{{Short description|Russian pancake}} {{Infobox food | name = Blini | image = 50 блінкоў на талерцы 240 мм.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Blini | alternate_name = blin, bliny | country = Russia | region = | creator = | course = | type = pancake | served = | main_ingredient = wheat, eggs (optional), milk, water | variations = | calories = | other = | cookbook = Bliny }}
'''Blini''' (also ''blinis'' or ''bliny'';<ref name="Ayto"/><ref name="Sundaram"/><ref name="Hudgins"/><ref name="ahd">{{cite book |title=The American Heritage Dictionary: Fifth Edition |date=26 June 2012 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-0-553-58322-9 |page=196 |edition=5th |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=blini |language=en |chapter=blini}}</ref> {{langx|ru|блины}}; {{singular}} '''blin''';<ref name="Hudgins"/> {{langx|ru|блин}}) are Russian pancakes, often made with a yeast-raised batter of buckwheat and/or wheat flour and milk.{{efn|Attributed to the following references:<ref name="Ayto">{{cite book |last1=Ayto |first1=John |title=The Diner's Dictionary |date=18 April 2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-964024-9 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199640249.001.0001/acref-9780199640249-e-113 |language=en |chapter=Blini |page=36 |quote=Blinis are small thick Russian pancakes made with buckwheat flour. They are usually served with salt herring, caviare, or smoked salmon, and sour cream and melted butter.}}</ref><ref name="Sundaram">{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Susmita |editor1-last=Smorodinskaya |editor1-first=Tatiana |editor2-last=Evans-Romaine |editor2-first=Karen |editor3-last=Goscilo |editor3-first=Helena |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78785-0 |page=75 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Contemporary_Russian_Cul/ZXz2okCSfq8C |language=en |chapter=Bliny |quote=Russian version of crepes. Although there are several varieties of bliny, the most common consist of all-purpose wheat flour, eggs, milk, and butter}}</ref><ref name="Hudgins">{{cite book |last1=Hudgins |first=Sharon |editor-last1=Kraig |editor-first1=Bruce |editor-last2=Sen |editor-first2=Colleen Taylor |title=Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture |chapter=Russian Federation |date=9 September 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-15026-8 |pages=292–298 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Street_Food_around_the_World/swTHEAAAQBAJ |language=en |quote=''Bliny'' (singular ''blin'') are a type of Russian pancake traditionally made from a batter of buckwheat flour and yeast... Most contemporary street-food bliny are actually ''blinchiki'', the easier-to make, nonleavened Russian version of French crepes...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sinclair |first1=Charles |title=A Cook's Dictionary: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z |date=October 2005 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |isbn=978-1-904970-18-7 |page=74 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Cook_s_Dictionary/oC08NQAACAAJ?hl=en |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Bender">{{cite book |last1=Bender |first1=David A. |title=Dictionary Of Food & Nutrition |date=28 October 2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-567787-4 |page=49 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dictionary_Of_Food_Nutrition/8-6SPwAACAAJ?hl=en |language=en |quote=Russian; small yeast pancakes made from buckwheat flour, served with salt herring, smoked salmon, or caviar, and sour cream.}}</ref><ref name="Mason">{{cite book |last1=Mason |first1=Laura |editor-last1=Davidson |editor-first1=Alan |editor-last2=Jaine |editor-first2=Tom |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |chapter=Blini |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967733-7 |pages=87–88 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Food/RL6LAwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>}} They may be served with smetana, cottage cheese, caviar and other garnishes, or simply smeared with butter.<ref name="Ayto"/><ref name="Bender"/> They are a traditional dish in Russian cuisine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/14/174097702/its-russian-mardi-gras-bring-on-the-pancakes-and-butter?t=1620939022038|title=It's Russian Mardi Gras: Time For Pancakes, Butter And Fistfights|website=NPR.org|date=14 March 2013}}</ref>
In the English language, ''blini'' traditionally refers to small savory pancakes made with leavened batter. In modern Russian, the term most often refers to pan-sized leavened thin pancakes, although smaller leavened pancakes are also called blini. Smaller and thicker pancakes (with several of them baked on one larger pan) are called ''oladyi''.
