I'm being a little bit late :eek: Are you still interested in Russian meals?
I am Russian also and by chance I'm a great fan of traditional Russian food. Unfortunetely, Russians themselves are not very familiar with their traditional food.
One thing I can say for sure - the recipes above DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING in common with Russian meals.
Kasha with peaches? Hah! Peaches don't grow in Russia. And we don't use them a lot in cooking.
Bakalavah... I think it's "Pahlava", an old arabic desert. I don't know anything Russian with the name like that.
Cheese Cake? Never ever!
What we have really specific in Russia?
It's "okroshka" - a cold soup based on "kvas" (traditional drink made from bread and malt) with small pieces of meat, potatoes, cucumbers, green onion, radish. Served with horse-reddish, mustard, turnip.
It's "uha" - a hot soup with few types of fish. In traditional "whitefish" uha there's no potato. First one makes broth from fish heads and tails, cheaper fish. Then everything is removed from the broth and one puts sterlet, cut in slices. Very good uha when one uses not only water, but 50|50 with juice of salted cucumbers.
Then we got "kasha" (porridge) - a lot of types and sorts.
Then "tshi" - hot soup with sauerkraut, meat and potatoes.
Then pies - for example - "kurnik" - a big pie with few levels (chicken, rice, mushrooms). Levels are divided by pancakes.
Then alcoholic dring - "myod" ("honey) made from honey and malt.
Then pancakes - a lot of forms and types. For example, pancake from yeast paste with meat: you put meat on a pan, fry it a little, then put paste. The pancake will be thick, with small holes in it. Kind of Russian pizza :)
Ok, it's a very short tour into Russian cuisine. If you need more info just ask.
