Russian kitchen

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 information

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, milk, meat, plant foods. After the XNUMXth century and the appearance of the “window to Europe”, Russian cuisine was filled with escalopes, steaks, entrecote, tomatoes, potatoes, 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

They ate mostly rye bread. Moreover, the very word “bread” meant exactly the product from rye, which was later replaced by wheat. In addition to rye flour, the ancient Russian people used barley flour. Wheat flour was intended for kalachi, one of the favorite delicacies of the local population. It was noteworthy that salt was 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 starch, the locals got the hang of making sweet kissels, which are still popular in Russian territories.

The main vegetable for the Russian people was the turnip. The situation changed only from the second half of the XNUMXth 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 sour-milk products

As a seasoning, they used not foreign saffron or sets of spices familiar to us. At that time, the common people did not have access to such goods. Sour cream was the main spice. Its creamy taste set off cereals, salads, soups, pastries and any other dishes. Also in high esteem was cottage cheese. They ate it in its pure form, added honey, fruits, cooked 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 XNUMXth 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:

• pork;
• beef;
• mutton;
• Domestic bird;
• all varieties of game (wild duck / quail / hare / 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 veal. 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. A baked apple or other baked berries/fruits is considered traditional for Russian cuisine. The Slavs boiled vegetables (mainly cucumbers and carrots) 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 raspberries, mountain ash, viburnum 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

Among non-alcoholic drinks, sbiten, fruit drink, mead and kvass are popular. It is these drinks that can be attributed to the national ones. By the 500th century, more than 1 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 beer, mash, kvass and honey vodka. The strength of alcohol varied from 6 to XNUMX% 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 – chicken, duck, 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 drizzled with honey and sugar. Poppy seeds, raisins, nuts, jam and milk are also added to the porridge.
3. Pancakes. Served at Maslenitsa, until the XNUMXth 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. Scrambled 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 XNUMXth 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 pike perch and Murmansk salmon 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 Borodino bread 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 to sturgeon with exotic sauce or walnut dumplings.