zakuski

Starting on Saturday, the bar will be open for drinks and zakuski, as Russian hors d'oeuvres are called.

Aist, in the heart of Moscow, does an efficient job of group dinners for up to a dozen, with elaborate zakuski and hearty entrees such as grilled veal steaks.

Prior to World War II salads or other zakuski were not very common, and recipes based on Russian models tended to appear in modern Belarusian postwar cookbooks.

The zakuski include the usual array of cold meats, stuffed eggs and breads, but the prize is the Razgulyai salad, a dish of crayfish in mayonnaise, garnished with a few crawdads in the shell.