Old Russian cuisine recipes. Ancient Russian cuisine

Many traditional old dishes today are not only not eaten, but many have not been heard of. These dishes were prepared in a Russian oven. Basically, meals were prepared from whole grain products, the benefits of which are obvious.

PRISON

The most common old fasting dish is a bowl of cold salted water with slices of bread and chopped onions floating in it.
Raw vegetables, leaves, roots, herbs, edible wild ones were also added to tyuryu.
1 liter of water, 2 tbsp. spoons of small crackers from rye bread, 1 onion, 1 tbsp. spoon of fresh finely chopped plantain, 1 tbsp. spoon of finely chopped fresh quinoa, salt, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of vegetable oil.

VOLE

This is a stew made from rye flour, or rather from fermented rye dough - raschiny. Raschin was set the day before, and when it turned sour enough, a vole was prepared from it. Boil water in a pot, add salt, bay leaf, onion, rasschin and beat with a beater (whorl). The vole was seasoned with onions, dried mushrooms, dried fish, and snapshots.

MALT

Malt was eaten during the days of the Great and Christmas fasts.
This is a liquid dish, something like a dessert: sweet and sour in taste. Made from rye malt, i.e. rye grain, well germinated, dried, ground and sifted.
Water was boiled in a clay pot, cooled, malt was added and nailed (stirred intensively) with a whorl so that there were no lumps.
The pot was put on the fire, and while the Russian stove was languishing, the malt was warm.

Bits of ice or snow were occasionally thrown into the malt pot to keep it from overheating. At the same time, the malt liquefied, and rye malt was also added to it from time to time, adding a little and stirring frequently. When the malting process is completed (this is distributed according to the degree of sweetness), the pot is placed in the oven, brought to a boil, immediately removed from the oven, cooled quickly, a crust of rye bread is lowered into the pot and, covered with a clean towel on top, put in a warm place.

Malt is infused, turns sour, acquires a bready sweet and sour taste, honey aroma and a pinkish color.

KULAG RYE

Kulagu was made from rye malt and tasted sweet. However, you can cook it with rye flour.
Rye flour is poured into boiling water and boiled until the jelly is thick. Then they add a piece of ice (in the villages they put pure snow), close it tightly with a lid and put it in a Russian oven for a day. Ready kulaga - pink. To taste it is seasoned with honey.

MISSION-TOPPLE

Sifted wheat flour is poured into boiling sweetened water, boiled. Spread the mixture in a greased frying pan, make a deepening in the middle, pour melted butter there and bake until golden brown. Served with curdled milk.

OATMEAL

In the XVI and XVII centuries. oatmeal made from oatmeal with water was in great use.
This dish was made from oats, aged overnight in a warm Russian oven. At the same time, the flour obtained from such a grain lost its ability to form gluten, but it swelled well in water and quickly thickened. Oatmeal was kneaded with chilled boiled water, seasoned with salt.

LOGAZA

This is porridge made from barley groats, it is boiled with lentils or peas.
Rub a handful of boiled peas, dilute with broth. Pour barley groats, salt, cook for 20 minutes. Eat this porridge with vegetable oil, honey or sugar.

KOLIVO

Rinse barley groats, boil in water over moderate heat, removing foam all the time. As soon as the cereal begins to secrete mucus, drain the excess water, transfer the porridge to another bowl, add milk and cook until the cereal is soft and thick, stirring all the time.

Prepare the poppy: pour boiling water over it, let it steam, drain the water after 5 minutes, rinse the poppy seeds, pour boiling water again and drain as soon as fat droplets appear on the surface of the water.
Grind the steamed poppy in a mortar, adding half a teaspoon of boiling water to each tablespoon of poppy. Poppy mix with thickened, softened barley porridge, adding honey, heat for 5 minutes, stirring continuously, remove from heat, season with jam or honey.

2 cups of barley groats, 3 liters of water, 1 cup of milk, 0.75-1 cup of poppy seeds, 2-3 tbsp. spoons of honey, 2 tbsp. spoons of cranberry or currant jam.

