Zakuski

What it is

A zakuski table mixes salty, sour, smoked and rich foods. Typical items are pickled cucumbers and mushrooms, salted herring with onion, smoked fish, cured pork fat, cold meats, jellied meat, dark rye bread, and salads bound with mayonnaise. Caviar and small pancakes appear on grander tables. Small pies are common. Nothing needs to be served hot, which lets the host sit with the guests. On many holiday tables the zakuski are so generous that the hot course after them is barely touched.

Where it comes from

The custom took shape in the country houses of the Russian gentry, where travellers arriving at odd hours after long journeys were given vodka and cold food while a proper meal was prepared. It is often compared to the Scandinavian cold table. In the Soviet period zakuski moved into ordinary flats, and dishes such as dressed herring and Olivier salad became fixed parts of the New Year table. Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania keep closely related customs.

How it works

Everything is on the table at once, and guests help themselves. Drinking is organised by toasts. Someone speaks, glasses are raised, the vodka is drunk in one go, and each person follows it straight away with a bite of something sharp or salty. That bite is the zakuska. Then there is a pause for talk and food before the next toast. Hot dishes, if any, come much later.

How to do it

1. Take a little of several dishes onto your plate first.
2. Wait for a toast before drinking.
3. Follow each sip or shot at once with a pickle, herring or rye bread.
4. Eat between toasts. The food is there to slow the drink.

Good manners

• Do not drink before the first toast or on your own between toasts.
• Leave room. A hot course and then tea and cake may follow.
• It is fine to decline vodka. Raise a glass of something else.

What is eaten

Pickled cucumberCucumbers preserved in brine or vinegar, enjoyed worldwide in many stylesOlivier saladA Russian salad of diced vegetables, meat and mayonnaise, served at festive mealsDressed herringLayered salad of herring, vegetables, eggs and mayonnaise with a purple beetroot topCaviarSalt-cured fish roe, most prized from sturgeon of the Caspian and Black SeaSaloSalt-cured slabs of pork fat, eaten across Central and Eastern EuropeAspicMeat or fish set in savoury gelatin, served cold as an appetizer or festive dishPirozhkiYeast-leavened buns filled with sweet or savory fillings, baked or friedBliniThin Russian pancakes made with yeast or unyeasted batterVinegretA Russian salad of beet, potato, carrot, onion and sauerkraut or pickles

Sources and further reading

• Zakuski on Wikipedia
• New World Encyclopedia: Caviar