Message on the topic of national cuisine. Traditional Russian dishes: a list. Originally Russian dishes: names, recipes. The nature of Russian cuisine

National cuisine is a traditional set of dishes/techniques/features of serving a certain people. Russian cuisine has come a long way of development from wooden barrels and cast-iron stoves to the latest technology and global recognition. This was facilitated by urbanization and a departure from the class-social structure of society. National cuisine is formed under the influence of a certain climate, economic/geographical/social conditions of the country. Traditional Russian food was formed from a craving for the earth, long winters, colossal physical labor and a variety of products.

How has Russian cuisine changed over the past 100 years?

Historical reference

There are several periods of formation of Russian cuisine. One of them falls on the XVI-XVII. As the historian Kostomarov wrote, at that time the diet of the Great Russian people was based solely on customs, and not on art, as would happen several centuries later. The food was as simple and non-diverse as possible, as required during fasting, and the Slavs strictly observed the fast. Dishes were prepared from basic ingredients: flour, meat, plant foods. After the 18th century and the emergence of a “window to Europe”, Russian cuisine was filled with escalopes, steaks, entrecote, tomatoes, omelettes and sausages.

The church had a tremendous influence on the eating habits of the population. A similar process can be traced in other Christian countries. More than half of the days of the calendar year were fast days. Fasting is a tradition with religious overtones. It provides for temporary abstinence from eating and drinking (both completely and restriction on certain foods) for spiritual and ascetic practices. It is because of such prohibitions that mushrooms, fish, grains, wild berries, herbs, and vegetables predominate in traditional Russian cuisine.

According to the research of the historian Boltin, the peasants ate food 4 times a day. In the summer, during working hours, this figure rose to 5: breakfast (an alternative name is interception), afternoon tea, lunch, dinner, and dinner. Breakfast was in the early morning - 6:00, lunch - 12:00, afternoon tea - 15:00, dinner - 19:00, dinner - 23:00.

Features of the diet

In Russian cuisine there is a wide variety of products and dishes from them.

Bread and flour products

Bread was mostly eaten. Moreover, the very word "bread" meant exactly the product from rye, which was later replaced. In addition, the ancient Russian people used. Wheat flour was intended for kalachi, one of the favorite delicacies of the local population. It was noteworthy that they were never added to flour products, preferring natural plant flavors.

One of the most common dishes of that period is oatmeal. This is flour that has been crushed in a mortar or ground in a mill. The grain is pre-steamed, dried, lightly roasted and cleaned. Oatmeal was prepared mainly from oatmeal. From rye and wheat flour, pies were prepared with various fillings: meat, cottage cheese, fish, berries, mushrooms, eggs. The basis for the pie could also serve as noodles or some kind of porridge. The locals prepared rich loaves, pancakes, pancakes, cones / brushwood from dough, perepichs, nuts.

Vegetables and grains

The vast majority of the population were peasants. The bulk of their diet consisted of vegetables and grains, foods that could be grown on their own plot of land. Pickles, cereals, bakery products, soups were prepared from these ingredients. The most popular soups are hodgepodge, kalya, fish soup, botvinya, okroshka, borscht, pickle. Later, with the advent of potato, the locals got the hang of cooking sweet kissels, which are still popular in Russian territories.

The main vegetable for the Russian people was. The situation changed only from the second half of the 19th century, when potatoes became widespread.

Vegetables were eaten not only raw, but also subjected to various types of heat treatment. Plant foods were boiled, baked, steamed, fermented, salted or pickled. There were also no problems with cereals due to the climate and fertile soils. A colossal amount of grain grows in Russian territories, and several varieties of cereals can be separated from each type of grain - from whole to crushed.

Dairy and dairy products

As a seasoning, we used a set of spices that was not foreign or familiar to us. At that time, the common people did not have access to such goods. Acted as the main spice. Its creamy taste set off cereals, salads, soups, pastries and any other dishes. He was also held in high esteem. They ate it in its pure form, added fruits, prepared cheesecakes.

Fish dishes

Fish was most often steamed, stewed, baked, boiled, fried, stuffed with various fillings (mainly mushrooms or porridge). The fish has created a huge scope for creativity. It was also salted, dried, fermented, dried, cooked in flesh or aspic, added to the ear, pickle or hodgepodge. Caviar was considered a rare and valuable delicacy. Fresh granular sturgeon caviar was especially revered. It was boiled in vinegar with poppy milk or salted.

Meat dishes

Meat was rarely eaten until the 17th century. Despite the fact that there are no religious prohibitions on eating meat, the locals preferred to eat grains and fish. Animals served as household helpers, not food, but over time the situation changed slightly.

Meat was to be limited only on days of fasting and special religious holidays.

In Russian cuisine, the following types of meat were used:

• Domestic bird;
• all varieties of game (wild duck / / / wild boar / elk).

The meat was divided into game and slaughter. Wild game is meat obtained by hunting, and slaughter is meat obtained from livestock/poultry. The product was served boiled or baked. It was considered common practice to add meat to first courses. Shredded meat was especially popular - cutlets, cue balls, sausages, fire cutlets, Stroganoff beef, Orlov. But most often they cooked boiled pork - a large piece of pork baked whole in the oven.

Dessert

The most famous desserts are kalachi, gingerbread, honey and jam. Baked or other baked berries/fruits are considered traditional for Russian cuisine. The Slavs boiled vegetables (mainly and) in honey in a water bath, and not on an open fire, so as not to burn the product and damage its structure. Ready vegetables became transparent and acquired an elastic texture. The dish is very similar to modern unsweetened candied fruits.

As a dessert, they ate crushed berries dried on the stove in the form of cakes (a prototype of modern marshmallow). Cakes were made from, and other seasonal berries. Drinks were jammed with marshmallow and even used in folk medicine as a cure for colds or with a lack of vitamins.

Beverages

Popular among soft drinks, and. It is these drinks that can be attributed to the national ones. By the 15th century, more than 500 varieties of kvass, hundreds of varieties of fruit drinks and honey liquids were being prepared in Rus'. Russians did not have much love for alcoholic products, which refutes the myth about the drinking past of the people. The booze was prepared only for the holidays, and its strength was minimal. Most often they brewed kvass and honey vodka. The strength of alcohol varied from 1 to 6% vol.

ritual dishes

This is a special category of food, which is closely intertwined with religious beliefs and traditions. Dishes have a ritual meaning and are consumed only on a special occasion - a holiday or ritual. Ritual dishes of Russian cuisine:

1. Kurnik. Served for a wedding. The dish is called the king of pies, festive or royal pie. It consists of several layers of dough and various fillings - lamb, beef, nuts, potatoes, porridge and more. For the wedding, the kurnik was decorated with dough figures and various decorative elements.
2. Kutya. Served at Christmas/Koliada. This is a memorial Slavic dish. Consists of wheat / barley or rice porridge, poured with honey and. Nuts, jam and milk are also added to the porridge.
3. Pancakes. Served at Maslenitsa, until the 19th century they were considered a memorial dish. A traditional Russian dessert that has not lost its popularity to this day. The product is made from batter, which is poured into a hot frying pan and fried on both sides. Pancakes are served as an independent dish or wrapped in various sweet / salty fillings.
4. Kulich/Easter/Paska. Served at Easter. Cylindrical festive bread, which is still baked for the main church holiday.
5. Fried eggs. Served on Trinity. In modern Russian cuisine, scrambled eggs have become a commonplace breakfast. Previously, the dish was served only for the feast of the triune deity.
6. Oatmeal jelly or cold. Served on Generous Evening, Ivan Kupala and memorial days. This is a traditional drink with a dense texture, more like jelly or loose marmalade. It was prepared by fermenting oatmeal.

Features of kitchen utensils

Most Russian dishes are cooked in the oven. Food products are placed in cast irons or pots; for meat and game, more voluminous forms are used (for example, ducklings). Also, a round frying pan was easily placed in the Russian oven, both with and without a handle. To install kitchen utensils in the oven, a teapot or pan was used. Chapelnik is a large hook with an emphasis on a wooden handle. It is with this hook that the frying pan is captured, placed inside the oven, after which the teapot is carefully disconnected. To install cast irons and pots, a tong was used. A gardener was used to get a finished loaf of bread out of the oven. This is an oblong metal or wooden utensil in the shape of a shovel. Standard utensils - bowls and spoons made of wood. Since the 18th century, samovars for making tea have been considered traditional Russian kitchen utensils.

