In English, kasha usually refers to the pseudocereal buckwheat or its culinary preparations. In various East-Central and Eastern European countries, kasha can apply to any kind of cooked grain. It can be baked but most often is boiled, either in water or milk, and therefore the term coincides with the English definition of 'porridge', but the word can also refer to the grain before preparation, which corresponds to the definition of 'groats'. This understanding of kasha concerns mainly Belarus (), the Czech Republic (), Lithuania (), Poland (), Romania and the Republic of Moldova (), Russia (), Slovakia (), Kazakhstan, and Ukraine (), where the term, besides buckwheat, can apply to wheat, barley, oats, millet and rye. Kashas have been an important element of Slavic diet for at least 1,000 years. This English-language usage probably originated with Jewish immigrants, as did the form kashi (literally translated as "porridges"). In Ashkenazi Jewish culture As an Ashkenazi-Jewish comfort food, kasha is often served with onions and brown gravy on top of farfalle, known as kasha varnishkes. Kasha is a popular filling for knishes and is sometimes included in matzah-ball soup. In Czechia In Czech the cognate () has a wider meaning that also encompasses mashed potato (), pease pudding (), etc. In Poland In Polish, cooked buckwheat groats are referred to as . can apply to many kinds of groats: millet (), barley (), pearl barley (), oats (), as well as porridge made from farina (). Bulgur can be also be referred to as a type of kasza in Polish (). As Polish blood sausage is prepared with buckwheat, barley or rice, it is called kaszanka (kasha sausage). Annual (2013) per capita consumption of groats in Poland is approx. per year ( a month). In Russia The largest gross buckwheat consumption per capita is in Russia, with per year, followed by Ukraine, with per year. The share of buckwheat in the total consumption of cereals in Russia is 20%. In Russian, buckwheat is referred to formally as (), or colloquially as (). Buckwheat grain and buckwheat groats are known as (). Corresponding words in Yiddish are gretshkes/greytshkelach and retshkes/reytshkelach. The most popular kasha recipe in Russia is that of crumbly cooked buckwheat seasoned with butter. Buckwheat kasha can be eaten at any time of the day, either as a separate dish or as a side dish. Other popular kasha recipes are