Peasant food.
Everyday food was simple and lack variety. Consisted of хлеб, щи, porridge and kvas (soft drink made of bread, slightly fermented national drink). Bred was widely use for various rituals – communion (причастие), weddings (Easter). The lady of the house usually made bread ones a week – it was very time and labor consuming process. A woman started making bread sponge (закваска) the night before. Ready bread was stored in special wooden bins. Every day peasants mostly eat white bread. In bad years a villagers would ate the bark. They also make pasties, pancakes and ginger bread.
Although Russia was culturally isolated from western Europe until the time of Peter I, there were many foreign influences in its cuisine. The Varangians, ancient Scandinavian tromps introduce the Russians to the herring and also a range of techniques for pickling, drying and preserving foods though out the endless winters. The centuries of occupation by the Mongols and tartars brought a whole list of delicious foods, that are now considered to be Slavic staples – noodles and dumplets (пельмени), staffed vegetables, tea and the samovar. Along with this a list of seasonings, fermented milk drinks and dry fruits. Te day-to-day fair of the Russian peasants was sweet and sour and simple. The staples were grains of all sorts, which were made into sour bread and cashas (cereals), mushrooms, beers, honey and all kinds of fish.
Perhaps, the most popular – pancakes. Pancakes are rich and spongy, drown in melted butter. Russians made pancakes even before Christianity was adopted, traditionally associated with a sun. They were used in many Russian rituals from giving birth to death. In old rays pancakes usually were made from ray grains.
Another popular Russian food – pastries. In the 17th century around 50 types of pies existed. Pice comes from a different filling – meat, fish, cabbage, jam. Traditionally sweet. Gingerbreads, made with no filling, but lots of honey and spices. Those often came in different elaborate shapes – animals, fish, birds.
Porridge cereal casha. 600 years ago the word casha made fist – ancient chronicles tell many tells of wonderful casha given by various rulers, important ritual foods at weddings, christenings and funerals. In 16th century around 20 types of cashas existed in Russia. Many cashas still popular.
Another staple Russian food – stchi. In an old days the word would apply to any soup, the skill of cooking stchi was a valuable talent of young women. Traditionally stchi was made of cabbage, carrot, meat. Sometimes cabbage was replaced with sorrel. Over 200 days a year meat was prohibited – also on Wednesdays and Fridays all year round.
Meals – usually two days a day – lunch and dinner. For breakfast – a piece a bread. The father of the family would be the first person to take his seat at the table. A meal would start with a prayer of gratitude, each participant of the meal would get a spoon and a slice of bread. Food was served by the mother of the house, usually she would be so busy, that she had no time to eat with the family. Liquid foods were served in common wooden boils, the father would make sure, that everybody is getting the fair share of the food. For breaking the rules, the father of the family would hit the offender with the spoon. Load voices, laughter and leaving the table before the meal is over was strictly prohibited.
Usually food was scarce, Russian peasants had big meals only on special occasions (on festive dates).
02.03
К 11-30 быть в музее.
Peasant family was highly respected, single people looked suspicious. Only two reasons for being lonely:
To be a monk
illness
Peasant family normally consisted of 15-20 people – elderly parents, married sons with children and grandchildren. They all lived in one house. In the 18th ста 19ер centuries – around 10 people (two generations).
The head of the family – oldest man. Even married sons, who had children of their own, should obey his instructions. He disposed on the family property, decide on the fortune of family members, managed field-work, distributed task and duties. His seat was in the Red Corner.
Marriages were usually arranged. An ideal bride or fiancé – healthy, skilled anв hard-working. Code of rules set marriage age for girls – 13 years, boys – 15. Marriges between relatives were strictly prohibited, this included “in laws”, in was prohibited to marry non-baptized or of a different confession. Max number of marriages – 3, even the second was considered sinful, the person was banished from holy communion for 2 years.
A wedding – one of the biggest holiday of the peasant girl, which combined two rituals – Christian and Pagan. Winter and autumn – the best seasons for marriages (a lot of free time). Engagement and match-making always preceded the marries, decision was make by the parents, the key-person – the match-maker, usually elderly clever experience woman, who was related to the fiancé family or a friend.
Match-making started in the girls-house. After some negotiations (after the deal was arranged) the mother of the fiancé or her trusty would visit the girl’s house – to check out, how good-looking, clever and hard-working the girl was. Only after this visit the deal was finalized. The fathers of the family would meet an agree on the date of the ceremony, dowry, gifts. Immediately after the girl was born – a special chest for dowry, some of it was supplied by the family, others were made by the girl.
The day before the wedding the girl would have bridal’s showers – a meeting for crying and for goodbye her past live. The wedding ceremony – rather complicated, involved several people, each of whom had unique functions.
In the morning all the participants came to the bride groom’s house. The bride arrived with her maids and the bed. The bed was installed at a place, where the newlyweds would spent their first night together. After that the bride was get dressed (in ancient time – red, then white) – during this process she would be crying for her young live. Another important ritual – combing the girl’s hair. The girls hair was arranged in two place and hid under a head dress (special kika) – after that no stranger was supposed to see the woman’s hair. After that the whole party proceeded to the church, on exit from the church the guest would spray the newlyweds with hop – to whish prosperous life. The whole party proceeded to the groom’s house, where there were greeted with bread and sole and parent’s blessing. While the guests were enjoy themselves, the newlyweds were supposed to seat still and not-drinking and eating.