Modern Russian cuisine

Modern Russian cuisine has reached a radically new level. Chefs are trying to combine authentic Russian ingredients with new techniques, unimaginable sauces and spectacular servings. There are establishments in a truly national spirit, where they cook in the oven, boil and bake on the fire, and the dishes are delivered by waiters in traditional costumes. More neutral loft establishments are also popular, where the whole Russian spirit is concentrated in the menu. The main focus is on the best products from different parts of Russia: from the Volga and Murmansk to Altai honey and black Caucasian walnut.

Young chefs love to play with modern Russian cuisine in such a way that it would not be embarrassing to present it at the world level. Originally Russian products are usually set off with spices of Asian or European motifs. Chefs say that cabbage soup and dumplings are good, but it's time to go further, create a concept and rely on recognition. Now Russian cuisine is represented by pasta, bird cherry flour gingerbread, birch sap desserts, organic farm products and a variety of plant ingredients.

The menu of the Russian McDonald's has positions stylized as a national food culture. In "beef a la rus" they use rye bun instead of the usual wheat bun.

Russian chefs are divided into 2 camps: some support traditions, others modernize them. This is a great option for the consumer. He can always digress from his favorite borscht and mead with exotic sauce or walnut dumplings.

Russian cuisine is original and diverse, like any national cuisine. Until the 18th century, it did not enjoy the respect of European gourmets, since the dishes were not varied and were quite simple. A significant number of the world's longest religious fasts had a great influence on the menu of a Russian person, during which they had to eat dishes cooked on water, or even engage in a raw food diet.

The Lenten table included vegetable, fish and mushroom dishes that were boiled, stewed, salted, baked, or even eaten raw. It should be noted such a feature of Russian national cuisine as the fact that even vegetable sunflower oil was considered a modest dish for half of the fasts. There were even fewer dishes of fast food. If the French peasant was content with one hen on Sundays per family, then the Russian, as a rule, did not even have that.

However, even with such strict introductions in the 18th century, the features of Russian cuisine began to interest Europeans, its recipes began to appear in cookbooks, and in Russia itself an attempt was made to reflect the features of Russian cuisine in the first book of Russian recipes.

Features of Russian cuisine briefly

Soup or stew is a traditional dish of Russian cuisine. Lenten soups were prepared on water, cold summer ones - on kvass and yogurt, modest ones - on rich meat broths. Shchi, hodgepodge, pea soup with smoked meats, beetroot, pickle - soups were often not only the first course, but the whole dinner, and sometimes an appetizer. In summer and winter, a rich fish soup from different varieties of fish and a variety of mushroom soups (the kings of the Lenten table) were served on the table.

The visiting card of the Russian table is porridge. Buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, barley porridges were eaten empty, lean and with numerous additives: with raisins, meat, herbs, sour cream, etc. greeted with grandmother's porridge. Often porridge was served with cabbage soup instead of bread. Porridge was a symbol of peace, and Suvorov porridge was a symbol of victory.

Beef, veal, pork, rabbit, elk, poultry, partridges, hazel grouse - what kind of meat can not be found in Russian cuisine. Meat was also served whole, such as suckling pig stuffed with buckwheat porridge or goose stuffed with apples; and a large piece - boiled pork baked in the oven or lamb side with porridge; and cut - like a roast; and chopped - all kinds of Pozharsky and Moscow cutlets, meatballs, sausages, etc. Offal was also highly respected: giblet soup, liver, udder with vegetables, Russian-style kidneys, horseradish scars, boiled beef tongue and much more - occupied a central place on the holiday table.

Pelmeni came to central Russia from the Urals and from Russia. They didn’t use any fillings for dumplings: one meat, fish, meat with vegetables, meat with herbs, even meat with nettles, with pumpkin and beet leaves. Dumplings in broth and stewed in pots were a common dish of the festive table.

Potatoes, stewed and sauerkraut, stewed beets and carrots and many other vegetables are most often used as side dishes in Russian cuisine. Before the advent of potatoes, turnips were the undisputed favorite of the Russian table.

As a sauce, sour cream was traditionally used, mixed before serving with no less beloved horseradish, garlic, and green onions. Hot sauces were called vzvarami and were usually prepared along with the main course. Explosions were berry, onion, saffron, with cloves. Pickles were also loved.

Pickles and sauerkraut occupy a special place: after all, it would be almost impossible to survive a long winter without preparations. Fermentation was carried out without vinegar, by fermentation. Sauerkraut, pickled mushrooms, pickled apples, lightly salted cucumbers, salted tomatoes - all this was stored in barrels in the underground and put on the table during long winter fasts.

A huge variety of pies, pies, kulebyaks, pies, kurniks, cheesecakes shows that pastries were loved in Rus'. Pies were served with soup instead of bread, sweet pastries were served with tea, and kurniki were a traditional wedding dish. Rye bread appeared in Russia in the 19th century and still remains a full-fledged part of the diet of a Russian person.

cabbage soup recipe

Where cabbage soup, look for Russians there, says a well-known saying. Shchi is the face of Russian cuisine. They were cooked during fasting and fasting days, both in winter and in summer. In the 16th century, cabbage soup was frozen and taken with you on long hikes. How to cook the right cabbage soup?

What you need for a three-liter pan:

• half a kilogram of meat on the bone;
• 300g cabbage;
• 3 onions;
• 2-3 potatoes;
• 2 tomatoes;
• carrot;
• 1 tbsp tomato paste;
• lavrushka, salt, peppercorns;
• dill and parsley, and sour cream before serving.

A strong broth is brewed. After an hour and a half, sauerkraut is put in it (fresh must be added at the end of cooking) and everything is cooked for another hour. Now the broth needs to be salted. Fry onions, carrots, tomatoes and tomato paste in vegetable oil. When the broth is cooked, we take out the meat from it, cut it and put it back together with the chopped potatoes. Put the roast in a saucepan. 10 minutes before cooking, put the spices. Now the saucepan with cabbage soup can be covered with a warm blanket and left to languish for a couple of hours.

Features of the national cuisine of the Russian people: alcohol

There is an opinion that vodka is a Russian traditional drink. And it is true. Vodka is made from grain and spring water. The father of Russian vodka is the great chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, who established that vodka should be exactly 40 degrees. It is this strength that ensures the uniformity of the drink, does not burn the throat and releases a large amount of heat during absorption by the body. Vodka is traditionally cooled, eaten with caviar, pickles, spicy and fatty dishes.

Before vodka in Rus', mead, sbiten and set drinks were popular: these are all kinds of beer. Domostroy mentioned barley, oatmeal, and rye beer. Fermented kvass was also loved, of which there are at least fifty varieties. Wine appeared in Rus' in the 10th century, which coincided with the adoption of Christianity. Therefore, to a greater extent, it became a ritual drink used in worship, and only in the 12-13 centuries it became more widespread.

Characteristics and features of Russian cuisine

So briefly we examined the traditions and features of Russian cuisine, which was greatly influenced by religions: paganism and Orthodoxy. Many dishes have remained traditionally religious: pancakes for Shrovetide and kutya for wakes, many have not survived: turnips, spelled, sbiten. However, most dishes still enjoy sincere love and respect not only among Russian people, but are also recognized and loved in Europe and America.

Our cuisine is considered one of the most satisfying, delicious and rich in the world. The ancestors knew a lot about food and loved a good table. They gathered to him five or six times a day. Everything depended on the time of year, the length of daylight hours and economic needs. And it was called - interception, afternoon snack, lunch, paobed, dinner and pauzhin. Interestingly, this tradition was sacredly observed until the abolition of serfdom. With the advent of capitalism, the number of daily meals was reduced first to three times, and then to two.

The main ingredients of Russian cuisine dishes

Russian folk dishes were not prepared from slaughter, obtained by women. Also, living creatures that feed on carrion, that is, crayfish, were not suitable for food.

After Peter the Great's reforms and the emergence of a "window to Europe", wine and sugar began to be imported to Russia. A trade route was laid through the country from China and India to Europe. So we got tea, coffee, spices, etc.

New traditions came along with them, however, Russian folk dishes, photographs of which are presented in the article, are still loved and in demand. If you cook them in the oven or slow cooker, they will look a bit like authentic options.

