Culinary traditions Russian people are rooted in antiquity. Even in pre-Christian Russia, when Shrovetide was celebrated and bloodless sacrifices were made to the gods, such once ritual dishes as porridge, pancakes, spring larks other. The Slavs were engaged in arable farming, growing rye, barley, wheat, oats, millet. In the 10th century, according to travelers, the Slavs "sow millet most of all." During the harvest, they take millet grains in a ladle, lift them up to heaven and say: "Lord, you who gave us food until now, give us it now in abundance."

A little later appears ceremonial porridge- kutia. It was made from cereals with the addition of honey. The Slavs cooked ordinary porridge from flour, for which they grinded the grains, in water or milk. Breads were baked from flour - first unleavened cakes and then rolls and pies cooked in honey.
In Russia, they were engaged in the cultivation of garden crops. The most popular were cabbage, cucumbers, turnips, rutabagas and radishes.

Ancient chronicles, telling about the fate of the state, wars and disasters, nevertheless sometimes mentioned facts, in one way or another, related to food and nutrition.

Year 907 - in the annals, among the monthly tax, wine, bread, meat, fish and vegetables are named (in those days, fruits were also called vegetables).

Year 969 - Prince Svyatoslav says that the city of Pereyaslavl is conveniently located - there converge "different vegetables" from Greece and honey from Russia. Already at that time, the table of Russian princes and rich people was decorated with salted lemons, raisins, walnuts and other gifts eastern countries, and honey was not only an everyday food product, but also an item of foreign trade.

Year 971 - during the famine, the high cost was such that a horse's head cost half a hryvnia. It is interesting that the chronicler is not talking about beef or pork, but about horse meat. Although the case takes place during the forced wintering of the troops of Prince Svyatoslav on the way from Greece, the fact is nevertheless remarkable. This means that there was no ban on eating horse meat in Russia, but it was probably used in exceptional cases. This is evidenced by the relatively small specific gravity horse bones in kitchen garbage found by archaeologists.

Usually for the characteristic, as we would now say "price index", the value of products of everyday demand is indicated. So, another chronicler reports that in the lean 1215 in Novgorod "there was a cart of turnips for two hryvnias."

Year 996 - a feast is described at which there was a lot of meat from cattle and animals, and bread, meat, fish, vegetables, honey and kvass were transported around the city and distributed to the people. The squad grumbled that they had to eat with wooden spoons, and Prince Vladimir ordered to give them silver ones.

Year 997 - the prince ordered to collect a handful of oats, or wheat, or bran and ordered the wives to make "tsezh" and cook jelly.

So bit by bit, you can collect in our chronicles a lot of interesting information about nutrition in the X-XI centuries. Describing the simplicity of the morals of Prince Svyatoslav (964), the chronicler says that the prince did not take carts with him on campaigns and did not cook meat, but thinly slicing horse meat, beef or animals, ate them, baking them on coals.

Frying on coals is the oldest method of heat treatment, characteristic of all peoples, and it was not borrowed by the Russians from the peoples of the Caucasus and the East, but has been used since ancient times. Historical literary monuments of the 15th-16th centuries often mention chickens, geese, hares "twisted", that is, on a spit. But still the usual, most common way of cooking meat dishes was cooking and frying in large pieces in Russian ovens.

For a long time, cooking was a family affair. As a rule, the oldest woman in the family knew them. Professional cooks first appeared at the princely courts, and then - in the monastery refectory.

Cooking in Russia became a specialty only in the 11th century, although the mention of professional chefs is found in chronicles as early as the 10th century.

The Laurentian Chronicle (1074) says that in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery there was a whole cookery with a large staff of monks-cooks. Prince Gleb had an “elder cook” named Torchin, the first Russian chef we know of.

The monastic cooks were very skillful. Prince Izyaslav, who had been outside the borders of the Russian land, who had seen a lot, especially loved the "meals" of the monks of the Caves. Even a description of the work of cooks of that era has survived:

"And put on a hair shirt and a hair shirt for my retinue, and begin to create ugliness, and help the cooks, cooking on my brothers ... And at matins I go to the cook, and prepare fire, water, wood, and I will come to the other cooks from taking."

During the times of Kievan Rus, cooks were in the service of princely courts and wealthy houses. Some of them even had several chefs. This is evidenced by the description of one of the houses of a rich man of the 12th century, where a lot of "sokachy" is mentioned, that is, cooks "working and making darkness."

