7 interesting facts about kvass
Kvass is a Slavic tradition, stress for a foreign organism and just a very tasty drink. We have collected seven of the most curious facts about the primordially Russian soda.
An amazing Russian culinary discovery happened a thousand years ago. Even a little more – the drink appeared in the days of Prince Vladimir. The first record about him dates back to 988. A hundred years later, kvass was already prepared in all the villages of the principality.
The recipe, however, was constantly changing. At first, kvass was based only on cereals, then honey, fruits and spices were added to it. The army of kvass admirers grew, they drank it both in peasant huts and in the royal mansions. And the kvassnik profession was one of the most revered in Russia. Because kvass is …
In Russia, brewing kvass was a real holiday, especially for children. And not at all because the children got the right to try a fresh drink first, no. Simply stewed grain, from which kvass was prepared, was very sweet and substituted candy for the kids. Eh, this will not work with our modern children!
Kvass, prepared according to a traditional recipe based on sprouted grains, not only quenches thirst, but also benefits. After all, all vitamins and useful microelements of malt are preserved in it. They say that it was thanks to this drink that ordinary people in Russia survived in hungry winters.
Now there are a dozen varieties of soda: duchess, tarragon, pink lemonade. But kvass is cooler. It will not work to count the varieties on one hand. By the 500th century, there were more than XNUMX varieties of this drink. Among them are pear and horseradish, kvass and mint with raisins, sweet and pepper, as well as many other amusing combinations.
The basis for kvass has long been successfully used in home cosmetology, making face masks, hair rinses and bath foam from it. Traditional medicine suggests using it even to treat acne, which is facilitated by the antiseptic properties of the drink.
They prepare it like this. Plain bread crumbs are poured with boiled water at room temperature. The jar must be closed with gauze and placed in a dark place. The base is infused for two days. Then the sourdough must be filtered, added to it yeast diluted in water and a glass of sugar. After that, we leave the kvass to ferment for a day. Voila, the base for cosmetics is ready.
… The key to family happiness
Many ritual moments are associated with kvass in Russia. It is known that before young people were greeted not with bread and salt, but with kvass and bread. Kvass symbolized well-being in the house and prosperity, and treating a guest with kvass meant wishing him fertility.
Before the wedding, the bride certainly went to the bathhouse with a “leavened spirit,” and they generously watered the stove with the drink.
He was also used to extinguish the fire, if the fire occurred from lightning – bread kvass was considered a talisman. People believed that if such a fire was extinguished with water, then the gods would be angry and punished with some other terrible disaster.
Now we are talking only about homemade kvass, prepared in accordance with traditions. It can rightfully be called a health drink, since it contains a whole storehouse of useful substances: micro- and macroelements, vitamins of groups B, C, E, H, PP, organic acids, mono- and disaccharides, starch, etc.
This means that it raises the general tone of the body and is indispensable for seasonal vitamin deficiencies.
Kvass is also useful for pregnant women precisely because of this composition of components. However, the calorie content of kvass can do a disservice to its lovers.
… Getting rid of depression
Bread drink is not only the best thirst quencher, but it is considered the first-class cure for blues. Kvass improves brain activity, which balances the nervous system. So drink kvass, and no troubles will make you mad.