From time immemorial, cereals in Russia occupied not only an important, but also an honorable place in daily diet, being, in fact, one of the main dishes on the table, both among the poor and the rich. About this and the proverb: "Porridge is our mother."

Without traditional Russian porridge on the table before, it was impossible to imagine any celebration or celebration. They could be used with milk, cow or vegetable oil, fat, honey full, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Moreover, certain ceremonial cereal was surely prepared for various significant events.
Three cereals were usually placed on the festive table: millet, buckwheat, and barley.

  Porridge story   Porridge has been known since ancient times to all agricultural peoples. The word "porridge" comes, according to linguists, from the Sanskrit "porridge", which means "crush, rub". In Russian written monuments, this word is found in documents from the late 12th century, however, archaeological excavations find pots with the remains of cereals in the layers of the 9th - 10th centuries.

In Russia was popular slaughter porridge, which was cooked from small grains prepared from spelled.
  Spelled is a semi-wild wheat variety that was "grown" in Russia in large quantities in the eighteenth century - it grew by itself, was not whimsical and did not require any care. The porridge was rough, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, "cultivated" wheat varieties replaced the spelled, because she had poor peeling. and its yield was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.
  In spelled there is a lot of protein, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can easily eat this porridge. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than ordinary wheat, and has a pleasant nutty flavor.
  *** From the tale of A.S. Pushkin "On the priest and his worker Balda"
  Balda says: “I will serve you gloriously,
  Hard and very good
  In a year, for three clicks on your forehead,
  Let me have boiled spelled. ”

Barley and oatmeal  brewed from ancient times throughout Russia, both in villages and in cities, and served mainly on weekdays.
Millet porridge (made from millet), was known to Russians as long ago as oat and barley. The word millet was first mentioned in written documents of the 11th century. Millet porridge was used both on weekdays and during the festive feast.

The most beloved and popular among Russians was buckwheat porridge - already in the XVII century. was considered a national Russian dish, although it appeared rather late - in the fifteenth century.

Rice porrige  appeared in the eighteenth century, when rice was brought to Russia, it was used mainly in cities. She entered the diet of peasants very slowly and was called porridge from sorochinsky millet. In rich houses, it was used as a filling for pies. In addition, over time, kutia was prepared from it.

  Names and types of cereals   The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of varieties of cereals that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways.
  In Russian cuisine, the recipe depended not only on the cereal, but also on how this cereal was processed. For example, buckwheat is the kernel and minced, and barley is pearl barley (large grain), Dutch (medium grain), and small (very fine grain). Millet is used to prepare millet (not wheat, but millet!) Cereal. Semolina is boiled from wheat cereal. And also green porridge was spread, which was prepared from young unripe rye.

Porridge made from whole or crushed grains barley, It was called: egg, barley, grain, crushed, thick, eye, pearl barley. This porridge was called zhitny in the northern and central Russian provinces, where barley was used to mean zhit. Crushed vein, barley - porridge made from finely chopped grain. In a word thick  in Novgorod, Pskov, Tver provinces called steep barley porridgefrom whole grains. It was so popular there that the Novgorodians in Russia were even called "thick-eaters."
  The term " eye"used to denote porridge cooked from barley with peas. The peas in the porridge were not completely digested, and" peas "were visible on its surface.
Perlovka  - this is porridge cooked from whole grains, the gray-gray color of which and slightly oblong shape are slightly reminiscent of "pearl grain" - pearl.
  Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were weakly ground, Dutch - finer grains were polished to white, and barley grains - very small grains from unpolished (whole) grains.
Barley porridge was the favorite dish of Peter the Great. He recognized "egg porridge by itself and spore tasty."

Whole grain buckwheat-nuclei went for steep, crumbly cereals, finer groats - "veligorka" and very small - "Smolensk".

In Russia, they preferred to cook porridge from coarse grains, and from cereals of the finest grinding was common oatmeal. Oat flour was prepared as follows: washed the grain, cooked until half cooked, dried and crushed in a mortar almost to the state of flour.

It must be said that in Russia porridge was called everything that was prepared from crushed products.
  They were with the Russians cereal breadthat were cooked from crushed crackers. Were popular fish and vegetable porridge.
  With the advent of potato in Russia (XVIII-XIX centuries), porridge began to cook with the addition of potatoes - kulesh. This porridge was seasoned with vegetable oil and onions. There were carrot porridge, turnip, pea, juice (in hemp oil) and a huge number of vegetable porridge recipes.

"Suvorov porridge"
  According to legend, in one of the long hikes, Suvorov was informed that there were little different types of groats left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, pea, etc. But the porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then Suvorov ordered to cook all the remaining cereals together. The soldiers really liked the "Suvorov porridge", and the great commander contributed to the development of Russian culinary art.

"Guryev porridge"- porridge. prepared from semolina in milk with the addition of nuts, cream, dried fruits - is considered a traditional dish of Russian cuisine, but was invented only at the beginning of the XIX century.
  The story of porridge is curious: the "author" of the recipe is Zakhar Kuzmin, the serf of the retired Major Yurisovsky, who was visited by Count Guryev, Minister of Finance and member of the State Council of the Russian Empire. Guryev liked Kasha so much that he bought Kuzmin and his family and made him the regular cook of his yard. According to another version, Guryev himself came up with a porridge recipe.
  Guryev’s porridge is mentioned in the description of Moscow taverns by Vladimir Gilyarovsky: “The Petersburg nobility, led by the grand dukes, specially came from Petersburg to eat testa piglet, crayfish soup with pies and the famous Guryev’s porridge.”

  Traditions and customs   Each holiday was necessarily celebrated with its porridge. Each hostess had her own recipe, which was kept secret.

Christmas porridge was not like porridge, which was prepared on the occasion of the harvest; special cereals (from a mixture of cereals) were prepared by the girls on the day of Agrafena Swimsuits (June 23).
  Ritual porridge was cooked on the days that are most important for people: on the eve of Vasilyev’s day, on the eve of Palm Sunday, on the day when the name day of the Earth celebrated, on Kupala night, during the dine, on the first day of the threshing of a new crop, on the autumn girl’s holiday of Kuzminki, etc. .d.
  St. Buckwheat sharks even considered porridge day.
  Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christening and name day, for a funeral or funeral (kutia).

Porridge was treated to common rural work - help. In Vladimir Dahl, the meaning of the word “porridge” is given: “help on the harvest”, “reaps (the beginning of the harvest), feast, a crowd of clowns walk with songs.”

