National Dishes of the World

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Kvass
Photo: Mr.Icon (Mricon), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

drink vegan

Kvass

квас (kvas)

A refreshing, lightly fizzy drink of fermented rye bread, sweet-sour and dark amber in colour.

Eaten in: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine

Prep
20 min
Cooking
15 min
Resting
24 h
Total
24 h 35 min
Servings
12

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About the dish

Kvass is a traditional drink of Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, made from dried rye bread steeped in water and briefly fermented with yeast and sugar. It is dark amber, with a gentle bready aroma and a pleasant sweet-sour taste, and fermentation gives it a light fizz and a small amount of alcohol, usually under 1.5%. For centuries it was brewed in every household, and in summer it was sold from barrels on city streets. Today it also comes in bottles, and homemade versions are often flavoured with mint, raisins or honey.

Main ingredients

  • rye bread
  • water
  • sugar
  • yeast
  • raisins

Belarus: In Belarus: квас (kvas).

Estonia: In Estonia: kali.

Latvia: In Latvia: kvass.

Lithuania: In Lithuania: gira.

Russia: In Russia kvass is also the base of okroshka, a cold summer soup.

Ukraine: In Ukraine: квас (kvas), sold on the streets from barrels in summer.

More: Wikipedia (pl) Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Kvass

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/kvass

Ingredients

12 servings

12 servings

Method

  1. Cube the bread and dry it in the oven at 180°C for about 15 minutes until well browned but not burnt.

  2. Bring the water to the boil, pour it over the bread in a large pot, cover and leave to steep for 4–6 hours.

  3. Strain the liquid through muslin, pressing the bread. Dissolve the sugar in it and, once lukewarm, add the yeast dissolved in a little of the liquid and the mint.

  4. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 12–18 hours, until foam appears on top and the drink tastes slightly sour.

  5. Pour the kvass into clean bottles, add a few raisins to each and seal. Keep somewhere cool or in the fridge for 1–2 days until fizzy, and drink chilled.

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