In the middle of the ceremony the manager led the newlyweds to a special arranged room for a bed – there they could have some food and finally stay alone. A lot of rituals. A woman was fully depended on her husband, domestic violence was very common and practice vilely in all classes of society. In fact a peasant woman enjoyed more freedom, than a woman of a noble family (merchant’s wives were mostly stay at home).
First function – to produce son. The reason for a baby-boy – a son was only entitles to inherit of plot of land of his father. Son – help in the work. Birth control was non-existent.
Before a baby was baptized, nobody paid much attention to the child. If a baby died before the baptism – nobody was very regretful. A newly babe was baptized 40 days after the birth + a name – after a saint, who was main in that day of baptism. The baptism ceremony – god-father and god-mother. The ceremony was also followed by a big feast, instead of birthdays they celebrated fist days of their name saints. A basis for Russian family – respect for the elderly and obeying the parents.
Feasts.
Folk-holidays. Peasants followed three calendars: agricultural (first day of sawing, farewell winter, first day of reaping), pagan (pre-Christian – reflected natural phenomena – Shrove-tide, Christmas in Trinity) and Christian calendar (consisted of 12 great feasts and Easter). The day of New Years changed – 1 of May, 1 of September, Peter I – 1 of January. Christmas was the most important holyday.
Christmas. Winter-time, when peasants would stay inside as mush a possible. The Christmas celebrating was full of symbolic meaning – deeply rooted in ancient traditions. The most important moment of the whole celebration – the Holy Sapper, that took place on Christmas eve and preceding by a day of fasting. The meal was a lenten one, not permitting any meat or dairy products. The festivities began with the appearance of the first star. Crowds of boys and girls carried a wooden star of Bethlehem with a lighted candle in the middle with an enormous sacks, would sing the traditional Christmas songs near the neighbors windows and were reworded with various treats, specially prepared for the occasion. By midnight everyone would be assembled in one of the churches in their best cloths for the Christmas servings. By 2 a.m. families drifted back their homes, which had been clean for the occasion, where they would eat, relax and enjoy the decorations – not a Christmas tree, but sheaf of wheat or ray.
The first dish to break the fast was cutia – a ritual dish of wheat barriers (неочищенные зерна), poppy seeds, nuts, dry foods and honey. Other specialties include the piece of culich – a cake with honey, several fish (carp or pike or hearing), vegetarian borsht. Followed by sweet horses – Christmas cake, dried food compot, twig-cookies. Strictly the family celebration, almost the domestic animals would get the participant. They were offered a little of dish, for they participated in the miracle of the birth of Jesus.
Christmastide – 25 of December – 5 of January (old style) – including singing Christmas songs, fortune-telling, wearing fancy costumes. Fortune-telling – for girls about the husbands. Святки - сostumes were prepared before feast – man would wear female clothe and vise versa, a horse with a rider (complicated installations).
Shrovetide (Mardi gras) – last week before Easter. Takes place sometime in late Fabruary. Although it coincides with the beginning of lent, it was never really a church festival, relating instead to the pagan celebration of the dawn of spring and the burial of winter. M was one of the merriest and wildest celebrations of the whole year with Lent approaching this was really the last opportunity to have fan. The name M derives from масло – butter. M was also the name of the pagan deity, who ruled over the winter season. Home-made figures of the M were taken to all the festivities and paraded a round, on the last day of the week they were ceremoniously burned on top of huge born-fires. The fires been attribute to the sun.
The celebrations and diversions were wild and fantastic. There were mine-shows, clowns, troops of travelling artists, people would slide down specially constructed slobs of ice. It was a time of family visits, wrestling matches and circuses.
The most important food of M was the reach spongy bleeni (pancakes), drown in melted butter and topped with traditional Russia delicacy – caviar, sturgeon, hips of sour cream. People were eaten for the whole year and for the lenten weeks ahead. Number of pancakes – 15-30.
Trinity, Whitsuntide.
50 days after M. Feast were associated with power of nature – celebrated outside in the woods. An essential part – the birch tree. Young girls found pretty nice birch tree, decorated it with flowers, would sing songs, round dance.
WT – coincided of summer solstice. Nature elements – fire and water. Both symbolized purity, celebration included fires and swimming – after this feast people were allowed to swim. On the eve peasants would put on clean cloth and make bonfires. The elderly would watch the young jump over fires – the higher you jump, more bread you get. Celebration was followed with group swimming. The night was special magic time – on this night village spin doctors went into the woods to pick up medicine herbs. The greatest luck was to find a flower of fern – the one who finds will have the magic gift to see hidden treasures.
Hay-making started right after Whitsuntide.
The church never approved of this holiday – it became almost extinct by 19th century.
Easter.
In the old days no festival was aviated with as much attention as Easter. Easter food traditions were so strong, ере despite to the government disagreement of religious celebrations after the revolution, people would still cook Easter foods in their homes. Easter foods are very rich. Eggs are the most important symbol of birth – standing for the renewal of life itself and the first food to break the fast. There was an Easter ritual on rolling eggs on the ground – an egg, that touches the earth. Is suppose to impregnate it and give it new futility. Beautifully painted eggs called писанки were a significant contribution to the national folk-art heritage. Used natural vegetable dyes – beets for red, onion skins for deep golden brown.
The second Easter priority – the culich, special Easter coffee-cake. A proper should be very rich and light. To archive this difficult combination the cook must use after 30 eggs, a pound of butter and three risens for the dawn.
The third ritual food – Пасха. Made of pot cheese, butter and yokes. All the ingredients are blended and breast in a pyramid shaped mould. Often decorated with letters ХВ – the Christ if Risen. Both the кулич и пасха are taken to church for a blessing – before Easter.