Bellini — blini

While both are excellent starts to an evening, it's easy to mix up a bellini with a blini, if only because you might mishear one for the other.

What's the difference between a bellini and a blini?

A bellini is a refreshing cocktail made with peach nectar and prosecco. A blini is typically a bite-size pancake often served with smoked salmon or caviar due to its Russian origins. Both are delicious in very different ways and yet sound almost exactly the same (like a homophone).

The good news is that at a noisy party, even if you can't quite make out whether someone is offering you a bellini or a blini, the safe answer is always yes.

In Russia, I am told, blini tend to be thinner, pan-sized pancakes rather than the topped, cocktail party style, thicker but mini pancakes they have evolved to in Western cooking.

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