“It is very important to learn Christian penance.
Asceticism is not life in a cave and constant fasting,
austerity is the ability to regulate, among other things, your consumption by ideas and the state of your heart.
Asceticism is a man’s victory over lust, over passions, over instinct. ”
© Patriarch Kirill
From the speech of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on the air of the Ukrainian television channel Inter

Today, the Russian holy fathers of the Russian Orthodox Church, staying in monasticism (black clergy), are the main determining and guiding force for the modernization of all great democratic Russia and the pious transformation of the spirituality of the wise and heroic Russian people.

Group photo of faithful Supreme Teachers and Russian Reformers in front of a banquet in the Grand Kremlin Palace:

Monastic meal - a collective ritual. The monks ate twice a day: lunch and dinner, and on certain days they ate only once (although this “once” could be very long); for various reasons, it occasionally happened that trapeze was generally excluded. The main thing was not the quantity of food, but the quality of the dishes: fasting or fasting, the role of the dish in the rites, the time of eating.

Cold baked lean fish with decoration with lean mayonnaise and chopped vegetables.

Whole skinless baked sturgeon
(gently remove the skin from the base of the head to the tail before baking with fish).

Pike perch stuffed with mushrooms, avocado, potatoes (avocado and potatoes 1: 1) and herbs and baked in the oven. Monks consider zander to be the most lean fish, because it contains only 1.5% fat.
Supplements to the monastic diet of avocados, olives and nuts rich in fats make up for the lack of fats on fasting days, in which, according to the monastery’s charter, meals without oil are allowed.

The idea of \u200b\u200ba ceremonial monastery dinner of the middle of the XIX century. allows you to make a list of dishes that were served on the table on November 27, 1850, on the day of the celebration of the memory of the founder of the monastery.

“The food registry is holy. Jacob 1850 November 27th
For snacks at the top
  1. 3 coulibiacs with stuffing
  2. 2 pike steaks in two dishes
  3. Jellied perch with minced meat in two dishes
  4. Two-course boiled Karasi
  5. Two-course fried bream
At a fraternal meal for lunch
  1. Kulebyaka with porridge
  2. Caviar
  3. Salted Beluga
  4. Botvigna with salted fish
  5. Cabbage soup with fried fish
  6. Carp and burbot ear
  7. Pea sauce with fried fish
  8. Fried Cabbage
  9. Dry bread with jam
  10. Kanpot from apples
For Belago clergy appetizer
  1. Caviar and white bread on 17 dishes
  2. Cold of headache with horseradish and cucumbers for 17 dishes "

Serving examples:

Serving a lean monastic table for dinner.
Slices of tomato with lean soy cheese, slices of lean fish sausage, fish and vegetable snacks, hot lean portion dishes, various monastery drinks (kvass, fruit drink, freshly squeezed juices, mineral water), fruit plate, unsweetened and sweet monastery pastries.

Monastic culinary recipes
  St. Danilov Stauropegial Monastery
  What fundamentally differ in the diet of laity from monks - the former like to just have a tasty meal, the latter do the same, but with a deep pious meaning and with elevated spiritual intentions. Of course, this great spiritual wisdom is not easily understood by ordinary laity.

Blaming the contemporary atheistic Russian intelligentsia, priest. Pavel Florensky said so about her attitude to food:
“The intellectual does not know how to eat, much less eat, does not even know what it means to“ eat ”, what sacred food means: they do not“ eat ”the gift of God, do not even eat food, but“ burst ”chemicals”.

Probably, many are not clearly aware of the importance of food in the life of a Christian.

Modest monastic lunch:

Cold snacks:
- curly vegetable sliced,
- painted stuffed pike perch
- delicate salmon of its own special ambassador
Hot Appetizer:
- julienne made from fresh forest mushrooms baked with bechamel sauce
Salad:
- vegetable with shrimps "Sea freshness"
First course:
- fish monastery “in a monastic way”
Second course:
- salmon steak with tartar sauce
Dessert:
- fruit ice cream.
Beverages:
- branded monastery fruit drink
- kvass
And, of course, served for dinner:
- freshly baked bread, honey mops, various unsweetened and sweet pastries to choose from.

Serving examples:

Monastic lean snacks to the common monastic table.

Salmon of its own special monastery ambassador.
Monastery chefs recommend wrapping lemon to squeeze juice with gauze to exclude the ingress of lemon seeds.

