"The Urals is the center of the world," – the locals joke. The fact is the Ural mountain range connects Europe and Asia. The Urals have rich and generous forests, powerful and high-water rivers, and more than 120 nationalities dwelling here. Therefore the regional cuisine of the Urals is special and unparalleled.
Each of the numerous ethnic groups living here has contributed to the development of the food culture of the Urals. Recipes of the Ural cuisine combine both Russian and Asian cooking traditions. Blending of the traditions of Tatar, Kazakh, Bashkir, Slavic, and Finno-Ugric peoples have brought the Urals cuisine to a new level.

The main products from which traditional Ural dishes are prepared are vegetables, fish, cereals, meat, and mushrooms. Most of the local dishes are quite hearty and nutritious, for people to withstand harsh climate of the Ural Mountains.
Ural Dumplings

Despite the fact that lots of traditional recipes of Russian cuisine are the same for the whole of this country, all the regions of Russia have their brand local dishes. Ural pelmeni (dumplings) are widely known all over Russia. For centuries, the local housewives have honed the mastery of making pelmeni. Ural dumplings are steamed in a special way and may have all sorts of filling, such as meat, game, potatoes, mushrooms, radish, sauerkraut, and berries.

Groozdyanka, i.e. Milk Mushroom Soup  
The soup of milk mushrooms from local forests is a traditional dish of the Ural cuisine and the most fragrant and delicious soup of all mushroom soups. It is cooked from fresh or salted mushrooms, potatoes and onions, with the addition of pepper and salt to taste and served with greens and sour cream. The traditional Russian peasant soup of Groozdyanka is good as simple and minimalistic as it is, no experiments needed.
To get a proper groozdyanka, you cannot replace milk mushrooms with champignons, oyster mushrooms, or even white mushrooms - it will be a completely different soup in that case. However, you can cook a similar soup with saffron milk caps or russula and it will be delicious as well.

Ural Okroshka
In summer heat, the cold soup of okroshka is very popular among the Ural people, but its taste significantly differs from the general recipe of okroshka. The reason is that, on top of all the basic ingredients, locals add sauerkraut and radish to it. Traditionally, the liquid base of okroshka is cold and refreshing kvass, sprinkled with chopped onions, greens and grated horseradish and spooned with sour cream.
Sauerkraut
One of the most popular dishes in the Urals is traditional Russian sauerkraut with the addition of carrots or cranberries. The Urals can eat such cabbage with almost any other food.

Pie "Friendly Family"
This special stuffed pie symbolizes a friendly, close-knit family all the members of which are cast in the same mold though have their own tastes and preferences. It consists of a variety of individual small pies baked together in one mold. All of the little patties can have various or identical filling. The stuffing can be with meat, fish, mushrooms, potatoes, eggs, cabbage, onions, cheese, cottage cheese, berries, various fruits, apples, carrots, nuts and dried fruits, jam, and boiled condensed milk.
The Friendly Family is often referred to as “a surprise pie” because until you break or bite your little pie you have no idea what’s inside of it. It can be a merry game at a family table to exchange the pies, if they all like to get a different stuffing.
Read about Other Regional Cuisines
More of Gourmet Tours in Russia
Overview of Russian Cuisine 
Taste Russia: Authentic Recipes