Topic: Traditional Dishes of Russian Cuisine

Topic: Traditional Russian cuisine

Russia is the world's largest country, so if differs greatly from region to region. The same can be said about Russian national cuisine, which is rather varied and based on different cultural and historic traditions. Usually any national cuisine is formed under the influence of two main factors: religion, which prescribes eating certain kinds of food, and climate, which determines the availability of various vegetables, fruit, meat and fish products. Orthodoxy, which has traditionally been an official religion in Russia, doesn't forbid any food. But long fasts prescribing abstinence from meat and other types of animal source food, explain why Russian cuisine includes many vegetarian dishes. And long severe Russian winters help to understand why hot fatty soups and broths are so popular in this country.

Russia is the largest country in the world, so its different regions are very different from each other. The same can be said about the Russian national cuisine, which is very diverse and based on different cultural and historical traditions. Usually, any national cuisine is formed under the influence of two main factors: religion, which prescribes the use of certain types of food, and climate, which determines the availability of various types of vegetables, fruits, meat and fish products. Orthodoxy, which has traditionally been the official religion in Russia, does not forbid any kind of food. However, the lengthy fasts prescribing abstention from meat and other animal products explain why Russian cuisine includes many vegetarian dishes. And the long, harsh Russian winters help explain why hot, rich soups and broths are so popular in this country.

The most popular Russian soups, which are well-known all over the world, are borshch, shchi, and the cold summer soup okroshka. There are a lot of regional recipes for these dishes, but traditionally, both borshch and shchi are and are served hot with sour-cream and rye bread. Sometimes, for example, during a religious fast, meat can be substituted by fish or mushrooms. Borshch is always cooked with beet-root, which gives it a saturated red color, and shchi must be based on fresh or sour cabbage. As for okroshka, it is mainly cooked in summer. It is a cold soup, where instead of meat broth kvass is used. It contains cold meat (usually beef), boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, cucumbers and green onion. All the ingredients are chopped and mixed. Okroshka is usually served with sour-cream, mustard and horseradish.

The most popular Russian soups that are well known all over the world are borscht, cabbage soup and cold summer soup okroshka. There are many regional recipes for these dishes, but traditionally both borscht and shchi are cooked in strong meat or bone broth and served hot with sour cream and rye bread. Sometimes, for example, during a religious fast, meat can be replaced with fish or mushrooms. Borsch is always prepared with the addition of beetroot, which gives it a rich red color, and cabbage soup should be based on fresh or sauerkraut. As for okroshka, it is prepared mainly in the summer. This is a cold soup where kvass is used instead of meat broth. It contains cold meat (usually beef), boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, cucumbers and green onions. All ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Okroshka is usually served with sour cream, mustard and horseradish.

Pelmeni is one more famous Russian dish. Small balls from minced meat are wrapped into dough made of flour and eggs and then boiled in salted water usually with bay leaves. Pelmeni can be served with sour-cream, table vinegar or horseradish. The filling can be made of any sort of meat – pork, beef, lamb or chicken. a mixed minced meat, for example, pork and beef, or pork, beef and lamb. A vegetarian analogue of pelmeni is vareniki, which is more popular in Ukraine. Fillings for vareniki can be made of cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, berries and so on.

Pelmeni is another famous Russian dish. Small balls of minced meat are wrapped in an unleavened dough made from flour and eggs and then boiled in salted water, usually with the addition of a bay leaf. Pelmeni can be served with sour cream, table vinegar or horseradish. The filling can be prepared from any type of meat - pork, beef, lamb or chicken. However, the best dumplings contain mixed minced meat, such as pork and beef or pork, beef and lamb. The vegetarian analogue of dumplings is dumplings, which are more popular in Ukraine. The filling for dumplings can be made from cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, berries, and so on.

The most popular Russian national salads are vinegret, Olivier salad (abroad it is sometimes called Russian salad), and “dressed herring”. Vinegret is a vegetarian purely salad, which is cooked from chopped boiled vegetables (beetroot, potatoes, carrots), fresh or sour cabbage, pickled cucumbers and onion. Olivier and herring salads are mayonnaise-based and rather substantial. The first one is cooked from boiled vegetables, eggs and boiled meat (which nowadays is often substituted with sausages), and the second one is a layered salad made of pickle herring, boiled potatoes, carrots, beetroots and eggs. Sometimes the herring salad also contains apples.

The most popular Russian national salads are vinaigrette, olivier (it is often called “Russian salad” abroad) and “herring under a fur coat”. Vinaigrette is a purely vegetarian salad made from finely chopped boiled vegetables (beets, potatoes, carrots), fresh or sauerkraut, pickles and onions. It is fueled with vegetable oil. Olivier and "herring" - mayonnaise and very satisfying salads. The former is made with boiled vegetables, eggs, and boiled meat (which these days is often replaced by sausage), while the latter is a layered salad of salted herring, boiled potatoes, carrots, beets, and eggs. Sometimes herring salad also contains apples.

Of course, as blini should not be left unmentioned. of cooking and filling, blini can serve as a dessert or an appetizer. Blini are made of batter, which is poured on a hot frying pan and fried. Blini can be cooked of wheat, rye, oat, or buckwheat flour. They are served with run butter, sour cream, caviar, vinegar pickled mushrooms, berries or jam. Traditionally, blini have been cooked during the Maslenitsa festival,

Russian national cuisine has gone through an extremely long path of development, marked by several major stages, each of which has left an indelible mark. Old Russian cuisine, which developed from the 9th-10th centuries. and reached its greatest prosperity in the XV-XVI centuries, although its formation covers a huge historical period, it is characterized by common features that have largely been preserved to this day.

At the beginning of this period, Russian bread made from sour (yeast) rye dough appeared - this uncrowned king on our table, without it the Russian menu is now unthinkable - and all other important types of Russian bread and flour products also arose: the known to us saiki, bagels, juicy, donuts, pancakes, pancakes, pies, etc. These products were prepared exclusively on the basis of sour dough - so characteristic of Russian cuisine throughout its historical development. The addiction to sour, kvass was also reflected in the creation of Russian real kissels - oatmeal, wheat and rye, which appeared long before modern ones. Mostly berry jelly.

A large place in the menu was also occupied by various gruels and porridges, which were originally considered ritual, solemn food.

All this bread, flour food diversified most of all with fish, mushrooms, forest berries, vegetables, milk, and very rarely - with meat.

By the same time, the appearance of classic Russian drinks - all kinds of honey, kvass, sbitney.

Already in the early period of the development of Russian cuisine, a sharp division of the Russian table into lean (vegetable-fish-mushroom) and fast food (milk-egg-meat) was outlined, which had a huge impact on its further development until the end of the 19th century. The artificial creation of a line between the fast and the fast table, the isolation of some products from others, and the prevention of their mixing ultimately led to the creation of only some original dishes, and the entire menu suffered as a whole - it became more monotonous, simplified.

It can be said that the Lenten table was more fortunate: since most days in the year - from 192 to 216 in different years - were considered Lenten (and these fasts were observed very strictly), it was natural to expand the assortment of the Lenten table. Hence the abundance of mushroom and fish dishes in Russian cuisine, the tendency to use various vegetable raw materials - grains (porridge), vegetables, wild berries and herbs (nettles, gouts, quinoa, etc.). Moreover, such well-known from the tenth century. vegetables like cabbages, turnips, radishes, peas, cucumbers were cooked and eaten - whether raw, salted, steamed, boiled or baked - separately from one another.

Therefore, for example, salads and especially vinaigrettes have never been characteristic of Russian cuisine and appeared in Russia already in the 19th century. as a borrowing from the West. But they were also originally made mainly with one vegetable, giving the corresponding name to the salad - cucumber salad, beetroot salad, potato salad, etc.

Each type of mushroom - milk mushrooms, saffron mushrooms, mushrooms, ceps, morels, stoves (champignons), etc. - was salted or cooked completely separately, which, by the way, is still practiced today. The same can be said about fish, which was consumed boiled, dried, salted, baked, and less often fried. In the literature, we find juicy, "delicious" names of fish dishes: sigovina, taimenin, pike, halibut, catfish, salmon, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga and others. And the ear could be perch, and ruff, and burbot, and sturgeon, etc.

Thus, the number of dishes by name was huge, but all of them differed little from each other in content. Taste diversity was achieved, firstly, by the difference in heat and cold processing, as well as the use of various oils, mainly vegetable (hemp, nut, poppy, olive, and much later - sunflower), and secondly, the use of spices.