Lean fish hodgepodge with salmon.

Lean fish stew of sturgeon with a pie stuffed with burbot liver.

Steam salmon with lean saffron tinted mayonnaise.

Lenten pilaf made from saffron-tinted rice, with fish slices and various seafood, which God sent to the monks for lunch today.

Fruit bouquet for a common monastic table.

Monastic lean chocolate and nut log.
Chocolate-nut masses of three colors (from dark chocolate, white chocolate and milk chocolate) are prepared, as indicated in the previous recipe, “Monastic Lenten Truffles”. Then layer-by-layer are poured into the form, previously neatly covered with a plastic film.
Widespread use in a monastic diet of various nuts and chocolate allows you to make monastic food tasty and quite complete.

Monastery Lenten Truffles.
Ingredients: 100 g of dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon of olive oil (on days when oil is forbidden, do not add olive oil, but the candies will turn out to be slightly harder), 100 g of peeled nuts, 1 teaspoon of good cognac or rum, a little grated nutmeg.
Top the nuts in a mortar, warm the chocolate with the addition of olive oil, stirring, in a water bath up to 40 gr. C, add crushed nuts, grated nutmeg and cognac, stir; take a warm mass with a teaspoon into a plate with cocoa powder (to taste, you can add powdered sugar to cocoa powder) and, rolling in cocoa powder, form balls the size of a walnut.

Recall that in monasteries meat is not consumed very often, in some it is not consumed at all. Therefore, the “spell” “Crucian carp, crucian carp, turn into a piglet” does not work.

On great and patronal feasts, the brothers are blessed with "consolation" - a glass of red wine - French or, at worst, Chilean. And, of course, dishes are prepared for the special holiday menu.

breakfast menu of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on one of the days of April 2011.
Menus of patriarchal nutrition are carefully designed and balanced by nutritionists to maintain the patriarch with the necessary energy necessary for the tireless conduct of his enormous spiritual, organizational and representative work.
In the patriarchal menus, all the original products and ready-made dishes pass the same test as in the Kremlin cuisine. All dishes on the patriarchal table are the fruit of a long analysis, discussions and endless tastings of culinary experts of the highest class, sanitary doctors and dieticians.
For faith in God’s mercy and protection, indispensable for Patriarch Kirill, is a high spiritual affair, and the work of the patriarchal guard from the FSO and relevant doctors and laboratories is a daily earthly affair.

Cold dishes:
Sturgeon caviar with pancakes from buckwheat flour.
Caspian sturgeon, smoked, with galantine of grapes and sweet pepper.
Salmon stroganin with parmesan and avocado mousse.

Snacks:
Pheasant roll.
Calf jelly.
Pate of hare.
Pancake pie with blue crabs.

Hot snack:
Grouse fried.
Duck liver in rhubarb sauce with fresh berries.

Hot fish dishes:
Rainbow trout stewed in champagne.

Hot Meat Dishes:
Smoked duck strudel.
Back of roe deer with lingonberry galantin.
Venison fried on a wire rack.

Sweet foods:
Cake with white chocolate.
Fresh fruits with strawberry galantine.
Baskets with fresh berries in champagne jelly.

The monastery chef is happy to share his recipes for vegetable salad with shrimp and fish hodgepodge.

First of all, for everything to turn out tasty and charitable, you need to start cooking by reading a prayer. Have you read? Now for the job!

Serving examples:

Puff meatless salad according to the monastery recipe.
  Lay the salad in layers, each layer under lean mayonnaise, salt to taste.
1st layer - canned crab meat, finely chopped (or crab sticks),
2nd layer - boiled rice,
3rd layer - boiled or canned squids, finely chopped,
4th layer - Beijing cabbage finely chopped,
5th layer - stewed stellate stew, finely chopped,
6th layer - boiled rice.
Garnish with lean mayonnaise, caviar, a leaf of greens and serve to the monastic table.

Vinaigrette according to the monastery recipe.
  The composition of the vinaigrette includes: baked whole in the oven, peeled and diced: potatoes, carrots, beets; canned green peas, onions, pickles, olive oil.
Sometimes the monastery chefs prepare vinaigrette with the addition of boiled beans and mushrooms (boiled or salted, or pickled).
Finely chopped salted herring can be added to taste in the vinaigrette.