Blintzes, called ''blinchiki'' ('little blinis') in Russian, are an offshoot of blini or crêpes.<ref name="Hudgins"/> They are basically rolls based on thin pancakes usually made of wheat flour, folded to form a casing for various kinds of filling, typically cheese, fruit, or (in Russian cuisine) pre-fried minced meat, and then sautéed or baked.<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|blintze}} "a thin, usually wheat-flour pancake folded to form a casing (as for cheese or fruit) and then sautéed or baked"</ref>
==Etymology==
The Proto-Slavic term for the Russian pancakes was probably ''mlinŭ'' ('to mill'), which was transformed in Old Russian into {{langx|orv|млинъ|mlinŭ|label=none}}, and {{langx|orv|блинъ|blinŭ|label=none}} (cf. {{langx|uk|млинець|mlynets|label=none}}, Ukrainian for ''blin'').<ref name="ahd"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Raţă |first1=Georgeta |title=The English of Tourism |date=3 January 2013 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-4486-4 |page=192 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_English_of_Tourism/MOGmBgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> Max Vasmer, in his ''Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language'', notes that a similar word is used in many Slavic languages, as well as in Latvian and Lithuanian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/vasmer/36941/%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD|title=блин - это... Что такое блин?|author=близорукий блинд|website=Dic.academic.ru|access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref> While the modern Russian word {{langx|ru|блины|bliny|label=none}} (plural of {{langx|ru|блин|blin|label=none}}), also refers to foreign-introduced pancakes in general, the term {{langx|ru|русские блины|russkiye bliny|label=none}} ('Russian pancakes'), is often emphasized in Russia for differentiation.
Some English dictionaries record usage of the forms ''blin'' as singular and ''blini'' or ''bliny'' as plural, which corresponds to the original Russian forms, but other dictionaries consider this usage so rare in English that they do not mention ''blin'' at all and only record the widespread modern regular usage of ''blini'' for the singular and ''blinis'' for the plural.<ref name="Ayto"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/blini |title=blini definition and synonyms |publisher=Macmillan Dictionary |date=2016-12-09 |access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref>
==History== Blini have a history dating to the Middle Ages.<ref name="Mason"/> In Russian culture, blini were traditionally prepared at the end of winter during Maslenitsa ('butter week') as a treat eaten twice a day.<ref name="Mason"/> There were also other occasions for eating blini, such as at funerals and during prayers for the dead.<ref name="Mason"/>
Traditional Russian blini are made with yeasted batter, which is left to rise and then diluted with milk, soured milk, and cold or boiling water. When diluted with boiling water, they are referred to as ''zavarnye bliny'' (the Russian term ''zavarnoe testo'' corresponds to "choux pastry"). A lighter and thinner form made from unyeasted batter (usually made of flour, eggs, milk, or soured milk, kefir, ryazhenka, varenets) is also common in Russia. All kinds of flour may be used, from wheat and buckwheat to oatmeal and millet, although wheat is currently the most popular. Historically, blini have been baked in a Russian oven, which was used for heat processing of all kinds of food. Even though blini are nowadays pan-fried, like pancakes, preparing blini is still referred to as "pech bliny" (i.e., "to bake blini") in Russian, and the word for "Russian oven" is a cognate, "(russkaya) pech".
The influence of French cuisine in the 19th century may have led to the development of lighter blini.<ref name="Mason"/> According to Lesley Chamberlain: "In a full Russian ''obed'', blini are served after the cold ''zakuski''. They may be followed by consommé, then pies and then the main meat course. For all this you would need a gargantuan appetite..."<ref name="Mason"/>
==Varieties== thumb|right|The preparation of bliny
Some ways that blini are prepared and served include the following: * Blini made from batter containing various additions such as grated potato or apple and raisins.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ojc4Uker_V0C&q=food+encyclopedia%2C+blintz&pg=PA57 |title = Encyclopedia of Jewish Food|publisher = Wiley|year = 2010|access-date = April 18, 2012|author = Marks, Gil|pages = 56–58|isbn = 978-0-470-94354-0}} {{ISBN|978-0-470-39130-3}}</ref> * Blini covered with butter, sour cream, varenie or jam, honey or caviar (whitefish, salmon or traditional sturgeon).
