Blini

Blini are Russian pancakes, traditionally made from a yeast-raised batter of buckwheat or wheat flour, or a mixture of the two, with milk, and served with toppings such as smetana, a soured cream, cottage cheese, caviar or butter. Their roots reach back to medieval Russia, where they were historically prepared twice a day during Maslenitsa, the week-long butter festival marking the end of winter, and they also held a ceremonial role at funerals and in prayers for the dead. French cooking, which became influential in Russia during the nineteenth century, is thought to have contributed to lighter modern versions of the batter. Wheat is the most common flour used today, though buckwheat, oatmeal and millet are all traditional alternatives, and blini are embedded deeply enough in Russian culture to have produced their own proverb, that the first blin always comes out lumpy, used to describe how early attempts at anything often fail.