Some peoples of our country met a porridge, which was called "grandmother", they met a newborn.
  At the wedding, the groom and the bride always cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony: "The hostess is red - and the porridge is tasty."
  In some areas of Russia, porridge was generally the only food that young people could eat at a wedding feast. And the wedding feast in ancient Russia was called "porridge" and "brewing porridge" meant - to begin to prepare for the wedding.
  At the wedding, porridge was served, as a rule, on the second day in a young house on a new farm, so that there was prosperity in the house. For this porridge, the guests paid with a coin, and then the empty pot was merrily smashed for the happiness of the young. Hence the first dinner after the wedding was called "porridge".

According to another source, the expression " make porridge"has a more general meaning:
  In ancient Russian chronicles, feasts themselves were often called "porridge." Porridge must be cooked on the occasion of the beginning of a big business.. Hence the expression "make porridge."

Porridge must be prepared before great battles and victorious feasts.  Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to cook "peace" porridge.

About a man unreliable and intractable said " you won’t cook porridge with him". When they worked as an artel, they prepared porridge for the whole artel, so for a long time the word" porridge "was a synonym for the word" artel ". They said:" We are in the same mess", which meant in one artel, in one brigade.

  Benefits and Cooking Porridge   Whole grain cereals are an important source of vegetable proteins and carbohydrates.
  Another advantage of cereals is their versatility. They go well with any other products: meat and fish, mushrooms and vegetables, fruits and berries.

Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product.
  Cereals are rich in fiber, which regulates digestion, improves blood composition and the state of blood vessels, which helps keep the heart functioning in good shape.
   Cereals contain the amount we need and the ideal ratio of iron and copper, zinc, as well as proteins, vitamins of group B, PP. From cereal grains we get vital amino acids, 18 of which are essential.
  Cereals are slowly digested and assimilated, giving a feeling of fullness.
  In whole grains, a sufficient amount of fiber, namely coarse dietary fiber is not enough in the diet of modern man.

- Buckwheat porridge  rich in protein, minerals, quickly absorbed, perfectly strengthens the immune system. Buckwheat porridge is rich in vitamins, especially group B, minerals (magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus). And in the amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, it surpasses the rest of the cereals. Moreover, its proteins in their amino acid composition are considered the most complete. Buckwheat is rich in lecithin, which is useful for liver diseases, removes bad cholesterol from the body. It is necessary in the diet of patients with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. To preserve the beneficial properties of porridge, it is recommended not to add sugar to it and not to boil in milk.

- Oatmeal, Hercules (steamed and flattened oat grains) is rich in vegetable proteins, minerals, strengthens bones, contains a lot of magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, vitamin PP and C, as well as vitamin H, which improves not only well-being, but also skin condition. Oatmeal contains a lot of fiber, which is necessary for intestinal function. Helps to eliminate harmful substances from the body, normalizes digestion.
  In addition to porridge, the famous
BEAUTY SALAD:: 2 tbsp oatmeal is poured with boiled water for the night, in the morning add grated apple, carrots, chopped nuts and raisins, season with yogurt, a spoon of honey and lemon juice.

- Millet porridge  (from millet), strengthens the heart, tissues, skin; gives extra strength to the body. It is rich in minerals, especially potassium and magnesium, so necessary for the work of the heart, and vitamin PP. Also in the composition of millet groats there are many useful trace elements: zinc, copper, manganese. It is not recommended to store millet for a long time because of the possibility of rancidity.

- Rice porrige good for breakfast: rich in starch, protein, trace elements. It contains a lot of carbohydrates and a little fiber. Brown (black) rice is especially useful. It is he who, according to the Japanese, has a positive effect on intelligence. The high protein content determines its use on fasting days. Rice can be used as a fixing agent for intestinal disorders. Rice also has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
  To preserve the maximum of nutrients in rice, it is necessary to follow the following rules when cooking: pour rice with boiling water (2: 3), cover with a tight lid, cook for 12 minutes (3 minutes on high heat, 7 minutes on moderate, 2 minutes on weak), let it brew under a closed lid for another 12 minutes.

- Barley and barley groats  produced from barley. Pearl barley from whole barley grain, peeled from the shell. And if this grain is crushed, it will turn barley.
  Barley contains B vitamins, fiber, proteins and carbohydrates, but in small quantities. Therefore, it is not the most valuable product. But pearl barley contains lysine, an amino acid that fights viruses and germs. It will also help with constipation. Children do not recommend it.
  It has cooking features: barley must be pre-soaked for 10-12 hours; after boiling, you need to leave it in a water bath for another 5-6 hours.

- Corn porridge  perfectly cleanses the body of toxic compounds and strengthens the cardiovascular system. Corn grits contains vitamins B1, B2, C, PP, as well as carotene (provitamin A). It is able to some extent reduce fermentation in the intestines, and due to its high fiber content it can remove harmful substances from the body. It also contains essential amino acids - lysine and tryptophan.

Modern nutritional science has confirmed that cereal from cereal mix is \u200b\u200bhealthierthan from one, since each cereal has its own chemical composition, and the more cereals are used in the mixture, the higher the nutritional value of porridge.

Proportions of cereals and water in the preparation of porridge:

For cooking crumbly porridge  it is necessary to take 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of buckwheat; for 1 glass of millet - 1.75 glasses of water; for 1 glass of rice - 2.5 glasses of water.

For cooking viscous porridge  it is necessary to take 3 cups of water for 1 cup of buckwheat; for 1 cup of millet - 3.5 cups of water; 1 glass of rice - 4 glasses of water.

For cooking liquid porridge  it is necessary to take 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of millet; for 1 cup of rice - 5.5 cups of water. From buckwheat, liquid porridge is usually not boiled.

All cereals, except semolina, must be washed before cooking, and pearl barley and legumes must be soaked.

The most delicious porridge  it turns out when it is cooked in a clay pot in the oven, and even better - in a Russian stove. You can put a saucepan with freshly cooked porridge in a warm place, cover with a pillow for 30 minutes (or more), after adding 1-2 tablespoons of butter to the porridge.