A batch of lean lobster from boiled lobster in a vegetable kurt broth (dip the live lobster upside down in a boiling kurt broth made of carrots, onions, herbs, salt and seasonings, cook the lobster for 40 minutes, then let it brew for 10 minutes under the lid) with a side dish of boiled rice, tinted with saffron, and vegetables with separately served in a cup lean meat sauce from sturgeon broth with the addition of onion, let through to a transparency, wiped through a sieve (to prevent browning) and spices; garnish with a slice of lemon.

There is still a lot of interesting things about products, dishes and tasting these dishes.

DISH RECIPES
   RUSSIAN MONASTERIES

BEFORE TASTING

AFTER ATTACHMENT

   (prayer for weight loss)

“Angela to you for a meal!”

For snacks at the top
   1. 3 coulibiacs with stuffing




At a fraternal meal for lunch
   1. Kulebyaka with porridge
   2. Caviar
   3. Salted Beluga

   5. Cabbage soup with fried fish
   6. Carp and burbot ear

   8. Fried Cabbage

   10. Kanpot from apples

1. State Payments

2. Consistent income

3. Donations.

cellarer

  Father Germogen.

And here is the breakfast menu of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill on one of the days of April 2011.
   Menus of patriarchal nutrition are carefully designed and balanced by nutritionists to maintain the patriarch with the necessary energy necessary for the tireless conduct of his enormous spiritual, organizational and representative work.
   In the patriarchal menus, all the original products and ready-made dishes pass the same test as in the Kremlin cuisine. All dishes on the patriarchal table are the fruit of a long analysis, discussions and endless tastings of culinary experts of the highest class, sanitary doctors and dieticians.
   For faith in God’s mercy and protection, indispensable for Patriarch Kirill, is a high spiritual affair, and the work of the patriarchal guard from the FSO and relevant doctors and laboratories is a daily earthly affair.

Cold dishes:
Sturgeon caviar with pancakes from buckwheat flour.
   Caspian sturgeon, smoked, with galantine of grapes and sweet pepper.
   Salmon stroganin with parmesan and avocado mousse.

Snacks:
   Pheasant roll.
   Calf jelly.
   Pate of hare.
   Pancake pie with blue crabs.

Hot snack:
   Grouse fried.
   Duck liver in rhubarb sauce with fresh berries.

Hot fish dishes:
   Rainbow trout stewed in champagne.

Hot Meat Dishes:
   Smoked duck strudel.
   Back of roe deer with lingonberry galantin.
   Venison fried on a wire rack.

Sweet foods:
   Cake with white chocolate.
   Fresh fruits with strawberry galantine.
   Baskets with fresh berries in champagne jelly.

NOTE TO THE PATRIARISH BREAKFAST MENU. This morning meal of His Holiness Cyril was shared with him by other leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church who came to him in the monastic cell in the morning, also staying in monasticism.

Portion salad "Sea freshness"

Lettuce leaves torn to pieces by hands - this is important.
   Cucumber and tomato are cut into large pieces.
   To them are added several branches of chopped parsley, a ring of chopped canned pineapple and five pieces of shredded king prawns.
   All this is seasoned with Provence mayonnaise and stacked in a beautiful slide on a lettuce leaf.
   Sprinkled with pine nuts on top.
   For decoration: four shrimps are cut along and, together with parsley leaves, are placed around the “hill”.
   NOTE. Such a salad, if seasoned with lean mayonnaise (recipe, see below), can be eaten in fasting.

Lenten fish hodgepodge “Monastic”

From the peeled heads and ridges of salmon, zander and carp, the broth is boiled.
   Separately, until cooked, coarsely chopped fish fillet (stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, beluga or other) is cooked.
   Blanch with steaming pickled cucumbers.
   Stir (briefly stew) tomatoes and onions.
   In the prepared strained broth we put pieces of boiled fish, sliced \u200b\u200bwith olives, dressings from cucumbers and tomato frying.
   Let the hodgepodge stand under the lid for 15 minutes.
   Serve with parsley, a slice of lemon, previously peeled from the zest, and a spoonful of sour cream.

Hop-free rye bread

Ingredients :
For the test you need: 2 tablespoons of hops (you can buy it at the pharmacy) pour a glass of boiling water.
   When the hops swell, add rye flour, add a little salt and sugar.
   The dough is not elastic, a little stronger than on pancakes, and sticky. So that it does not stick, the hands are moistened with water.
   The form in which the bread will be baked is greased with oil and burned in the oven for three hours. As a result, the oil turns into a thin film, which will not let the loaf burn.