JUR (JUR)

Ever since the time of Vladimir Monomakh, the villagers ate jur - a dish of oatmeal (oatmeal jelly). Dried apples, cherries, viburnum, sometimes vegetable oil, honey were added to the jur (zhur). Ate with milk.
Oatmeal is diluted with warm water and put in a warm place for 2-3 hours so that the dough rises. Then filter and put to boil, constantly stirring the porridge.
Oat flour - 800 g, water - 2 cups.

As you can see, our native dishes are simple, but at the same time rich in taste and BENEFITS.

Some traditional old dishes are not only not eaten today, but many have not been heard of. Perhaps this happened because they were characteristic of the peasant environment, and were uncommon in the urban, petty-bourgeois environment. Remember the immortal Nekrasov: “Eat prison, Yasha, there is no milk ...” Yes, and they cooked these dishes in a Russian oven. It is often impossible to cook them on a gas or electric stove.

Recipes

To flow down the mustache and into the mouth

Russian cuisine has a very rich and, if I may say so, intricate history. She constantly assimilated the recipes of different peoples, often altered them in her own way, “peeped” something and took notes.

In 1816, the Tula landowner Levshin decided to compile the first (in the 19th century!) cookbook with Russian dishes. Then he complained, the poor fellow, that because of the numerous borrowings, the information was “completely destroyed”: “it is now impossible to present a complete description of the Russian cookery and should be content only with what can still be collected from the memory left, because the history of Russian cookery has never been devoted to the description ".

Nevertheless, thanks to numerous studies of European chefs, who were “discharged” by fashion to rich houses, it was possible to restore the history of the original Russian cuisine bit by bit and even return some of the old traditions that have survived to this day.

Where cabbage soup, look for us here

Contrary to popular belief, our national soup is not borscht at all, but cabbage soup. Shchi is the head of the whole dinner, they said in the old days. At first it was a soup, most often from fish or on bread, seasoned with cabbage and herbs.

There are two main components in real cabbage soup: sour dressing (cabbage pickle or apples, later sour cream appeared) and cabbage (although there could be other vegetables: For example, sorrel is put in green cabbage soup). In poor homes, soup could only consist of this. But meat (mushrooms or fish), roots (carrots, parsley), spicy dressings (onions, garlic, celery) were added to classic cabbage soup.

First, boil the broth with roots and onions, then add vegetables and sour dressing. By the way, sauerkraut was cooked separately from the meat broth and only then added. Spices should be put at the end of cooking.

In some areas, flour dressing was used in cabbage soup - for greater density. Then they abandoned it, believing that it worsens the aroma and taste of the soup. And they began to put potatoes in the dish.

After cooking, cabbage soup should definitely “simmer” under the lid. Sometimes they were put in a warm oven for several hours, or even for a whole day. Hence the name cabbage soup - diurnal.

One brush - soup pot

Ukha is not a "duty" of fishermen's wives, but another traditional Russian soup. After all, for the first time, cabbage soup was cooked in fish broth. There are no recipes for this soup. We offer to try the "royal fish soup" from sturgeon.

A real ear is cooked in a cast-iron bowl. Better, of course, in the oven and on birch wood. Well, also, of course, it would be nice to have recently caught sturgeon, but then someone will be as lucky.

For three liters of water you need 400 grams of sturgeon, 700 grams of potatoes, 2 large onions. All this languishes in the oven for at least an hour.

Buckwheat from Kulikovo field

Well, what's new to tell you about pancakes? This dish appeared in our country in the 9th century. And it has become so popular that now there are more than a hundred of its varieties. However, in Rus' most pancakes were made with buckwheat flour. Here, for example, is a popular old recipe from Kulikovo Field - buckwheat. The recipe is not from the warriors, of course, but from the inhabitants of nearby villages.

Prepare 4 cups of buckwheat flour, 20 grams of yeast, 4.5 cups of milk, salt to taste. We breed yeast with half a glass of warm milk, but not just like that, but in a wooden tub. Add another one and a half glasses of milk, pour in two glasses of flour, constantly stirring the dough. We put in a warm place.

When the volume of the dough doubled, our great-great-grandmothers added the remaining flour, milk and salt and put it back in a warm place. When the dough came up again, the pancakes were baked in a cast-iron pan in hemp oil.