Of the latter, onion, garlic, horseradish, dill were most often used, and in very large quantities, as well as parsley, anise, coriander, bay leaf, black pepper and cloves, which appeared in Rus' already in the 10th-11th centuries. Later, in the 15th - early 16th centuries, they were supplemented with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, calamus (calamus root) and saffron.

In the initial period of the development of Russian cuisine, there was also a tendency to consume liquid hot dishes, which then received the general name "khlebova". The most widespread are such types of bread as cabbage soup, stews based on vegetable raw materials, as well as various mashes, brews, talkers, salomats and other types of flour soups.

As for meat and milk, these products were consumed relatively rarely, and their processing was not difficult. Meat, as a rule, was boiled in cabbage soup or porridge, milk was drunk raw, stewed or sour. Dairy products were used to make cottage cheese and sour cream, while the production of cream and butter remained almost unknown for a long time, at least until the 15th-16th centuries. these products appeared rarely, irregularly.

The next stage in the development of Russian cuisine is the period from the middle of the XVI century. until the end of the 17th century. At this time, not only the further development of variants of the lenten and fast meals continues, but the differences between the cuisines of various classes and estates are especially sharply indicated. From that time on, the cuisine of the common people began to become more and more simple, the cuisine of the boyars, the nobility, and especially the nobility, became more and more refined. She collects, combines and generalizes the experience of previous centuries in the field of Russian culinary arts, creates on the basis of it new, more complex versions of old dishes, and for the first time borrows and openly introduces into Russian cuisine a number of foreign dishes and culinary techniques, mainly of Eastern origin.

Particular attention is drawn to the modest festive table of that time. Along with the already familiar corned beef and boiled meat, twisted (that is, cooked on skewers) and fried meat, poultry and game occupy a place of honor on the table of the nobility. The types of meat processing are increasingly differentiated. So, beef goes mainly for cooking corned beef and for boiling (boiled slaughter); ham is made from pork for long-term storage, or it is used as fresh or milk pig in fried and stewed form, and in Russia only meat, lean pork is valued; finally, mutton, poultry and game are used mainly for roasts and only partly (mutton) for stewing.

In the 17th century all the main types of Russian soups finally add up, while kali, hangovers, hodgepodges, pickles, unknown in medieval Rus', appear.

The lenten table of the nobility is also enriched. A prominent place on it begins to be occupied by balyk, black caviar, which was eaten not only salted, but also boiled in vinegar or poppy milk.

Culinary of the 17th century Eastern and, first of all, Tatar cuisine has a strong influence, which is associated with the accession in the second half of the 16th century. to the Russian state of the Astrakhan and Kazan khanates, Bashkiria and Siberia. It was during this period that dishes from unleavened dough (noodles, dumplings), such products as raisins, apricots, figs (figs), as well as lemons and tea, the use of which has since become traditional in Russia, enter Russian cuisine. Thus, the sweet table is significantly replenished.

Next to the gingerbread, known in Rus' even before the adoption of Christianity, one could see a variety of gingerbread, sweet pies, candy, candied fruits, numerous jams, not only from berries, but also from some vegetables (carrots with honey and ginger, radish in molasses) . In the second half of the XVII century. they began to bring cane sugar to Russia, from which, together with spices, they cooked candies and snacks, sweets, delicacies, fruits, etc. [The first refinery was founded by the merchant Vestov in Moscow, at the beginning of the 18th century. He was allowed to import cane raw materials duty-free. Sugar factories based on beet raw materials were created only at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. (The first factory was in the village of Alyabyevo, Tula province).] But all these sweet dishes were basically the privilege of the nobility. [The menu of the patriarchal dinner for 1671 already contains sugar and candy.]

For the boyar table, an extraordinary abundance of dishes becomes characteristic - up to 50, and at the royal table their number grows to 150-200. The sizes of these dishes are also huge, for which the largest swans, geese, turkeys, the largest sturgeons or beluga are usually chosen - sometimes they are so large that three or four people lift them. At the same time, there is a desire to decorate dishes. Palaces are built from foodstuffs, fantastic animals of gigantic proportions.

Court dinners turn into a pompous, magnificent ritual that lasts 6-8 hours in a row - from two in the afternoon to ten in the evening - and includes almost a dozen changes, each of which consists of a whole series (sometimes two dozen) of the same name dishes, for example from a dozen varieties of fried game or salted fish, from a dozen types of pancakes or pies.

Thus, in the XVII century. Russian cuisine was already extremely diverse in terms of the range of dishes (we are talking, of course, about the cuisine of the ruling classes). At the same time, the art of cooking in the sense of the ability to combine products, to reveal their taste, was still at a very low level. Suffice it to say that, as before, mixing of products, their grinding, grinding, crushing was not allowed. Most of all, this applied to the meat table.

Therefore, Russian cuisine, in contrast to French and German, for a long time did not know and did not want to accept various minced meats, rolls, pastes and cutlets. All kinds of casseroles and puddings turned out to be alien to the ancient Russian cuisine. The desire to cook a dish from a whole large piece, and ideally from a whole animal or plant, persisted until the 18th century.

The exception seemed to be fillings in pies, in whole animals and poultry, and in their parts - abomasum, omentum. However, in most cases, these were, so to speak, ready-made fillings, crushed by nature itself - grain (porridge), berries, mushrooms (they were not cut either). The fish for the filling was only plastified, but not crushed. And only much later - at the end of the XVIII century. and especially in the nineteenth century. - already under the influence of Western European cuisine, some fillings began to grind on purpose.

The next stage in the development of Russian cuisine begins at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. and lasts a little more than a century - until the first decade of the XIX century. At this time, there is a radical delimitation of the cuisine of the ruling classes and the cuisine of the common people. If in the 17th century the cuisine of the ruling classes still retained a national character and its difference from the folk cuisine was expressed only in the fact that in terms of quality, abundance and assortment of products and dishes it sharply surpassed the folk cuisine, then in the 18th century. the cuisine of the ruling classes gradually began to lose the Russian national character.

The order of serving dishes at a rich festive table, consisting of 6-8 changes, finally took shape in the second half of the 18th century. However, one dish was served at each break. This order was preserved until the 60-70s of the XIX century:
1) hot (soup, soup, fish soup);
2) cold (okroshka, botvinya, jelly, jellied fish, corned beef);
3) roast (meat, poultry);
4) body (boiled or fried hot fish);
5) pies (unsweetened), kulebyaka;
6) porridge (sometimes served with cabbage soup);
7) cake (sweet pies, pies);
8) snacks.

Since the time of Peter the Great, the Russian nobility and the rest of the nobility have been borrowing and introducing Western European culinary traditions. Wealthy nobles who visited Western Europe brought foreign chefs with them. At first they were mostly Dutch and German, especially Saxon and Austrian, then Swedish and predominantly French. From the middle of the XVIII century. foreign cooks were discharged so regularly that they soon almost completely replaced the cooks and serf cooks from the higher nobility.

One of the new customs that appeared at this time should be considered the use of snacks as an independent dish. German sandwiches, French and Dutch cheeses that came from the West and hitherto unknown on the Russian table were combined with old Russian dishes - cold corned beef, jelly, ham, boiled pork, as well as caviar, salmon and other salted red fish in a single serving or even in a special meal - breakfast.

There were also new alcoholic drinks - ratafii and erofeichi. Since the 70s of the XVIII century, when tea began to gain more and more importance, in the highest circles of society, sweet pies, pies and sweets stood out beyond the dinner table, which were combined with tea in a separate serving and dated for 5 pm.

Only in the first half of the 19th century, after the Patriotic War of 1812, in connection with the general rise of patriotism in the country and the struggle of Slavophile circles with foreign influence, did progressive representatives of the nobility begin to revive interest in national Russian cuisine.

However, when in 1816 the Tula landowner V. A. Levshin tried to compile the first Russian cookbook, he was forced to state that “information about Russian dishes has almost completely disappeared” and therefore “it is now impossible to present a complete description of Russian cuisine and should be content only by what else can be collected from the memory, for the history of Russian cooking has never been given to description.

As a result, the descriptions of Russian cuisine dishes collected by V. A. Levshin from memory were not only not accurate in their recipe, but also in their assortment far from reflecting the real richness of the dishes of the Russian national table.