Russian chefs sacredly kept the traditions of folk cuisine, which served as the basis of their professional skills, as evidenced by the most ancient written monuments - "Domostroy" (16th century), "Painting for the Tsar's dishes" (1611-1613), table books of Patriarch Filaret and boyar Boris Ivanovich Morozov, monastic expenditure books, etc. They often mention folk dishes - cabbage soup, fish soup, porridge, pies, pancakes, pies, pies, jelly, kvass, honey and others.

The nature of the preparation of Russian cuisine is largely due to the peculiarities of the Russian oven, which for centuries has faithfully served both ordinary urban people, noble boyars, and townspeople as a hearth. Ancient Russia it is impossible to imagine both without chopped huts and without the famous Russian oven.

The mouth of the Russian stove was always turned towards the doors, so that the smoke could leave the hut by the shortest route through the open doors in the entrance. The stoves in the poultry huts were large, in which it was possible to cook several dishes at the same time. Despite the fact that the food sometimes smacked slightly, the Russian oven had advantages: the dishes cooked in it had a unique taste.

The peculiarities of the Russian oven determine such features of our cuisine as cooking dishes in pots and iron pots, roasting fish and poultry in large pieces, an abundance of stewed and baked dishes, wide range of baked goods - pies, cereals, pies, kulebyak, etc.

Since the 16th century, we can talk about the differences between the monastic, rural and royal cuisine. In the monastery, vegetables, herbs, herbs and fruits played a major role. They formed the basis of the diet of monks, especially during fasting. Rural cuisine was less rich and varied, but also refined in its own way: for festive lunch it was supposed to serve at least 15 dishes. Lunch is generally the main meal in Russia. In the old days, in more or less wealthy houses, four dishes were served in turn on a long table of sturdy oak planks, covered with an embroidered tablecloth: cold appetizer, soup, the second - in non-fasting time, usually meat - and pies or pies, which were eaten "for dessert."
The appetizers were very different, but chief among them were all sorts of salads - a mixture of finely chopped vegetables, usually boiled, to which you could add anything - from apple to cold veal. From them came, in particular, the vinaigrette known to every Russian house. By the end of the 17th century, jelly became popular (from the word "jelly", that is, cold: firstly, jelly must be cold, otherwise it will spread on a plate; secondly, it was usually eaten in winter, from Christmas to Epiphany, that is, in coldest time of the year). Then the ear appeared from different fish, corned beef and sausages. The pickle amazed foreigners with its refined taste. Cabbage soup - remember the saying: "Cabbage soup and porridge - our food" - and so, cabbage soup was served with mushrooms, fish, and pies.

Of the drinks, the most popular were berry and fruit juices with fruit drinks, as well as tinctures. Mead is a drink based on bee honey- was stronger, and then vodka appeared. But the main Russian drink from ancient times remained bread kvass... With everything they did not make - from raisins to mint!

But at the feasts of the boyars began to appear great amount dishes reaching fifty. At the tsar's table, 150-200 were served. Lunches lasted 6-8 hours in a row and included almost a dozen changes, each of which, in turn, consisted of two dozen dishes of the same name: ten varieties of fried game, salted fish, ten varieties of pancakes and pies.

Dishes were prepared from a whole animal or plant, all kinds of chopping, grinding and crushing of food were used only in pie fillings. And even then it is very moderate. Fish for pies, for example, was not chopped, but plastered.

At feasts, it was customary to drink honey before the feast, as stimulating the appetite, and after it, at the conclusion of the feasts. The food was washed down with kvass and beer. This was the case until the 15th century. In the 15th century in Russia appeared “ bread wine”, Ie vodka.

In the 17th century, the order of serving dishes began to change (this applies to the rich festive table). Now it consisted of 6-8 breaks and only one dish was served at each break:
- hot (cabbage soup, stew, ear);
- cold (okroshka, botvinya, jelly, jellied fish, corned beef);
- roast (meat, poultry);
- body (boiled or fried hot fish);
- savory pies, kulebyaka;
- porridge (sometimes it was served with cabbage soup);
- cake (sweet pies, pies);
- snacks.

