Soviet cuisine, the common cuisine of the Soviet Union, was formed by the integration of the various national cuisines of the Soviet Union, in the course of the formation of the Soviet people. It is characterized by a limited number of ingredients and simplified cooking. This type of cuisine was prevalent in canteens everywhere in the Soviet Union. It became an integral part of household cuisine and was used in parallel with national dishes, particularly in large cities. Generally, Soviet cuisine was shaped by Soviet eating habits and a very limited availability of ingredients in most parts of the USSR. Most dishes were simplifications of French, Russian, Austro-Hungarian cuisines, and cuisines from other Eastern Bloc nations. Caucasian cuisines, particularly Georgian cuisine, contributed as well. Canteens run by the government were called stolovaya. In the West, Soviet cuisine is frequently conflated with Russian cuisine, though the particular national cuisine of Russia can be thought of as discrete. Approach An everyday Soviet full course meal (lunch or dinner) consisted of three courses, typically referred to as "first", "second", and "third"; an optional salad was not numbered (in the Russian cuisine, which largely formed a base for a Soviet one, salads belong to the separate zakuski course). In a restaurant, one could eat anything one liked in any order, but in a typical canteen, especially in a workers' or students' canteen, one would normally have received what was called a "combined lunch" (kompleksny obed). The first course was a soup or broth, i.e., "liquid" food (notice the difference from the Italian cuisine, where a "primo piatto" could also include a pasta dish — under a Soviet approach the pasta dishes belonged to the second course). The second was some kind of "solid" food: meat, fish, or poultry with a side dish, called "garnish" (). Garnishes typically included potatoes in a variety of forms, buckwheat kasha, macaroni, etc. Bliny, baked dishes ( zapekanka), or eggs could also be served as the second course (alternatively, dishes like deviled eggs may count as zakuski too). The third was theoretically a dessert, but in the simplified canteen cooking this usually boiled down to some substantial, often sweetened drink: tea, coffee, kompot, milk, kefir, etc. Green vegetables and salads were seasonal, and with some exceptions (like sauerkraut-based ones, as sauerkraut was available year-round) uncommon at the table. Spices were rarely used, aside from moderate amounts of mustard and