Video: Culinary journey of Alexandre Dumas to Russia: What Russian dishes did the French gourmet writer love?
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It is known that "Talented people are talented in everything." Confirming this statement of Lyon Feuchtwanger, many famous writers wrote music, and musicians - paintings, but Alexander Dumas chose a more practical hobby. The genius writer was no less talented chef and famous gourmet. Moreover, he did not limit his culinary exercises to French cuisine, but traveled around the world in search of original recipes and exotic ingredients.
We can say that the writer had his culinary talent in his blood. It is known that his mother, Marie-Louise Labourt, cooked excellently, and his grandfather was the owner of a tavern in Ville-Cotrets. On the paternal side, Alexandre Dumas got a quarter of African blood, noble roots and a free attitude to finance. His grandfather, née Marquis de la Payetri, fled from creditors in the New World colony. It is believed that this very reason made the famous grandson travel around the world for many years, studying, at the same time, the peculiarities of the preparation of national dishes.
The result of these travels was the last work of the great writer, published three years after his death - "The Big Culinary Dictionary." The book is written in the form of an alphabetical reference book. In addition to three thousand recipes for specific dishes, there you can find information about gastronomic terms and dishes, professions related to cooking, biographies of famous chefs, notes on the history of culinary and many other information. And all this is written no less interesting than the rest of the works of Alexandre Dumas. The international scope of this work is amazing: in addition to classic French cuisine, you can find many exotic recipes there, such as dishes from the "stomachs of a young shark" or "bear paws".
The writer developed a special relationship with Russian cuisine. Dumas spent a whole year in Russia (1858-1859), visited not only St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also Uglich, Valaam, reached Karelia, and then visited Astrakhan and Transcaucasia. He wrote a separate book about this trip “Travel impressions. In Russia . The famous gourmet liked some of the national dishes:. In addition, the writer was impressed by the mutton kebab:. He also liked rose jam, pickles and sauerkraut, but Dumas did not approve of vodka, koumiss and sterlet ear. He was especially fond of trips to the dacha in Oranienbaum to the writer Avdotya Panaeva, who regaled him with kurnik. Avdotya Yakovlevna then noted in her diary about the appetite of the famous Frenchman:
One critic wrote about the latest creation by Alexandre Dumas:
Fans of gastronomic delights will certainly be interested in Masterpieces of culinary art: original cakes-sculptures
Text: Anna Konstantinova
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