As for drinks, for example, the register of those released from Sytny Dvor to receive Polish ambassadors read: “There was a drink about Vel in the outfit (from Sytny Dvor). Sovereign: 1 serving: romance, bastru, renskago, by purchase; 2 feed: malmazey, musket, alkane, by purchase zh; 3 serving: cypress, French wine, church wine, by purchase; red honey: 1 serving: cherry, raspberry, currant, bucket; 2 feed: 2 ladles for raspberry honey, ladle for boyar honey; 3 feed: 2 ladles for juniper honey, ladle for cherry honey; white honeys: 1 serving: 2 scoops for honey treacle with nails, a scoop for honey scoop; 2 feed: 2 buckets for honey with muskata, a bucket for honey bucket; 3 feed: 2 ladles for honey with cardamom, a ladle for honey with a ladle. In total about the Great Sovereign: romanes, bastra, renskago, malmazei, musket, alkana, cynarea, French wine, church wine, 6 cups each, and 6 cups of vodka; red honeys: cherry, raspberry, currant, bone, cherry, juniper, scalded, bucket; white honey: bucket with cloves, muskata, cardamom, 8 mugs, 9 mugs of sugar. About boyars, and about circumstantial, and pro-thought people, and about ambassadors, and about royal nobles: 2 mugs of aniseed vodka from Romaneya, cinnamon, too, 8 mugs of boyar vodka, 5 buckets of Romaneya boyar's, too, 5 buckets of bastru, 2 buckets of Rensky, 5 buckets of alkane, 4 buckets of fryazhsky wine, 3 buckets of church wine, 8 buckets of cherry wine, 4 buckets of raspberry honey ... ”And this is not the end of the register.

However, despite the difference in the number of dishes between the rich and the poor, the nature of the food retained national characteristics. The division took place later, from the times of Peter the Great.

The formation of Russian cuisine was also influenced by cultural exchange with neighboring peoples. Immediately after the baptism of the Slavic script came to Russia from Bulgaria, books began to be translated and rewritten, and not only liturgical ones. The Russian reader at this time little by little gets to know literary works, historical chronicles, natural-scientific writings, collections of sayings, In a very short historical period - during the time of Vladimir and especially his son Yaroslav - Russia joins the culture of Bulgaria and Byzantium, Russian people are actively assimilating the heritage of ancient Greece, Rome and Ancient East... Along with the development of spiritual and cultural life, the introduction of church canons in Russia significantly changed the nature of nutrition. Spices and seasonings have come into use: black and allspice, cloves and ginger, overseas fruits - lemons, new vegetables - zucchini, sweet peppers, etc., new cereals - "Saracen millet" (rice) and buckwheat.

Russian "cooks" borrowed many secrets from the Tsargrad masters who came to Muscovy - "men of skill, experienced not only in painting icons, but also in kitchen art." Acquaintance with the Greco-Byzantine cuisine turned out to be very useful for our cuisine.

The influence on Russian cuisine and our eastern neighbors, India, was no less strong. China, Persia. The first Russian people who visited these countries brought many new impressions from there. The Russians learned a lot from the famous book by Afanasy Nikitin "Walking the Three Seas" (1466-1472), which contains a description of products unfamiliar in Russia - dates, ginger, coconut, pepper, cinnamon. And the book by Vasily Gagara (written in 1634-1637) broadened the horizons of our compatriots. They learned about the products that the people of the Caucasus and the Middle East used. Here are his observations on how sugar production was carried out in the East: “Yes, in the same Egypt reeds will be born, and sugar is made from it. And the reeds are dug near the sea ... and as the reeds ripen, and eat it, as there is honeycomb. "

But not only the practical methods of cooking were mastered by our ancestors. They also thought about the essence of the phenomena occurring in this case. Long ago they mastered the secrets of cooking yeast dough, as mentioned in the chronicles: the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra knew how to cook custard bread that did not get stale for a long time.

Already in the XI-XII centuries. Russians knew many rather complicated methods of making kvass, honey, and hops. They can be found in the famous ancient Russian herbalists, as well as in various "lives". So, kvass was widely known - zhitny, honey, apple, yash, etc. Our ancestors were well versed not only in the intricacies of cooking different types kvass, but also the mechanism of action of sourdough, yeast, as evidenced by the numerous teachings of the ancients:

"You crush and grind the wheat, and sow flour, and knead the dough and ferment." Or: "And they ferment kvass with sour thick, and not yeast." "Kvass, on the other hand, separates the copulation and gluing of the dough and makes the bread thin and loaf."

And other literary sources confirm the knowledge of Russian people in the field of food. So, in the "Book, the verb cool vertograd" (XVII century) contains numerous arguments about the difference, for example, cow's milk from goat's, hare meat from bear meat, etc. It is curious that even then Russian people had an idea of ​​the antiseptic properties of protein : “Egg white is put into medicine ... on sores and on all sorts of subcutaneous wounds. Also aids protein for otrelin, in hot water soaking apply "(section" about chicken eggs ").

For a general idea of ​​nutrition in ancient times in Russia, we give a few culinary recipes then popular dishes.

Stuffed turnip. The turnips are washed, boiled in water until soft, cooled, scraped off the skin, cut out the core. The removed pulp is finely chopped, added chopped meat and fill the turnips with this filling. Sprinkle with grated cheese on top, sprinkle with butter and bake.

