Russian cuisine has its own charm. In general, I dare to judge that mild to slightly sour flavors predominate. Compared to Swiss cuisine, there is definitely more soup and less cheese. I didn't come across hard cheese in particular. Concerning soup, Borsch should be mentioned in particular, which is considered typical, although it is a Ukrainian soup. The variations of soups are very large, but they are rarely creamy as you are used to from Switzerland. Instead, they sometimes remind you of a mixed salad that has been put under water. The Russians like to enjoy the soup with smetana, i.e. sour cream. However, this is not only used in the soup, but also serves as a salad dressing, milk substitute or comes with a jam on a piece of bread. The popularity of sour cream can also be seen when visiting a shop; everyone I've been to had a wider choice than yogurt. Spices, like herbs dried by us, are practically not used. Fresh greens such as dill, chives or spring onions are very popular for this.

Due to the sanctions, most of the products are in Russia or a country in the Middle East. Russians also find the food they buy in supermarkets to be artificial. In a random sample, I actually did not find any juice that was stable for less than half a year. And the cold cuts sausages, which also seem to be slightly more popular in Russia than in Switzerland, contain a very modest proportion of real meat.

The social break is primarily the tea break, which I cannot yet categorize at a certain point. Tea and coffee seem to be the main hydration alongside the soup. Here too the preference of acidic applies; Rumor has it that there are also a number of people who drink their coffee with lemon. In contrast to Switzerland, what I never met here are people who eat on the go. On the street, as well as in the metro and bus, I never once met someone who ate or drank something. Except for the consumption of alcohol, this would not be prohibited by law, but is obviously not common in this society.