  Cooking

The dough is laid out in the form, filling it halfway.
   Level it with a wet hand, and let it come up in the oven at a temperature of 37 g. With about two hours and then bake at a temperature of 220 g. 1-1.5 hours.
   Readiness is checked by squeezing the upper and lower crust: if the crumb between them quickly straightens, the bread is well baked.
   After baking, the crust is moistened with water.
   Hot cut rye bread is impossible, it must cool.
   “Such bread is not only extremely tasty, but also extremely useful,” says Alexander Titov, technologist of the Holy Danilov Monastery. - Lowers blood cholesterol and helps normalize metabolism. Not only will you not recover from such bread, but on the contrary, you can lose five extra pounds. And last but not least, it is very well preserved

Monastery pastry pies

Ingredients :
   For 1 kg of flour, 8 grams of yeast is taken, salt - 25 g, sugar - 30 g, warm water - 250 ml, vegetable oil - 150 g (it gives the dough splendor).

  Cooking

- Knead the dough well and let rise 15-20 minutes, - says the monastery culinary specialist Nadezhda Grasu. - Divide it into balls of 60 grams. The secret of our delicious branded pies is still in flour, it is brought from the Danilovsky Compound mill in the Ryazan region. And of course, we do everything with prayer, put a piece of soul in each pie. After all, the dough, like a child, loves warmly.
   Fillings can be very diverse, but there are eight types in the monastery: potatoes, cabbage, rice fish, rice mushrooms, cottage cheese, jam, cinnamon and poppy seeds. There is another seasonal one - apples. They are also taken from the Ryazan monastery garden.
   Each pie has its own shape, with classic cabbage, potatoes - a triangle, cottage cheese - round with a hole in the middle. Rice fish - a classic with two notches in the center, with mushrooms - the dough is pinched like a dumpling with a “pigtail”. Jam pie is rolled up.
With cinnamon mixed with powdered sugar, they are also rolled up, a slot is made in the center, and one end is pulled into the slot; the result is a “herringbone” shape. Poppy muffin is folded as well as cinnamon, and then folded in half. At the bend, an incision is made to the middle along the folded tubule. Then the two parts are divorced to the sides, and the dough takes the form of a heart. By the way, cinnamon rolls and poppy seeds, before spreading the filling, greased with vegetable oil, so that it evenly lay down.
   The pies are placed on a greased baking sheet and put in the oven to approach at a temperature of 46 g. C for 15 minutes. Then the oven is heated to 180-200 degrees and baked for 12 minutes.
   Delicious in taste and easy for a gentle monastic stomach, the pies are ready.

  THIS MONK GURMAN MAY LEARN THE ART OF MALESE ANY MOST EXTENDED Gourmet FROM THE WORLD
   Father Germogen’s kitchen,
   the inhabitant of St. Danilov stauropegial monastery

“A TABLE BEGINNING AND FINISHING IN A PRAYER WILL NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED”
   (St. John Chrysostom)

It so happened that in Russia it was the monasteries that were the custodians of not only spiritual culture, but also interesting recipes of national cuisine. How to cook the ancestor of the hodgepodge and pickle, which is hidden behind the “sweet and sour banks” and what delicious dishes from the radish the cook of the church Metropolitan Hilarion is capable of - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Kisel Coast

“The monastic meal has always been considered the standard of tasty, high-quality and at the same time simple food,” says Tatyana Tyshkevich, chef of the Vysoko-Petrovsky monastery. “Culinary, cookbooks appeared in Russia only in the 18th century. About what Russian cuisine was before this can be learned only from monastic sources - "everyday" and Kelar books. "

True, the monks did not eat meat. But in those days, fish was a more affordable and common source of protein for most of the population of Russia.

Foreign travelers in the XV-XVI centuries noted that Russians ate more fish than meat and garden greens, that they preferred salted and smoked meat to fresh, as well as almost half-cooked skilfully cooked dishes, that cold dishes were respected more than others, and that all their dishes were seasoned excessively garlic and onion or salt, pepper and vinegar. "

In the refectory of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery, Tatyana not only cooks for the brethren and pilgrims, but also deals with old Russian recipes. “We restored the recipe for Moscow kalach and Moscow bagel, baking sourdough rye bread and much more,” she says.