Drink kvass, disperse melancholy

Kvass was one of the main drinks of the Russian table. After all, tea, having appeared, was at first too expensive for a simple person. So, kvass was not only drunk, but used as a “broth” for cold and even hot soups. In the 15th century, there were more than five hundred recipes for this drink. Moreover, they made it not only from bread, but also from vegetables, for example, beets or turnips.

The simplest recipe is rustic rye white kvass. Rye flour (2-3 tablespoons) and water are mixed to the density of sour cream, two tablespoons (per half-liter jar) of honey and a few raisins are added for quick fermentation. Add rye sourdough with warm water and leave for a couple of days in a warm place. Then the sourdough is poured into a three-liter jar, topped up with water, 2 tablespoons of honey and two tablespoons of rye flour are added.

After a few days, we drain the liquid and get “young kvass”. Honey is added to it to taste, and for a couple of days it goes to a cold cellar.

And the thickening remaining after draining the young kvass is again diluted with water, adding flour and honey and we already get mature kvass. Each time, the leaven becomes more vigorous, and the kvass cooks faster.

Sbiten-sbitenek drinks a dandy

Mentions of this drink can be found in the annals of the XII century. Sbiten - drink from water, honey and spices. Again, until the tea table became commonplace, sbiten was one of the most popular drinks. Too bad it's almost forgotten. Let's try to cook "Moscow sbiten" - it's not so difficult.

For 5 liters of water you will need 200 grams of honey, a kilogram of white molasses, 2 teaspoons of ginger, 2 grams of cinnamon, 5 cloves, 5 tablespoons of dry mint, 3 star anise, 10 black peppercorns, 7 cardamom pieces.

In boiling water, you need to dissolve molasses and honey. Boil for 15 minutes, add spices and boil for another ten minutes. We filter. Ready!

Eat prison, Yasha!

A very simple meal. In fact, tyurya is salted cold water with pieces of bread and chopped onions. Finely chopped vegetables and roots (turnips, for example), greens and herbs, yogurt were added to it. Recall that it was prison that Tolstoy's hero Konstantin Levin ate with pleasure in the middle of summer mowing. We also hope that summer will soon return to the prescribed regime, and in the midst of summer cares, you will use the following recipe.

For a liter of water, you will need two 2 tablespoons of small rye bread crackers, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped plantain, the same amount of finely chopped quinoa, salt. Place plantain and quinoa in boiling salted water, bring to a boil quickly, remove from heat immediately and cool to room temperature. Before serving, add the rest of the ingredients.

Berry-viburnum beckoned us to itself

Pies are still one of the favorite Russian dishes. But you probably haven't heard of Kalinnik yet. And in the old days - it was a very common recipe.

There was a special relationship with Kalina in general. After all, this is a symbol of girlish tenderness, the viburnum bush attracts prosperity to the house. Clusters of these berries were used to decorate wedding loaves and towels.

For Kalinnik you will need rye flour, viburnum, yeast, sugar and salt.

300 grams of berries are dried and ground into powder. Brew 200 grams of boiling water to make puree. Rye flour is added to it, kneading the dough (about 500 grams of flour). Form a cake and bake. Traditionally, the pie should be bland. But you can add some sugar.

You can't feed a Russian peasant without porridge

It is not clear why, but we have reduced porridge to "tasteless and healthy" food. In fact, we simply do not know how to cook it! But without her, dear, the festive table in the old days could not do. Even a peace treaty could not enter into force until the opponents had eaten porridge.

Porridges were very different - buckwheat, millet, spelled (wheat), oats ... Barley porridge was a favorite of Peter I. And it is also mentioned dozens of times in the Bible.

It was cooked in a clay pot in an oven. For a liter of milk you need two glasses of barley groats, salt. Bring the milk to a boil, add salt, add the cereal and cook until it thickens. And then we send it to languish in the oven. Read in the oven. And do it.

Turnip - meat, cut and eat

Until the 18th century, turnip was the main ingredient in Russian cuisine. They did not know about any potatoes then. The turnip was boiled, steamed, baked, added to soups and pies.

In a modern way, steaming a turnip is like steaming it. The root crop must be peeled, cut into slices, put in a pot, pour in a little water and send to the oven to languish at an average temperature (about 120 degrees) for 2 hours.

