Eastern revolution

From the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south... the Eastern European landscape is one of dramatic contrasts. The food from these parts is equally eye-opening - robust, honest and rich.

The past decade has seen British diners become more confident and interested in exploring foreign foods.

So it comes as no surprise that more and more restaurants offering East European cuisine have set up shop in the capital.

Jola Kwiatkowska, the manager of Polish eatery Wodka in Kensington, says the trend is also being seen on supermarket shelves.

'The big supermarkets are bringing in more and more eastern European and Polish products,' she says. 'One of the Polish foods becoming most popular is pierogi - kind of like a large ravioli.'

Vodka quaffing

The West long perceived Eastern European food as uniformly bland dishes, gobbled between excessive vodka drinking. But, with the raising of the Iron Curtain, a rich treasure trove of food was discovered.

Dishes from the region are palatably different thanks to the use of nuts, pomegranates, grapes and chickpeas. But most recipes tend to include two foodstuffs Brits should have no problem recognising - meat and potato.

'We tend to concentrate much on texture, it is a major consideration,' says Kwiatkowska. 'We're not like the Italians, making small amounts of meat and fish, then spending time making sauces. We are big meat eaters, and we like large portions of it.'

Russian cooking owes much to the French grand cuisine of the 19th century. It made a big impression on the court kitchens of St Petersburg and Vienna, leading to the creation of such classic dishes as chicken kiev, beef stroganoff and veal orloff.

The legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its rich cafè culture also made an impact on the region's food, resulting in cakes and pastries such as linzertorte and dobos torte.