What are you having for lunch today? Vegetable salad, borscht, soup, potatoes, chicken? These dishes and products have become so familiar to us that we already consider some of them to be originally Russian. I agree, several hundred years have passed, and they have become firmly established in our diet. And I can’t even believe that people once did without the usual potatoes, tomatoes, sunflower oil, not to mention cheeses or pasta.
Providing food has always been the most important issue in people's lives. Based on climatic conditions and natural resources, each nation developed hunting, cattle breeding and plant growing to a greater or lesser extent.
Kievan Rus as a state was formed in the 9th century AD. By that time, the Slavs' diet consisted of flour products, cereals, dairy products, meat and fish.
The cereals grown were barley, oats, wheat and buckwheat, and rye appeared a little later. Of course, the main food product was bread. IN southern regions It was baked from wheat flour; in the northern regions, rye flour became more widespread. In addition to bread, they also baked pancakes, pancakes, flatbreads, and on holidays - pies (often made from pea flour). Pies could have various fillings: meat, fish, mushrooms and berries.
Pies were made either from unleavened dough, such as is now used for dumplings and dumplings, or from sour dough. It was called that because it was really sour (fermented) in a large special vessel - a kneading bowl. The first time the dough was kneaded from flour and well or river water and placed in a warm place. After a few days the dough began to bubble - it “worked” wild yeast, which are always in the air. Now it could be used for baking. When preparing bread or pies, they left a little dough in the leaven, which was called sourdough, and the next time they just added it to the leaven required quantity flour and water. In every family, the leaven lived for many years, and the bride, if she went to live in her own house, received a leaven with leaven as a dowry.
For a long time in Rus', jelly was considered one of the most common sweet dishes.In Ancient Rus', jelly was prepared on the basis of rye, oat and wheat decoctions, which were sour in taste and had a grayish-brown color, which was reminiscent of the color of the coastal loam of Russian rivers. The jelly turned out to be elastic, reminiscent of jelly and jellied meat. Since there was no sugar in those days, honey, jam or berry syrups were added for taste.
Porridge was very popular in Ancient Rus'. Mostly they were wheat or oatmeal, made from whole grains, which were steamed in the oven for a long time so that they were soft. A great delicacy was rice (Sorochinskoe millet) and buckwheat, which appeared in Rus' along with the Greek monks. Porridges were seasoned with butter, linseed or hemp oil.
An interesting situation in Rus' was with vegetable products. There was no trace of what we use now. The most common vegetable was radish. It was somewhat different from the modern one and was many times larger. Turnips were also widely distributed. These root vegetables were stewed, fried and made into pie filling. Peas have also been known in Rus' since ancient times. They not only boiled it, but also made flour from it, from which they baked pancakes and pies. In the 11th century, it began to appear on tables onion, cabbage, a little later - carrots. Cucumbers will appear only in the 15th century. And the nightshades we are used to: potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants came to us only at the beginning of the 18th century.
In addition, in Rus' from plant food they consumed wild sorrel and quinoa. Numerous wild berries and mushrooms supplemented the plant diet.
Among the meat foods we knew were beef, pork, chickens, geese and ducks. Horse meat was eaten little, mainly by military personnel during campaigns. Often there was meat from wild animals on the tables: venison, wild boar and even bear meat. Partridges, hazel grouse and other game were also eaten. Even the Christian Church, which spread its influence and considered eating wild animals unacceptable, was unable to eradicate this tradition. The meat was fried over coals, on a spit (skewered), or, like most dishes, stewed in large pieces in the oven.
Quite often they ate fish in Rus'. Mostly it was River fish: sturgeon, sterlet, bream, pike perch, ruff, perch. It was boiled, baked, dried and salted.
There were no soups in Rus'. The famous Russian fish soup, borscht and solyanka appeared only in the 15th-17th centuries. There was "tyura" - the predecessor of modern okroshka, kvass with chopped onions and seasoned with bread.
In those days, as in ours, Russian people did not avoid drinking. According to The Tale of Bygone Years, the main reason for Vladimir’s refusal to Islam was the sobriety prescribed by that religion. " Drinking", -
he said, " This is the joy of the Russians. We can't live without this pleasure"Russian booze for the modern reader is invariably associated with vodka, but in the era of Kievan Rus they did not drink alcohol. Three types of drinks were consumed. Kvass, a non-alcoholic or slightly intoxicating drink, was made from rye bread. It was something reminiscent of beer. It was probably traditional drink Slavs, since it is mentioned in the records of the journey of the Byzantine envoy to the leader of the Huns Attila at the beginning of the fifth century along with honey. Honey was extremely popular in Kievan Rus. It was brewed and drunk by both laymen and monks. According to the chronicle, Prince Vladimir the Red Sun ordered three hundred cauldrons of honey on the occasion of the opening of the church in Vasilevo. In 1146, Prince Izyaslav II discovered five hundred barrels of honey and eighty barrels of wine in the cellars of his rival Svyatoslav. Several types of honey were known: sweet, dry, with pepper, and so on. They also drank wine: wines were imported from Greece, and, in addition to princes, churches and monasteries regularly imported wine for the celebration of the liturgy.
This was the Old Church Slavonic cuisine. What is Russian cuisine and what is its connection with the Old Church Slavonic? Over the course of several centuries, life and customs changed, trade relations expanded, and the market was filled with new products. Russian cuisine has absorbed a large number of national dishes of various nations. Something was forgotten or replaced by other products. However, the main trends of Old Church Slavonic cuisine in one form or another have survived to this day. This is the dominant position of bread on our table, a wide range of pastries, cereals, and cold snacks. Therefore, in my opinion, Russian cuisine is not something isolated, but a logical continuation of Old Church Slavonic cuisine, despite the fact that it has undergone significant changes over the centuries.
What is your opinion?
Porridge has been known to all agricultural peoples since ancient times. In Russian written monuments, this word is found in documents from the end of the 12th century, but archaeological excavations have found pots with remains of porridge in the layers of the 9th - 10th centuries. The word “porridge” comes, according to linguists, from the Sanskrit “kash”, which means “to crush, to rub.”
Why did people in Rus' always treat porridge with such respect? The roots of the ritual attitude towards such seemingly simple food lie in our pagan origins. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was presented to Mother Earth, to the Holy Saints in the hope of well-being, to the Gods of agriculture and fertility, to ask for a good harvest for next year. As is known, the gods were offered only the best. And to be able to eat every day what the Gods can afford once a year, you see, is nice.
Porridge is very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. It was impossible to imagine any celebration or holiday without traditional Russian porridge on the table. Moreover, a certain ritual porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. This is reflected in the proverbs:
"Porridge is our nurse"
“You can’t feed a Russian peasant without porridge”
"No lunch without porridge"
"Shchi and porridge are our food"
"Borscht without porridge is a widower, porridge without borscht is a widower"
Among some peoples of our country, porridge, which was called "grandmother's", was greeted with a newborn. At the wedding, the bride and groom always cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony - “The hostess is red - and the porridge is delicious.” Porridge was cooked for christenings and name days; porridge (kutya) was used to remember a person, seeing him off on his last journey to a funeral or wake.
Without your own porridge original preparation it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each housewife had her own recipe, which was kept secret.
Porridge was always prepared before big battles, and at victory feasts it was impossible to do without “victorious” porridge. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare “peaceful” porridge.
In ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called “porridge”: for example, at the wedding of Alexander Nevsky, “porridge was made” twice - one during the wedding in Trinity, the other during a national celebration in Novgorod.