  Proverbs and sayings    “Porridge is our nurse”
  “You can't feed a Russian peasant without porridge”
  “Without porridge, lunch is not at lunch”
  "Cabbage soup and porridge - our food"
  “Borsch without porridge widower, porridge without borsch - widow”
  “Russian porridge is our mother”
  “You won’t spoil the porridge with oil”
  “What kind of lunch, if there is no porridge”
  "Cabbage soup and porridge - our food"
  “A good porridge, but a small cup”
  “Porridge is our nurse”
  "In the home and porridge is thicker"
  “You won’t feed your family without porridge”
  "Brew porridge, so do not spare oil"
  "Our mother, buckwheat porridge: not a pair of peppers, will not burst the stomach"
  “Oatmeal boasted that it was born with cow butter”
  “Hope for someone else’s porridge, but you would have had your own in the oven”
  “People cook porridge, but there’s no cereal for soup at home.” "Porridge from the ax" Russian folk tale

The old soldier went on a visit. I got tired along the way, I want to eat. I reached the village, knocked on the extreme hut:
  - Let the road man relax! The door was opened by an old woman.
  - Come in, servant.
  - And do you, hostess, have a bite to eat? The old woman had plenty, and the soldier was stingy to feed, pretended to be an orphan.
  “Oh, good man, and she herself hasn’t eaten anything yet: nothing.”
  “Well, no, no,” the soldier says. Then he noticed an ax under the bench.
  - If there is nothing else, you can cook porridge from an ax.
  The hostess threw up her hands:
  - How to cook porridge from an ax?
  - And here's how, give the cauldron.
  The old woman brought the cauldron, the soldier washed the ax, lowered it into the cauldron, poured water and set it on fire.
  The old woman looks at the soldier; she does not take her eyes.
  He took out a spoon, stirs the brew. I tried it.
  - Well, how? - the old woman asks.
  “It will be ready soon,” the soldier replies, “it’s only a pity that there is nothing to salt.”
  - I have salt, salted.
  The soldier salt, tried again.
  - Good! If only a handful of cereals would come here! The old woman began to fuss, brought from somewhere a bag of cereal.
  - Take it, refuel as needed. Tucked the brew with grits. Cooked, cooked, stirred, tried. The old woman is looking at the soldier in all eyes, she cannot come off.
  - Oh, and porridge is good! - licked the soldier. - As if here, but a bit of oil - it would be used at all.
  Found in the old woman and oil.
  Arched porridge.
- Well, old woman, now serve bread and take on a spoon: let's eat porridge!
  “I didn’t think that you could cook such good porridge from an ax,” the old woman wonders.
  We ate porridge together. The old woman asks:
  - Serving! When will we eat the ax?
  “Yes, you see, he didn’t boil away,” the soldier answered, “somewhere on the road I’m cooking and eating breakfast!”
  Immediately he hid the ax in a satchel, said goodbye to the mistress and went to another village.
  So the soldier and the porridge ate and the ax carried away!

Mini Research - Compilation of Open Source Internet
  including - an old postcard " Not comparable sausage with Russian black porridge".
  Author Victoria Katamashvili.
  When using, an active link to the material is required.

Porridge has been known since ancient times to all agricultural peoples. In Russian written monuments, this word is found in documents from the late 12th century, however, archaeological excavations find pots with the remains of cereals in the layers of the 9th - 10th centuries. The word "porridge" comes, according to linguists, from the Sanskrit "porridge", which means "crush, rub."

Why in Russia have always been with such reverence for porridge? The roots of the ritual attitude to such a seemingly simple food lies in our pagan beginning. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was presented to Mother Earth, the Saints in the hope of prosperity, the Gods of agriculture and fertility, to ask for a good harvest for next year. The gods, as you know, were offered only the very best. And to be able to eat every day that the Gods can afford once a year, agree, it's nice.

Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. Without traditional Russian porridge on the table, it was not possible to imagine any celebration or celebration. Moreover, a certain ceremonial porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. This is reflected in the proverbs:

  "Porridge is our nurse"
  "You can't feed a Russian peasant without porridge"
  "Without porridge, lunch is not at lunch"
  "Cabbage soup and porridge - our food"
  "Borsch without porridge widower, porridge without borsch - widow"

Some peoples of our country met a porridge, which was called "grandmother", they met a newborn. At the wedding, the groom and the bride always cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony - "The mistress is red - and the porridge is tasty." Porridge was cooked for christenings and name days, porridge (kutya) was remembered for the person, seeing him off on his last journey to a funeral or commemoration.

Without porridge of their own original preparation, it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each mistress had her own recipe, which was kept secret.

The porridge was preparing before the big battles, and even at the feasts, without the “victorious” porridge it could not do. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare a "peaceful" porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, feasts themselves were often called "porridge": for example, at the wedding of Alexander Nevsky, "porridge was repaired" twice - one at a wedding in Trinity, the other during a public festivities in Novgorod.

Porridge must be cooked on the occasion of the beginning of a big business. Hence the expression "make porridge."

Porridge in Russia "determined" even the relations between people. They said about a man unreliable and intractable: "you won’t cook porridge with him." When we worked as an artel, we prepared porridge for the whole artel, therefore for a long time the word "porridge" was a synonym for the word "artel". They said: "We are in the same mess," which meant in one artel, in one brigade. On the Don, you can still hear the word "porridge" in this sense.

Each holiday was necessarily celebrated with its porridge. Christmas porridge was not like porridge, which was prepared on the occasion of the harvest; special cereals (from a mixture of cereals) were prepared by the girls on the day of Agrafena Swimsuits (June 23). Ritual porridge was cooked on the days most important for people: on the eve of Vasilyev’s day (see Vasilyev’s evening), on the eve of Palm Sunday, on the Spirits day when the name day of the Earth was celebrated, on Kupala night, during the dine, on the first day of threshing a new crop, Kuzminki's autumn girlish holiday, etc.

St. Buckwheat sharks were even considered porridge day.

In Russia, dread porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains prepared from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild wheat variety that was grown in large quantities in Russia in the 18th century. Rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care. Neither pests nor weeds were afraid of her. Spelled itself destroyed any weed. The porridge was rough, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, "cultivated" wheat varieties replaced the spelled, because she had poor peeling. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, spelled yield was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.

Spelled, or two-grain, is the oldest type of cultivated wheat (Triticum diciccon). Now it has almost been supplanted by more productive varieties of soft and durum wheat, but now there is a revival of spelled production, because spelled has a huge advantage over other varieties of wheat - drought tolerance. In spelled there is a lot of protein, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can easily eat this porridge. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than ordinary wheat, and has a pleasant nutty flavor. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops were resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". Sold today in Russia and the American spelled. It is called "spelled." Sometimes you can find spelled grown in Europe. All this brings some confusion, but also “spelled”, and “zanduri”, and “spelled”, and “kamut”, the name of the same plant, the old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to America and Europe from Russia.

