Traditional cuisine is considered to be part and parcel of any national culture. It reflects the whole history of the nation, its mentality, customs and the way of life. National cuisine includes various recipes of dishes: festive, ceremonial and everyday food, as well as ways of its cooking, serving and storing.

The so-called ‘pyaryakat’ (in Moksha) or ‘pryakat’ (in Erzya), a kind of pie, is backed usually of leavened dough and filled with various stuffing, mainly with cooked cereal. It can also be filled with potatoes, cabbage, onion, carrot, mushrooms, fruit, meat (though it is not very common) and fish. Favorite dish of the Mordvins is pancakes, the so-called ‘pachat’ (in Moksha) or ‘pachalkset’ (in Erzya), backed of rye, wheat or pea flour. The pancakes are usually quite thick. The most ancient Mordvinian beverage called ‘pure’ (in Moksha, Erzya) is made of mead and malt fermentation wort with addition of some amount of bee-bread and lavishly hopped. Since olden times the Mordvins, like other peoples engaged in farming, drink home-brewed beer, the so-called ‘braga’ (in Erzya) or ‘braga poza’ (in Moksha).

Here is one of the traditional Mordivinian recipes:

MILLET PANCAKES:

The first thing to do is to make leaven of wheat and millet flour. When the leaven sinks, put salt, sugar and the rest of flour and make dough. After that put the dough in some warm place for 2-3 hours for fermentation. Pancakes are to be fried on a properly heated greased frying-pan and served with butter. For one helping you need: millet flour, 15 gm; wheat flour, 60 gm; sugar, 3 gm; salt, 1,5 gm; yeast, 3 gm; margarine for frying, 3 gm; butter, 10 gm; water or milk, 115 gm. Mordvinian wedding