Siberian Pelmeni

Pelmeni are small dumplings of thin unleavened dough around raw minced meat - traditionally a mix of beef, pork and sometimes elk or bear, with onion, ice or broth worked in so the filling stays wet - folded into a ring and boiled. What makes them Siberian is the storage: before refrigeration, families made them in enormous batches in late autumn, everyone at the table folding, and the trays were carried outside to freeze in the cold, then tipped into sacks and kept on the porch all winter, so a meal was a handful thrown into boiling water. Travellers carried frozen pelmeni on long journeys and cooked them in snowmelt. They are served with sour cream, butter, vinegar or broth depending on where you are and who you ask, and every family holds firm views on all of it. The word comes from Komi or Udmurt and means something like bread ear, describing the shape.

What you actually see

• The outdoor freezing - trays carried out to freeze and stored in sacks for the winter.
• The family session - hundreds folded in one sitting with everyone at the table.
• The wet filling - raw meat with ice or broth worked in so it stays juicy.
• The arguments - sour cream, vinegar, butter or broth, disputed everywhere.

When to go

October to March, which is when the tradition makes sense. A meal.

Honest expectations

Frozen supermarket pelmeni are a different and much poorer thing than hand-folded ones. Cafe versions vary widely. The filling is traditionally raw meat that cooks in the boiling, so undercooking matters. Vegetarian versions exist but are not the tradition.

Nearby

Every Siberian city has pelmennaya canteens; the dish is standard across the region.