Page 51 - Spring2008

broth and cooked with a large piece of meat that Kefir was originally a product of the
was served alongside. Often a thick shchi might tribal peoples of the northern Caucasus region
make up the entire meal. Its popularity tran- and became a popular Russian food later on.
scended all economic classes and was regularly Cultured dairy products (never sweetened) have
served on the tables of the rich and poor alike. In always been a permanent fi xture in the Russian
a climate that experienced six months of winter diet, and even today a wide variety of fermented
each year, hot soup was a comfort as well as a dairy products is commercially available in Rus-
nourishing centerpiece in the diet, and Russian sia, including several varieties of kefi r cultures
cuisine has never lost the requirement of a fi rst and two varieties of “baked” fermented milk
course of soup in the daily menu. (varenets and ryazhenka) with special bacterial
Borshch and ukha are two other basic soups cultures added. Bifi dok and Acidophilin contain
common to Russian cuisine, although borshch is kefi r cultures with yet other benefi cial lactic acid
actually of Ukrainian origin. There are literally bacteria.
hundreds of borshch recipes, some including The Russians had known of and enjoyed
sausages and other cuts of meat and even beans, the nutritive and medicinal benefi ts of fermented
some are vegetarian, but the primary and sole mare’s milk, kumyss, since earliest times. This
requirement is that it must contain beets. Borshch was another food introduced many centuries
is traditionally enhanced with sour cream in the before by the Scythians and in widespread use
soup plate, and often the broth is spiced with as noted in the oldest Russian chronicles. In the
pickle brine. 17th century the Russian Orthodox Church pro-

Ukha is made from fish, yet is not techni- scribed the eating of horse flesh and drinking of

cally a fish soup. The simplest method was to mare’s milk as unclean, and kumyss dropped from

poach a whole fish in water with herbs and sea- the scene until appearing again in more recent
sonings and the entire fish (including softened times.

bones) would be eaten with its broth. A more
elaborate variation calls for several varieties of KVAS: DRINK OF THE PEOPLE

bony fi sh to first be cooked to produce a stronger Kvas is a lightly fermented, slightly alco-

broth. These fish are then discarded and whole holic beverage commonly made from rye bread
pieces of better quality fish are poached in this sweetened with a bit of honey or fruit juices. Its

broth. widespread use among Russian peasantry has
been recorded since at least 1000 AD. The sweet-
DAIRY PRODUCTS sour drink contains a good supply of B vitamins
Peasants with a bit of land to support a few and active enzymes and was used, along with
pigs, chickens and a cow or two greatly improved beet kvas, as a frequent addition to soups. Large
their diets with meat, eggs and dairy products pieces of meat were often oven-braised in kvas.
for most of the year. Most milk products were Besides kvas, early Russians enjoyed mead The Russians
eaten fresh, or soured, such as clabbered milk (medok, medovukha) and other forms of fer-
(prostokvasha) and sour cream (smetana). Cheese mented honey, some mildly alcoholic and some had known
was traditionally the simple dry-curd pot cheese much stronger. In the tenth century a form of of and
(tvorog) made from raw milk that soured naturally mead was soured with hops and berry juices, and enjoyed the
into curds and was then strained. Tvorog is eaten a method similar to wine making and requiring a
as is with sweet or sour cream or spread thickly fi ve- to 35-year aging period produced a potent nutritive and

on bread, and can also be used in baked dishes. honey drink resembling Cognac. Earlier still, medicinal
Another ancient means of preparing milk was the Russians fermented birch sap into a sort of benefits of
“baking” it in an earthenware jug at very low “beer.” Beer-making with grains did not develop
temperatures in the brick oven overnight or all until the end of the 13th century, and vodka made fermented
day until a thick, honey-brown skin appeared on from rye grain appeared in Moscow somewhere mare’s milk,
the milk and it soured slightly. This toplyonnoye in the mid to late 15th century. There was already kumyss, since
moloko was an early delicacy, somewhat similar a state monopoly on its production by the 16th
to custard. century. earliest times.
SPRING 2008 Wise Traditions 51