Among the ancient dishes of the XV-XVI centuries - "fish hookah", the progenitor of the well-known national team of hodgepodge and pickle.

She needs fish (halibut, chum salmon or any other), pickled cucumbers, onions, turnips, salt, black pepper and dill. “Cucumbers, turnips and onions are cooked in the oven until cooked, boil the fish, put the stewed vegetables in the fish broth, and sprinkle pieces of the finished fish with dill greens. You can serve in a pot,” Tatyana explains.

And here is another very popular dish once in Russia - oatmeal jelly with cranberry sauce. "It’s about him that Russian fairy tales say" jelly banks, "the monastery chef notes. Oatmeal is fermented with rye sourdough for the night, rubbed through a sieve in the morning, add honey or sugar, salt and boiled until thick. Such jelly is eaten cold with cranberry sauce on honey.

Monastery Gingerbread

How to feed guests

The refectory chef at the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "All Who Sorrow is Joy" on Bolshaya Ordynka Oleg Brzhinyuk has to take into account not only the lenten menu for the abbot - Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, but also the tastes of his foreign guests. Therefore, in the kitchen they prepare both national Slavic and modern European dishes.

“Once in Great Lent, I decided to make a radish steak. I bought white radish, sliced \u200b\u200bit in rings, boiled for about forty minutes, held it in soy sauce with pepper, spices and browned on a grill to make frying stripes. Everyone thought it was scallops. And this is a radish! " - says Oleg.

He says that when he worked in the restaurant, it was easier - there was a menu approved for six months. And here you need to have time to navigate and compose something all the time. “I literally dissolve in work. I like the way Jamie Oliver, Gennaro Contaldo cook - it's simple and clear. I copied some things from them,” the chef admits.

He buys meat, fish and greens in the market, something in the little things - in the store.

“Recently, a European delegation came to us and they asked me to demonstrate Russian cuisine. I made cabbage rolls, olivier and borsch. Everyone liked it,” he adds.

Fennel salad

Oleg’s latest discoveries include a salad of fennel and Italian burrata cheese: “The taste is unusual and looks good. The combination is awesome.” And you just need to thinly chop the fennel, lemon zest, pour lemon juice and olive oil, salt, pepper and leave for ten minutes. Then put cheese, halves of cherry tomatoes on top and sprinkle with mint leaves. You can add some more sugar.

Several years ago, Oleg worked as an assistant cook at the Donskoy Monastery. One of the most beloved dishes in the monastery was cutlets of two or three varieties of fish. "Suppose we take salmon and cod, or salmon and pike perch, or tuna and salmon - the combination should be dry and greasy. Chop into small cubes, finely chop the onion, salt, pepper, add a little starch and flour, mix, sculpt small round cutlets and It remains to "finish" about ten minutes in the oven, "the master of the monastery cuisine shares the recipe.

He serves this dish with green sauce: basil, parsley, garlic, olive oil, a little citric acid, salt, pepper, grind with a blender. (“The sauce is just a bomb! You can add it to salads,” Oleg clarifies.) And as a side dish, he recommends broccoli (boil and then “squeeze” on the grill “so that the crust is”). Or other fried vegetables: tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini ("this is good for meat").

Fish cakes according to the recipe of the Don monastery

“I remember that during the days of Lent, Patriarch Kirill came to the Donskoy Monastery and we baked beets: cut into slices, sprinkled with dry basil and decorated with basil, it turned out deliciously,” he recalls.

"Or bake eggplant, bell pepper in the oven, and then add raw tomato, onion, herbs, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. You can cook without oil. And scald the tomato, peel the skin, chop finely. It turns out the caviar - spread on the bread "- continues Oleg.

“A broccoli with spinach in coconut milk is good at getting it. It’s lean, so it helps out - you can get enough of it. It's sweet, but it sounds normal in the soup. You can add a little lemon,” he goes to the first courses. And recommends the Belarusian soup "cold" for the summer. "Beets are boiled, water is boiled separately, then cooled, then grated beets, diced cucumbers, lots of greens - onions and dill, grated boiled eggs and kefir - if one percent, in proportion to one to one with water are added to it. Well, still salt and a little sugar, a little lemon or a couple of drops of table vinegar. The soup should be sweet and sour, "Oleg explains.