Porridge was always prepared on the occasion of the start of a big business. This is where the expression “brew the pot” comes from.
In Rus', porridge even “defined” relationships between people. They said about an unreliable and intractable person: “You can’t cook porridge with him.” When we worked as an artel, we prepared porridge for the whole artel, so for a long time the word "porridge" was synonymous with the word "artel". They said: “We are in the same mess,” which meant in the same artel, in the same brigade. On the Don today you can still hear the word “porridge” in this meaning.
In Rus', spelled porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was grown in large quantities in Rus' back in the 18th century. Or rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care. She was not afraid of either pests or weeds. The spelled itself destroyed any weed. Spent porridge, although coarse, was very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, “cultivated” varieties of wheat replaced spelled, because it peeled off badly. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, the yield of spelled was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.
Spelled, or emmer, is the oldest species of cultivated wheat (Triticum diciccon). It has now almost been replaced by higher-yielding varieties of soft and durum wheat, but now there is a revival in spelled production because spelled has a huge advantage over other wheat varieties - drought resistance. Spelled contains a lot of protein, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can safely eat this porridge. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than regular wheat and has a pleasant nutty flavor. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops have been resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". American spelt is also sold in Russia today. It's called "spelt". Sometimes you can find spelt grown in Europe. All this brings some confusion, but “spelt”, and “zanduri”, and “spelt”, and “kamut”, are names of the same plant, Old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to both America and Europe from Russia.
In ancient times, porridge was the name given to dishes prepared not only from cereals, but also from other chopped products (fish, peas, bread). The huge variety of Russian porridges was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereal varieties that were produced in Russia. From each grain crop, several types of cereals were made - from whole to crushed in various ways.
The most beloved and popular porridge among Russians was buckwheat (sinful, buckwheat, buckwheat, sinful) and already in the 17th century. was considered a national Russian dish, although it appeared quite late - in the 15th century. There is a proverb about it: “Our grief is buckwheat porridge: I would eat something like this, but there is none.” In addition to whole grains - kernels, used for steep, crumbly porridges, they also made smaller grains - “Veligorka” and very small ones - “Smolenskaya”.
Porridge prepared from whole or crushed barley grains was called: barley, barley, zhitnaya, crushed zhito, thick, glazed, pearl barley. This porridge was called zhito in the northern and central Russian provinces, where the word zhito meant barley. Pounded rye, barley - porridge made from finely crushed grain. The word thick in the Novgorod, Pskov, and Tver provinces was the name for thick barley porridge made from whole grains. It was so popular there that Novgorodians in Rus' were even called “gush-eaters.” The term "glazukha" was used to refer to porridge cooked from barley and peas. The peas in the porridge were not completely cooked, and “eyes” - peas - were visible on its surface. Barley is a porridge cooked from whole grains, the bluish-gray color of which and slightly oblong shape slightly resembled a “pearl grain” - pearl. Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were lightly ground, Dutch grains - smaller grains were ground until white, and barley - very small grains made from unpolished (whole) grains. Barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite dish. He recognized “egg porridge as the most delicious and delicious.”
Oat porridge (oatmeal, oatmeal) could be cooked from either whole or crushed grains. I liked it for its nutritional value and speed of preparation. It could be cooked on a light Taganka without melting a Russian stove or stove.
Barley and oatmeal porridge have been brewed since ancient times throughout Russia, both in villages and cities, and were served mainly in weekdays.
Millet porridge (millet, white - made from millet) was known to Russians for as long ago as oatmeal and barley. The word millet was first mentioned in written documents of the 11th century. Millet porridge was consumed both on weekdays and during festive feasts.
Wheat, turned into very fine grain, was used to make semolina porridge. The word "manna" is Old Slavonic and goes back to the Greek word "manna" - food. It was served only to children and was usually prepared with milk.
Rice porridge appeared in the 18th century, when rice was brought to Russia, and was consumed mainly in cities. It entered the diet of peasants very slowly and was called porridge from Sorochinsky millet. In rich houses it was used as a filling for pies. In addition, over time they began to prepare kutya from it.
Along with porridges made from whole or crushed grains, “flour porridges” were traditional for Russians, i.e. porridge made from flour. They were usually called mukawashi, mukaveshki, mukovinki, mukovki. Some of these porridges also had special names, which reflected the methods of making the porridge, its consistency, and the type of flour used for production: bearberry (bearberry, bearberry), solomat (salamat, salamata, salamakha), kulaga (malt, kiselitsa ), peas, brew, thickener (gustakh, gustushka), etc.
Bearberry was prepared from oatmeal, which is a fragrant, fluffy oat flour. Oatmeal was made in a unique way: oats in a bag were dipped in a river for a day, then languished in the oven, dried, pounded in mortars and sifted through a sieve. When making porridge, the oatmeal was filled with water and ground with a whorl so that there were no lumps. Bearberry has existed since the 15th century. one of the most common folk dishes.
Solomat is a liquid porridge made from roasted rye, barley or wheat flour, brewed with boiling water and steamed in the oven, sometimes with the addition of fat. Solomat is an old food for Russians. It is mentioned already in written sources of the 15th century. The word "solomat" was borrowed by the Russians from the Turkic languages. Gorokhovka is a porridge made from pea flour. Kulaga - a dish prepared from rye malt- sprouted and oven-steamed grains and rye flour. After cooking in the oven, the result was a sweetish porridge. Zavarikha is a porridge made from any flour, poured into boiling water during cooking with continuous stirring. Gustikha is a thick porridge made from rye flour.
Porridge was prepared in every home, both for everyday and holiday meals. They could be consumed with milk, cow or vegetable oil, fat, honey, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Three porridges were usually placed on the festive table: millet, buckwheat and barley.
Plants are endowed by nature with the ability to accumulate sunlight(energy) and extract nutrients from the ground. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate the nutritional and biological nutrients necessary for humans. active substances(vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). That is why, since time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of them are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable.
Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun.
Eat porridge and be healthy!
In Rus', porridges from time immemorial occupied not only an important, but also an honorable place in daily diet, being, in fact, one of the main dishes on the table, both for poor and rich people. This is what the proverb says: “Porridge is our mother.”
It was previously impossible to imagine anything without traditional Russian porridge on the table. celebration or holiday. They could be consumed with milk, cow or vegetable oil, fat, honey, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Moreover, a certain ritual porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events.
Three porridges were usually placed on the festive table: millet, buckwheat and barley.
Was popular in Rus' spelled porridge, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled.
Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was “grown” in large quantities in Rus' back in the 18th century - it grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care. Spent porridge, although coarse, was very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, “cultivated” varieties of wheat replaced spelled, because it peeled off badly. and its yield was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.
Spelled contains a lot of protein, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can safely eat this porridge. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than regular wheat and has a pleasant nutty flavor.
*** From a fairy tale by A.S. Pushkin "About the priest and his worker Balda"
Balda says: “I will serve you gloriously,
Diligently and very efficiently,
In a year, for three clicks on your forehead,
Give me some boiled spelt.”
Barley and oatmeal porridge have been brewed since ancient times throughout Russia, both in villages and cities, and were served mainly on weekdays.
Millet porridge(made from millet), was known to the Russians as long ago as oatmeal and barley. The word millet was first mentioned in written documents of the 11th century. Millet porridge was consumed both on weekdays and during festive feasts.
