Rissian Food Preservation: Pickles, Sauerkraut and Varenye

The Short Answer

“Rissian” is a frequent misspelling of “Russian,” so if you are here for “Rissian pickles” or “Rissian preserving,” this is the real Russian tradition. With long winters and a short growing season, Russian households historically had to store the summer harvest for many months. The result is a rich culture of zagotovki (заготовки, “preserves put up for later”): solen’ya (соленья) — salt-fermented cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage and mushrooms — along with vinegar marinades, varenye (whole-fruit preserves), dried mushrooms and fruit, and, today, a pantry of jars sealed at the family dacha.

Salting and Fermenting: Solen’ya

The oldest Russian method is salting, which in practice means lactic acid fermentation. Vegetables are packed with salt or covered in brine; the salt holds back spoilage organisms while naturally present lactic acid bacteria turn sugars into lactic acid, which sours and preserves the food. Traditionally this was done in oak barrels kept in a cool cellar (погреб, PO-greb). Today most families use glass jars, enamel pots or food-grade buckets and keep them in the fridge, on a cold balcony or in a cellar at the dacha.

Cucumbers

Solyonye ogurtsy (salted cucumbers) are the icon of the Russian pickle world: small, firm cucumbers fermented with dill heads, garlic, horseradish leaves and root, blackcurrant or cherry leaves, and sometimes oak leaves (whose tannins help keep them crisp). They are served as a zakuska (appetiser), chopped into salads like Olivier and vinegret, and added to soups such as rassolnik. Even the brine, rassol, is drunk — it is a traditional hangover remedy, though that is folklore rather than science.

Kvashenaya Kapusta: Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is made in autumn, when cabbages are harvested. Shredded cabbage is mixed with salt (roughly 2% of the cabbage weight is a common guideline) and grated carrot, massaged until it releases its juice, and packed tightly so it is covered by its own brine. After several days at room temperature it moves somewhere cool. Russian versions often add cranberries or lingonberries, apple slices or caraway seeds. It is eaten as a salad with sunflower oil and onion, cooked into shchi (cabbage soup), or used as a filling for pies.

Mochenye Yabloki: Soaked Apples

A lesser-known classic is mochenye yabloki (мочёные яблоки), whole apples fermented in a lightly salted and sweetened brine, sometimes with rye flour or malt, together with lingonberries or cabbage. The result is fizzy, tart and aromatic.

Mushrooms: The National Pastime

Mushroom hunting is a national passion, and preserving the haul is part of the ritual. Different species are treated differently:

• Drying suits the prized bely grib (“white mushroom,” porcini/cep) and other boletes; slices are strung on threads and dried in the sun or a low oven, then used in soups all winter.
• Salting is traditional for milk caps — gruzdi, volnushki and the famous ryzhiki (saffron milk caps). Some of these are bitter or irritating unless soaked or boiled first, which is why traditional methods are specific to each species.
• Marinating in vinegar is common for honey mushrooms (opyata) and butter mushrooms (maslyata).

Varenye and Other Sweet Preserves

Varenye is Russia’s signature sweet preserve. Unlike jam, it keeps the fruit whole in a clear syrup: berries or fruit are layered with sugar or poured over with hot syrup, then heated briefly several times with rests in between so the fruit stays intact and absorbs the sugar. Popular kinds include strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, apricot, gooseberry and the delicacy of whole pine cones or green walnuts. Varenye is spooned from small glass dishes alongside tea, stirred into tea, or served with bliny and syrniki.

Other sweet preserves include povidlo (thick fruit butter), pastila (dried whipped apple “marshmallow” from Kolomna and Belyov), and raspberries rubbed with sugar, a raw preserve kept in the fridge or freezer. Berries are also made into juices such as mors — see our Russian drinks guide.

Drying and Cold Storage

Besides mushrooms, Russians traditionally dried apples and pears for winter compote (uzvar), dried herbs, and toasted bread into sukhari — see our guide to Russian bread. Potatoes, carrots, beets and cabbages were stored whole in cellars and root pits. In the far north, the winter cold itself was the freezer: frozen fish and meat were stored outdoors, and thin shavings of frozen fish (stroganina) are still a Siberian delicacy.

The Dacha and the Jar

The modern face of this tradition is the dacha — a country cottage or a garden plot with a small house outside the city. In the Soviet era, garden plots were distributed widely, and growing your own vegetables and fruit became both a hobby and an economic necessity. For many families it still is. August and September are zagotovki season: kitchens steam with sterilised jars, and the jars are sealed with metal lids and a hand seaming tool (закаточная машинка). Sharing jars of pickles and varenye with neighbours, colleagues and grown-up children is one of the small economies of affection in Russian life.

Serving Russian Preserves

A classic Russian zakuska table puts salted cucumbers, sauerkraut with cranberries, marinated mushrooms and herring with onion next to dark rye bread and boiled potatoes with dill. You can explore the dishes around them in our guide to Russian food. And if you have ever wondered why a creamy American condiment is called Russian dressing, that is a story of its own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between salted and marinated pickles in Russia?

Salted pickles (солёные огурцы, sa-LYO-ny-ye a-gur-TSY) are fermented in a salt brine by lactic acid bacteria and taste sour and garlicky. Marinated pickles (маринованные огурцы) are preserved with vinegar, usually heat-processed in sealed jars, and taste sharper and often sweeter.

What is kvashenaya kapusta?

Kvashenaya kapusta (квашеная капуста, KVA-she-na-ya ka-PUS-ta) is Russian sauerkraut: shredded cabbage fermented with salt, usually with grated carrot and sometimes cranberries, lingonberries, apple or caraway. It is eaten as a salad with oil and onion and used in soups such as shchi.

How is varenye different from jam?

Varenye (варенье, va-RYE-nye) is cooked so that the fruit or berries stay whole or in large pieces in a clear syrup, rather than setting into a spreadable jelly. It is traditionally eaten with a spoon alongside tea.

Is it safe to make fermented pickles at home?

Lacto-fermented cucumbers are generally considered safe when you use enough salt, clean equipment and fresh produce, keep everything under the brine, and refrigerate once fermented. Discard anything slimy, foul-smelling or growing mould. For shelf-stable canning, follow a tested recipe from an official food-safety source.