In ancient times, porridge called dishes prepared not only from cereals, but also from other ground products (fish, pea, bread). The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of varieties of cereals that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways.

The most beloved and popular porridge among Russians was buckwheat (sinful, buckwheat, buckwheat, sinful) and already in the 17th century. It was considered a national Russian dish, although it appeared rather late - in the fifteenth century. About her is also a proverb: "Our grief is buckwheat porridge: I would eat such, but no, what." In addition to whole grain - the kernel, which is used for steep, crumbly cereals, they also made smaller groats - "veligorka" and very small - "Smolensk".

Porridge made from whole or crushed grains of barley was called: egg, barley, grain, crushed grain, thick, eye, pearl barley. This porridge was called zhitny in the northern and central Russian provinces, where barley was used to mean zhyto. Crushed vein, barley - porridge made from finely chopped grain. A thick word in Novgorod, Pskov, Tver provinces called steep barley porridge from whole grains. It was so popular there that the Novgorodians in Russia were even called "thick-eaters." The term "eye" was used to mean porridge cooked from barley with peas. Peas in porridge did not completely digest, and on its surface were visible "eyes" - peas. Pearl barley is a porridge cooked from whole grains, the gray-gray color of which and a slightly oblong shape slightly resembled a “pearl grain” - pearl. Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were weakly ground, Dutch - finer grains were polished to white, and barley grains - very small grains from unpolished (whole) grains. Barley porridge was the favorite dish of Peter the Great. He recognized "egg porridge by itself and spore tasty."

Oat porridge (oatmeal, oatmeal) could be cooked from whole or fragmented grains. She liked her nutritiousness and speed of cooking. It could be welded on a light taganka without melting the Russian stove or stove.

Barley and oatmeal porridge were cooked from ancient times throughout Russia, both in villages and in cities, and served mainly on weekdays.

Millet porridge (millet, white - made from millet) was known to Russians as long as oat and barley. The word millet was first mentioned in written documents of the 11th century. Millet porridge was used both on weekdays and during the festive feast.

Wheat, converted into very fine cereals, was used to make semolina. The word "manna" is Old Slavonic and goes back to the Greek word "manna" - food. It was served only to children and was usually prepared with milk.

Rice porridge appeared in the 18th century, when rice was brought to Russia, it was consumed mainly in cities. She entered the diet of peasants very slowly and was called porridge from Sorochinsky millet. In rich houses, it was used as a filling for pies. In addition, over time, kutia was prepared from it.

Along with cereals from whole or crushed grains, “flour cereals” were traditional for Russians, that is porridge from flour. They were usually called mukavashi, mukaveshki, flour, flour. Some of these cereals had special names, which reflected the methods of making porridge, its consistency, the type of flour used for the manufacture: bearberry, (bearberry, oleaster), straw (salamat, salamata, salamaha), kulag (malt, sour ), peas, brew, thickener (gustyakha, thickushka), etc.

Bearberry was prepared from oat flour, which was a fragrant, fluffy flour made from oats. The fiber was made in a peculiar way: oats in a bag were lowered for a day in a river, then languished in the oven, dried, pounded in stupas and sifted through a sieve. When making porridge, it was poured over with water and rubbed with whorl so that there were no lumps. Bearberry was from the fifteenth century. one of the most common folk dishes.

Solomat - liquid porridge made from rye, barley or wheat fried flour, boiled with boiling water and steamed in the oven, sometimes with the addition of fat. Solomat is an old food for Russians. It is already mentioned in written sources of the fifteenth century. The word "solomat" is borrowed by the Russians from the Turkic languages. Gorokhovka - porridge from pea flour. Kulaga - a dish made from rye malt - grain and rye flour sprouted and steamed in the oven. After cooking, a sweet porridge was obtained in the oven. Zavarikh - porridge from any flour, poured when boiling in boiling water with continuous stirring. Gustikha - thick porridge made from rye flour.

Porridge was prepared in every house, both for everyday and for festive meals. They could be consumed with milk, cow or vegetable oil, fat, honey full, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Three cereals were usually placed on the festive table: millet, buckwheat, and barley.

The ability of nature to accumulate sunlight (energy) and extract nutrients from the earth has been granted to plants by nature. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate in themselves the necessary nutrients and biologically active substances (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). That is why, from time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of these are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable. Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun. Eat porridge and be healthy!

www.zzz74.ru/stati/137-2011-02-27-19-06-23.htm

Kulaga is an almost forgotten delicacy, once - one of the most beloved in Russia. However, in Belarus and in the Pskov region it is still being prepared, but in a slightly different version. In a wonderful book by philologist I.S. Lutovinova, “The Word about Russian Food,” the story of a Pskov old woman is given: Saladukha was called a kulaga, grow rye, stewed parut, ana saladeit tada, slakayet and lay the berries. Prinisёsh yagat, fysypish rye martyrs, mixish, pavarish and ish kulagu.

KULAGA recipe: Sort fresh blueberries, rinse and boil. Add sifted rye flour, diluted in a small amount of water, honey or sugar, mix and cook until tender over low heat, stirring. Blueberries can be replaced with fresh raspberries, strawberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. Separately serve pancakes, bread, fresh milk or kvass.

But this - after all - is precisely the Pskov-Belarus kulag. The original Russian kulaga was prepared only with viburnum!

KULAGA g. salamata; thick, brew; raw malted dough, sometimes with viburnum; steamed malted dough; knead in a trough on boiling water equally divided rye flour and malt, to the density of kvass, evaporated on a free spirit, and put in the cold; this is a tasty lean dish. Luggage is not a mash, not drunk, eat plenty.

The most accurate comparison of this and the other kulag is in Pokhlebkin, here you can’t reduce it or add it:

KULAGA. Russian national sweet dish. There are two options: a real kulaga with viburnum and a berry kulaga in Belarusian.