Oatmeal jelly. Pour the groats warm water and leave for a day in a warm place. Then strain and squeeze. Add salt, sugar to the resulting liquid and boil, stirring continuously, until thickened. Add milk to hot jelly, mix, pour into plates greased with butter, put in the cold. When the jelly hardens, cut it into portions and serve with a cold boiled milk or yogurt.

"Pea block". The peas are completely boiled and pounded, the resulting puree is seasoned with salt and molded (you can use molds, cups, etc., oiled). Molded pea mash put on a plate and poured with sunflower oil with fried onions, sprinkled with herbs.

Peasant bread soup. Small dry crusts white bread fry in fat with finely chopped parsley and finely chopped onions, then add water, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stirring continuously, pour the pounded eggs into the soup in a thin stream. This soup, which tastes like meat, should be served immediately.

Sbiten scorched. To get burnt, heat the sugar in a spoon over low heat until a dark brown syrup is formed. Dissolve honey in 4 glasses of water and boil for 20-25 minutes, then add spices and boil for another 5 minutes. Strain the resulting mixture through cheesecloth and add burnt for color. Serve hot.

"Monastic chicken". Cut the head of cabbage not very finely, put in clay pot, pour eggs whipped with milk, salt, cover with a frying pan and put in the oven. Cabbage is considered ready when it becomes beige.

Numerous written sources speak about the abundance of various meat food in Russia, one might say meat in Russia it was the foundation of the nation's foundations, food and health. One of the most interesting "chroniclers of the Russian meat history"- Italian Ambrogio Contarini. The traveler visited our lands in the 70s of the fifteenth century. And although he mainly describes the life of Muscovites, you can get a rough idea of ​​how our ancestors ate.

As the Italian says, in those days, the cost of a duck or chicken allowed even a poor person to eat quite well. Thanks to the cold weather, the beef was kept undisturbed for up to two months. Game was also very popular. Hunting, including falconry, was very common. Hunters set snares and other traps. They hunted ducks, wild geese, cranes, swans, pheasants and other birds.

At the beginning of history, the Slavs willingly ate horse meat. In any case, Prince Svyatoslav did not take meat on the campaign at all, preferring this particular food. But with the advent of Christianity, a lot has changed. And the church actively prohibited the use of this meat, as well as, for example, bear meat.

And yet the Christian tradition strictly referred to the consumption of meat from animals that were not killed by humans. It was called "pressure". It so happened that the most stringent posts fell precisely on those days in which the Russian man had the most difficult field work. As a result, instead of recuperating with protein foods, the peasant fasted. We do not know how this affected labor productivity, therefore, we can only state a fact.

And all the "meat-eaters" usually fell out for a time when the cattle had not yet grown. Therefore, it turned out that the peasants raised cattle of meat breeds, but especially often did not have time to eat meat. There were too many fasting days every year. This led to the fact that the meat was no longer perceived as important product... But the Russian people attached great importance to animal fats. Salo, internal fat, vegetable oil. All this was used quite regularly. Salom was used to fill soup, porridge, and even vegetable dishes.

But this does not mean at all that no one ate or prepared meat. It was salted, dried, smoked. In general, they were harvested for future use to be eaten, for example, on a holiday. Saltpeter could be used instead of salt. She gave a bright red hue to the meat. Corned beef was the main meat food in summer and spring.

V winter time the meat was kept in ice, which was delivered from nearby reservoirs. Some peasants left supplies right on the ice of the river. Many do not know, but buyer of fish meat in Russia- it was a separate branch of entrepreneurship, which was very isolated in the business environment of that time.

Tobish, for a long time we have eaten meat, and we, like good children of our forefathers, continue this magnificent tradition ..

“The home life of their (Russians) is more abundant than sophistication, for their tables are everywhere filled with almost all those dishes that people, even those who are very devoted to luxury, can wish for; moreover, everything edible can be obtained at an inexpensive price. It is chickens and ducks that are often sold for one small silver coin; cattle and small livestock are found in incredible abundance, and the frozen meat of heifers slaughtered in the middle of winter does not rot for almost two months. Like us, more delicious dishes they are prepared from the prey of the hunter and the bird-catcher. With the help of hunting dogs and snares, they catch all kinds of animals, and with the help of hawks and falcons, an amazing breed of which is found in the Pechora region, they chase not only pheasants and ducks, but also swans and cranes. "

This is how the Italian traveler Ambrogio Contarini described the meat food of Russians, who visited Russia in the seventies of the fifteenth century. As we can see, there is no need to talk about the scarcity of the meat table, at least among Muscovites. Of course, livestock for the Russians played a lesser role than agriculture, however, of course, long before the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the Slavs raised various livestock and poultry... When there was not enough of their own livestock, they bought it from neighboring nomadic peoples, for whom cattle breeding was the main trade.

