Originally uploaded by minimallyinvasivenj
A blintz, blintze, or blin (plural: blintzes, blini, or blinchiki; Russian: блин blin, блины (pl.); cf. Lithuanian: Blynai, blynai; Polish: bliny; Ukrainian: млинці, mlyntsi; Yiddish: בלינצע blintze, Kashubian language: plińce) is a thin pancake. It is somewhat similar to a crêpe with the main difference being the fact that yeast may be used in blintzes, but not in crêpes.
Blins may be prepared and served in three basic ways.
They may be eaten "as is". In this case the batter may contain various add-ins, from grated potato or apple to raisins. These blini are quite common in Eastern Europe and are more solidly filled than the spongy pancakes usually eaten in North America.
They may be smeared with butter, sour cream, jam, honey, or caviar (whitefish, salmon, or traditional sturgeon caviar, although the latter is not kosher and therefore not used in Jewish cuisine) and then they might be folded or rolled into a tube. In that form they are similar to French crêpes. The caviar filling is popular during Russian-style cocktail parties.
A filling such as jam, fruit, potato, cottage cheese or farmer cheese, cooked ground meat, cooked chicken, and even chopped mushrooms, bean sprouts, cabbage and onions (for a Chinese eggroll-type blintz) is rolled or enveloped into a pre-fried blintz and then the blintz is lightly re-fried, sautéed, or baked. Such blintzes are also called nalysnyky (Ukrainian: налисники) or blinchiki (Russian: блинчики).
Buckwheat bliny are part of traditional Russian cuisine.