This kulaga is made from rye malt, rye flour and viburnum, without any additives of sweet foods: sugar, honey. Malt is diluted with boiling water, allowed to brew for 1 hour, then double the amount of rye flour is laid, knead the dough and let it cool to the warmth of fresh milk (28-25 ° C), then fermented with rye bread crust and put in a melted oven after acidification of the dough ( Russian) for several hours - usually from evening to morning (that is, for 8-10 hours). In this case, the dishes are tightly closed and covered with dough for complete sealing. The kulag is created in the process of restrained fermentation without access of air with weak non-heating. As a result, special enzymes are formed that are rich in vitamins of the Bg, Bb, B12, and Bi5f groups, which, in combination with tocopherles that arise during yeast fermentation, and with active vitamins of viburnum (C and P), create a striking effect of an “all-encompassing” product. No wonder the kulag was used for use against any diseases - colds, nervous, cardiac, renal, gallstone, liver, invariably giving an excellent effect. At the same time, the kulaga had an exceptional, restrained sweet-sour pleasant taste. But both the taste and the healing effect were the result of very special cooking conditions, and not the composition of the raw materials.

Belarusian kulag is prepared much faster and easier, without malt, as a result of mixing 100 g of rye flour with wild berries (any, with strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries mixed) and a little sugar or honey (a glass of sugar or 1-2 tablespoons of honey ) Then the mixture is aged in the oven or simply heated, then cooled. Belarusian kulag is very tasty because of its berry composition, but does not have the effect of a real kulag and is far from its taste.

I prepared both types of kulag. The berries of forest raspberries and viburnum frozen in summer and autumn were used. For the Belarusian kulag, raspberries in a small amount of water were brought to a boil, added boiled rye flour and steamed for a short time in a water bath. A Russian fermented with rye bread, taking for her rye malt, flour, honey and excellent forest viburnum. And he kept it all night under a test cover at T ~ 35 C. In the spring vitamin deficiency, such a kulag is really very useful.

But this one is Belarusian, made from raspberries, very fragrant and tasty:

Maxim Syrnikov
  www.kare-l.livejournal.com/36699.html
  www.perunica.ru/zdrava/7192-russkaya-kasha.html

Porridge has been known since ancient times to all agricultural peoples. In Russian written monuments, this word is found in documents from the late 12th century, however, archaeological excavations find pots with the remains of cereals in the layers of the 9th - 10th centuries. The word "porridge" comes, according to linguists, from the Sanskrit "porridge", which means "crush, rub."

Why in Russia have always been with such reverence for porridge? The roots of the ritual attitude to such a seemingly simple food lies in our pagan beginning. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was presented to Mother Earth, the Saints in the hope of prosperity, the Gods of agriculture and fertility, to ask for a good harvest for next year. The gods, as you know, were offered only the very best. And to be able to eat every day that the Gods can afford once a year, agree, it's nice.

Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. Without traditional Russian porridge on the table, it was not possible to imagine any celebration or celebration. Moreover, a certain ceremonial porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. This is reflected in the proverbs:

"Porridge is our nurse"

"You can't feed a Russian peasant without porridge"

"Without porridge, lunch is not at lunch"

"Cabbage soup and porridge - our food"

"Borsch without porridge widower, porridge without borsch - widow"

Some peoples of our country met a porridge, which was called "grandmother", they met a newborn. At the wedding, the groom and the bride always cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony - "The mistress is red - and the porridge is tasty." Porridge was cooked for christenings and name days, porridge (kutya) was remembered for the person, seeing him off on his last journey to a funeral or commemoration.

Without porridge of their own original preparation, it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each mistress had her own recipe, which was kept secret.

The porridge was preparing before the big battles, and even at the feasts, without the “victorious” porridge it could not do. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare a "peaceful" porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, feasts themselves were often called "porridge": for example, at the wedding of Alexander Nevsky, "porridge was repaired" twice - one at a wedding in Trinity, the other during a public festivities in Novgorod.

Porridge must be cooked on the occasion of the beginning of a big business. Hence the expression "make porridge."

Porridge in Russia "determined" even the relations between people. They said about a man unreliable and intractable: "you won’t cook porridge with him." When we worked as an artel, we prepared porridge for the whole artel, therefore for a long time the word "porridge" was a synonym for the word "artel". They said: "We are in the same mess," which meant in one artel, in one brigade. On the Don, you can still hear the word "porridge" in this sense.

In Russia, dread porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains prepared from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild wheat variety that was grown in large quantities in Russia in the 18th century. Rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care. Neither pests nor weeds were afraid of her. Spelled itself destroyed any weed. The porridge was rough, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, "cultivated" wheat varieties replaced the spelled, because she had poor peeling. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, spelled yield was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.

Spelled, or two-grain, is the oldest type of cultivated wheat (Triticum diciccon). Now it has almost been supplanted by more productive varieties of soft and durum wheat, but now there is a revival of spelled production, because spelled has a huge advantage over other varieties of wheat - drought tolerance. In spelled there is a lot of protein, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can easily eat this porridge. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than ordinary wheat, and has a pleasant nutty flavor. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops were resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". Sold today in Russia and the American spelled. It is called "spelled." Sometimes you can find spelled grown in Europe. All this brings some confusion, but also “spelled”, and “zanduri”, and “spelled”, and “kamut”, the name of the same plant, the old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to America and Europe from Russia.

In ancient times, porridge called dishes prepared not only from cereals, but also from other ground products (fish, pea, bread). The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of varieties of cereals that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways.

The most beloved and popular porridge among Russians was buckwheat (sinful, buckwheat, buckwheat, sinful) and already in the 17th century. It was considered a national Russian dish, although it appeared rather late - in the fifteenth century. About her is also a proverb: "Our grief is buckwheat porridge: I would eat such, but no, what." In addition to whole grain - the kernel, which is used for steep, crumbly cereals, they also made smaller groats - "veligorka" and very small - "Smolensk".

Porridge made from whole or crushed grains of barley was called: egg, barley, grain, crushed grain, thick, eye, pearl barley. This porridge was called zhitny in the northern and central Russian provinces, where barley was used to mean zhyto. Crushed vein, barley - porridge made from finely chopped grain. A thick word in Novgorod, Pskov, Tver provinces called steep barley porridge from whole grains. It was so popular there that the Novgorodians in Russia were even called "thick-eaters." The term "eye" was used to mean porridge cooked from barley with peas. Peas in porridge did not completely digest, and on its surface were visible "eyes" - peas. Pearl barley is a porridge cooked from whole grains, the gray-gray color of which and a slightly oblong shape slightly resembled a “pearl grain” - pearl. Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were weakly ground, Dutch - finer grains were polished to white, and barley grains - very small grains from unpolished (whole) grains. Barley porridge was the favorite dish of Peter the Great. He recognized "egg porridge by itself and spore tasty."