The most beloved and popular among Russians was buckwheat porridge - already in the 17th century. was considered a national Russian dish, although it appeared quite late - in the 15th century.
Rice porrige appeared in the 18th century, when rice was brought to Russia, and was used mainly in cities. It entered the diet of peasants very slowly and was called porridge from Sorochinsky millet. In rich houses it was used as a filling for pies. In addition, over time they began to prepare kutya from it.
Names and types of porridges The huge variety of Russian porridges was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereal varieties that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways.In Russian cuisine, the recipe depended not only on the grain, but also on how this grain was processed. For example, buckwheat is kernel and prodel, and barley is pearl barley (large grain), hollandaise (medium grain) and egg (very small grain). Millet is used to prepare millet (not wheat, but millet!) porridge. Semolina porridge is made from wheat cereal. Green porridge was also widespread, which was prepared from young, unripe rye.
Porridge made from whole or broken grains barley, was called: barley, barley, rye, pounded rye, grounds, glaze, pearl barley. This porridge was called zhito in the northern and central Russian provinces, where the word zhito meant barley. Pounded rye, barley - porridge made from finely crushed grain. In a word thicket in Novgorod, Pskov, Tver provinces it was called steep barley porridge from whole grains. It was so popular there that Novgorodians in Rus' were even called “gush-eaters.”
The term " glaze" was used to refer to porridge cooked from barley with peas. The peas in the porridge were not completely cooked, and “eyes” - peas - were visible on its surface.
Pearl barley- this is porridge cooked from whole grains, the bluish-gray color and slightly oblong shape of which slightly resembled "pearl grain" - pearl.
Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were lightly ground, Dutch - smaller grains were ground white, and barley - very small grains made from unpolished (whole) grains.
Barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite dish. He recognized “egg porridge as the most delicious and delicious.”
Whole grain buckwheat-kernels were used for steep, crumbly porridges, smaller grains were “Veligorka” and very small grains were “Smolenskaya”.
In Rus', they preferred to cook porridge from large grains, and from the finest grains it was common oatmeal. Oatmeal was prepared from oats in the following way: the grain was washed, boiled until half cooked, dried and pounded in a mortar almost until it became flour.
It must be said that in Rus', porridge was the name for everything that was prepared from crushed products.
Were with the Russians cereal porridge, which were cooked from crushed crackers. Were popular fish and vegetable porridges.
With the advent of potatoes in Rus' (XVIII-XIX centuries), they began to cook porridge with the addition of potatoes - kulesh. This porridge was seasoned with vegetable oil and onions. There were carrot porridges, turnip porridges, pea porridges, juice porridges (with hemp oil) and a huge number of vegetable porridge recipes.
"Suvorov porridge"
According to legend, during one of the long campaigns, Suvorov was informed that there were a few different types of cereal left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, peas, etc. But porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then Suvorov ordered all the remaining cereals to be cooked together. The soldiers really liked “Suvorov porridge”, and the great commander made his contribution to the development of Russian culinary art.
"Guriev porridge"- porridge. prepared from semolina in milk with the addition of nuts, creamy foam, dried fruits - considered traditional dish Russian cuisine, but was invented only at the beginning of the 19th century.
The history of the porridge is curious: the “author” of the recipe is Zakhar Kuzmin, the serf cook of retired Major Yurisovsky, who was visited by Count Guryev, Minister of Finance and member of the State Council Russian Empire. Guryev liked the porridge so much that he bought Kuzmin and his family and made him the full-time cook of his yard. According to another version, Guryev himself came up with the recipe for porridge.
Guryev porridge is mentioned in the description of Moscow taverns by Vladimir Gilyarovsky: “The St. Petersburg nobility, led by the grand dukes, specially came from St. Petersburg to eat Test pig, crayfish soup with pies and the famous Guryev porridge.”
Christmas porridge was not like the porridge that was prepared on the occasion of the harvest; special porridges (from a mixture of cereals) were prepared by the girls on Agrafena Bathing Day (June 23).
Ritual porridge was cooked on the most important days for people: on the eve of Vasily’s Day, on the eve of Palm Sunday, on Spiritual Day, when the Earth’s name day was celebrated, on Kupala night, during dozhinok, on the first day of threshing the new harvest, on the autumn girl’s holiday of Kuzminka, etc. .d.
St. Day Buckwheat sharks were even considered a porridge day.
Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for wakes or funerals (kutya).
Porridge was served at common village works - mochi. Vladimir Dahl gives the following meaning of the word “porridge” - “to help in the harvest”, “pozhinki (the beginning of the harvest), feasting, a crowd of porridge walks around singing.”
Among some peoples of our country, porridge, which was called "grandmother's", was greeted with a newborn.
At the wedding, the bride and groom always cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony: “The hostess is red - and the porridge is delicious.”
In some regions of Rus', porridge was generally the only food that the newlyweds could eat at the wedding feast. And the wedding feast itself in Ancient Rus' was called “porridge” and “to make porridge” meant to start preparing for the wedding.
At a wedding, porridge was served, as a rule, on the second day in the newlyweds’ house on a new farm, so that there would be prosperity in the house. Guests paid for this porridge with a coin, and then the empty pot was cheerfully broken for the happiness of the young people. Hence the first meal after the wedding was called “porridge”.
According to another source, the expression " make porridge" has a more general meaning:
In ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called “porridge.” Porridge was always prepared on the occasion of the start of a big business.. This is where the expression “brew the pot” comes from.
Porridge was always prepared before big battles and at victory feasts. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace it was necessary to cook "peaceful" porridge.
They talked about an unreliable and intractable person " you can't cook porridge with it"When they worked in an artel, they prepared porridge for the entire artel, so for a long time the word “porridge” was synonymous with the word “artel.” They said: “ We're in the same mess", which meant in one artel, in one brigade.
Benefits and Preparation of porridge Whole grain cereals are an important source of plant proteins and carbohydrates.Another advantage of porridges is their versatility. They go well with any other foods: meat and fish, mushrooms and vegetables, fruits and berries.
Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product.
Cereals are rich in fiber, which regulates digestion, improves blood composition and the condition of blood vessels, which helps keep the heart in good shape.
Cereals contain the required quantity and ideal ratio of iron and copper, zinc, as well as proteins, B vitamins, PP. From cereal grains we get vital amino acids, 18 of which are essential.
Cereals are slowly digested and absorbed, which gives a feeling of fullness.
IN whole grain sufficient quantity fiber, namely coarse dietary fiber lacking in the modern human diet.
- Buckwheat rich in protein, minerals, quickly absorbed, excellently strengthens the immune system. Buckwheat porridge is rich in vitamins, especially group B, and minerals (magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus). And in terms of the amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, it surpasses other cereals. Moreover, its proteins are considered the most complete in their amino acid composition. Buckwheat is rich in lecithin, which is useful for liver diseases and removes harmful cholesterol from the body. Necessary in the diet of patients with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. To save useful properties It is recommended not to add sugar to porridge and not to cook it with milk.
- Oatmeal
, rolled oats (steamed and flattened oat grains) is rich vegetable proteins, minerals, strengthens bones, contains a lot of magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, vitamin PP and C, as well as vitamin H, which improves not only well-being, but also the condition of the skin. Oatmeal contains a lot of fiber, which is necessary for intestinal function. Helps remove harmful substances from the body and normalizes digestion.
In addition to porridge, the well-known
BEAUTY SALAD:: 2 tbsp. pour oatmeal overnight boiled water, in the morning add grated apple, carrots, chopped nuts and raisins, season with yogurt, a spoonful of honey and lemon juice.