Steamed turnips were eaten with butter and salt. Or with honey.

Good words, but not all gingerbread

Gingerbreads were known in Rus' even before the adoption of Christianity. Such a variety of recipes for this dessert is not found in any country.

We got an old recipe for real Tula gingerbread. It doesn't really have exact proportions. So you have to do it by eye.

Liquid honey and eggs are added to soft butter, beaten well. Knead the dough by adding flour, water and baking soda.

For the filling, apples are boiled with sugar. You should get a thick jam.

Roll out two layers of dough. Chilled filling is placed between them. Gingerbread goes to bake in the oven.

At the end, you can apply a glaze of beaten egg white and sugar.

The culinary traditions of the Russian people are rooted in antiquity. Even in pre-Christian Rus', when Maslenitsa was celebrated and bloodless sacrifices were made to the gods, such once ritual dishes as porridge, pancakes, spring larks and others were known. The Slavs were engaged in arable farming, growing rye, barley, wheat, oats, and 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, raise them to the sky and say: “Lord, you who have given us food until now, give us it and now in abundance.”

A little later, a ritual porridge appears - kutya. It was prepared from cereals with the addition of honey. The Slavs cooked ordinary porridge from flour, for which they ground the grains, in water or in milk. Bread was baked from flour - first unleavened cakes, and then kalachi and pies cooked with honey.
In Rus', they were also engaged in the cultivation of garden crops. The most popular were cabbage, cucumbers, turnips, swedes and radishes.

Ancient chronicles that told about the fate of the state, wars and disasters, however, sometimes mentioned facts, one way or another related to food and nutrition.

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

Year 969 - Prince Svyatoslav says that the city of Pereyaslavl is conveniently located - "various vegetables" from Greece and honey from Russia converge there. Already at that time, the table of Russian princes and rich people was decorated with salted lemons, raisins, walnuts and other gifts from Eastern countries, and honey was not only an everyday food product, but also an object 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 does not speak about beef, not about 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 still remarkable. This means that there was no ban on eating horse meat in Rus', but they used it, probably, in exceptional cases. This is also evidenced by the relatively small proportion of horse bones in kitchen waste found by archaeologists.

Usually, to characterize, as we would now say "price index", the cost of products of daily demand is indicated. So, another chronicler reports that in the lean year of 1215 in Novgorod "there was a cartload 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 taken around the city and distributed to the people. The squad grumbled that she 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 "cezh" and cook jelly.

So, bit by bit, you can collect in our chronicles a lot of interesting information about nutrition in the 10th-11th centuries. Describing the simplicity of the manners of Prince Svyatoslav (964), the chronicler says that the prince did not take wagons with him on campaigns and did not cook meat, but thinly sliced ​​horse meat, beef or beast, ate them, baked on coals.

Charcoal roasting 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. In historical literary monuments of the 15th-16th centuries, chickens, geese, and hares are often referred to as "twisted", that is, on a spit. But still, the usual, most common way of preparing meat dishes was boiling and frying in large pieces in Russian ovens.

For a long time, cooking was a purely family affair. They were in charge, as a rule, of the oldest woman in the family. Professional cooks first appeared at the princely courts, and then in the monastery refectories.

Cooking in Rus' stood out as 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 Caves Monastery there was a whole kitchen with a large staff of monks-cooks. Prince Gleb had an "elder cook" named Torchin, the first Russian cook known to us.

The monastic cooks were very skillful. Prince Izyaslav, who visited the borders of the Russian land, who had seen a lot, especially loved the "meals" of the Pechersk monks. There is even a description of the work of cooks of that era:

“And put on the sackcloth and sackcloth of the retinue of the votolyan, and began to create ugliness, and began to help the cooks, cooking for the brothers ... And after matins, you went to the cookhouse, and prepared fire, water, firewood, and I’ll come and take the other cook to take away.”

During the time of Kievan Rus, cooks were in the service of princely courts and rich houses. Some of them even had several chefs. This is evidenced by the description of one of the rich man's houses of the 12th century, which mentions a lot of "sokachi", i.e. cooks, "working and doing with darkness" .

