Depending on the chef and the type of flavoring, the flavorings are either wrapped inside the blini or placed in a dish on the side for dipping.
Traditionally, blini are eaten at Maslenitsa, a festival celebrated before Lent begins in the spring. Because many people give up butter (a key ingredient in blini) for Lent, they eat as many blini as they can during this festival. Maslenitsa is also seen as the start of spring for many Russians, and the warm, yellow, circular blini represent the return of the sun.