- Millet porridge(from millet), strengthens the heart, tissues, skin; gives additional strength to the body. It is rich in minerals, especially potassium and magnesium, so necessary for the functioning of the heart, and vitamin PP. Millet cereal also contains many useful microelements: zinc, copper, manganese. It is not recommended to store millet for a long time due to the possibility of rancidity.
- Rice porrige good for breakfast: rich in starch, protein, microelements. Contains a lot of carbohydrates and little fiber. Brown (black) rice is especially useful. This is what the Japanese believe has a positive effect on intelligence. The high protein content determines its use on fasting days. Rice can be used as a fixative for intestinal disorders. Rice also has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
To preserve maximum nutrients in rice, it is necessary to follow following rules: pour boiling water over the rice (2:3), cover with a tight lid, cook for 12 minutes (3 minutes on high heat, 7 minutes on moderate, 2 minutes on low), let it sit under the closed lid for another 12 minutes.
- Pearl barley and barley are produced from barley. Pearl barley is made from whole barley grains, peeled from the shell. And if you crush this grain, you get barley.
Barley contains B vitamins, fiber, proteins and carbohydrates, but in small quantities. Therefore, it is not the most valuable product. But pearl barley contains lysine, an amino acid that fights viruses and germs. It will also help with constipation. It is not recommended for children.
It has cooking features: pearl barley must be pre-soaked for 10-12 hours; After boiling, you need to leave it in a water bath for another 5-6 hours.
- Corn porridge It will perfectly cleanse the body of toxic compounds and strengthen the cardiovascular system. Corn grits contains vitamins B1, B2, C, PP, as well as carotene (provitamin A). It is capable of reducing to some extent fermentation in the intestines, and due to high content fiber can remove harmful substances from the body. Contains and essential amino acids– lysine and tryptophan.
Modern nutritional science has confirmed that porridge made from a mixture of cereals is healthier than from one, since each cereal has its own chemical composition, and the more cereals are used in the mixture, the higher the nutritional value of the porridge.
Proportions of cereal and water in preparing porridge:
For cooking crumbly porridge you need to take 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of buckwheat; for 1 cup of millet - 1.75 cups of water; for 1 cup of rice - 2.5 cups of water.
For cooking viscous porridge you need to take 3 glasses of water for 1 glass of buckwheat; for 1 cup of millet - 3.5 cups of water; for 1 cup of rice - 4 cups of water.
For cooking thin porridge you need to take 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of millet; for 1 cup of rice - 5.5 cups of water. From buckwheat thin porridge usually not boiled.
All cereals, except semolina, must be washed before cooking, and pearl barley and legumes must be soaked.
The most delicious porridge it turns out when it is cooked in a clay pot in the oven, or even better - in a Russian oven. You can place the saucepan with just cooked porridge in a warm place, covering it with a pillow for 30 minutes (or more), after adding 1-2 spoons to the porridge butter.
Proverbs and sayings “Porridge is our nurse”“You can’t feed a Russian peasant without porridge”
“Lunch is not lunch without porridge”
“Shchi and porridge are our food”
“Borscht without porridge is a widower, porridge without borscht is a widower”
“Russian porridge is our mother”
“You can’t spoil porridge with oil”
“What kind of lunch is there if there is no porridge?”
“Shchi and porridge are our food”
“The porridge is good, but the cup is small”
“Porridge is our nurse”
“The porridge is thicker in your own home”
“You can’t feed your family without porridge”
“I made the porridge, so don’t skimp on the butter.”
“Our mother, buckwheat porridge: no match for pepper, it won’t rip through your stomach.”
“Oatmeal porridge boasted that it was born with cow’s butter.”
“Rely on someone else’s porridge, but there would be your own in the oven”
“People cook porridge, but at home there is no grain for soup.” "Porridge from an axe" Russian folk tale
The old soldier was on leave. I'm tired from the journey and want to eat. I reached the village, knocked on the last hut:
- Let the dear man rest! The door was opened by an old woman.
- Come in, servant.
- Do you, hostess, have anything to snack on? The old woman had plenty of everything, but she was stingy with feeding the soldier and pretended to be an orphan.
- Oh, good man, I haven’t eaten anything today either: nothing.
“Well, no, no,” the soldier says. Then he noticed an ax under the bench.
- If there is nothing else, you can cook porridge with an axe.
The hostess clasped her hands:
- How can you cook porridge from an ax?
- Well, give me the boiler.
The old woman brought a cauldron, the soldier washed the ax, lowered it into the cauldron, poured water and put it on the fire.
The old woman looks at the soldier, does not take her eyes off.
The soldier took out a spoon and stirred the brew. I tried it.
- Well, how? - asks the old woman.
“It’ll be ready soon,” the soldier replies, “it’s just a pity that there’s nothing to salt it with.”
- I have salt, salt it.
The soldier added salt and tried it again.
- Good! If only I could get a handful of cereal here! The old woman began to fuss and brought a bag of cereal from somewhere.
- Take it, fill it up as needed. Seasoned the brew with cereal. I cooked, cooked, stirred, tried. The old woman looks at the soldier with all her eyes, and cannot look away.
- Oh, and the porridge is good! - the soldier licked his lips. “If only a little butter would come here, it would be completely delicious.”
The old woman also found oil.
The porridge was flavored.
- Well, old woman, now give me some bread and get to work with a spoon: let’s start eating porridge!
“I didn’t think that you could cook such a good porridge from an ax,” the old woman marvels.
The two of us ate porridge. The old woman asks:
- Servant! When will we eat the axe?
“Yes, you see, it’s not cooked down,” answered the soldier, “I’ll finish cooking it somewhere on the road and have breakfast!”
He immediately hid the ax in his backpack, said goodbye to the hostess and went to another village.
That’s how the soldier ate the porridge and took away the ax!
Mini-research - compilation from open Internet sources
including - an old postcard" Sausage cannot compare with Russian black porridge".
Author Victoria Katamashvili.
When using, an active link to the material is required.
Porridges were cooked from hulled whole and crushed grains of rye, wheat, barley, oats, millet (millet. In Rus', until the 18th century, they cultivated an ancient type of wheat - spelt, using it for cooking porridges.
Chronicles attest to its use in ancient Rus' four grains: wheat, barley, millet and rye. The first three date back to the Paleolithic era. Of course, they were also used to prepare porridges - the simplest cereal dishes
. So, Theodosius of Pechersk wrote: “Yes, Having boiled the Wheat and Mixed it with Honey, Presented it to the Brethren at the Meal.” And the Byzantine writer and politician pseudo-Mauritius (VI century) reported that millet was once the main food of the ancient Slavs.
In the table of rich people already in the 16th century. Rice began to appear - Saracen millet. In addition to this name, it is found in sources of the 16th - 17th centuries. The word "Brynets" ("smoking under the brynets with saffron", "hearth pies with brynets and with pine needles" - "serve books on the table all year round." The word "Brynets" from the Persian "byurinj occurs." Obviously, there was two names for rice depending on where it comes from.
For cooking porridges, they used not only cereals from whole and crushed cereals, but also flour from them. Hydrothermal treatment (according to modern terminology) of oats was also used for a very long time. Oatmeal was made from it, dishes from which are considered the most ancient Slavic dishes. To obtain oatmeal, oats were steamed, dried and crushed. After such processing, the content of soluble, easily digestible substances in the cereal increases and it can be eaten without additional heat treatment, diluted with water or milk. Oatmeal contains more sugar than oatmeal, it has a sweetish taste and is used to prepare sweet dishes (oatmeal with berries.