In addition, the vast forests were home to a huge variety of wild animals, the hunting of which was a noticeable addition to meat table Slavic peoples.

In the sources of the 12-15 centuries, two types of meat are mainly mentioned: beef and animals. However, only on this basis it would be erroneous to assert that at that time our ancestors did not know pork, lamb, veal, chickens, geese, etc. The thing is that any meat of domestic animals and poultry was called beef. In the same way, as under the beast they meant all fowl and wild animals.

The composition of the meat food of our ancestors was not the same in different periods of development. This was especially evident with the adoption of Christianity in Russia. It drew a deep furrow between "clean" and "unclean" meat food. Horse meat was the most condemned. The Slavs, apparently, in ancient times did not shy away from this meat. In any case, in military campaigns and in hard times, horse meat was used as food quite often. So, the Ipatiev Chronicle, drawing the image of the warrior-prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, says that he did not take any boilers or meat on the campaign, but only cut the horse meat and roasted it on coals. When his army had to spend the winter in Beloberezhye, and famine began, the people were saved by horse meat, which was very expensive.

A similar situation is described in the Laurentian Chronicle about the siege of Torzhok by Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich in 1182.

But already in the XIII century, horse meat was regarded by the Slavs as a food surrogate, used in Novgorod in 1230. The first Novgorod chronicle puts horse meat on a par with the meat of dogs, cats, and tree bark.

Bear meat was also considered unclean meat.... Its use was subject to particularly severe prohibitions by the church. Obviously, this was caused by the struggle with the pagan cult of the bear in the north, which had not yet become obsolete at that time. In general, it should be noted that, according to ancient church ideas and teachings, the "animal" was considered less valuable than the meat of domestic animals and poultry.

The church decisively forbade eating the so-called "pressure", i.e. meat of those animals and birds that are not directly slaughtered by human hands. It was considered a sin to eat meat of a beaver, squirrel, black grouse, and hare.

However, all kinds of restrictions on the types of meat food could not be compared with the severe prohibitions on meat and dairy products during the period of fasting. And if we consider that there are much more fast days in the Orthodox Church calendar than all the others, it becomes clear why the Russian people never considered meat to be the basis of their diet.

Interesting arguments on this matter can be found in the works of the Russian agronomist and publicist A. N. Engelhardt, who lived in the 19th century. He wrote that even in the most difficult work, the Russian peasant did not attach much importance to meat food. “Of course, I don’t want to say,” the author writes, “that the peasant does not like meat, of course, everyone will prefer cabbage soup with“ crumb ”empty cabbage soup, everyone will be happy to eat both mutton and chicken. that the man does not attach importance to meat in terms of working effect. " It is difficult to say, A. N. Engelhardt argues further, whether by the will of evil fate or the founders of Orthodoxy, but it turned out that the fasts and meat-eaters provided for by the Orthodox Church, in relation to the Russian agricultural calendar, led to the fact that in Russia fast days fell out, as a rule, during the period of the most difficult work.

So, Peter's post coincides with the most favorable time for earthworks. And the post is the most inconvenient, because at this time even vegetable garden crops have not yet ripened, and last year's supplies are already running out. The July meat-eater came and, it would seem, here the peasant, engaged in difficult agricultural work, can break his fast, but ... he cannot do this without harm to his economy: the meat by this time has not yet "ripened". Judge for yourself, the rams and sheep have not yet grown, the cattle in general have not yet "fully eaten", and to keep the meat, even salted, in a roast summer time almost impossible. The winter corned beef has already ended. Yes, even if it remained, it would hardly be edible.

But then the cattle ate. However, the newly begun fast - Spasovka - again pushes the bowl of fatty cabbage soup away from the peasant's mouth. And the meat would be useful to him, because this is the time of hard field work, harvesting, grain harvest.

And these are only large fasts, and after all, meat-eating periods are also riddled with weekly lean environments and Fridays.

However, a man of progressive views, A.N. Engelhardt sees the reason for the peasants' strict observance of fasts in their poverty. “Of course, there’s nothing to say,” he notes, “if there were enough meat, lard, milk, cottage cheese, then no one would hold posts in the village in the summer ... I am right, and a rich official who enjoys juicy steak from the tenderloin, and the poor student, chewing the sole in the kitchenmaster's soup, and the cabman, consuming corned beef in cabbage soup, because they only have meat food, because the mass of farmers eats exclusively plant food and the children of these farmers do not have enough milk. " Well, as they say, the professor of the Agricultural Institute in St. Petersburg looked at the root, for which, apparently, he was exiled to the Smolensk province.

