The Riourikides dynasty, which arrived fron Scandinavia in the ninth century, brought with it smaked fish and meat, grain alcohol and dishes containing sour cream. During the tenth century, Vladimir the Great introduced oriental cooking: aubergines (eggplants), mutton and grapes appeared on the table, although cereals and turnips were still the basic foods. Thereafter, every invasion by a neighbouring country widened the choice of foods; sauerkraut from the northern peoples and curdled milk introduced by the Tatars are notable examples.

Tea drinking is a daily ritual. There is always boiling water in the samovar ready to make the tea, which is very strong, sometimes flavoured or perfumed and drunk with little or no sugar but sometimes with a spoonful of jam or with lemon (very rarely with milk).

Although the entire Soviet Union seems to share a taste for cabbage, cereals, potatoes, sour soups garnished with fish or meat (often served cold), tarts and fruit desserts, regional cooking can show many variations on these themes. common to the cookery of all these regions is a basic core of traditional dishes that typify "Old russia". The repertoire of soups including borsch, chtchi, botvinya, okrochka, rassolnick, solianka (cucumber, onion and tomato, garnished with meat or fish), the famous Bagration soup and spass (made with barley and yogurt, flavoured with herbs).

Fish recipes include sturgeon in aspic with horseradish sauce; fish fillets, either smaked or grilled (broiled) on skewers; smaked or fried sigui, kilki and silki (small fish similar to sprats), accompanied by onions; carp, lamprey, or pike-perch in sweet and sour preparations; and eel or salmon koulibiaca. Caviar (ikra) is lightly salted (molossol) or pressed into bricks (paiousnaia).

Among the meat and poultry specialities are kournik (a croustade of chicken with rice), kholodetz, solonina (salted rolled beef, poached and garnish with sauerkraut and potatoes, served with horseradish sauce and stuffed shoulder od veal, marinated with juniper berries them simmered and served with sautéed cucumbers.

Authentic Russian desserts include halva (a walnut custard sprinkled with toasted walnuts), gourieva kacha (semolina pudding containing walnuts and crystalized (candied) fruit), kissel and mazurek (a walnutsponge cake covered with an icing (frosting) made with walnuts, lemon and vinegar). Charlotka is of French origin, being based on the iced charlottes made by French chefs working in russia.