Green cereals were made from unripe grains. Green porridge was prepared during periods of famine, when supplies in the house were running out, and vegetables and rye were not yet ripe. Unripe rye grains were dried, ground and porridge was cooked from the resulting flour. Of course, green porridge appeared in peasant life due to a shortage of food, but, obviously, it was loved for its delicate and unique taste, and then became part of the arsenal of professional culinary dishes. Already in. lvvgiin writes that such porridge was served with melted cow butter, and includes it in the list of ordinary Russian dishes. Green porridge was also prepared in rich houses, even in the 19th century.
Cereals were used to prepare porridges, soups, fillings for pies and pies, sausages with porridge, loaves, pancakes and other culinary products (cereals, casseroles. Along with cereals, porridges from legumes were prepared (in whole form and from pea flour. Chetkogo There was no distinction between cereals and flour: porridge was cooked from both cereals and cereal flour.
Buckwheat appeared in Russia much earlier than in other countries, and porridges made from it surprised foreigners who visited our country.
This passage requires clarification. Indeed, the Russians did not know mung beans (golden beans, sheep peas), so popular in the East. As for the lentils, there was a clear mistake. The fact is that lentils were widely used in Rus' back in the XIII - XIV centuries. It was widely used by the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Theodosius of Pechersk), but Macarius’s companions obviously knew fine-grained lentils, and our plate-shaped (coarse-grained) lentils were probably unfamiliar to them.
Eastern guests, of course, knew well “Tsargrad Horns” - beans with sweet juicy fruits. In Rus' they were known and called simply "Horns", but they were an exquisite delicacy. Therefore, the attention of the guests was attracted by the so-called “Russian Beans” with large black (purple) and white fruits. Subsequently, in Russia they were pushed aside by beans, dishes from which taste similar to dishes made from ancient beans, so they quickly entered our everyday life.
What are the benefits of porridge for the body?
Bags and bruises under the eyes, unhealthy complexion, overweight, dull hair, rashes on the face, constant fatigue and drowsiness... these symptoms mean that our body is filled with various unnecessary substances. ethnoscience Even in ancient times, I discovered a way to solve the problem. Regular cereals will help us get rid of toxic substances.
Cereals are initially fiber, and with high content various organic substances necessary for the body person for normal life. Pesticides, heavy metals and other substances bad for our body attract organic substances. Therefore, porridge is especially useful for those who work for a long time in harmful conditions, for older people, and is also indispensable in the diet of expectant mothers.
To one degree or another, any type of cereal is beneficial to the body. Except rare medical contraindications. Each type of cereal affects our body differently. The effect of one or another porridge on our body depends on the composition of the acids contained in the porridge. As well as their ability to bind and remove harmful substances.
The benefits of buckwheat porridge cannot be overestimated. Buckwheat improves digestion well because it contains pectins. It is very beneficial for the pancreas and liver, as it contains a lot of iron. Buckwheat porridge is quickly digestible and contains a low amount of calories, making it ideal for dinner. It is best not to cook buckwheat, but to steam it. To do this, pour boiling water over the cereal, wrap it and put it in a warm place. With this method of cooking, the porridge will be crumbly and will provide greater benefits of buckwheat in cleansing the body of heavy metals.
The most useful type of rice is considered to be brown, wild, long Central Asian rice. People whose work involves the risk of lead or arsenic poisoning are especially recommended to eat rice porridge. By the way, the rice diet is very effective for losing weight. Before cooking rice, you should thoroughly rinse the grains under running water, as water rinses the starch and speeds up the cooking process.
Oatmeal is the absolute champion in health benefits. female body is. It reduces the risk of cancer, helps the gastrointestinal tract, and prevents the occurrence of stomach ulcers and gastritis. Oatmeal contains vegetable proteins and fats that are healthy. It contains: magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, sodium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins B1, B2, E, PP. This wealth of nutrients increases the body's defenses and helps overcome depression. Oatmeal helps strengthen bones and maintain normal blood pressure, which is especially important for older people. This porridge is recommended if you are prone to dermatitis; this porridge has a very beneficial effect on the condition of the skin.
Millet porridge gives the body additional strength and energy. It contains elements that can strengthen tissue. For example, copper, which gives tissues additional elasticity, silicon, which helps the formation of bones and teeth. For healthy color face and normal blood circulation, millet supplies the body with iron. It also contains fluorine, which is responsible for dental health, magnesium, necessary for workaholics, and manganese, which promotes normal metabolism.
Contains the least amount of vitamins semolina. It is recommended for people with sick intestines or stomachs, since it is digested quite easily due to the lack of fiber in it. Semolina itself is prepared from peeled wheat grains. The shell contains most of the vitamins, so semolina is not very rich in them. But the remaining vitamins are perfectly preserved after cooking, since they do not have time to be destroyed due to rapid cooking.
Pearl barley porridge has almost twice the phosphorus content of other cereals. Phosphorus helps increase the speed and power of muscle contractions, so it is extremely necessary for athletes and people engaged in physical labor. Therefore, when visiting a fitness club, be sure to include it in your diet. Barley porridge is necessary for normal brain function and balanced metabolism. It takes a long time to prepare pearl barley porridge, up to an hour and a half. Attention! Only if you soak it for 2-3 hours, the cooking time can be reduced somewhat. Barley should be eaten immediately after cooking, because after cooling it becomes hard and tasteless.
An excellent solution for cleansing the body of toxic fluorine and chlorine compounds is corn porridge. This porridge contains vitamins A, B, E, PP, silicon and iron. Corn porridge is also a low-allergenic food product. It is recommended for intestinal and cardiovascular diseases. Corn porridge helps get rid of organic mercury, which is present in the substance with which the grain is processed.
There are no strict restrictions for cereal-based diets. Any porridge goes well with mushrooms, nuts, sauerkraut, olives, and eggplants. Goes great with soft and sheep cheese, feta cheese, and milk. Products such as dried apricots, raisins, dried fruits, apples, and honey perfectly complement any porridge. As you can see, the benefits of porridge for the body are obvious. Therefore, you should not refuse them just because you are on a diet, or you don’t like their taste, or eating porridge has become unfashionable.
Blush in Ancient Egypt was made from ocher, a mineral consisting of iron oxide hydrate mixed with clay. The mineral was accessible and literally lying under our feet. Ocher was used as a dye for fabrics, cosmetics, and insect repellent. To obtain the product of the desired consistency, fats and wax were added to the crushed ocher. Simple bright spots on the apples of the cheeks made Egyptian women look fresh and hid their age.
From Egypt, the fashion for rosy cheeks moved to Greece. Ancient Greek women made do with affordable natural cosmetics. Here the blush was obtained using the paederia plant and seaweed. In Ancient Rome, they also began to brown, although here makeup was condemned by society.
Since ancient times, various porridges have occupied an honorable and important place in the daily diet of the Russian people. They, in fact, were the main and main dish on the table; not a single holiday or feast would be complete without them; they were eaten with milk or honey, adding vegetable and cow oil, fat, kvass, fried onions and other ingredients. One of the most popular porridges in Rus' was buckwheat porridge, which in the 17th century was rightfully considered the national dish of the Russian people, although it appeared in the vastness of our Motherland not so long ago. Brought to us from distant Asia, this culture quickly fell in love with our people, who even called it “mother”. And this love is not surprising and quite understandable, because buckwheat was inexpensive, it was grown everywhere, buckwheat porridge is remarkable in taste and nutritional quality, after eating a bowl of such porridge for breakfast you can feel full for a very long time. People considered buckwheat not only delicious food, but also very beneficial for health, it was used when there was a loss of strength and even when there were symptoms of a cold.