Russian chefs sacredly kept the traditions of folk cuisine, which served as the basis of their professional skills, as evidenced by the oldest written monuments - "Domostroy" (XVI century), "Painting for the royal dishes" (1611-1613), table books of Patriarch Filaret and boyar Boris Ivanovich Morozov, monastic account books, etc. They often mention folk dishes - cabbage soup, fish soup, cereals, pies, pancakes, kulebyaki, pies, kissels, kvass, honey and others.

The nature of the preparation of Russian cuisine dishes is largely due to the peculiarities of the Russian stove, which for centuries faithfully served as a hearth for ordinary city people, and noble boyars, and townspeople. It is impossible to imagine Ancient Rus' both without log huts and without the famous Russian stove.

The Russian stove, with its mouth, was always turned towards the doors, so that the smoke could exit the hut through the open doors into the vestibule in the shortest way. The stoves in the chicken huts were large; several dishes could be cooked in them at the same time. Despite the fact that the food sometimes gave off a little smoke, the Russian oven had its 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 cast iron, frying fish and poultry in large pieces, an abundance of stews and baked dishes, a wide range of baked goods - pies, krupeniks, pies, kulebyak, etc.

Since the 16th century, we can talk about the differences in the cuisine of the monastery, rural and royal. Vegetables, herbs, herbs and fruits played the main role in the monastery. They formed the basis of the diet of the monks, especially during fasting. Rural cuisine was less rich and varied, but also refined in its own way: at least 15 dishes were supposed to be served at a festive dinner. Lunch is generally the main meal in Rus'. In the old days, in more or less wealthy houses, on a long table of strong oak boards, covered with an embroidered tablecloth, four dishes were served in turn: a cold appetizer, soup, the second - usually meat in non-fasting times - and pies or pies, which were eaten "for dessert ".
Starters were very different, but the main among them were all sorts of salads - a mixture of finely chopped vegetables, usually boiled, to which you could add anything - from an apple to cold veal. From them came, in particular, a vinaigrette known to every Russian home. By the end of the 17th century, jelly became popular (from the word "chilled", that is, cold: firstly, jelly must be cold, otherwise it will spread on a plate; secondly, they usually ate it in winter, from Christmas to Epiphany, that is, in coldest time of the year). At the same time, fish soup made from various fish, corned beef and sausages appeared. Pickle amazed foreigners with its refined taste. Shchi - remember the proverb: "Schi and porridge is our food" - so, shchi 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. Medovukha - a drink based on bee honey - was stronger, and then vodka appeared. But bread kvass has been the main Russian drink since ancient times. With what they didn’t do it - from raisins to mint!

But at the feasts of the boyars, a huge number of dishes began to appear, reaching up to fifty. At the royal table, 150-200 were served. Lunches lasted 6-8 hours in a row and included almost a dozen courses, each of which in turn consists of two dozen dishes of the same name: a dozen varieties of fried game, salted fish, a dozen varieties of pancakes and pies.

Dishes were prepared from a whole animal or plant, all kinds of grinding, grinding and crushing of food were used only in fillings for pies. Yes, and very moderately. Fish for pies, for example, were not crushed, but plastified.

At feasts, it was customary to drink honey before the feast, as an appetite stimulant, and after it, at the conclusion of feasts. Food was washed down with kvass and beer. This happened until the 15th century. In the 15th century, “bread wine”, i.e. vodka, appeared in Russia.