And yet, in the end, he recalls the ambulance. The meat, according to him, for example, beef or veal tenderloin, should not be fried for a long time - two minutes on each side and sides. "I cut it into plump medallions, salt, pepper, fry - you don’t need to put a lot of pieces, the meat gives juice and starts to cook - then it goes into the foil and the meat still comes out. I opened it - the juice has come out. The veal is tender, soft, quickly cooked," says monastery cook.

Chef's Secrets

Another Oleg - Olkhov, the chef of the Danilov Monastery and the brand chef of the Renaissance of Traditions center, is broadcasting Monastic Cuisine on Spas TV channel. He is sure that the culture of the Russian meal is still inextricably linked with monasteries.

At the age of 14, Oleg came to the restaurant as a cook’s apprentice, now he’s 42. “I don’t stop learning from my colleagues, but I don’t think it’s shameful to use the experience of non-professionals. Often, someone’s grandmother can find out some kind of reception, an interesting dish that isn’t more who don’t, "says the cook.

"The profession of a chef, on the one hand, is very creative, but on the other hand, is full of daily routine. Creativity is the creation of new dishes, their development, testing and assembly. Routine is a daily workflow related to the kitchen, control of products, work with staff. Often the routine takes up most of the working time, and there is already not enough energy for creativity. In addition, the profession is not easy - the chef has an irregular working day, sometimes you have to spend the night at work, "Oleg says.

Among his specialties are lentil patties and pumpkin in a honey filling.

Lentil cutlets

You need to cook the lentils, add the chopped garlic, salt, pepper and mix, let cool, then add the onions sautéed in vegetable oil. Make cutlets from this minced meat, roll in flour and fry on both sides in vegetable oil. And the pumpkin, peeled and diced, is poured with honey, diluted with water and the juice of one lemon, cranberries are added and put in the refrigerator - after 24 hours, the pumpkin dessert with honey and cranberries is ready. May be refrigerated for up to two weeks.

"The monastery cuisine is very useful, we can say that this is diet food: fish, seafood (easily digestible protein, polyunsaturated amino acids), cereals, grains and cereals, legumes, herbs, vegetables, berries, mushrooms (vitamins, vegetable protein, fiber, minerals , carbohydrates) Lactic acid fermentation products - kvass, soaked berries, apples, turnips, sauerkraut - have a beneficial effect on digestion. Fermented rye and rye-wheat bread, which is baked in the monastery’s bakery, is also very useful. usnaya food "- sums up the chef Danilov monastery.

Honey Pumpkin

Everyone who, living in the monastery, visited the monastery refectory, is surprised at how deliciously they feed there, although the products are the simplest. To the question, what is the secret?

The monks themselves as one answer: "There are no secrets here, just when you cook and when you eat, you need to pray." But still there are some general principles that are observed in most monasteries, following the instructions of the holy fathers.
Firstly, you can’t get enough of food, food should not burden the stomach. You should leave the meal with a slight feeling of hunger, which, by the way, is absolutely correct, because by all the laws of our nature, saturation occurs half an hour after eating.

Secondly, food should be as vegetable as possible and free from all kinds of spices. As we were explained in the Solovetsky Monastery, “there is a fine line between satisfying the hunger and pleasing the whims of the flesh. The nun must learn to distinguish it well. After all, it is no accident that gluttony or laryngealism is the devil’s first instrument with which he approaches the monk’s heart, suggesting that this is the only joy left from the world. ”

To avoid such temptations, the monks adhere to simple rules: food should be simple, nutritious, healthy and contain the necessary vitamins. Food serves to saturate and maintain strength, nothing more.

Brest Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery

FAST BISCUITS ON BRINE
   1 cup brine (better from canned tomatoes), 1 tsp. soda, three quarters of a glass of vegetable oil, three quarters of a glass of sugar, 1 sachet (11 g) of vanilla sugar, flour

Combine brine, vegetable oil and sugar, add vanilla sugar and flour. The dough should be dense enough so that it can be rolled into a 1 cm thick layer. Cut out a cookie with a tin and bake in a well-heated oven until golden brown.

OAT KISEL (Lenten)
   500 g of oatmeal, 3 crusts of rye (yeast) bread, salt, sugar- taste.