Oat porridge (oatmeal, oatmeal) could be cooked from whole or fragmented grains. She liked her nutritiousness and speed of cooking. It could be welded on a light taganka without melting the Russian stove or stove.

Barley and oatmeal porridge were cooked from ancient times throughout Russia, both in villages and in cities, and served mainly on weekdays.

Millet porridge (millet, white - made from millet) was known to Russians as long as oat and barley. The word millet was first mentioned in written documents of the 11th century. Millet porridge was used both on weekdays and during the festive feast.

Wheat, converted into very fine cereals, was used to make semolina. The word "manna" is Old Slavonic and goes back to the Greek word "manna" - food. It was served only to children and was usually prepared with milk.

Rice porridge appeared in the 18th century, when rice was brought to Russia, it was consumed mainly in cities. She entered the diet of peasants very slowly and was called porridge from Sorochinsky millet. In rich houses, it was used as a filling for pies. In addition, over time, kutia was prepared from it.

Along with cereals from whole or crushed grains, “flour cereals” were traditional for Russians, that is porridge from flour. They were usually called mukavashi, mukaveshki, flour, flour. Some of these cereals had special names, which reflected the methods of making porridge, its consistency, the type of flour used for the manufacture: bearberry, (bearberry, oleaster), straw (salamat, salamata, salamaha), kulag (malt, sour ), peas, brew, thickener (gustyakha, thickushka), etc.

Bearberry was prepared from oat flour, which was a fragrant, fluffy flour made from oats. The fiber was made in a peculiar way: oats in a bag were lowered for a day in a river, then languished in the oven, dried, pounded in stupas and sifted through a sieve. When making porridge, it was poured over with water and rubbed with whorl so that there were no lumps. Bearberry was from the fifteenth century. one of the most common folk dishes.

Solomat - liquid porridge made from rye, barley or wheat fried flour, boiled with boiling water and steamed in the oven, sometimes with the addition of fat. Solomat is an old food for Russians. It is already mentioned in written sources of the fifteenth century. The word "solomat" is borrowed by the Russians from the Turkic languages. Gorokhovka - porridge from pea flour. Kulaga - a dish made from rye malt - grain and rye flour sprouted and steamed in the oven. After cooking, a sweet porridge was obtained in the oven. Zavarikh - porridge from any flour, poured when boiling in boiling water with continuous stirring. Gustikha - thick porridge made from rye flour.

Porridge was prepared in every house, both for everyday and for festive meals. They could be consumed with milk, cow or vegetable oil, fat, honey full, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Three cereals were usually placed on the festive table: millet, buckwheat, and barley.

The ability of nature to accumulate sunlight (energy) and extract nutrients from the earth has been granted to plants by nature. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate in themselves the necessary nutrients and biologically active substances (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). That is why, from time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of these are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable.

Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun.

Eat porridge and be healthy!

Why is Russian porridge or Russian porridge? Didn’t other nations cook porridge? It's just that porridge in Russia is not only food. This is a whole philosophy of life. But, I will talk about this a little later.

There is such a legend that it was porridge that was a harbinger of bakery. Once upon a time, an inexperienced cook cooked porridge, and either out of inexperience or inattention poured more cereals than it should and, as a result, a cake was made. The cook was punished, and since I really wanted to eat, we began to eat a porridge cake. So a new dish appeared. Then the porridge was replaced with flour and the first bread appeared. However, this is only a legend, although scientists do not refute its possible authenticity.

And in Russia, cereals from time immemorial occupied not only an important, but also an honorable place in the daily diet, being, in fact, one of the main dishes on the table, both among the poor and the rich. Hence the first proverb about porridge:

Porridge is our mother.

As for the antiquity of porridge in Russian cuisine, archaeological finds confirm this theory: in a pot, which scientists found in Lyubec, under a layer of ash, there was porridge. And this porridge was more than a thousand years old.

It must be said that in Russia porridge was called everything that was prepared from crushed products. Rusich had cereal porridge, which was cooked from crushed crackers. Fish porridges were also popular. Moreover, fish porridge was prepared from a variety of fish:

• from whitefish;
• from herring;
• salmon porridge;
• salmon porridge;
• from sterlet;
• from sturgeon;
• beluga porridge;
• porridge with a headache.

It can be assumed that the fish was finely chopped, chopped and cooked with the addition of cereals.

With the advent of potato in Russia (XVIII-XIX centuries), porridge began to cook with the addition of potatoes. This porridge was seasoned with vegetable oil and onions. And such porridge was called - kulesh. But our ancestors were not limited to potatoes. There were carrot porridge, turnip, pea, juice (in hemp oil) and a huge number of vegetable porridge recipes.

And now back to the philosophy (which I talked about at the beginning). Porridge in Russia was not only a meal, but also a ritual dish. No wedding was complete without porridge, and porridge was an indispensable dish for young people. Porridge, originally, was a symbol of fertility, prosperity and prosperity.

So, according to ancient chronicles (in the 16th century), Prince Vasily Ivanovich, after the wedding, went to the soapbox with his young wife. And in the soap, they not only washed, but also ate porridge with their young wife. In some areas of Russia, porridge was generally the only food that young people could eat at a wedding feast. And the wedding feast in ancient Russia was called "porridge." Remember the saying - Brew porridge? So, brewing porridge meant - start preparing for the wedding.

You can recall another saying - You won’t cook porridge with him. In ancient times, there was such a custom: if two enemies wanted to make peace, then they cooked porridge and ate it together. It was a peculiar form of a peace treaty: porridge was cooked together, eaten - that means they made peace. Today we are talking about a man whose hands are growing out of ... And in those old days, it was not about skills and abilities, but about peace and war.

In addition, in ancient times there was no holiday without porridge. They cooked porridge for Christmas, for a wedding, for a funeral, for christening, etc. Be sure to cook porridge for Vasily’s Day. And not just cooked - it was a whole ceremony that could not be broken: porridge was cooked before sunrise. Only the oldest woman in the family could bring croup from the barn, and the oldest man could bring water. All the blanks were set on the table and no one had the right to touch them until the stove was heated.