In the 17th century, the order of serving dishes began to change (this applies to a rich festive table). Now it consisted of 6-8 changes and only one dish was served in each change:
- hot (soup, stew, fish soup);
- cold (okroshka, botvinya, jelly, jellied fish, corned beef);
- roast (meat, poultry);
- body (boiled or fried hot fish);
- unsweetened 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: Sovereign: 1 submission: Romanes, Bastra, Rensky, for purchase; 2nd serving: malmazei, muskatel, alkane, for purchase w; 3rd serving: cypresses, French wines, church wines, for purchase; red honey: 1 serving: cherry, raspberry, currant, ladle each; 2 serving: 2 buckets of raspberry honey, a bucket of boyar honey; 3 serving: 2 buckets of juniper honey, a bucket of wild cherry honey; white honey: 1 serving: 2 buckets of molasses honey with nails, a bucket of bucket honey; 2 serving: 2 ladles of honey with a musket, a ladle of bucket honey; 3 serving: 2 buckets of honey with cardamom, a bucket of bucket honey. In total about the Great Sovereign: Romanes, Bastra, Rhenskago, Malmazei, Mushkatel, Alkane, Kinarev, French wine, Church wine, 6 mugs each, and 6 glasses of vodka; red honey: cherry, raspberry, currant, bone, wild cherry, juniper, scalded, ladle each; white honey: bucket with cloves, with musket, with cardamom, 8 mugs each, 9 mugs of sugar. About the boyars, and about the roundabout, and about the thoughtful people, and about the ambassadors, and about the royal nobles: 2 mugs of anise vodka from romanea, cinnamon also, 8 mugs of boyar vodka, 5 buckets of romanea boyar, too, 5 buckets of bastra, 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 list.

However, despite the difference in the number of dishes for the rich and the poor, the nature of the food retained national features. The division happened later, from the time of Peter the Great.

The formation of Russian cuisine was also influenced by cultural exchange with neighboring peoples. Immediately, as soon as after the baptism, Slavic writing came to Rus' from Bulgaria, books began to be translated and copied, and not only liturgical ones. At this time, the Russian reader, little by little, gets acquainted with literary works, historical chronicles, natural scientific works, collections of sayings. In a very short historical period - during the time of Vladimir and especially his son Yaroslav - Rus' joins the culture of Bulgaria and Byzantium, Russian people assimilate the heritage of ancient Greece, Rome and the Ancient East. Along with the development of spiritual and cultural life in Rus', the introduction of church canons significantly changed the nature of nutrition. Spices and seasonings came 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 arrived in Muscovy - "skillful men, highly experienced not only in painting icons, but also in kitchen art." Acquaintance with Greek-Byzantine cuisine turned out to be very useful for our cuisine.

No less strong was the influence on Russian cuisine and our eastern neighbors - India. China, Persia. The first Russian people who visited these countries brought many new impressions from there. Russians learned a lot from the famous book by Athanasius Nikitin "Journey Beyond Three Seas" (1466-1472), which contains a description of foods unfamiliar in Rus' - dates, ginger, coconut, pepper, cinnamon. And the book of Vasily Gagara (written in 1634-1637) expanded the horizons of our compatriots. They learned about the products used by the inhabitants of the Caucasus and the Middle East. Here are his observations on how sugar was produced in the East: “Yes, in the same Egypt reeds will be born, and sugar is made from it. And they dig reeds near the sea ... and when the reeds ripen, and eat them like there is honeycomb.

But our ancestors mastered not only the practical methods of cooking. They also thought about the essence of the phenomena occurring at the same time. A long time ago they mastered the secrets of making yeast dough, which is mentioned in the chronicles: the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra knew how to cook custard bread that did not stale for a long time.

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

“The wheat is crushed and grinded, and the flour is sowed, and the dough is kneaded and sour.” Or: “And kvass for them to sour with sour thickening, and not with yeast.” "Kvass separates the mating and pasting of the dough and makes the bread liquid and buhon."

And other literary sources confirm the knowledge of Russian people in the field of food. So, in the "Book, the verb is a cool heliport" (XVII century) contains numerous discussions about the difference, for example, cow's milk from goat's, rabbit's meat from bear's, etc. It is curious that even then Russian people had an idea about the antiseptic properties of protein : “Egg white is put into medicine ... for sores and for all sorts of subcutaneous wounds. It also helps protein to oprelin, soak it in hot water and apply it ”(section“ about chicken eggs ”).

For a general idea of ​​nutrition in ancient times in Rus', here are a few culinary recipes for dishes that were popular at that time.

Turnip stuffed. Turnips are washed, boiled in water until soft, cooled, the skin is scraped off, the core is cut out. The taken out pulp is finely chopped, minced meat is added and turnips are filled with this stuffing. Sprinkle grated cheese on top, drizzle with butter and bake.

