Belarus

Most of the meals from this part of the world are gutsy, hearty peasant food. They mostly involve potatoes and all sorts of meat, especially offal. Thick potato pancakes are especially popular, and come in many guises; such as served with sour cream, or layered with meat or vegetables. We chose Potato Aladdzi a la Miensk. This was made with grated potatoes, formed into pancakes and fried, then layered with lightly seasoned pork mince and baked. It was filling, hearty and delicious! We all absoultely loved it and cleared the bowl. We served it with green veges and it was just great. We agreed that it would be perfect for a midwinter meal (although it feels like midwinter today!!!), and would made a great lunch. To finish, we had baked apples called Bierascie Manner. These were cored, then filled with an egg custard containing some sultanas and cinnamon, and baked. Again, they were beautiful; lighter than the English baked apples served with lots of sultanas and brown sugar etc, and quite a delicate flavour. These too got the big thumbs up, so we will be returning to Belarus soon!