The cuisine of the ruling classes and during the first half of the XIX century. continued to develop in isolation from the folk, under the noticeable influence of French cuisine. But the very nature of this influence has changed significantly. In contrast to the 18th century, when there was a direct borrowing of foreign dishes, such as cutlets, sausages, omelettes, mousses, compotes, etc., and the displacement of primordially Russian ones, in the first half of the 19th century. a different process was designated - the processing of the Russian culinary heritage, and in the second half of the 19th century. even the restoration of the Russian national menu begins, however, again with French adjustments.

A number of French chefs worked in Russia during this period, radically reforming the Russian cuisine of the ruling classes. The first French chef who left a mark on the reform of Russian cuisine was Marie-Antoine Karem - one of the first and few chefs-researchers, chefs-scientists. Before coming to Russia at the invitation of Prince P.I. Bagration, Karem was the cook of the English Prince Regent (future King George IV), Duke of Württemberg, Rothschild, Talleyrand. He was keenly interested in the cuisines of various nations. During his short stay in Russia, Karem got acquainted with Russian cuisine in detail, appreciated its merits and outlined ways to free it from alluvial.

Karem's successors in Russia continued the reform he had begun. This reform touched, firstly, the order of serving dishes to the table. adopted in the 18th century. The "French" serving system, when all dishes were put on the table at the same time, was replaced by the old Russian way of serving, when one dish replaced another. At the same time, the number of changes was reduced to 4-5 and a sequence was introduced in serving dinner, in which heavy dishes alternated with light and appetizing ones. In addition, whole-cooked meat or poultry was no longer served on the table; before serving, they began to be cut into portions. With such a system, decorating dishes as an end in itself has lost all meaning.

The reformers also advocated the replacement of dishes from crushed and mashed products, which occupied a large place in the cuisine of the ruling classes in the 18th and early 19th centuries, with dishes from natural products more typical of Russian cuisine. So there were all kinds of chops (lamb and pork) from a whole piece of meat with a bone, natural steaks, bedbugs, langets, entrecotes, escalopes.

At the same time, the efforts of culinary specialists were aimed at eliminating the heaviness and indigestibility of some dishes. So, in the recipes for cabbage soup, they discarded the flour podbolt that made them tasteless, which was preserved only by virtue of tradition, and not common sense, they began to widely use potatoes in garnishes, which appeared in Russia in the 70s of the 18th century.

For Russian pies, they suggested using soft puff pastry made from wheat flour instead of rye sour. They also introduced a safe method of preparing dough with pressed yeast, which we use today, thanks to which the sour dough, which previously took 10-12 hours to prepare, began to ripen in 2 hours.

French chefs also paid attention to appetizers, which became one of the specific features of the Russian table. If in the XVIII century. the German form of serving snacks prevailed - sandwiches, then in the 19th century. they began to serve appetizers on a special table, each type on a special dish, beautifully decorating them, and thus expanded their assortment so much, choosing among the appetizers a whole range of old Russian not only meat and fish, but also mushroom and vegetable sauerkraut dishes, that their abundance and variety henceforth never ceased to be a constant object of astonishment to foreigners.

Finally, the French school introduced a combination of products (vinaigrettes, salads, side dishes) and precise dosages in recipes that were not previously accepted in Russian cuisine, and introduced Russian cuisine to unknown types of Western European kitchen equipment.

At the end of the XIX century. the Russian stove and pots and cast-iron pots specially adapted to its thermal regime were replaced by a stove with its oven, pots, stewpans, etc. Instead of a sieve and a sieve, they began to use colanders, skimmers, meat grinders, etc.

An important contribution of French culinary specialists to the development of Russian cuisine was the fact that they prepared a whole galaxy of brilliant Russian chefs. Their students were Mikhail and Gerasim Stepanov, G. Dobrovolsky, V. Bestuzhev, I. Radetsky, P. Grigoriev, I. Antonov, Z. Eremeev, N. Khodeev, P. Vikentiev and others, who supported and spread the best traditions of Russian cuisine in throughout the 19th century. Of these, G. Stepanov and I. Radetsky were not only outstanding practitioners, but also left behind extensive manuals on Russian cooking.

In parallel with this process of updating the cuisine of the ruling classes, carried out, so to speak, "from above" and concentrated in the noble clubs and restaurants of St. estates until the 70s of the XIX century.

The source for this collection was folk cuisine, in the development of which a huge number of nameless and unknown, but talented serf cooks took part.

By the last third of the XIX century. Russian cuisine of the ruling classes, thanks to the unique assortment of dishes, their exquisite and delicate taste, began to occupy one of the leading places in Europe along with French cuisine.

At the same time, it must be emphasized that, despite all the changes, introductions and foreign influences, its main characteristic features have been preserved and have remained inherent in it to the present, as they have been steadfastly kept in the folk cuisine.

These main features of Russian cuisine and the Russian national table can be defined as follows: an abundance of dishes, a variety of snack tables, a love for eating bread, pancakes, pies, cereals, the originality of the first liquid cold and hot dishes, a variety of fish and mushroom tables, the widespread use of pickles from vegetables and mushrooms, an abundance of a festive and sweet table with its jams, cookies, gingerbread, Easter cakes, etc.

Some features of Russian cuisine should be said in more detail. Even at the end of the XVIII century. Russian historian I. Boltin noted the characteristic features of the Russian table, including not only the prosperous. In the countryside, four times of food were accepted, and in the summer at work time - five: breakfast, or interception, afternoon tea, earlier than lunch, or at noon sharp, lunch, dinner and paupin. These vyti, adopted in Central and Northern Russia, were also preserved in Southern Russia, but with different names. There at 6-7 o'clock in the morning they ate, at 11-12 they dined, at 14-15 they had an afternoon snack, at 18-19 they ate in the evening, and at 22-23 they had supper.

With the development of capitalism, the working people in the cities began to eat at first three, and then only two times a day: breakfast at dawn, lunch or dinner when they came home. At work, they only had an afternoon snack, that is, they ate cold food. Gradually, any full meal, a full table with hot brew, began to be called lunch, sometimes regardless of the time of day.

Bread played an important role at the Russian table. For shchi or other first liquid dish in the village, they usually ate from half a kilo to a kilogram of black rye bread. White bread, wheat, was not actually distributed in Russia until the beginning of the 20th century. It was eaten occasionally and mostly by the wealthy segments of the population in the cities, and among the people they looked at it as a festive meal. Therefore, white bread, called a bun in a number of regions of the country, was not baked in bakeries, like black bread, but in special bakeries and sweetened slightly. ["Bulka" is from the French word boule, which means "round like a ball". Initially, only French and German bakers baked white bread.]

Local varieties of white bread were Moscow saiki and kalachi, Smolensk pretzels, Valdai bagels, etc. Black bread differed not by the place of manufacture, but only by the type of baking and the type of flour - baked, custard, hearth, peeled, etc.

From the 20th century came into use and other flour products from white, wheat, flour, previously not characteristic of Russian cuisine - vermicelli, pasta, while the use of pies, pancakes and cereals has decreased. In connection with the spread of white bread in everyday life, tea drinking with it sometimes began to replace breakfast and dinner.

The first liquid dishes, called from the end of the 18th century, retained unchanged importance in Russian cuisine. soups. Soups have always played a dominant role on the Russian table. No wonder the spoon was the main cutlery. It appeared with us earlier than the fork by almost 400 years. "A fork is like a hook, and a spoon is like a net," said a popular proverb.

The assortment of national Russian soups - cabbage soup, mash, stew, fish soup, pickles, saltwort, botviny, okroshka, prisons - continued to grow in the 18th-20th centuries. various types of Western European soups like broths, mashed soups, various dressing soups with meat and cereals, which took root well thanks to the love of the Russian people for hot liquid brew. In the same way, many soups of the peoples of our country have received a place on the modern Russian table, for example, Ukrainian borscht and kulesh, Belarusian beetroot soups and soups with dumplings.

Many soups, especially vegetable and vegetable-cereal soups, were obtained from liquefied slurry-zaspitsa (i.e. slurry with vegetable filling) or are the fruits of restaurant cuisine. However, it is not they, despite their diversity, but the old, primordially Russian soups like cabbage soup and fish soup that still determine the originality of the Russian table.