So, as A. N. Engelhardt convincingly proved, the Russian peasants did not consider meat a necessary everyday product. Much more importance was attached to fats. It is no coincidence that when they wanted to emphasize the prosperity of this or that person, they said about him that he eats "fatty", "oily." rich, buttery ". The best in the village were the cabbage soup, which is so fat that "you can't blow it." And in the broth, it was not the strength that was appreciated, but the fat content.

Treating the welcome guest, the hostess certainly tried to pour in more vegetable oil in his bowl, be it mushrooms, potatoes or fish.

Among others, animal fats were especially valued: lard, internal fat in all animals going for meat. Internal fat was melted, poured into pots and stored in cellars. Pieces lard(lard) was salted and packed in boxes, barrels, and sometimes they were stuffed into intestines and kept like that. The culinary use of lard has always been very wide. Soups, cereals, vegetable dishes were served with it, and they were fried on it. So, lard is perhaps the best fat for cooking. minced cutlet, meat fillings... Unfortunately, today you can hardly find it on the shelves of our stores.

In the southern provinces of Russia, crushed bacon (often with garlic) was used to fill cabbage soup and borscht, and it was added to other soups as well. Fried pieces of lard were often served with potatoes and cereals, but these so-called "cracklings" are more common among Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Of course, lard (lard), like meat, was not for most of the common people. everyday food... It decorated peasant tables in holidays, they took him on the road.

For the future, not only bacon was harvested, but also meat (most often beef). It was smoked, dried and, of course, salted. The meat to be salted was put into barrels and filled with brine (for 15 pounds of beef, one pound of salt was taken). The salt was usually pan-fired before use. Sometimes, in addition to salt, saltpeter was also used, which gave the meat a beautiful reddish color.

Meat prepared in this way was called corned beef. During the summer period, it was the main meat food for most of the population. According to their nutritional properties corned beef is no match for fresh meat. A significant part of meat contained nutrients dissolves in brine when salted. So, corned beef is poorer in protein than fresh meat, about three times. Salt coarsens the muscle fibers in meat, making it harder for the body to digest. But we had to put up with all this, because there were no low-temperature refrigerators at that time.

By the way, about refrigerators. Their predecessors in Russia were glaciers, into which ice was delivered from rivers and lakes. In winter, from time immemorial, meat and other perishable products for sale were stored on the ice of the river. Ambrogio Contarini, already mentioned by us, described the winter market in Moscow in the 15th century in the following way: “At the end of October, the river flowing through the city all freezes; shops for various goods are built on it, and all the bazaars take place there, and then almost nothing is sold in the city.

By the end of November, the owners of cows and pigs beat them and take them to the city for sale. So from time to time, in whole carcasses, they are delivered for sale to the city market, and it is pure pleasure to look at this huge number of cows skinned from the skins, which were put on the ice of the river for the night. Thus, people can eat meat for more than three months in a row. The same is done with fish, chickens and other foodstuffs. "

Meat contains in significant quantities all essential amino acids, fats, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins B1, B2, PP.

Of course, depending on the type of meat, its category, the content of nutrients in it varies significantly. So, beef is inferior in fat content to lamb, and that, in turn, to pork. It is not a leader in vitamins either, but it surpasses other types of meat in many minerals.

It is also useful to know that lamb has about 2.5 times less cholesterol than beef and 4 times less than pork.

In a store or in the market, many, especially young housewives, think about which meat from what is on the counter to take for soup or, for example, for cutlets. In order not to be mistaken in this, you need to have at least the most approximate information about cutting meat for sale and its purpose.

Russian cuisine is not only cabbage soup, porridge, baked pigs and pickles. And Russian technologies for cooking and preserving food are not limited to simmering in the oven and salting. We have quite a few other ways. About three of them, forgotten and not so much, AiF-Kuhne told Anna Sokolova, owner of the Russian diner BERIOZKA... It is especially valuable that we can use these technologies right now, although we do not have a Russian stove at hand:

Urinating

Everyone knows pickled apples are made in this way - by soaking. But besides the apples, which we prepared back in the fall, you can cook any berries... The peculiarity of our berries, lingonberries, viburnum, mountain ash, cranberries ... yes, almost all that grow in the north - bitterness. They knit to varying degrees and bitterness to varying degrees. But they are also very useful. Most often we freeze them for the winter. Or we make jam. But soaking is much better and tastier than jam.