Only after this the oldest woman in the house began to cook porridge. And the porridge was buckwheat. Cooked with a conspiracy. They got up and sat down. Porridge was taken out of the oven and put on the table with the words "We welcome you to our courtyard with our good." If the porridge turned red and crumbly, then in the new year the family could expect prosperity and good. And if the porridge turned pale or, God forbid, the pot burst, they expected trouble in the new year.

There was a huge amount of fortune telling on porridge. Especially for the future harvest.

Such a well-known porridge as kutia was made from barley, wheat, and later from rice (although rice has been known in Russia since very ancient times). Honey, poppy seeds, raisins, berries, etc. were added to kutya. Everywhere kutya is known as a funeral meal, but in Russia kutia was eaten not only at the funeral, but also at Christmas.

Around the 19th century, kutia (as a common dish) was called kolivo, but porridge, which was prepared exclusively from imported products (rice and raisins), began to be called kutya. Over time, everyone forgot about the cold, as they forgot that Russian kutia is not only a funeral, but also a festive dish that is not prepared according to a single recipe. Traditional Russian kutya has many recipes. And American oatmeal with pieces of fruit is, by and large, one of the old Russian recipes of kutya.

There was also a “porridge porridge,” which was prepared and eaten on the day of Agrafena Swimmers upon returning from the bathhouse. And the "mundane porridge" fed the poor.

We can say that not one kitchen in the world has and did not have as many porridge recipes as traditional Russian cuisine had. And diversity is expressed not only in the abundance of cereals from which these dishes were prepared: buckwheat, barley, millet, rice, etc.

In Russian cuisine, the recipe depended not only on the cereal, but also on how this cereal was processed. For example, buckwheat is the kernel and minced, and barley is pearl barley (large grain), Dutch (medium grain), and small (very fine grain). Millet is used to prepare millet (not wheat, but millet) cereal. Semolina is boiled from wheat cereal. And also green porridge was spread, which was prepared from young unripe rye.

Or whipped porridge. Remember, the spooky fed the worker Bald the greedy pop in Pushkin's fairy tale. And what is spelling? So in Russia they called the spike plant, which was a cross between wheat and barley. From spelled cooked porridge, which was considered "rough", but had great nutritional value.

In Russia, they preferred to cook porridge from coarse grains, and from cereals of the finest grinding, oatmeal was widespread. Oat flour was prepared as follows: they washed the grain, cooked until half cooked, dried and crushed in a mortar almost to the state of flour.

Well, the most beloved porridge in Russia was buckwheat, which was present on the menu of both the poor and the rich. The thing is that buckwheat porridge is very useful: it combines proteins and carbohydrates, a lot of vitamins and, very importantly, buckwheat goes well with almost all products: meat, fish, mushrooms, other vegetables, etc.

And it’s not true that porridge is a very simple and non-gourmet meal. You need to be able to cook porridge. What can you say about? The recipe for this porridge, at one time, was included in the collection of recipes of almost all European countries. A delicacy, however.

And how many recipes are undeservedly forgotten.
I suggest you cook porridge - and put up, and have a delicious lunch.

Not one triumph in Russia was complete without traditional Russian porridge. Whole grain cereals are an important source of vegetable proteins and carbohydrates. They contain quite a lot of minerals and essential vitamins, especially B vitamins.

Therefore, cereals made from cereals are widely used in the nutrition of children and the elderly. Another advantage of cereals is their versatility. They go well with any other products: meat and fish, mushrooms and vegetables, fruits and berries.

Over the past few years, nutritionists have encouraged us to more actively use cereals and legumes in their daily nutrition. Whole grain has everything our body needs. In it, a sufficient amount of fiber, namely coarse dietary fiber is not enough in the diet of a modern person. From cereal grains we get vital amino acids, 18 of which are essential.

Porridge is a cult dish

Porridge is undoubtedly an original Russian dish. Moreover, porridge is a cult dish. According to old Russian traditions, during the wedding ceremony the bride and groom must have cooked porridge. Obviously, from this tradition the proverb was born: "You won’t cook porridge with it (with it)." The whole history of the Russian state is inextricably linked with porridge. Russian porridge is the most important dish of national Russian cuisine.

Russia, so historically, has always been and, I want to believe, will be an agrarian country. The main product of Russian agriculture has always been cereals (and, to a lesser extent, legumes) crops. The body of the Russian man, for many centuries (and even millennia), was formed and evolved on the basis of the structural composition of cereals. Man and cereals, during coexistence, have created an inextricable community.

Only plants have been given the ability by nature to accumulate sunlight (energy) and to extract nutrients from the earth. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate in themselves the necessary nutrients and biologically active substances (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). The human body alone is capable of producing only a tiny fraction of the substances vital to it for a full-fledged existence.

That is why, from time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of these are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable. Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun. They concentrated everything that our body needs for a full life.

Porridge - Russian product

And today, at last, such an original Russian product as porridge from whole grain cereals is finally returning to our diet. First, the most fashionable and pathos restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg began to introduce dishes from traditional Russian cereals: rye, barley, oatmeal, wheat (semolina), buckwheat, etc. Following them, almost all catering enterprises, at least for breakfast, began to offer various cereals prepared according to old Russian recipes.

  This is a natural process. Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. To porridges in Russia have always been anxious.

Porridge for a Russian was always not just a meal, but a ritual dish. Without traditional Russian porridge on the table, it was not possible to imagine any celebration or celebration.

Moreover, a certain ceremonial porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christening and name day, for a wake or funeral.

Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christening and name day, for a funeral or a funeral. Without porridge of their own original preparation, it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each mistress had her own recipe, which was kept secret. The porridge was always preparing before the big battles, and even at the feasting feasts it could not do without the "triumphing" porridge. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare a “peaceful” porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, feasts themselves were often called “porridge”: for example, at the wedding of Alexander the Great, “porridge was repaired” twice - one at a wedding in Trinity, the other during a public festivities in Novgorod. Porridge must be cooked on the occasion of the beginning of a big business. Hence the expression "make porridge." Porridge in Russia "determined" even the relationship between people. They said about a person who was unreliable and not accommodating: "you won’t cook porridge with him."

Preparing Christmas cereals, and cereals on the occasion of the end of the harvest. The girls cooked porridge for the day of Agrafena Swimmers from a mixture of various cereals. In addition to cereal and pea cereals, cooked fish and vegetable porridge. And who did not hear about the famous "Suvorov porridge"?