To a lesser extent than soups, fish dishes have retained their original significance on the Russian table. Some classic Russian fish dishes, like telnoye, have fallen into disuse. On the other hand, they are delicious and easy to make. It is quite possible to cook them from sea fish, which, by the way, was used in Russian cuisine in the old days, especially in Northern Russia, in Russian Pomorie. The inhabitants of these breadless regions in those days have long been accustomed to cod, halibut, haddock, capelin, navaga. "Without fish is worse than without food," the Pomors used to say then.

Known in Russian cuisine are steam, boiled, calf fish, that is, made in a special way from one fillet, without bones, fried, mended (filled with porridge or mushrooms), stewed, aspic, baked in scales, baked in a pan in sour cream , salted (salted), dried and dried (sushchik). In the Pechora and Perm regions, fish was also fermented (sour fish), and in Western Siberia they ate stroganina - frozen raw fish. Only the method of smoking fish was not widespread, which was developed mainly only in the last 70-80 years, i.e. since the beginning of the 20th century.

Characteristic of the old Russian cuisine was the widespread use of spices in a fairly large assortment. However, the decline in the role of fish, mushroom and game dishes, as well as the introduction of a number of German dishes into the menu, has affected the reduction in the share of spices used in Russian cuisine.

In addition, due to the high cost, many spices, as well as vinegar and salt, have been sold since the 17th century. people began to use re in the process of cooking, and put it on the table and use it already during meals, depending on the desire of everyone. This custom gave rise to later assert that Russian cuisine allegedly did not use spices.

At the same time, they referred to the well-known work of G. Kotoshikhin about Russia in the 17th century, where he wrote: "There is a custom to cook without seasonings, without pepper and indigo, lightly salted and without vinegar." Meanwhile, the same G. Kotoshikhin further explained: "And as soon as they start the nets and in which there is little vinegar and salt and pepper, they add them to the table." Since those distant times, the custom has remained to put salt in a salt shaker, pepper in a pepper shaker, mustard and vinegar in separate jars while eating on the table.

As a result, the skills of cooking with spices were not developed in the folk cuisine, while in the cuisine of the ruling classes, spices continued to be used in the cooking process. But Russian cuisine knew spices and seasonings even at the time of its formation, they were skillfully combined with fish, mushrooms, game, pies, soups, gingerbread, Easter and Easter cakes, and they were used carefully, but nevertheless constantly and without fail. And this circumstance should not be forgotten and overlooked when speaking about the peculiarities of Russian cuisine.

Flavored oil was used quite often. For flavoring, the oil was heated (but not fried) in a frying pan or saucepan and coriander, anise, fennel, dill or celery, parsley seeds were added to it.

Finally, it is necessary to dwell on some technological processes inherent in Russian cuisine.

For a long period of development of Russian national cuisine, the process of cooking was reduced to cooking or baking products in a Russian oven, and these operations were necessarily carried out separately. What was intended for boiling was boiled from beginning to end, what was intended for baking was only baked. Thus, Russian folk cuisine did not know what combined or even different, combined or double heat treatment was.

The heat treatment of food consisted in heating with the heat of a Russian stove, strong or weak, in three degrees - "before bread", "after bread", "in the free spirit" - but always without contact with fire and either with a constant temperature kept at the same level, or with a falling, decreasing temperature as the oven gradually cools down, but never with an increasing temperature, as in stovetop cooking. That is why the dishes always turned out not even boiled, but rather stewed or half-stewed, half-stewed, which is why they acquired a very special taste. Not without reason, many dishes of old Russian cuisine do not make the proper impression when they are cooked in other temperature conditions.

Does this mean that it is necessary to restore the Russian stove in order to get real dishes of Russian cuisine in modern conditions? Far from it. Instead, it is enough to simulate the thermal regime of falling temperature created by it. Such imitation is possible under modern conditions.

However, we should not forget that the Russian stove had not only a positive effect on Russian cuisine, but to a certain extent also a negative one - it did not stimulate the development of rational technological methods.

The introduction of plate cooking led to the need to borrow a number of new technological methods and, along with them, dishes from Western European cuisine, as well as to the reform of dishes of old Russian cuisine, their refining and development, and adaptation to new technology. This trend has proven to be fruitful. It helped save many dishes of Russian cuisine from oblivion.

Speaking of Russian cuisine, we have so far emphasized its features and characteristics, examined the history of its development and its content as a whole. Meanwhile, one should keep in mind the pronounced regional differences in it, explained mainly by the diversity of natural zones and the related dissimilarity of plant and animal products, the different influences of neighboring peoples, as well as the diversity of the social structure of the population in the past.

That is why the cuisines of Muscovites and Pomors, Don Cossacks and Siberians are very different. While in the North they eat venison, fresh and salted sea fish, rye pies, dezhni with cottage cheese and a lot of mushrooms, in the Don they roast and stew steppe game, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, drink grape wine and cook pies with chicken meat. If the food of the Pomors is similar to the Scandinavian, Finnish, Karelian and Lappish (Sami), then the cuisine of the Don Cossacks was significantly influenced by Turkish, Nogai cuisines, and the Russian population in the Urals or Siberia follows the Tatar and Udmurt culinary traditions.

Regional features of a different plan have long been also inherent in the cuisines of the old Russian regions of Central Russia. These features are due to the medieval rivalry between Novgorod and Pskov, Tver and Moscow, Vladimir and Yaroslavl, Kaluga and Smolensk, Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod. Moreover, they manifested themselves in the field of cuisine not in major dissimilarities, such as differences in cooking technology or in the availability of their own dishes in each region, as was the case, for example, in Siberia and the Urals, but in differences precisely between the same dishes, in differences are often even insignificant, but nevertheless quite persistent.

A vivid example of this is at least such common Russian dishes as fish soup, pancakes, pies, cereals and gingerbread: they were made throughout European Russia, but each region had its own favorite types of these dishes, their own minor differences in their recipes, their own appearance. , their methods of serving to the table, etc.

We owe this, if I may say so, "small regionality" to the emergence, development and existence so far, for example, of different types of gingerbread - Tula, Vyazma, Voronezh, Gorodetsky, Moscow, etc.

Regional differences, both large and small, naturally enriched Russian cuisine even more and diversified it. And at the same time, all of them did not change its basic character, because in each specific case, the above-mentioned common features, which together distinguish the national Russian cuisine throughout Russia from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, attract attention.

Russian cuisine has long been widely known throughout the world. This is manifested both in the direct penetration into the international restaurant cuisine of the most famous dishes of the Russian national menu (jelly, cabbage soup, fish soup, pies, etc.), and in the indirect influence of Russian culinary art on the cuisines of other peoples.

Under the influence of haute restaurant cuisine that developed in Russia in the second half of the 19th century (cooks-restaurateurs Olivier, Yar, and many others), the assortment of Russian cuisine dishes at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries increased. became so diverse, and its influence and popularity in Europe are so great that by this time they were talking about it with the same respect as about the famous French cuisine.

In the early 1950s, in the USSR, on Stalin’s assignment for cooks, a thick volume “COOKING” was prepared and published, reflecting the features and richness of the developed Russian cuisine. A summary of this essay for housewives was also published - “The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food”. The latter has been repeatedly reprinted and changed, but its first "Stalinist" edition is of particular interest.

Russian traditions
TRADITIONS OF THE RUSSIAN Feast
From the history of Russian table traditions

Each nation has its own way of life, customs, its own unique songs, dances, fairy tales. Each country has favorite dishes, special traditions in table decoration and cooking. There is a lot in them that is expedient, historically conditioned, corresponding to national tastes, lifestyle, climatic conditions. For thousands of years, this way of life and these habits have evolved, they contain the collective experience of our ancestors.

Culinary recipes, formed over the years as a result of centuries of evolution, many of them are excellent examples of the right combination of products in terms of taste, and from a physiological point of view - in terms of nutrient content.

The way of life of a people is formed under the influence of many factors - natural, historical, social, etc. To a certain extent, cultural exchange with other peoples also influences it, but other people's traditions are never mechanically borrowed, but acquire local national flavor on new soil.

Rye, oats, wheat, barley, millet have been cultivated in our country since medieval antiquity, our ancestors have long borrowed the skills of making flour, mastered the "secrets" of baking various products from fermented dough. That is why pies, pies, pancakes, pies, kulebyaki, pancakes, pancakes, etc. are essential in the food of our ancestors. "from dough - on spring holidays, etc.