History of the origin of buckwheat
Many will find it surprising that buckwheat, from which such an ordinary and traditional side dish for the Russian people as buckwheat porridge is cooked, initially did not grow on the territory of Rus' and was brought there from Byzantium.
Some researchers claim that buckwheat as a grain crop appeared about 4,000 thousand years ago in the Himalayas (where dishes made from it are still called “black porridge”), other historians believe that this type of grain crop appeared in Altai (it was there that archaeologists fossilized remains of buckwheat grains were discovered in burial places and at sites of ancient tribes), from there it spread throughout Siberia and the Urals. In those days it grew like wild herbaceous plant with small white inflorescences. People tried its seeds, which looked like small pyramids, and realized that they were edible; they began to make flour from them to make flatbreads, and also to cook tasty and nutritious food buckwheat porridge. Neighboring countries unanimously borrowed this useful crop and they began to grow and eat it everywhere, as for example the Bulgarian peoples who lived on the Volga did, and later passed the baton to the Slavic tribes. There are also theories about Ancient Greece as the birthplace of buckwheat.
How a foreigner became a native
According to various historians, buckwheat began to be grown in Rus' around the 7th century; it received its name during the times of Kievan Rus, when Greek monks from local monasteries were mainly involved in its cultivation. The Slavs really liked the rich and tasty porridge cooked from buckwheat grains, which was previously called buckwheat, buckwheat, Greek wheat, buckwheat, and also “Tatarka” after the name of the type of Tatar buckwheat with greenish inflorescences. On this occasion, there is an old legend about the royal daughter Krupenichka, who was captured by the Tatars and forced to marry the khan. The children born to them were so small and fractional that over time they turned into small dark grains. A wanderer passing by took them with her to her native Russian lands and planted them there, and so, according to legend, buckwheat began to grow in Holy Rus'.
Buckwheat came to Europeans much later, in the Middle Ages, at a time when there were wars with the Arabs, who were called Saracens. Hence the French name for buckwheat - Saracen grain, which, by the way, did not gain much popularity there either in those days or today.
As history shows, buckwheat of Himalayan origin turned out to be a rather capricious and finicky grain crop, very troublesome to cultivate, which, however, did not stop persistent Russian farmers who achieved good buckwheat harvests on fertile and fertile Russian lands.
How buckwheat porridge was cooked in Rus'
The greatest expert on Russian cooking, historian William Pokhlebkin, in his writings, said that when preparing crumbly buckwheat porridge, the Slavs used yadritsa - cereal made from whole buckwheat grains; for sweet and semi-sweet porridge they took Smolensk groats (crushed, peeled kernels). In order to prepare viscous buckwheat porridge, popularly called porridge-smear, they used the so-called prodel, crushed grains of large and small sizes. Porridge was prepared in water, milk, with the addition of additional ingredients (mushrooms, vegetables, meat, poultry, fried onions and boiled eggs), served as a main meal or side dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is almost impossible to spoil buckwheat porridge; in order for it to turn out tasty and healthy, you must follow some rules when preparing buckwheat porridge:
- The proportion of buckwheat to liquid is 1:2;
- The lid of the pan must be tightly closed during cooking;
- After boiling, simmer the porridge over low heat and let it brew;
- Before fully cooked do not stir the porridge and do not open the lid.
Buckwheat porridge was prepared and simmered in a Russian oven in a clay pot, served with butter or milk both on holidays and in everyday life, and by the 17th century it had become a national dish of the Russian people, which we still prepare and respect, like our distant ones. ancestors.
This is how people speak affectionately about buckwheat in Rus'. Indeed, buckwheat - indispensable product in the diet of every Russian. We cannot imagine our table without aromatic and tasty buckwheat porridge. In addition, it is convenient to use on the farm: buckwheat is stored much better and longer than other cereals.
Buckwheat is highly valued by nutritionists: its low calorie content and rich composition make it an excellent healthy food dish. And pediatricians recommend starting complementary feeding for infants with buckwheat porridge, because it is very filling and nutritious. In general, buckwheat porridge is useful for children, adults, and the elderly!
We have long considered buckwheat “ours”, although its real homeland is Northern India. This crop was cultivated there 5 thousand years ago and was called “black rice.” Buckwheat came to Europe thanks to Turkish and Arab traders. And the Byzantine Greeks brought it to Rus', which is why our ancestors called the cereal - buckwheat.
Let's take a closer look at the unique composition of this product!
So, buckwheat contains:
Dietary fiber, which stimulates intestinal motility, “cleanses” the body of toxins, removes “bad cholesterol”, has a beneficial effect on the state of normal microflora and is a preventive agent for colon cancer;
B vitamins (including folic and nicotinic acids), as well as vitamin E, carotenoids (provitamins A) and phospholipids, which are responsible for the growth and proper development of the body, support normal metabolism, help preserve beauty and youth (by the way, Buckwheat is superior to other cereals in terms of the content of these biologically active compounds);
Rutin (from the group of vitamins P), which strengthens blood vessels, thins thick blood, promotes the absorption of vitamin C, calcium, iron, has a beneficial effect on the thyroid gland and immunity;
Inositol is a vitamin-like substance that helps normalize blood glucose levels and reduces the risk of diabetes;
Iron, magnesium, calcium, fluorine, zinc, manganese, copper, chromium, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and other elements that ensure the full synthesis and functioning of all hormonal and enzyme systems of the body;
Organic acids (maleic, citric, oxalic), which promote good digestion and energy production in cells;
Proteins, more precisely a set of amino acids, which is considered unique in its digestibility by the human body (amino acids such as lysine and methionine are especially important, providing normal work liver and nervous system, and the amino acid tryptophan is involved in the construction of new cells and prevents the development of cancer gastrointestinal tract);
Complex carbohydrates, which have low glycemic index and therefore are absorbed by the body for a long time (thanks to this, after eating buckwheat a person feels full for several hours);
The calorie content of buckwheat is just over 300 kilocalories per 100 grams of product. And the ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates is almost ideal to ensure complete nutrition: proteins – 12.6 g (~50 kcal); fats – 3.3 g (~30 kcal); carbohydrates – 57.1 g (~228 kcal).
Buckwheat porridge is useful to include in the diet for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, as well as diabetes mellitus, hemorrhoids, anemia (anemia) and cardiovascular diseases.
Since buckwheat has antitoxic properties, it is useful for people working in hazardous industries or living in unfavorable environmental conditions.
Buckwheat porridge is an ideal product for fat people and those who watch their weight. Fasting days on buckwheat are well tolerated and quite effective.
Before cooking, buckwheat can be fried, then it will become much more aromatic. To preserve more nutrients, you can pour boiling water over the cereal in the evening and let it brew overnight. In the morning, don’t cook it, but simply eat it with yogurt or dried fruit. To diversify your diet, buckwheat can be consumed with mushrooms, vegetables, liver, different varieties meat, cheese.