According to legend, in one of the long hikes, Suvorov was informed that there were little different types of cereals left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, pea, etc. porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then the great commander, without further ado, ordered to cook all the remaining cereals together. The soldiers really liked the Suvorov porridge, and the great commander contributed to the development of Russian culinary art.

Porridge and modern nutrition

Modern nutrition has confirmed that cereal from several types of cereals is healthier than porridge from one particular cereal. Each cereal has its own chemical composition, with useful qualities inherent only to this cereal, and a mixture of several cereals combines the beneficial properties of each cereal, which increases the nutritional and biological value of such porridge.

The ball "rejuvenating porridge" is popular. Croup was made from rye grain milk-waxy maturity. It turned out very tasty and fragrant porridge, which had a beneficial effect on health and rejuvenated the body.

Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were weakly ground, Dutch - finer grains were polished to white, and barley grains were very small grains from unpolished (whole) grains.

Barley porridge was the favorite dish of Peter the Great. He recognized "the egg porridge itself is a spore and delicious." Was popular porridge, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild wheat variety that was grown in large quantities in Russia in the 18th century. Rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care.

Neither pests nor weeds were afraid of her. Spelled itself destroyed any weed. The porridge was rough, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, “cultivated” wheat varieties replaced the spelled, as she had poor peeling. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, spelled yield was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.

Today, due to its high biological value, there is a revival of spelled production. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops were resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". Sold today in Russia and the American spelled. It is called "spelled", and is sold under the trade name "kamut" with us. Sometimes you can find spelled grown in Europe. She is called "spelled".

All this introduces some confusion, but also “spelled”, and “zanduri”, and “spelled”, and “kamut”, the name of the same plant, old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to America and Europe from Russia.

Why in Russia have always been with such reverence for porridge?

It seems to me that the roots of a ritual attitude to such seemingly simple food lie in our pagan roots. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was sacrificed to the gods of agriculture and fertility in order to ask for a good harvest for next year. The gods, as you know, were offered only the very best. And to be able to eat every day what the gods can afford once a year, agree, it's nice.

  When we worked as an artel, we made porridge for the whole artel. Therefore, for a long time the word "porridge" was a synonym for the word "artel".

They said: “We are in the same mess”, which meant in one artel, in one brigade, something like the modern expression “we are one team”. On the Don, you can still hear the word "porridge" in this sense.

The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of varieties of cereals that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways. Buckwheat was my favorite porridge. In addition to whole grain - the kernel, which is used for steep, crumbly cereals, they also made smaller groats - "veligorka" and very small - "Smolensk".

For gourmets of that time, the Economy magazine for 1841 gives a recipe for porridge from roses: “Tear off a few roses and crush the leaves in the mortar as finely as possible; put egg white in a mortar and add as much potato starch as you need to make a thick dough. Then wipe through a sieve on a dry board and dry in the sun. This way you get excellent cereal. Porridge from it is boiled on cream. You can add a little sugar to it if it doesn’t seem quite sweet. ”

So, I think that all of the above proves that Russian porridge is not only the most wholesome of the products, but also can satisfy even the most refined tastes. Just cook it, like any other dish, you need a good mood, love and imagination.

Porridge "Children's joy"

• millet 1 cup
• water 2 cups
• pitted prunes 0.5 cups
• chopped walnuts 3 tbsp. l
• butter 1 tbsp. l
• salt and sugar to taste

Wash and finely chop the prunes. Put in a pan, pour cold water and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Then pour in the washed and washed millet, add sugar, salt and cook porridge for 15 minutes. 5 minutes before the end of cooking put nuts. Season the hot porridge with butter, mix and serve.

Potato porridge

• 0.3 liters of milk
• 400 g rutabaga
• 800 g of potatoes
• 150 g onions
• 60 g butter margarine or butter

Mashed potatoes are prepared from boiled rutabaga and potatoes, seasoned with onion and milk fried in oil or margarine.

Guryev porridge with apricots

• 100 g semolina
• 4 cups of milk
• 0.5 cup chopped walnuts
• 300 g apricots or 200 g dried apricots
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• vanilla sugar
• powdered sugar
• berries candied for decoration

Cooking method:  Bring milk to a boil, salt. Then, stirring, pour in a thin stream of semolina. Cook viscous porridge, cool slightly. Grind the yolks with sugar, beat the whites in the foam. Add the crushed yolks, proteins, vanilla sugar, nuts, in turn, carefully mixing. Halve the apricots, remove the seeds. (Wash dried apricots and cut into large pieces.) Finely chop the butter.

Put a layer of porridge in a greased form. On it - halves of apricots (or dried apricots), pieces of butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cover with a layer of porridge. Bake porridge for 15-20 minutes in an oven heated to 200 °. Garnish the finished dish with berries, fruits, candied fruits, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve in the same dish in which it was prepared.

Barley porridge with potatoes

150 g of barley groats, 1 l of water, 500 g of potatoes, 0.5 l of milk, salt Rinse the groats, dip in boiling water and cook. Peel the potatoes, cut into small pieces and add to the cereal at the end of cooking. Make sure that the porridge does not burn. Add milk in parts, salt to taste. Serve porridge with cracklings or sour cream sauce with onions.

Crushed oatmeal porridge

• 4 cups of milk
• 2 cups cereals
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1-3 tbsp. tablespoons of oil

Pour oat crushed groats into boiling milk, add salt and cook on low heat, stirring 20-30 minutes until thickened. Add butter to the porridge.

Semolina porridge with cranberry juice

• 0.4 liter cream
• 200 g semolina
• 100 g cranberries
• 1.1 liters of water and juice
• 150 g sugar

Cranberries are crushed and squeezed juice. Squeezes are poured with water and boiled. The resulting broth is filtered, sugar is added and brought to a boil. Semolina is bred with cranberry juice, poured into boiling syrup and brewed thick semolina. Hot porridge is poured on baking sheets, allowed to cool, cut into portions and served on the table with cream.

Viscous semolina porridge with carrots

• 0.25 liters of milk
• 200 g semolina
• 0.5 liters of water
• 30 g butter
• 250 g carrots
• 50 g sugar
• 40 g butter

Raw carrots are ground or finely chopped and stewed with oil. Salt, sugar are put in a bowl of boiling water, heated to a boil, pour cereal and, stirring, cook for 15 minutes at a low boil. Hot milk, carrots are added to the finished porridge, mixed and put the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve porridge with a slice of butter.

Good appetite!