Oatmeal jelly. Pour the cereal with 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 constantly, until thickened. Add milk to hot jelly, mix, pour into buttered bowls, put in the cold. When the jelly hardens, cut it into portions and serve with cold boiled milk or yogurt.

"Pea block". Peas are completely boiled and crushed, the resulting puree is seasoned with salt and molded (you can use molds, cups, etc., oiled). The formed pea puree is laid out on a plate and poured over with sunflower oil with fried onions, sprinkled with herbs.

Peasant bread soup. Fry small dry crusts of white bread in fat with finely chopped parsley and finely chopped onions, then pour water, salt, pepper and bring to a boil. Whisking constantly, pour the beaten eggs into the soup in a thin stream. This soup, which tastes like meat, should be served immediately.

Sbiten-zhzhenka. To get burnt, sugar in a spoon is heated over low heat until a dark brown syrup forms. Dissolve honey in 4 cups 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 zhzhenka for color. Serve hot.

"Monastery chicken". Chop the head of cabbage not very finely, put in a clay pot, pour eggs beaten with milk, salt, cover with a frying pan and put in the oven. Cabbage is considered ready when it acquires a beige color.

Today, the Internet community is discussing the adopted law, according to which the import of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and fruits and vegetables from Australia, Canada, EU countries, the USA and Norway will be prohibited into Russia. Whether this is a tragedy or not, only time will tell. However, centuries ago, when some of the mentioned countries were not even on the map, our ancestors got along just fine without imported goods. Texas beef? Nonsense, there are enough of their cows. French cheeses and puddings? Well, no, our great-grandfathers ate sour. And is it really a ban on Norwegian trout that we should be afraid, since the waters of Rus' are full of domestic fish?

We have collected ten recipes of Old Slavonic cuisine, for the preparation of which you will not need anything foreign or foreign - only bright thoughts and a Russian stove.

Ingredients:

flour................................................. .7 glasses
milk.......................................2.5 cups
butter .......................................... 25 g
salt................................................. ..........1 tsp
eggs................................................. .........2 pcs.
sugar................................................. .......1 tbsp. l.
yeast................................................. .....40 g

How to cook:

Mix butter with a glass of curdled milk, add half a teaspoon of soda, a glass of sugar and salt to taste. Add flour (wheat or rye). Roll the mixture into a ball, flatten and cut with a knife. Put in the oven, bake until done.

Gingerbread man can be stuffed - make a filling of pork and beef, finely chop raw potatoes and onions. Put large chunks of butter on top to keep the potatoes soft and juicy.

Ingredients:

honey................................................. .............50 g
water................................................. .............1 l
spices ................................................ by taste

How to cook:

Dilute honey with water, boil, removing foam, strain and cool. After adding mint and cooling, you can drink in the heat, add coriander and cinnamon and warm up - in the cold season.

Simenuha porridge

Ingredients:

buckwheat .........................................300 g
mushrooms................................................. .......100 g;
eggs................................................. ......3–4 pcs.
onion................................................. ............2 pcs.
butter ........................................100 g

How to cook:

We cook ordinary buckwheat under the lid, then boil the mushrooms and hard-boiled eggs, chop. Fry the onion in a frying pan in porridge oil. Add the mixture to the cereal, mix. Serve without butter on fasting days.

Sbiten with herbs

Ingredients:

honey................................................. ...........500 g
water................................................. ...........1.5 l
a mixture of fragrant herbs (St. John's wort, sage, oregano, mint)................................................. .......80 g
spices (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom) ....... 10 g

How to cook:

Dissolve honey in boiling water, mix thoroughly, stand for a day at room temperature. Pour the mixture into a clay pot, boil over low heat for 2 hours with the lid open. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon. 15 minutes before cooking, put herbs and spices in a pot. Serve with gingerbread and cookies.

Yahnia from zucchini

Ingredients:

young zucchini ....................................... 800 g;
onion .............................................. 200 g;
garlic................................................. ........20 g;
vegetable oil .................................................. 80 g;
wheat flour .......................................... 40 g;
vinegar................................................. ...........20 g;
parsley .......................................... 40 g;
salt................................................. ......taste

How to cook:

Peeled zucchini cut into cubes, fry in oil, remove. In a frying pan, sauté finely chopped onion, add fried zucchini, chopped garlic, pour in a little water and simmer until tender. Add finely chopped greens, flour, diluted with vinegar, and salt. Cook over low heat until the water has completely evaporated.