No less typical for Russian traditional cuisine are dishes from all kinds of cereals: various cereals, krupeniks, pancakes, oatmeal jelly, casseroles, pea-based dishes, as well as lentils.

In the more northern parts of our country, dishes made from millet are of particular importance. This tradition has deep historical roots. Once among the Eastern Slavs, who came to these lands in the VI century AD. and lived predominantly in forest areas, millet was cultivated as the main agricultural crop.

Millet served as a raw material for making flour, cereals, brewing beer, kvass, making soups and sweet dishes. This folk tradition continues to this day. However, it should be borne in mind that millet is inferior to other cereals in its nutritional value. Therefore, it should be prepared with milk, cottage cheese, liver, pumpkin and other products.

Not only grain crops were cultivated by our ancestors. From antiquity, through the centuries, such cultures of Ancient Rome as cabbage, beets and turnips have come down to our days and have become the main ones in our garden. The most widely used in Rus' was sauerkraut, which could be preserved until the next harvest. Cabbage serves as an indispensable snack, seasoning for boiled potatoes and other dishes.

Shchi from various types of cabbage is a well-deserved pride of our national cuisine, although they were prepared in ancient Rome, where a lot of cabbage was specially grown. It's just that many vegetable plants and recipes "migrated" from Ancient Rome through Byzantium to Rus' after the adoption of Christianity in Rus'. The Greeks created Rus' not only writing, but also passed on a lot of their culture.

In our time, cabbage is especially widely used in cooking in the northern and central regions of Russia, in the Urals and Siberia.

Turnip in Russia until the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. was as important as the potato is today. Turnips were used everywhere and many dishes were prepared from turnips, stuffed, boiled, steamed. Turnips were used as a filling for pies, kvass was prepared from it. Gradually, from the beginning to the middle of the 19th century, it was replaced by much more productive, but much less useful potatoes (practically, this is empty starch). But the turnip contains in its composition very valuable biochemical sulfur compounds, which, when eaten regularly, are excellent immunostimulants. Now the turnip has become a rare and piece product on the Russian table - on sale for it and the price is determined not by kilograms, but by the piece.

After switching to potatoes, Russian cuisine has significantly lost its high quality. As well as after the practical rejection of Russian table horseradish, which is also an indispensable tool for health, but retains its beneficial properties no more than 12-18 hours after preparation, i.e. requiring preparation shortly before serving. Therefore, the modern store-bought "horseradish in jars" does not have such properties or the proper taste at all. So if now in Russia Russian table horseradish is served at the family table, then only on great holidays.

For some reason, the swede is not mentioned in the ancient sources, probably because before the swede was not distinguished from the turnip. These roots, once widespread in Russia, currently occupy a relatively small share in vegetable growing. They could not stand the competition with potatoes and other crops. However, the peculiar taste and smell, the possibility of various culinary uses, transportability, and storage stability make it possible to think that turnips and rutabaga should not be abandoned at present, since they give a very special taste to many dishes of Russian folk cuisine.

Of the vegetable crops that appeared in Russia later, it is impossible not to name the potato. At the very beginning of the XIX century. potatoes made a real revolution in the traditions of the Russian table, potato dishes gained wide popularity. In the spread of potatoes and its popularization, a great merit belongs to the famous cultural figure of the 18th century. A.T. Bolotov, who not only developed the agricultural technique for growing potatoes, but also proposed the technology for preparing a number of dishes.

Animal products have not changed much. From time immemorial, our ancestors consumed the meat of cattle ("beef"), pigs, goats and sheep, as well as poultry - chickens, geese, ducks.

Until the 12th century horse meat was also used, but already in the 13th century. it has almost fallen into disuse, tk. The "extra" horses from the population began to be taken away by the Mongol-Tatars, who needed the horses more. In manuscripts of the XVI-XVII centuries. ("Domostroy", "Painting for the Tsar's Meals"), only separate delicacy dishes from horse meat (jelly from horse lips, boiled horse heads) are mentioned. In the future, with the development of dairy cattle breeding, milk and products derived from it were increasingly used.

Forestry was a great and essential addition to the economy of our ancestors. In the annals of the XI-XII centuries. talking about hunting grounds - "goshawks", later manuscripts mention hazel grouse, wild ducks, hares, geese and other game. Although there is no reason to believe that they were not eaten before from the most ancient times.

Forests occupy vast areas in our country, especially in the north of the Urals and in Siberia. The use of the gifts of the forest is one of the characteristic features of Russian cuisine. In the old days, hazelnuts played an important role in nutrition. Nut butter was one of the most common fats. The kernels of nuts were crushed, a little boiling water was added, wrapped in a rag and put under oppression. The oil gradually dripped into the bowl. Nut cake was also used for food - added to cereals, eaten with milk, with cottage cheese. Crushed nuts were also used to prepare various dishes and fillings.

The forest was also a source of honey (beekeeping). From honey prepared various sweet dishes and drinks - medki. At present, only in some places in Siberia (especially in the Altai among the local non-Russian peoples) the methods of preparing these delicious drinks have been preserved.

However, from the most ancient times and before the advent of mass production of sugar, honey was the main sweet among all peoples, and a wide variety of sweet drinks, dishes and desserts were prepared on its basis in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Also, not only Russians, but all peoples who had fish at their disposal, from time immemorial ate caviar.

The very first artificially cultivated fruit tree in Rus' was cherry. Under Yuri Dolgoruky, only cherries grew in Moscow.

The nature of Russian folk cuisine was largely influenced by the geographical features of our country - the abundance of rivers, lakes, seas. It is the geographical location that explains the number of various types of fish dishes. In the diet, a lot of river fish species, as well as lake ones, were quite common. Although there were many more different fish dishes in Ancient Greece and, especially, in Ancient Rome, the creator of the foundations of the modern wealth of European cuisine. What were the culinary fantasies of Lucullus worth! (Unfortunately, his many recipe records have been lost.)

In Russian cuisine, a large assortment of products was also used for cooking. However, it is not so much the variety of products that determines the specificity of the national Russian cuisine (these products were also available to Europeans), but the methods of their processing and cooking technologies themselves. In many ways, the originality of folk dishes was determined precisely by the peculiarities of the Russian stove.

There is reason to believe that the design of the traditional Russian stove was not borrowed. It appeared in Eastern Europe as a local original type of hearth. This is indicated by the fact that among the peoples of Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, the main types of ovens were open hearths, as well as an outdoor oven for baking bread or a tandoor for baking cakes. Finally, archeology provides direct evidence of this. During the excavations of Trypillia settlements in Ukraine (3rd millennium BC), not only the remains of furnaces were found, but also a clay model of the furnace, which made it possible to restore their appearance and structure. These adobe stoves can be considered the prototype of later stoves, including the Russian stove.

But the design of the samovar was borrowed by the Russians from the Persians, who in turn took it from the Arabs. (However, Russian nesting dolls were also borrowed from the Japanese in 1893, and their mass production was already established in 1896.)

But we should not try to artificially "clear" our table from dishes once borrowed from other peoples, which have long become familiar to us. These include, for example, pancakes (borrowed in the 9th century from the cuisine of the Varangians along with compotes and dried fruit broths), cutlets, meatballs, langets, steaks, escalopes, mousses, jelly, mustard, mayonnaise (borrowed from European cuisine), shish kebab and kebab (borrowed from the Crimean Tatars), dumplings (borrowed from the Mongols in the 12th century), borsch (this is the national dish of Ancient Rome, which came to Rus' along with Orthodoxy from the Byzantine Greeks), ketchup (an invention of the cooks of the English navy) and others.

Many dishes that have now become traditional Russian were invented by French chefs-restaurateurs who worked in Russia in the 19th century and created the foundations of modern Russian cuisine (Lucien Olivier, Yar and others).

In the process of historical development, nutrition has changed, new products have appeared, and ways of processing them have improved. Relatively recently, potatoes and tomatoes appeared in Russia, many ocean fish have become familiar, and without them it is already impossible to imagine our table. Attempts to divide Russian cuisine into old original and modern are very conditional. It all depends on the availability of products available to the people. And who will say now that dishes with potatoes or tomatoes cannot be national Russians?

The culinary use of pineapples during the time of Catherine II and Prince Potemkin (this lover of cabbage stalks, which he did not part with and gnawed constantly) is curious. Pineapples were then chopped and fermented in barrels, like cabbage. It was one of Potemkin's favorite vodka snacks.

