Smetana is a dairy product in Central and Eastern Europe, a variety of sour cream similar to crème fraîche, much heavier than the Western European variety. Dairy products are generally defined as foodstuffs produced from milk. ... Central Europe The Alpine Countries and the Visegrád Group (Political map, 2004) Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked salmon):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium... It has been suggested that Pavlaka be merged into this article or section. ... Containers of crème fraîche Crème fraîche [IPA: krÉ›m frɛʃ] (French for fresh cream) is a heavy cream slightly soured with bacterial culture, but not as sour or as thick as sour cream. ... A common understanding of Western Europe in modern times. ...

The cream is called smetana in Russian, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, Belarussian, Slovenian, and Ukrainian (written сметана in the Cyrillic alphabet), kwaśna śmietana in Polish, smotana in Slovak, hapukoor in Estonian, smântână in Romanian, Schmetten or Schmand in German, tejföl in Hungarian; павлака, pavlaka in Serbian, and just pavlaka in Bosnian, and vrhnje in Croatian. Smetana is widely used in many Eastern European cuisines, for example, blended into borscht (beet soup), or served on the plate with vareniki (boiled dumplings) or pelmeni. There are also very popular salads with smetana. Belarusian is the language of the Belarusian nation. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Sour cream. ... Serbian (српски језик; srpski jezik) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs everywhere. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Sour cream. ... Cuisine (from French cuisine, cooking; culinary art; kitchen; ultimately from Latin coquere, to cook) is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. ... It has been suggested that Barszcz czerwony be merged into this article or section. ... Varenyks Varenyks (or vareniki, Ukrainian and Russian: ) are a kind of stuffed dumpling associated with Ukrainian cuisine, however, variants are also found in Belarusian, Russian and Polish cooking, and are sometimes said to be of Turkish origin. ... A 1936 Soviet poster advertising pelmeni. ...

In Zagreb and Zagorje region of Croatia vrhnje is added to local version of low-fat cottage cheese, perhaps sprinkled with salt, paprika and chopped onions, scallion, garlic, radish and/or horseradish, and eaten with dense, intensely yellow corn bread. While virtually every Croatian dairy produces cottage cheese (sir) and vrhnje, connoisseurs hold that only that purchased from a kumica (literally godmother), a milkmaid selling her own products on farmers' market is the real item. Eurosceptics were recently using sir i vrhnje as a symbol of local products that would allegedly disappear under European standardization (BBC article). Zagreb (pronounced ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. ... Krapina-Zagorje county - Krapinsko-zagorska županija is a county in northern Croatia. ... A tub of cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product with a mild flavor. ... Bell peppers come in various shapes and colors, and are used to make paprika. ... For the parody newspaper, see The Onion. ... Chopped spring onion The common name scallion(Or Don Patch sword as on Bobobo) is associated with various members of the genus Allium that lack a fully-developed bulb. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ... Binomial name Raphanus sativus L. The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family. ... Binomial name Armoracia rusticana P.G. Gaertn. ... Look up corn in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dairy farm near Oxford, New York A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffalo, sheep or goats) and other farm animals, for human consumption. ...

When comparing brands or suppliers of smetana, the Soviet and Russian practice is to note the fat content of the varieties. Fat content can range from 10% (runny) to 70% (thick), most common, as would be found in a Russian supermarket, are 20%, 30% and 42%. Addition of thickeners (e.g. gelatine), even though not forbidden by relevant regulations (at least in Russia), is regarded as cheating and the product considered substandard and unsuitable for culinary use since some recipes are easily spoiled by the presence of a thickener.