And finally, another wonderful quality that indirectly affects our health: buckwheat is an excellent honey plant. The flowers of this plant produce a lot of nectar, which then produces honey of a beautiful red-brown color with a spicy aroma and characteristic pleasant taste. Buckwheat honey is unique in that it contains much more proteins and minerals than light varieties. It is recommended for anemia, hypertension, chronic gastritis, hypovitaminosis, decreased immunity, as well as for restoring strength after serious illnesses and injuries.
Let buckwheat porridge be the most desired dish on your family table!
Bon appetit and be healthy!
Tatyana Arkadyevna Selezneva, nutritionist
What did they drink from in Rus'? “Distant relatives” of modern wine glasses and glasses... what did they drink from in Rus'?
“Distant relatives” of modern wine glasses and glasses... what did they drink from in Rus'?
Drinks have always been of considerable importance in the history of the Russian people. As reported in chronicle sources, many worldly affairs in Rus' certainly began with an honest feast. Our ancestors knew a huge number of different drinks, egg and honey, which they brought from their Aryan homeland. Throughout history, Rus' has developed a whole drinking culture.
Bro.
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Bratina is a drinking vessel, usually metal, in the form of a pot. In ancient Rus', they were used mainly as health bowls, from which they drank honey, beer and kvass at community feasts. Besides the fact that the brothers were necessary accessory banquet table, they could also be used as funeral cups. It is possible that the origin of the word “bratina” itself dates back to those times when blood relatives and brothers came together for a ceremonial feast. Bratina is the most important attribute that characterizes a Russian person.
Endova
The endova was a round deep bowl for serving drinks to the festive table. In the upper part of the valley, a hole was made with an inserted groove - a spout, which was called a “stigma”. Some valleys had a short handle with which a vessel with a drink could be held.
The valleys were of various sizes, from large enough to accommodate a bucket to very small ones.
Buckets
Ladles are wooden, boat-shaped, metal vessels in which drinks were served on the table. From small ladles they drank like from a cup, from larger ones they poured the intoxicating drink into other vessels using scoops. It is known that ladles were hollowed out from a whole piece of wood, its root or burl. In this case, they used an ax first, and only then a chisel and a knife. There were also birch bark ladles in Rus', which were sewn from birch bast. Metal ladles were made from copper, iron, tin and silver.
Skobkari
Skobkari are boat-shaped, round or oval, large vessels with two handles in which all sorts of drinks were displayed on the festive table. The scraper ladle was usually made of wood: birch, alder, aspen, linden or maple. The very name of this vessel (“skobkar” or “kopkar”) comes from the material or the method of its processing (kop-dig, dug, dug out)
Bowls and glasses
These are wooden, clay, and less often metal utensils that were used for both drinking and eating. Wooden bowls were a hemispherical vessel with straight edges, on a small tray, always without a lid. The bowl was indispensable in ancient rites, especially in rites associated with the birth of a child, weddings or funeral farewells. At the end festive lunch It was customary to drink the cup to the bottom for the health of the owner and mistress: those who did not do this could be considered an enemy.
With the arrival of the Spaniards in America and the beginning of the Inquisition, the clergy declared amaranth a “devil’s potion.” The Spaniards nicknamed amaranth “the devil’s plant.” The Spaniards disliked the “mystical Aztec grain” for its direct “involvement” in bloody rituals - after all, amaranth was a ritual crop. And the Catholic Church fully supported the Spanish conquistadors “in the fight” against amaranth.
Fighting the pagans spanish conquistadors they literally burned amaranth crops (the Aztecs called amaranth “huatli”). The seeds of this plant were destroyed. If the Aztecs secretly cultivated amaranth, they were brutally executed “for disobedience.” As a result of such a “struggle,” amaranth, unfortunately, was almost completely eradicated from the territory Central America. For several centuries, amaranth was a plant banned on pain of death in Europe.
European civilization, considering itself more intellectually highly developed, trampled and oppressed the unfamiliar and alien culture of the Native Americans. But even fear of the colonialists could not force the ancient Indian tribes to refuse to grow amaranth. The tribes that inhabited mountainous, inaccessible villages were especially successful in this. Only thanks to these brave tribes, amaranth was preserved.
This “devotion” to amaranth was explained not only by traditional shamanic rituals in which this plant was actively used. The fact is that the Aztecs baked bread from amaranth. For them, after corn, this plant was the basis of their plant-based diet. Knowing about the nutritional and medicinal properties of amaranth, they rightfully put amaranth above any other edible herbs and roots.
The cornbread was not very tasty. Although they satisfied human hunger, they caused stomach pain and intestinal inflammation. By adding amaranth bread to the dough, peasants effectively solved the above problem. Therefore, it is clear that Mexico, the countries of South and Central America, and the United States cultivated and actively grew amaranth over vast areas.
Today, thanks to the efforts of the United Nations Food Commission and, in particular, the American scientist David Lenman, amaranth has been recognized as a twenty-first century crop for its amazing healing and nutritional properties. David Lenman believes that with the help of amaranth it will be possible in the future to solve the global food problem.
Already in the middle of the 9th century, that black, rye, spongy and fragrant bread with sourdough appeared, without which the Russian menu is generally unthinkable.
Following him, other types of national bread and flour products were created: dezhni, loaves, sochni, pancakes, pies, pancakes, bagels, saika, crumpets. The last three categories are almost a century later, after the advent of wheat flour 
The commitment to kvass and sour was reflected in the creation of kvass itself, the range of which reached two to three dozen types, very different from each other in taste, as well as in the invention of the original Russian jelly of oatmeal, rye, wheat, which appeared almost 900 years earlier than modern berry-starch jelly.
At the very beginning of the Old Russian period, all the main drinks, in addition to kvass, were formed: all kinds of digestions (sbitni), which were a combination of decoctions of various forest herbs with honey and spices, as well as honeys and honeys, that is, natural honey fermented with berry juice or simply diluted juices and water to varying consistency.
Although the porridges were unleavened according to the principles of their production, they were sometimes acidified with sour milk. They were also distinguished by their diversity, subdivided by type of grain (spelt, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, wheat), by type of grain crushing or rolling (for example, barley produced three cereals: barley, hollandaise, barley; buckwheat four: core , Veligorka, Smolenskaya, I made three wheat: whole, korkot, semolina, etc.), and, finally, according to the type of consistency, for the porridges were divided into crumbly, smears and porridges (very thin) 
All this made it possible to vary from 6-7 types of grain and three types legumes (peas, beans, lentils) several dozen different cereals. In addition, a variety of flour products were made from the flour of these crops. All this baked, mainly flour food was diversified mainly with fish, mushrooms, wild berries, vegetables and, less often, milk and meat.
Already in the early Middle Ages, a clear, or rather, sharp division of the Russian table arose into lean (vegetable, fish, mushroom) and fast (milk, meat, egg). Wherein Lenten table did not include all plant products.
Thus, beets, carrots and sugar, which were also classified as fast food, were excluded from it. Drawing a sharp line between the fast and fast table, fencing off each other with an impenetrable wall of products of various origins and the strict prevention of their mixing naturally led to the creation original dishes, For example, various types fish soup, pancakes, kundums (mushroom dumplings). 
The fact that most days of the year are from 192 to 216 different years were Lenten, there was a completely natural desire for variety in the Lenten table. Hence the abundance in Russian national cuisine mushroom and fish dishes, a tendency to use various plant materials from grains (porridge) to forest berries and herbs (snowweed, nettle, sorrel, quinoa, angelica, etc.).
