Blini (also blinis or bliny; ; blin; They may be served with smetana, cottage cheese, caviar and other garnishes, or simply smeared with butter.

In the English language, blini traditionally refers to small savory pancakes made with leavened batter. In modern Russian, the term most often refers to pan-sized leavened thin pancakes, although smaller leavened pancakes are also called blini. Smaller and thicker pancakes (with several of them baked on one larger pan) are called oladyi.

Blintzes, called blinchiki ('little blinis') in Russian, are an offshoot of blini or crêpes.

Etymology

The Proto-Slavic term for the Russian pancakes was probably mlinŭ ('to mill'), which was transformed in Old Russian into , and (cf. , Ukrainian for blin). Max Vasmer, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language, notes that a similar word is used in many Slavic languages, as well as in Latvian and Lithuanian. While the modern Russian word (plural of ), also refers to foreign-introduced pancakes in general, the term ('Russian pancakes'), is often emphasized in Russia for differentiation.

Some English dictionaries record usage of the forms blin as singular and blini or bliny as plural, which corresponds to the original Russian forms, but other dictionaries consider this usage so rare in English that they do not mention blin at all and only record the widespread modern regular usage of blini for the singular and blinis for the plural.

History

Blini have a history dating to the Middle Ages.

  • Blini covered with butter, sour cream, varenie or jam, honey or caviar (whitefish, salmon or traditional sturgeon).

They may be folded or rolled into a tube with sweet or salty fillings such as varenye, fruit, berry, mashed potatoes, tvorog, cooked ground meat, cooked chicken, salmon, chopped boiled eggs with green onions or chopped mushrooms.

  • Blini made by pouring batter over chopped vegetables, meat, or mushrooms put on a frying pan beforehand are called "blini s pripyokom."
  • Caviar is a popular filling for blini during Russian-style parties and in foreign Russian-style restaurants.
  • Buckwheat blini are part of traditional Russian cuisine.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">

File:Зворыкин С-широкой-масленицей.jpg|An old woman prepares blini in a Russian oven for Maslenitsa

File:Blini with salmon roe.jpg|Blini served with red caviar

File:Russian stamp no 1029.jpg|Russian stamp with blini and other stereotypes of Russian cuisine

File:Блины - мелна готовятся в печи 15 дек 2016.jpg|Blini fried in an oven in the Mari El Republic, Russia

File:Pancake week (silver coin)r.gif|Belarusian commemorative coin with Maslenitsa theme and the accompanying blini

File:Blini.jpg|Blini rolled up

File:С_широкой_масляницей.jpg|A pre-1917 Maslenitsa congratulation postcard

File:Street food, Novosibirsk 02.jpg|Blini shop in Novosibirsk, Russia

File:Blini Tanya.jpg|Lithuanian Blini (blynai or sklindziai)

</gallery>

Aside from referring to pancakes, the word ' () is used in Russian as a "minced oath" for the Russian swear word "блять" , used as an interjection to express a negative emotion, akin to the words "damn!" or saying "Holy Moly!" while meaning "Holy shit!".

There are many Russian proverbs involving blini. For example, "Первый блин комом" ("The first blin is lumpy") is a figurative saying that the first attempt to do something is expected to be unsuccessful, said to calm down the person who failed the first try.