object
I highly recommend agritourism facilities and visits to food production facilities. For example, the “Milk Academy” from the largest Voronezh manufacturer. This is a program about the production and path of all dairy products to our table. Or the national park of Bashkiria is the only place in Russia and Europe where a unique craft has been preserved – board beekeeping. The honeycombs of wild bees in the hollow of a tree are real natural art objects, you need to see this miracle of nature with your own eyes at least once in your life.
Tolstoy’s wife recipes
Another interesting option for gastronomic tourism is visiting estates. The archives of our Russian estates have preserved the recipes of their owners. For example, culinary records of Leo Tolstoy’s wife, Countess Sophia, have survived to this day. The most interesting thing is that these recipes are adapted to our days, thanks to which every visitor to the estate can purchase and take with them a dish from Sofia Tolstoy.
Price issue
I would recommend taking a closer look at complex travel, where you can get acquainted with the culture and traditions of the country and at the same time take part in master classes and taste local regional dishes. The cost of such weekend tours, at a distance of up to 200 km from Moscow, costs on average 8-10 thousand rubles per person.