The berries are soaked in own juice, with spices and not big amount Sahara. We also add water, but very little. Best to soak straight frozen berry... If you have frozen cranberries and lingonberries for the winter - now is the time to get them, pour a little water, add cloves and cinnamon, a little sugar. No heat treatment, no loss of vitamins. In Russia, earlier this was the only way berries were harvested. The berries will be ready in 4-5 days.

Soaked berries can be served with fish, meat, they can be used to decorate salads or even just eat like that, instead of jam with tea - they are very tasty.

Sagging

This method is rarely used now. Its essence is in hanging a piece of meat, it can be game, beef, poultry. But this is not drying.

We all know how meat is dried in Italy and Spain, we all know jamon and prosciutto. We have something completely different. The fact is that when you eat jamon, you feel that the meat has been dried in the warm wind, in the heat, under the sun. We have a completely different temperature, which means that the processes in the meat are different, and the taste is also completely different.

Hang meat or poultry at a temperature slightly above 0 degrees. Previously, this was done in the entryway. It was warm in the hallway, and cold seeped from the street. Therefore, the temperature there constantly kept close to zero.

Photo: AiF / Maria Tikhmeneva

Before hanging, the meat was rubbed with salt, marinated in spicy herbs... This killed bacteria and allowed the meat to last longer. This is what we are now playing with taste, but before everything was subordinated to one idea - to keep the product as long as possible. The pieces were small. For example, you can hang the breast of a duck, and cut into pieces larger than the palm of the venison.

By time: the duck will be ready in 3-4 days, the venison will hang for a week. The main thing is that the meat does not freeze, otherwise nothing will work.

After we have hung it, we freeze it a little and cut it very thinly.

Photo: AiF / Maria Tikhmeneva

Scrapbook

The meaning is the same as that of sagging, as long as possible to preserve what was taken during the hunt in the fall. Actually, a staple is more of a cutting method. Just imagine, your meat is very rare. Since autumn, the carcass or half-carcass of an animal is stored on ice, and you cook it only on major holidays. And suddenly appeared Dear guests, which urgently needs to be treated well. The hostess cannot cut off a single piece from her carcass, all the ice cream, she can only scrape off. And from such thin, torn pieces of meat to cook something. For example, a dish that looks like beef stroganoff. So you can cut not only meat, but also fish, if it is large enough. Let's remember that this is nothing more than a fish scraper, only it is not cooked, but served directly ice cream.

Meat bottle

Recipe of Kirill Eliseev, chef of BERIOZKA cafe

• 20 g frozen duck fillet
• 50 g frozen beef fillet
• 50 g frozen pork fillet
• 50 g tomatoes
• 20 g champignons
• 15 g porcini mushrooms
• 10 g pickles
• 45 ml heavy cream
• 40 g hard mozzarella
• 1 potato
• 15 ml vegetable oil
• Soaked lingonberry
• Salt and pepper

Step 1. Cooking mushroom sauce... Cut onions and pickles into strips, champignons arbitrarily into 4-6 pieces, porcini mushrooms into large cubes.

Step 3. Stew the cucumbers for a few minutes. We combine all the components and fill with cream.

Step 4. Bring to a boil, evaporate a little. Salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5. Cut thin slices of frozen duck, beef and pork with a sharp knife.

Step 6. Fry the meat in vegetable oil, add the diced tomatoes and mushroom sauce, bring to a boil.

Step 7. We put everything in a heat-resistant pan, sprinkle with grated cheese on top and send it to the oven preheated to 270C. We bake until golden brown.

Step 8. While the scraper is baking, prepare the potato chips. Peel the potatoes, rinse them, cut them into slices 2 mm thick, rinse them again in running water and fry them in deep fat or in a pan with a lot of vegetable oil. Put the finished chips on paper towel to absorb excess fat. Salt to taste.

Step 9. Sprinkle the finished scraper potato chips and pour with soaked lingonberries.

According to Herodotus, “heating with stones” was widespread among the Scythians. It consisted in the fact that hot stones were thrown into a pit filled with water until the water boiled. After that, meat was cooked in it. Often the Scythians baked meat in ash.

In Kievan Rus, our ancestors, along with agriculture, were engaged in cattle breeding, hunting and fishing. This determined the traditional set of products in the diet of a Russian person.

Of course, in ancient times, the main source of animal protein was animal meat and fish. Horse meat did not play a significant role in the diet of Russian people, although there was no ritual ban on its use before the spread of Christianity. The chronicles mention the use of horse meat for food, but they always talk about exceptional cases - hunger, campaigns, siege of cities, etc.

Before the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the slaughter of cattle was in the nature of sacrifices, but with the adoption of Christianity, the population began to observe Christian fasts and meat-eaters. Artisans, butchers, tanners, and bone cutters appeared.