Pour oatmeal with warm water to completely cover them. Dip the bread crusts in the pan and put in a warm place for a day, stirring occasionally. Strain through cheesecloth, add 0.5 l of water, salt, sugar. Put on a small fire, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, stand 5 minutes after boiling. Remove from heat, pour into vessels, allow to congeal.

FOOT MAT
   4 cups flour, 2 cups sugar. One glass of raisins, finely chopped walnuts, vegetable oil and a decoction of dried fruits, 25 g of ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of soda, salt to taste.

Rub sugar, salt and cinnamon thoroughly with vegetable oil. Add raisins and chopped walnuts through a meat grinder. Dilute with a decoction of dried fruits and add soda. Then gradually add flour, pour vinegar and mix. Pour the dough into a greased and floured form and place in the oven. Bake at a temperature of 170ºC for 50-60 minutes.

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

  WHEAT PASTA WITH PUMPKIN
  1 liter of water, 100 grams of pumpkin, a glass of millet.

Millet to sort out, rinse. Grate the pumpkin, add water and cook for half an hour. After that add millet, salt, sugar and cook until tender.

CELERY SALAD
  600 g celery root, 200 g carrots and apples, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Grate the root, add grated carrots, apple, sprinkle with lemon juice - so that the apple does not darken. Season with vegetable oil.

Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Convent

BAKERY CUTLETS
   Half a loaf of white bread, 3-4 onions, a glass of peeled walnuts (they replace meat and fish), two potatoes, a clove of garlic.

Slightly soak the bread in water, pass all other ingredients through a meat grinder. Add garlic, salt, ground pepper and a little vegetable oil. If the minced meat is liquid, add the breadcrumbs, bread in breadcrumbs and fry like regular cutlets.

Pyukhtitsky Assumption Convent

Porridge pea
   500 g peas, 2-4 onions, vegetable oil, salt to taste.

Peas put in a large pot, wash thoroughly in cold water and pour 1.5 liters of water. Leave for 1 hour, then put on high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a minimum, carefully remove the foam and cook until tender, often stirring. Cooking time depends on the variety and quality of peas and can range from 45 minutes to 2-3 hours. Peas must boil: turn into a homogeneous mass, like mashed potatoes. Salt to taste, add finely chopped onions fried in vegetable oil and arrange on plates, sprinkling on top with rings of fried onions. Pea porridge can be cooled in a form, then cut into pieces and serve as a cold appetizer.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky stauropegial monastery

LENTIL WITH BEET
   500 g of green lentils, 1 large beetroot, vegetable oil, salt and spices to taste.

Wash the lentils, pour cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove foam, reduce heat to minimum and cook under the lid for 40 minutes, adding salt. Peel raw beets and grate. Put the beets in a pan with lentils and cook for 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and spices - ground black pepper, turmeric, garam masala. Remove from heat and leave for 30-60 minutes. You can add vegetable oil. It turns out a very tasty dish with a taste of borsch.

TEA SOLOVETSKY
Mix in equal proportions three varieties of tea - black, green and red (hibiscus). Take the herbal collection - mint, lemon balm, oregano, thyme, cloudberries, a little chamomile and mix in equal amounts. Harvesting herbs can range from one quarter to one tenth of tea.
   It is better to put herbs in boiling water, wait 5 minutes, and then add a mixture of teas. Wait 5 minutes again and strain through a colander. This tea can be stored and heated.

Transfiguration Valaam Monastery

Cabbage soup VALAAM (WITH MUSHROOMS)
   A handful of dried mushrooms, 4 potatoes, 250-300 g of white cabbage, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.

Soak dried mushrooms in the evening in cool water. In the morning, strain the water through a frequent sieve or cheesecloth into a separate container (do not pour it, it will still be useful to us). Rinse the mushrooms, cut into slices and put in boiling salted water. Cook for 1 hour until cooked. Cut the onion into small cubes, cut the carrots into thin strips and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. Add diced potatoes and finely chopped cabbage to the pan. After 10 minutes, add the prepared carrots with onions and cook for another 15 minutes. Cabbage should not be overcooked, but should remain slightly crispy. Shortly before readiness, put bay leaf in the soup and pour in the stored mushroom infusion. Pour into plates, season to taste with black pepper.

POTATO SALAD
   3-4 potatoes, 1 carrot, 200 g frozen green beans, 100 g frozen green peas, 10 olives, 1 onion, several sprigs of dill and parsley, salt to taste, unrefined sunflower oil.

