Russian Dumpling Club

This 54-card pack is undated and provides no evidence of the manufacturer.

So, what are “pel’meni”? They are meat dumplings, and are extremely popular in Russia. While their origin is debated (from Ural or Siberia) they have been described as "the heart of Russian cuisine”. This pack may be an advertisement for the Pelmeni Club Yekaterinburg, a restaurant which, according to their website, specialises “in the traditional Russian folk dish, and even spread, according to some reports, from the Urals, has got hundreds of fans”.

On the other hand, another meaning of this word is "Dude". It's slang and usually “it's being used for those dudes who don't deserve the bro's respect”. Whichever may be the case, this unusual pack was designed by Evgenia Alexandrovna Belyakova, (1980- ) who was born in Omsk and studied between 2001-2007 at the Repin State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, St. Petersburg. The aces portray plates, dishes or bowls of dumplings; the kings are the chefs; the queens are the well-to-do customers holding a dumpling, and the jacks are the waiters carrying the dishes to the tables. The pip cards have a centrally placed standard suit sign surrounded by the appropriate number of dumplings.

Above: Russkii Pel'mennyi Klub (Russian Dumpling Club) playing cards designed by Evgenia Alexandrovna Belyakova. Undated.