Naturally, already in the 9th century, techniques for preparing rather complex meat dishes were developed.

Range and technology meat dishes Russian cuisine was formed by claims under the influence of a number of factors, and above all the development of culinary technology.

With the advent of pottery, cooking began to be used, and together with the Russian stove (about 3 thousand years ago) it became firmly established in everyday life. complex dishes cooked in pots: boiled and stewed.

Among the cold meats of old Russian cuisine, one should first of all mention ham with kvass, fried fresh pork hams with horseradish on kvass or crushed garlic with kvass, corned beef with horseradish, steamed piglets, all kinds of jellies, fried geese and game with pickles, pickled or pickled plums, lemon. Cold snacks for festive feasts made out especially carefully.

The common people had meat on the table only in big holidays... The name of the dish has been preserved: fried meat with onions - "feast".

Veal for a long time in Russia they did not eat, and the use of it for food by Dmitry the Pretender (1605-1606) caused a storm of indignation, as a violation of the customs of his native country. Initially, this ban was caused by the peasant's concern for the preservation of the young.

Only at the end of the 18th century veal became an adornment of the banquet tables of the nobility.

Pork and veal were used in Russian cuisine much earlier than beef... In written monuments of the 17th century mutton and pork mentioned more often than beef. "Domostroy" has already given recommendations on the rational use of individual parts of lamb carcasses.

Dishes from meat offal were especially loved and considered a delicacy.

Before the epoch of Peter I, cattle were killed in markets, in the hallways of houses, in special "meat huts", on wastelands, on the banks of rivers or in an open place near ravines. Peter I ordered the construction of slaughterhouses and issued decrees regulating the meat trade. "In the rows and places where canteens are sold, keep everything healthy ... If someone does not fix it according to this and is caught, he will be whipped for the first fault, sent to hard labor for the second, and the death penalty for the third."

At this time, the production of salted and smoked meat for the army on an unprecedented scale that contributed to the development of sausage production.

The 18th century was a century of turbulent transformation. They touched and kitchen appliances... Peter I also introduced kitchen stoves.

Of course, the reform first affected the palace kitchen, then the houses of rich people, and only much later began to penetrate into the life of the townspeople, and it reached the peasant cuisine only at the beginning of the 20th century. Our taverns also kept old traditions for a long time, and new dishes penetrated them slowly.

Continued to improve and stews... Goulash, stews and other dishes appeared. However, a strange metamorphosis occurred with goulash in Russia: in Hungary it is liquid soup from veal with sour cream, and with us it turned into thick second dish with sour cream and tomato.

A relatively long time ago, such dishes as stuffed vegetables meat products: stuffed cabbage, pumpkin baked with meat, stuffed cabbage, etc. fried meat with onions, covered with a cut top and baked. Among baked dishes The hodgepodge in a frying pan was especially popular. They have been preserved in our cooking since ancient times without any significant changes.

In the first half of the 19th century, the demand for meat products increased, in connection with which many private slaughterhouses were created, and in 1825 the first urban slaughterhouse in Russia began operating in St. Petersburg. However, in technical and veterinary-sanitary terms, the slaughterhouses remained primitive and dirty. The city government, urging to monitor the quality of meat, at the same time wrote: "... but with the least possible violation of the economic interests of the livestock owners and the livestock trade."

In 1846, a committee was formed to develop a draft of model slaughterhouses. However, the Duma allocated funds for their construction only in 1879 and they were opened in 1882. This date can be considered the beginning of streamlining the slaughterhouse business in Russia. MA Ignatiev, Master of Veterinary Sciences, made a huge contribution to it. He also organized the first meat museum in Russia at the slaughterhouse, in which public lectures on food sanitation were read and classes were held with students of the school. culinary arts Russian Society for the Protection of Public Health.

In 1857, the "Medical Charter" was issued in Russia, in which for the first time the rules governing the slaughter of livestock were formulated in legislation. They stated that "only skilled people can be butchers, so as not to spoil good livestock, to beat livestock only in slaughterhouses, not to sell dead and killed in a sick condition, and not to inflate meat in order to give it a better look."

The simplest methods of preserving meat have been known since antiquity. In particular, animal meat was prepared for future use by smoking in smoke. In the middle of the XIX century. in Russia, the production of pork for the production of smoked meats is increasing. Apparatuses and devices, spices and spices for the production of smoked meats and sausages.

At the beginning of the XX century. factories producing equipment for the preparation of sausages and smoked meats were opened in Moscow (" Trading house Fritz Fürle "and" Werner and Pfleiderer ").