At first, attempts to diversify the Lenten table were expressed in the fact that each type of vegetable, mushroom or fish was prepared separately. Thus, cabbage, turnips, radishes, peas, cucumbers (vegetables known since the 10th century) were prepared and eaten raw, salted (pickled), steamed, boiled or baked separately from one another.
Salads and especially vinaigrettes were not typical of Russian cuisine at that time and appeared in Russia only in the middle of the 19th century. But they were also originally made mainly with one vegetable, which is why they were called cucumber salad, beet salad, potato salad, etc. 
Subjected to even greater differentiation mushroom dishes. Each type of mushroom, milk mushrooms, saffron milk mushrooms, honey mushrooms, white mushrooms, morels and pecheritsa (champignons), etc., was not only salted, but also cooked completely separately. The situation was exactly the same with fish, consumed boiled, dried, salted, baked, and less often fried. 
Sigovina, taimenina, pike, halibut, catfish, salmon, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga and others were each individually considered a special, different dish, and not just fish. Therefore, the fish soup could be perch, ruff, burbot or sterlet. 
The taste diversity of such homogeneous dishes was achieved in two ways: on the one hand, by the difference in heat and cold processing, and also through the use various oils, mainly vegetable hemp, nut, poppy, wood (olive) and much later sunflower, and on the other hand, the use of spices.
Of the latter, onions and garlic were most often consumed, and in very large quantities, as well as parsley, mustard, anise, coriander, Bay leaf, black pepper and cloves, which appeared in Rus' since the 11th century. Later, in the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries, they were supplemented with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, calamus (oil root) and saffron. 
In the ancient period of Russian cuisine, liquid hot dishes also appeared, which received the general name khlebovak. Particularly widespread are such types of bread as cabbage soup, stews based on vegetable raw materials, as well as various zatirukhi, zaverikh, chatterboxes, solomats and other types of flour soups, which differed from each other only in consistency and consisted of the three elements of water, flour and fat , to which sometimes (but not always) added onions, garlic or parsley. 
They also made sour cream and cottage cheese (in the terminology of that time, cheese). The production of cream and butter remained unknown until the 14th century, and in the 14th-15th centuries these products were rarely prepared and were initially of poor quality. The butter quickly turned rancid due to imperfect methods of churning, cleaning and storing. 
The national sweet table consisted of berry-flour and berry-honey or honey-flour products. These are gingerbread cookies and various types of unbaked, raw, but folded dough in a special way (Kaluga dough, malt, kulagi), in which a subtle taste effect was achieved through long, patient and labor-intensive processing. 
When a person lacks strength, they say about him: “I ate little porridge.” Porridge is indeed an ideal source of energy. Especially in winter, especially during the Nativity Fast, when a lot of strength is needed, and the usual deli meats turn out to be modest.
Many ancient porridge recipes have long been forgotten. But they were the ones who laid the foundation for Russian cooking. And how many traditions our ancestors have associated with this wonderful dish! They ate porridge to make peace with the enemy - only after that the peace treaty came into force. At the wedding, the newlyweds ate exclusively porridge at the festive table, and the invited guests ate from the same pot.
"Green porridge"
This is not only ancient, but also indigenous Russian National dish. It is based on whole rye grain, which has reached the stage of waxy ripeness. It was considered a seasonal summer dish, accessible mainly to wealthy people: only ripened grain was used to prepare “green porridge.” Landowners could receive ripened grain, since they had more land than ordinary peasants.
Preparing this dish is not so difficult, but there are some tricks. The grain is thrown into boiling water, boiling until all the water has boiled away. Then add salt and butter, mixing everything thoroughly. And, covering with a lid, place for 3 hours in a pre-heated Russian stove or oven.
Simenukha porridge
Surely you have never heard of such porridge, which was once considered a traditional Russian dish. But what a delicious dish this is!
How to cook it? You will need: 100g mushrooms, 300g buckwheat, 2 onions, 3-4 eggs, butter and salt.
Separately cook buckwheat porridge. Fry the onion in oil, boil the eggs and mushrooms, then chop them. And then just mix it all with porridge. And you will be pleasantly surprised by its taste.
Kutya or Kolivo
There are a number of traditions associated with this dish. IN memorial days was preparing in Rus' funeral kutia, which was also called “kolivo”. It was nothing more than a sweet porridge, the base of which was rice or red wheat mixed with raisins. At the same time, sweetness was a symbol of heavenly bliss, and grains symbolized the resurrection of the deceased.
This porridge was also served on the occasion of a baby’s christening, but in this case it was given a life-affirming meaning. And, of course, not a single Christmas would be complete without kutya.
What was different about the baptismal porridge? And because they cooked it with milk and also put in a lot of butter. Depending on whether a girl or a boy was born, it was customary to bake a chicken or a rooster in baptismal porridge.
Guryevskaya porridge
The name of the porridge comes from the name of Count Guryev. There are 2 versions. According to one of them, the count was so amazed by the taste of the porridge prepared by the cook Zakhar Kuzmin that he bought a serf. Another version says that the count himself invented this porridge in honor of the victory over Napoleon.
How to cook? Clear walnuts, chop part of it, and dip part in sugar, frying in the oven. Place the cream in the oven over medium heat and watch until a golden foam appears. Remove the foam 5-6 times. Mix the remaining cream with sugar and semolina, and then cook until the porridge thickens.
Add raisins, chopped nuts, foam, cut into strips, mixing thoroughly. Then put a layer of porridge in a dish, placing foam on it (make up to 4 layers), and sprinkle the very top granulated sugar. Place in the oven until browned. Then place marmalade or candied fruits, nuts fried with sugar, jam or canned fruit on top.
Spelled porridge
They made this porridge from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat that was cultivated in Rus' back in the 18th century. Spelled did not require special care, was completely unpretentious, and was not afraid of either weeds or pests. Main feature The thing about spelled porridge was that it had a pleasant nutty aroma and was also incredibly healthy. Spelled is also mentioned in Pushkin’s famous fairy tale “The Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda”: the main character became incredibly strong after eating spelled porridge.
How to cook? You will need: a glass of spelt, half a glass of milk, water and curdled milk, 100g of butter. Spelled is soaked for 6 hours (preferably overnight) in a mixture of water and yogurt. Next, rinse in water, boil over low heat in a mixture of milk and water (or just milk) until cooked. Then the porridge is wrapped for 30-40 minutes.
Barley porridge
This porridge was the favorite dish of Peter I. He called it “the most delicious and delicious.” Also, this porridge is mentioned more than 20 times in the Bible. Served barley porridge mainly on weekdays. It was always cooked in a clay pot in the oven.
How to cook? You need to take: 50g butter, liter of milk, 2 glasses barley groats, salt. Add salt to the milk, bringing it to a boil. Then - the cereal, and cook until the mass thickens. Don't forget to stir. Then the food should be transferred to pots, brought to readiness in a preheated oven. Before serving, pour melted butter over the porridge.
Oatmeal
This porridge cooks the fastest. It is no coincidence that Dahl writes about this: “Knead it and put it in your mouth.” Oatmeal is obtained after pre-treatment grains: steamed in water, dried and pounded in a mortar. This is actually where the name comes from. It must be said that the basis of oatmeal was not only oats: rye and pea oatmeal were used for porridges.
How to cook? The simplest recipe is to simply brew oatmeal with water and add oil. There is another option: pour milk over the oatmeal, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and then let it boil for half a minute. Then you can add sugar, jam or salt to taste - as you like.
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