Our country is vast, and each region has its own local dishes. In the north they love cabbage soup, and in the south - borscht, in Siberia and the Urals there is no festive table without shaneg, and in Vologda - without fishmen, on the Don they cook fish soup with tomatoes, etc. However, there are many common dishes for all regions of our country and many common methods of their preparation.

Everything that was formed at the initial stage of the Russian culinary tradition remains unchanged to this day. The main components of the traditional Russian table: black rye bread, which remains a favorite to this day, a variety of soups and cereals cooked almost every day, but not at all according to the same recipes as many years ago (which require a Russian oven, and even the ability to manage it), pies and countless other products made from yeast dough, without which not a single fun is complete, pancakes, as well as our traditional drinks - honey, kvass and vodka (although all of them are also borrowed; in particular, bread kvass was prepared and in ancient Rome).

In addition, with the arrival of Orthodoxy from Byzantium in Rus', a lenten table was formed.

The main advantage of Russian cuisine is the ability to absorb and creatively refine, improve the best dishes of all nations with which Russian people had to communicate on a long historical path. This is what made Russian cuisine the richest cuisine in the world.

Nowadays, in the national culinary arts of the whole world, there is not a single dish that is more or less worthy, which would not have its analogue in the richest Russian cuisine, and, moreover, in a much better performance, corresponding to Russian taste.

OUT OF THE DINING
or meal time. Vyt is an old Russian word for meal time. Each howl, each dining time has long had its own name, which has survived to our time.

Initially, they were called: interception (7 am), afternoon tea (11 am), lunch (3 pm), pa lunch (5-6 pm), dinner (8-9 pm) and pauzin (23 pm). Not all of these activities were performed at the same time.

From the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. the following names are established: breakfast (from 6 to 8 am), afternoon tea (from 10 to 11 am), lunch (between 2 and 3 pm), tea (5-6 pm), dinner (20-9 pm). Basically, these vyti are still recognized as a rational meal time for hospitals, boarding schools, and sanatoriums. An afternoon snack is now more often called a second breakfast, and as a reminder of the dinner in the sanatoriums, kefir was left before bedtime, one and a half to two hours after dinner.

In Western European practice, other ways have developed. They are still preserved partly in the restaurant, partly in the diplomatic practice of many countries.

So, breakfast happens at 7.30-8 o'clock, then midi (in France) at 12 o'clock, and in most countries of Western Europe, according to the English model, lunch is at 13 o'clock. This, in fact, is our lunch, although in diplomatic terminology it is breakfast. Five-o-clock (tea or cocktail in diplomatic terminology) at 5-6 pm and lunch at 8 pm, which is actually similar to our dinner, since soup is not served at this "lunch".

There is no supper in the West. But French practice sometimes also provides for the so-called supe (souper), that is, an evening or night dinner, which is arranged only when the festival drags on well after midnight. In this case, at 23.30 or at 24.00, or even at one in the morning, various snacks are served and onion soup, traditional in such cases, from which this nightly dinner got its name, and then a light hot fish second (but often limited to one soup ). In practice, supe is used extremely rarely, literally two or three, at most four or five times a year, on major holidays.

Reception
In the seventeenth century, every self-respecting city dweller, and even more so if he was also wealthy, could not do without festive feasts, because this was part of their way of life. They began to prepare for the festive feast long before the solemn day - they cleaned and tidied up the whole house and yard in the most thorough way, everything had to be perfect by the arrival of the guests, everything had to shine like never before. Ceremonial tablecloths, dishes, towels were taken from the chests, which were so carefully stored for this day.

And the place of honor of the head of this entire responsible process, as well as the purchase and preparation of festive events, was monitored by the mistress of the house.

The host also had an equally important duty - inviting guests to a feast. Moreover, depending on the status of the guest, the host either sent a servant with an invitation, or went himself. And actually the event itself looked something like this: the hostess came out to the assembled guests in a festive outfit and greeted them, bowing from the waist, and the guests answered her with a bow to the ground, followed by a kissing ceremony: the owner of the house offered the guests to honor the hostess with a kiss.

The guests in turn approached the hostess of the house and kissed her, and at the same time, according to the canons of etiquette, they held their hands behind their backs, then bowed to her again and accepted a glass of vodka from her hands. When the hostess went to a special women's table, this served as a signal for everyone to sit down and start eating. Usually the ceremonial table stood stationary, in the "red corner", that is, under the icons, near the benches fixed to the wall, sitting on which, by the way, at that time, was considered more honorable than on the side ones.

The meal itself began from the fact that the owner of the house cut off and served each invited guest a slice of bread with salt, which symbolized the hospitality and hospitality of this house, by the way, today's hospitable traditions originate from that time. As a sign of special respect or affection for one of his guests, the host of the ceremony could himself put some food from a special plate that was specially placed next to him, and, with the help of his servant, send it to the guest of honor especially, as if emphasizing his attention more given to him.

Although the tradition of welcoming guests with bread and salt has come to us since then, the order of serving dishes in those days was noticeably different from what we are used to today: first they ate pies, after a dish of meat, poultry and fish, and only at the end of the meal taken for soups.

Serving Order
When all the participants in the meal were already seated in their places, the host cut the bread into pieces and, together with salt, served each guest separately. With this action, he once again emphasized the hospitality of his home and deep respect for all those present.

At these festive feasts, there was always one more thing - the so-called oprichny dish was placed in front of the owner and the owner personally transferred the food from it into shallow containers (flat dishes) and passed it along with the servants to special guests as a sign of absolute attention to them. And when the servant conveyed this peculiar gastronomic message from his master, as a rule he said: "May you, sir, eat to your health."

If we, by some miracle, could move in time and end up in the seventeenth century, and why not, if the second miracle happened, we would be invited to such a celebration, we would be surprised at the order of serving dishes to the table. Judge for yourself, now it’s normal for us that first we eat an appetizer, after soup, and after that the second and dessert, and in those days pies were served first, then meat, poultry and fish dishes (“roast”), and only then , at the end of dinner - soups ("ear"). After resting after soups, for dessert they ate a variety of sweet snacks.

How they drank in Rus'
The traditions of drinking in Rus', preserved and extant, have their roots in ancient times, and in many homes today, as in the distant past, refusing to eat and drink means offending the owners. The tradition of drinking vodka not in small sips, as is customary for example in European countries, but in one gulp, has also come down to us and is widely practiced.

True, the attitude towards drunkenness has now changed, if today getting drunk means deviating from the accepted norms of decency, then in those days of boyar Rus', when it was considered mandatory, a non-drunk guest had to at least pretend to be one. Although it was not necessary to get drunk quickly, but to keep up with all the participants in the feast, and therefore a quick drunkenness at a party was considered indecent.

Royal feasts
Thanks to many old manuscripts that have come down to us, we are well aware of the festive and everyday table of the tsar and the boyars. And this is due to the punctuality and clarity of the performance of their duties by court servants.

The number of all kinds of dishes at royal feasts and at the feasts of rich boyars reached one hundred, and in special cases it could reach half a thousand, and each one was solemnly brought to the table in turn, one at a time, and precious gold and silver dishes with the rest of the dishes were held in their hands standing around the table. richly dressed servants.

Peasant feast
But the traditions of feasting and eating were also not so rich strata of society, and were not only among the rich and noble members of society.

Representatives of almost all segments of the population considered it obligatory to gather at the banquet table on the occasion of all significant events in life, be it weddings, christenings, name days, meetings, seeing off, commemoration, folk and church holidays ...

And of course, this tradition has come down to us almost unchanged.

Russian hospitality
Everyone knows about Russian hospitality and it has always been so. (However, what people will say about themselves that they are not hospitable?! Georgians? Armenians? French? Chukchi? Italians or Greeks? And further down the list...)

As for food, if guests come to the house of a Russian person and find the family at dinner, they will certainly be invited to the table and seated at it, and the guest is unlikely to have the opportunity to refuse this. (Although among other peoples, the guest is also not forced to stand in the corner until the end of dinner. But, as they say, you can’t praise yourself ...)

Solemn dinners and feasts in honor of the reception of foreign guests were arranged with particular breadth and scope, they were designed to demonstrate not only the material capabilities of the royal hosts (who had thoroughly robbed their own people), but also the breadth and hospitality of the Russian soul