• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskARussian/comments/bphmuj/i_want_milk/
• Text post asking for recommendations for good quality milk in St. Petersburg.
• Several users suggest local brands such as Pyskariovskiy zavod and Domik v derevne.
• A user mentions that good milk has at most 2 weeks of shelf life in an unopened bottle.
• One user jokingly suggests going to a rural area and buying milk directly from a farmer.
• Another user recommends going to a farmer shop to find the best milk.
• A user suggests drinking milk straight from a cow in order to have the best quality.
• One user admits to giving up on milk due to the sanctions.
• A user advises looking for milk with a clover in a triangle on the products.
• Several users suggest other dairy products such as Ryazenka and Acidobifilin.
• One user makes an inappropriate comment about wanting milk from the milkman’s wife’s tits.
• Users mention the importance of finding milk that is not bitter and has a good flavor.
• One user suggests that mass-produced milk can be good.
• Another user suggests finding a good local brand and sticking with it.
• Users warn against buying cheaper milk labels.
• One user recommends going to a specific house in a rural area and asking the old lady to sell you warm milk.
• Another user suggests that good milk is sold in a farmer shop.
• A user mentions that they have not had real milk in 20 years but still remember it vividly.
• Some users make jokes about the post.

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• Russian cuisine heavily utilizes milk and milk products.
• Whole milk is used in oatmeal and milk-based soups.
• Tvorog is a curd cheese similar to cottage cheese, farmer cheese, or quark.
• Tvorog can be eaten with sour cream, milk, or jam for breakfast, and is popular as food for babies because of its high protein content.
• Varenets is a traditional drink from Siberia made of sour cream and baked milk.
• Prostokvasha is fermented sour milk made by adding a fermentation agent to boiled milk and letting it sit for 12 hours.
• Sour milk was a way to preserve milk before refrigeration.
• Smetana, or sour cream, is essential to enjoying borscht.
• Kefir is a slightly sour fermented milk drink that can be enjoyed alone or used in dishes.
• Okroshka, a cold soup popular in the summer, is made with a base of kefir with added meat and vegetables.

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Relevant: True Importance: 8

Notes:

• The text is a thread on Reddit asking if Russians like condensed milk.
• Sweetened condensed milk (or ‘сгущенка’) is made by adding sugar to whole condensed milk.
• Some popular Russian desserts made using condensed milk include ‘птичье молоко’ and biscuit cakes.
• There are different ways to enjoy condensed milk in Russia:
  • In its raw form, such as putting it on pancakes or dipping cookies in it.
  • Boiling the can for several hours to make ‘варёная сгущенка’, which is thicker and has a caramel flavor.
• A few drawbacks of using condensed milk in cooking include:
  • Sweet mac and cheese is not popular.
  • It is not good for people with diabetes due to the high sugar content.
• There are different types of condensed milk in Russia:
  • GOST (state standard) and TU (industry standards).
  • TU is often considered inferior and may contain cheaper ingredients.
• Sour cream is also popular in Russian cuisine and is used in many dishes.
• Some Russian dishes that use sour cream include:
  • Sour cream filled stuffed baked potatoes.
  • Stuffed onions with sour cream and chives.
• There are some funny comments in the thread:
  • Someone said the topic of sour cream in Russian cuisine is bottomless and dangerous as a black hole.
  • A pair of Russian twins are said to make stuffed onions that stink to the highest heavens.
• There are different opinions on the aftertaste of canned condensed milk:
  • Some people say it tastes like tin.
  • Others say they can’t taste the aftertaste when they eat the entire can at once.
• There is information on the history of condensed milk:
  • The first plant for its production in Russia appeared in 1881 near Orenburg.
  • In the USSR, it was a deficit.
• There are some recommendations for buying condensed milk:
  • Look for the GOST stamp of approval.
  • Choose brands like Amka.

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Relevant: true Importance: 7

Notes:

• The post is titled “Advice on milk in Russia” and was posted on r/AskARussian 1 year, 7 months ago with 13 points, and has a discussion on finding milk in Russia that is most like North American milk.
• The preference for milk in North America is mostly about what one is used to and the author discusses their transition from skimmed milk to full-fat milk after having a kid.
• The author seeks brands in Russia that are consistently most like North American milk
• The post captures the difference in taste between North American and Russian milk: High Temperature pasteurization is not common in North America, so milk does not have a boiled taste. Cows in Europe and Russia are more likely to be grass-fed, which introduces more variability into the milk’s taste; in comparison, dairy cows in North America are mostly grain-fed. The author prefers milk that is consistently boring and without much flavour.
• The text recommends the Vkusvill brand of milk as being of good quality (11 karma) while another redditor states that Vkusvill milk was beyond its sell-by date (2 karma). There is a discussion about the date label and shelf life of milk, with another user pointing out that reputable brands should be fine, and that they prefer a brand of milk that is consistent like Parmalat (4 karma). The user also shares that some milk in Russia is fresh from personal cows and can be found on markets.
• The text highlights the different types of milk sold in Russia, including Pasteurized milk and ultra-pasteurized milk, and various levels of fat content including 2.5 %, 3.2%, variable 3.4-3.6%, 4%, and 6%. Fresh milk can be found directly on the markets while other milk sold in stores have shelf life from about a week to six months, depending on the type of pasteurization and storage method.
• The post also discusses fraudulent milk, which was an issue in Russia before but not so much now. Frauds usually involved restoring milk from dry milk by adding water.
• Other milk products in Russia include sour cream, fermented milk products like kefir and ryazhenka, ayran, and tan, condensed milk including boiled condensed milk, and baked milk.
• The text discusses the importance of reputable brand names mentioning Roscontrol, Roskachetvo, and Rosselkhoznadz

As requested, these are all the relevant information snippets from the webpage that I came across:

• The quality and packaging of store bought milk and milk products is heavily dependent on the region.
• Raw milk was never a thing where the reddit user lives, instead, it had to be bought from farmers directly.
• One reddit user thinks the quality of dairy products is good overall. There are several brands of dairy products in Russia with a variety of fillings.
• Yes, there’s quite a big selection of yogurt and kefir in Russia.
• Yes, there are organic, grass-fed options available.
• Some stores do partner up with farms to sell raw milk.
• Raw milk is also sold at farmer’s markets, and homemade dairy products are widely available.
• Russian dairy products are usually rich, creamy, and dense.
• Kefir varies a lot between different producers, and even one producer can have several different recipes.
• Some brands of milk are okay in summer but when cows give birth or something, it becomes a lottery.
• Cheese in Russia can be problematic, especially semi-hard and hard cheeses, as it’s like looking for a needle in a bottle of hay if you want to find something decent.
• Raw milk is sold at farmers’ markets.
• Yogurts are much less problematic, and there’s a lot of producers who make them adequately for different people’s tastes. Tvorog is more random, but usually, there’s something good in every city.
• There’s no established certification for organic dairy products in Russia. Some shops mark items as organic, but the criteria they use is unknown.
• In Russia, they have GOST (standard) for raw milk and a standard for drinking milk. Raw milk needs to adhere to the standard before it can be sold or accepted as an ingredient for drinking milk.
• The term “organic” doesn’t refer to whether the product is carbon-based but instead refers to the type of farming and cultivation practices used to produce the food.
• In Russia, standards control chemical properties, as well as the presence of chemical and microbiological pollutants in raw milk.
• Grass-fed labels are mostly found on beef in Russia; it’s unclear if farmers don’t know they should advertise it more.
• People can buy milk directly from farmers. It’s not cheap, but it’s all-natural.
• Some farmers’ markets also give people access to excellent milk, yogurt, and sour cream.
• The website doesn’t contain information on the most popular milk brand in Russia.
• Some

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Everything you wanted to know about Russian dairy products

• Russia offers a wide range of dairy products
• Russian milk comes in packets and bottles
• Russian cow’s milk has a fat content from 0.1 to 6%
• Russian farms also produce goat’s milk, and in the Kostroma region, you can try elk’s milk
• Baked milk, or toplenoe milk, is a traditional Slavic drink
• Baked milk is a beige color and has a smooth taste and longer shelf-life than normal milk
• Sweet condensed milk production dates back to the 19th century, and canned sgushyonka was produced for soldiers in WWII
• Sgushyonka is commonly used in Russian desserts and dishes
• Sour cream, or smetana, is a key ingredient in Russian cuisine, serving as a popular condiment
• Smetana is usually high-fat content (from 10 to 58%)
• Slivki, or Russian cream, comes in packets and fresh transparent bottles
• Cream has a fat content from 10 to 35%
• Slivki should only consist of milk, but sometimes starch is added to make it thicker for sauces
• Tvorog, or Russian cottage cheese, comes in unsalted form or mixed with cream and jam
• Tvorog is similar to quark or curd
• Kefir is a fermented milk drink made with certain grains
• Both Bulgarian and Russian yogurts are popular in Russia
• Matzoon is the Caucasian cousin of yogurt and is popular in Russia’s South, Georgia, and Armenia
• The ancient cultured baked milk from Siberia is the big brother of ryazhenka, known as varenets
• Varenets is more dense and nutritious than ryazhenka
• Prostokvasha, or soured milk, is a fermented drink made from boiled milk and sourdough
• Pakhta buttermilk is used for making diet, low-fat cheese, and other fermented products
• Ayran is a salty drink made from cow or goat’s milk
• Tan is a savory carbonated milk drink typical in Caucasian regions
• Snezhok is a sweet dairy drink that tastes like liquid yogurt mixed with syrup and berries
• Katyk is a thermostat fermented baked cow, goat, or sheep’s

• There is a discussion on Reddit where users are answering a question about the quality of milk in Russia.
• One user claims to have lived in Russia and became half addicted to the milk, describing the flavor as strong and different from the milk in the US.
• They ask if all the milk in Russia is produced organically and how the flavor is so different.
• Another user responds, saying there is no category as organic food in Russia and suggesting either the OP was lucky to have bought good milk or American milk is not good.
• They state up to 20-25% of Russian milk is fake and may be as high as 100% in some regions.
• Some dairy products, especially cheese, contain palm oil and other substitutes.
• Another user suggests that one can differentiate between real cheese and “cheese products” by reading the label carefully.
• Some milk is labeled properly, but lab analysis found mismatches.
• A few brands of milk taste passable, and small local producers sell quality milk as well as non-processed milk right from cows, but consistency and taste may depend on the cow’s current diet.
• The quality of milk also depends on the region, with some regions being worse than others.
• Non-powder-restored pasteurized milk is sold in every major store, while milk from small farmers has to be obtained directly and may depend on one’s trust in the person and the consistency of the product.
• One user claims that food in Russia was much better before 2014’s “antisanctions” when many foreign products were banned in Russia, and Russian food producers had no competition pressure anymore.
• Another user states their friend even makes microbal growth tests on the cheapest milk he can find for study purposes, and found it surprisingly hard to find even a single contaminated pack.
• The users discuss the high-fat content of Russian milk, which can explain the “fatter” or more buttery taste compared to American milk.
• Some users state that milk from small farmers in villages tastes better compared to the milk in big cities.
• Users discuss the regions of Russia they are from, and how those regions might have different quality control measures for milk.
• One user claims there is a kind of demand for milk all around the world, and so it’s not possible to give pure organic milk to all people.

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Cultural significance of milk and dairy products in Russia

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The most commonly consumed milk in Russia