They may be folded or rolled into a tube with sweet or salty fillings such as varenye, fruit, berry, mashed potatoes, tvorog, cooked ground meat, cooked chicken, salmon, chopped boiled eggs with green onions or chopped mushrooms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shrovetide indulgence with babushka's tvorog blini |url=https://www.rbth.com/russian-kitchen/330053-shrovetide-indulgence-babushka-tvorog-blini-maslenitsa/amp |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.rbth.com}}</ref>
* Blini made by pouring batter over chopped vegetables, meat, or mushrooms put on a frying pan beforehand are called "blini s pripyokom." * Caviar is a popular filling for blini during Russian-style parties and in foreign Russian-style restaurants. * '''Buckwheat blini''' are part of traditional Russian cuisine.<ref name="Encyclopedia" /> They are also widespread in Ukraine,<ref name="Encyclopedia" /> where they are sometimes known as {{Transliteration|uk|hrechanyky}} ({{Langx|uk|гречаники}}), and Lithuania's Dzūkija region, the only region of the country in which buckwheat is grown, where they are called ''grikių blynai'' (which is in fact literally "buckwheat blini").
Similar pancakes are eaten in neighboring countries, such as ''nalistniki'' in Belarus, although blini are also widely eaten.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kraig |first=Bruce|editor-last1=Kraig |editor-first1=Bruce |editor-last2=Sen |editor-first2=Colleen Taylor |title=Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture |chapter=Belarus |date=9 September 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-15026-8 |pages=47–48 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Street_Food_around_the_World/swTHEAAAQBAJ |language=en |quote=The most popular are ''bliny'', originally a Russian dish (the Belarusian ''nalistniki'' is similar).}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="140px"> File:Зворыкин С-широкой-масленицей.jpg|An old woman prepares blini in a Russian oven for Maslenitsa File:Blini with salmon roe.jpg|Blini served with red caviar File:Russian stamp no 1029.jpg|Russian stamp with blini and other stereotypes of Russian cuisine File:Блины - мелна готовятся в печи 15 дек 2016.jpg|Blini fried in an oven in the Mari El Republic, Russia File:Pancake week (silver coin)r.gif|Belarusian commemorative coin with Maslenitsa theme and the accompanying blini File:Blini.jpg|Blini rolled up File:С_широкой_масляницей.jpg|A pre-1917 ''Maslenitsa'' congratulation postcard File:Street food, Novosibirsk 02.jpg|Blini shop in Novosibirsk, Russia File:Blini Tanya.jpg|Lithuanian Blini (blynai or sklindziai) </gallery>
==In popular culture== Aside from referring to pancakes, the word ''{{Transliteration|ru|blin}}'' ({{IPA|блин}}) is used in Russian as a "minced oath" for the Russian swear word "блять" {{Transliteration|ru|blyat'}}, used as an interjection to express a negative emotion, akin to the words "damn!" or saying "Holy Moly!" while meaning "Holy shit!".<ref name=leru>{{Cite web|url=https://learnrussiandaily.com/meaning-in-russian/blin/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822150708/https://learnrussiandaily.com/meaning-in-russian/blin/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 22, 2019|title=Blin - Meaning in Russian - Translation and audio|website=Learn Russian Daily|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-08-22}}</ref>
There are many Russian proverbs involving ''blini''.<ref>[https://nazaccent.ru/phrase/poslovicy-i-pogovorki-o-blinah/ ПОСЛОВИЦЫ И ПОГОВОРКИ О БЛИНАХ]</ref><ref>[https://cgon.rospotrebnadzor.ru/istoriya/istoriya-sanitarnogo-prosveshcheniya/istoriya-pitaniya/russkie-poslovitsy-i-pogovorki-o-blinakh-i-maslenitse/ Русские пословицы и поговорки о блинах и масленице]</ref> For example, "Первый блин комом" ("The first ''blin'' is lumpy") is a figurative saying that the first attempt to do something is expected to be unsuccessful, said to calm down the person who failed the first try.<ref name=leru/> An English equivalent would be "You must spoil before you spin".<ref name=leru/>
==See also== * List of pancakes * List of Russian dishes
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Pancakes}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Belarusian cuisine Category:Carnival foods Category:German desserts Category:Lithuanian cuisine Category:Lithuanian desserts Category:Pancakes Category:Russian desserts Category:Soviet cuisine Category:Street food in Russia Category:Stuffed dishes Category:Ukrainian cuisine Category:Ukrainian desserts