Boil carrots and potatoes in their skins, cool, peel and cut into cubes. Steamed green beans and green peas. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, pitted olives and diced onion. Sprinkle with finely chopped herbs - parsley and (or) dill and pour over sunflower oil. Salt to taste and mix gently.

Buckwheat porridge with vegetables
   500 g of buckwheat, 1 large carrot, 1 onion, 300 g of frozen green beans, 2 tbsp. l tomato puree (you can use chopped tomatoes in your own juice), 1 tbsp. l flour, vegetable oil, chopped herbs, salt to taste.

Cook loose buckwheat porridge. While porridge is cooked, prepare the vegetable portion of the dish. To do this, finely chop the carrot, chop the onion into small cubes and fry in a deep skillet in sunflower oil until golden. Boil green beans in a small amount of salted water for 5 minutes from the moment of boiling, drain the broth and transfer the beans to a pan with other vegetables. Pour flour into a small dry skillet and lightly fry. Add vegetable oil, tomato puree and mix, preventing lumps from forming. Dilute with hot water to the density of sour cream, warm to a boil and pour into a pan with vegetables. Cook for several minutes, salt if necessary. Put buckwheat porridge and vegetables in plates, sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve immediately.

Monastic cuisine

Each nation has its own life, its own customs, its holidays, songs and tales. National cuisine depends on the traditional way of life and on which products were most accessible to people during its formation. Russian cuisine is no exception.

The first records of Russian recipes were left to us by the monks-chroniclers. The monastery records were later included not only in cookbooks, but also in medical directories and herbalists. The role of monasteries in the formation of Russian cuisine is huge.

In the monastery kitchen of the 11th – 12th centuries the main place was occupied by vegetables, herbs, herbs and fruits. They formed the basis of the monks' nutrition, especially during the fasts. Rural cuisine was less rich and varied, but also elegant in its own way: at least 15 dishes were supposed to be served at the festive dinner. Lunch in general is the main meal in Russia. In the old days, in more or less affluent houses, four dishes were served in turn on a long table of strong oak planks covered with an embroidered tablecloth: a cold appetizer, soup, the second - in non-fasting time, usually meat - and pies or pies that were eaten “for dessert” ". Appetizers prepared a variety of, but the main among them were all kinds of salads - a mixture of finely chopped vegetables, usually boiled, in which you could add anything - from an apple to cold veal. From them came, in particular, a vinaigrette known to every Russian house.

By the end of the XVII century. the jelly became popular (from the word "icy", that is, cold: firstly, the jelly should be cold, otherwise it will spread on a plate; secondly, they usually ate it in winter, from Christmas to Epiphany, that is, in the coldest time of the year ) Then came the ears of various fish, corned beef and sausages. Amazed foreigners with its refined taste pickle. Cabbage soup - remember the saying: "cabbage soup and porridge - our food" - and so, cabbage soup was served with mushrooms, with fish, with pies. Of the drinks, the most popular were berry and fruit juices with fruit drinks, as well as tinctures. Mead - a drink based on bee honey - was stronger, and then vodka appeared. But the main Russian drink since ancient times remained bread kvass. With what only they didn’t do it - from raisins to mint!

Many of the customs of old Russian cuisine have been preserved to this day in the festive cuisine, especially in the cuisine associated with religious holidays. For Christmas, sweet juices are made, pancakes are baked on Shrovetide, on Easter cakes. And of course, with special attention in Russia have always been related to nutrition during fasting.

Chapter 6 Samurai cuisine Samurai swords, clothing, amazing landscape. In all this there is some eternal dignity. Tom

"MONASTERIAN" Preheat a frying pan greased with butter. Cut white bread into small slices and fry it on both sides. As soon as the second side is browned, beat the eggs. Salt and pepper to taste. You will need: 4 eggs, 300 g white bread, 40 g

Vegetarian cuisine 1. Dolma Soak crushed wheat (zavar) and leave for 1 day. Soak dried plums separately, mix plums with wheat the next day. Add raisins, finely chopped onions and cilantro, aged for an hour in olive oil, to this mixture.

15. Monastic medicine The emergence of monastery hospitals can be attributed to the time of the adoption of Christianity in Russia. The monks, who believed that God knew everything on earth, perceived illnesses as punishment for human transgressions, and sometimes as the instillation of demons in human