Dairy banner

Ingredients:

flour................................................. ...2 glasses
eggs................................................. .........5 pieces.
milk............................................1/2 cup
sugar...................................................1 /2 glasses

butter......................................100 g
semolina .................................... 2 tbsp. l.
vegetable oil ....................... 1 tbsp. l.
vinegar................................................. .1 st. l.

How to cook:

Make a not-so-cool dough out of flour, 1 egg, vegetable oil, vinegar and water. Roll out the dough into 3-4 layers, lay one on top of the other on a baking sheet, brushing each with melted butter. Boil milk, add sugar, remaining butter and semolina. Cool, mix with beaten eggs. Put the resulting mixture on the layers of dough. Bake the bunnitsa for 30-35 minutes at 180°C. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or cocoa before serving.

Snetovitsa

Ingredients:

dried smelt .........................................300 g
onion................................................. .............2 pcs.
vegetable oil ........................ 3 tbsp. l.
potatoes..............................................6 -8 pcs.
water................................................. .............3 l
sour cream................................................. taste
greens (dill, parsley) ........................ to taste

How to cook:

Rinse smelt (a small form of lake European smelt) in cold water, put into a saucepan. Finely chop the onion, fry in vegetable oil and add to the smelt. Peel potatoes, cut into strips, pour into a saucepan. Mix everything, add water and boil lightly. Ready soup served with sour cream, you can also with herbs.

Pies with navels and bream caviar

Ingredients:

fresh bream caviar
(can be replaced with perch) ........................ 750 g
chicken navels ....................................... 200 g
chopped dill greens .................... 3 tbsp. l.
butter ............................... 1 tbsp. spoon;
egg................................................. ...........1 PC;
salt and ground black pepper ................ to taste

For test:

yeast................................................. .......25 g
water................................................. .....1 glass
sugar................................................. 3 tsp
salt...................................................1 .5 tsp
vegetable oil ....................... 5 tbsp. l.
flour................................................. ....3 glasses

How to cook:

Boil fresh caviar in salt water for 10 minutes, mix with egg and herbs. Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Boil chicken navels. Pour warm water into a bowl, put yeast and sugar, mix thoroughly and put in a warm place until a lush foam forms. Pour vegetable oil into the yeast mass, add 1 cup of flour, salt and mix. Then add the second glass of flour and mix again. Pour the third glass of flour onto the table, dump the dough out of the bowl there and knead the dough with your hands. The dough should not be sticky. Knead thoroughly, form a ball, cover with a clean towel, leave to approach.

When the volume of the dough increases by about 1.5 times, it must be kneaded again, covered with a towel again and left to rise again. When the dough has risen a second time, form pies.

Put the pies on a greased and floured baking sheet with a pinch down, cover with a towel, let stand and grow in a warm place for about 20 minutes. Pies are baked in a Russian oven for about half an hour.

Chowder of Perun

Ingredients:

sour cabbage................................................ ...
meat................................................. .................
sour ................................................. ...............
greenery................................................. ................
garlic................................................. ...............

Ferment milk (take the fattest available), ferment cabbage, chop into small pieces. Grind a large bunch of herbs and garlic cloves. Take specially prepared meat (or its remains), it is advisable to use pig, turkey and black grouse meat. Fry the meat, mix it with sour, add cabbage, herbs and garlic. Infuse up to 48 hours, serve cold.

Boar Roast

Ingredients:

boar meat (can be replaced with pork) ...............
cranberry juice................................................ .
honey................................................. ....................
salo................................................. ...................
kvass................................................. ...................
(all random)

Marinate the meat, cut into medium-sized pieces, pour juice over the upper edge of the pot, add a spoonful of honey and mix. Leave to marinate for 1.5 hours. Cut the fat, fry in a pan, put the meat there, mix thoroughly and fry to taste. When the meat is almost ready, pour 1/4 cup of kvass into the pan, evaporate it. It is recommended to serve the dish in clay pots that retain heat.