Масленица or Crepe week, February 20-26, 2023

Maslenitsa ( Масленица) is a week-long festivity celebrating the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Many ethnographers consider Maslenitsa to be one of the oldest surviving Slavic traditions. Maslenitsa is not a religious holiday, but it is celebrated during the last week before Lent. I read that centuries ago dates were adjusted to make sure it does not fall on Lent when Orthodox Christians are forbidden to eat many types of food.

Modern Maslenitsa celebration combines Slavic pagan traditions and elements of Orthodox Christianity. During Maslenitsa week many cities and towns organize celebrations, and cafes and restaurants offer special menus. Maslenitsa ends on Sunday with a ritual burning of the Maslenitsa scarecrow to celebrate the beginning of spring.

Bliny (crepes) is the main food of modern Maslenitsa. They are yellow and round and symbolize the Sun. With the Sun and spring comes new life.

If you want to read about Maslenitsa, here's a link to the Russian museum of ethnography:Российский этнографический музей (ethnomuseum.ru)

There is an article in Wikipedia in English as well: Maslenitsa - Wikipedia

Bliny/ Блины

Maslenitsa is a perfect occasion to invite friends to your house for bliny. Russian bliny (this is actually a plural form of a noun) are more like crepes though the word is often translated as "pancakes" in American English. American pancakes are more like Russian oladushki (оладьи, оладушки).

The best crepes recipes

Here are two of my favorite recipes of crepes that I will be using for Maslenitsa this year. They slightly differ in taste. If following a recipe in Russian is difficult for you, use Carina's French Crepes recipe. Or you can do both. Both recipes have videos as well.

Tip 1: cast iron skillet is the best for crepes.

Tip 2: You can also buy a wooden crepe tool from Carina's site (the link is in the recipe, $8.99 ). I bought it a couple of years ago and it made a huge difference. I use it every time I make crepes. if you decide to use the tool, make sure you a bowl of water for the crepe spreader to dip between spreading crepe butter.

You can serve crepes with sweet and savory feelings. Traditional ones include caviar, smoked salmon, sour cream, ground meat, tvorog (Russian cottage cheese), and jam. If you live on the east coast of the US, don't skip maple syrup. It pairs well with bliny!

Happy Maslenitsa!

French Crepes by Carina French Crepe Recipe - Recipes by Carina

Gotovim Doma by Olesya Блинчики - пошаговый рецепт с фото на Готовим дома (gotovim-doma.ru)