Tsar's table: What kind of food did the Russian rulers prefer, and How did it differ from the peasant's

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The rulers of Russia had a variety of culinary preferences. Someone preferred gourmet food, someone liked simple peasant food. Today, many would be surprised to learn what exactly was served on the royal table, and some dishes are firmly forgotten. Read what excesses the emperors allowed themselves, who was a great teetotaler, and to whom they brought vodka to dinner every day.

Peter I - a lover of sour necks and jelly

Peter the Great divided food into official and homemade ones. The first option was used when organizing public dinners for foreign ministers. European cuisine was served here. But at home, the tsar preferred simple food and was very fond of Russian cuisine, hearty, tasty, plentiful. Of the imported ones, on his table there were only good wine and cheese, more often Dutch.

Peter I loved to pamper him with jelly with garlic, sour cabbage soup and sauerkraut, he loved porridge, and he ordered the roast to be served with cucumbers and salted lemons. He started his meal with a glass of aniseed vodka, and drank kvass during the meal.

Catherine II: gourmet breakfasts and a hearty dinner with currant water

Catherine II loved variety and sophistication. Both traditional and exotic dishes were always present on the table: compiegne gato, truffle poulades, teal with olives. The Empress's day began early, at six in the morning, at the same time a breakfast of toast and coffee with cream was served. But the lunch was very plentiful - a variety of soups, chicken with vegetables, boiled beef and stewed duck, lobsters, lamb. Some salads could be counted at least 12 types. Side dishes were made from mushrooms and stewed vegetables.

After dinner, Catherine enjoyed desserts - she was crazy about puff pastries with apples, biscuits. Fruits were also on the menu, and on New Year's Eve, the entrepreneur, whose name has not survived, presented the Empress with a golden dish filled with selected peaches, plums and pears, which caused Catherine's constant delight.

The Empress's favorite dish was boiled beef with sauerkraut or pickles. And not a single meal was complete without currant water, with which Catherine washed down high-calorie dishes.

Paul I - a fighter with luxury, cabbage soup and porridge and Alexander I - a supporter of healthy eating

Paul I adhered to the opposite position and fought against luxury. His menu, in comparison with what Catherine demanded to serve, was ascetic. "Mama's cooks" were fired, new ones were recruited. They bought food in the regular market, and the food became simple - porridge and cabbage soup, fried meat and cutlets. However, they put it on expensive porcelain plates. Pavel preferred beef with cabbage, and washed down his dinner with claret.

Alexander I treated his food with trepidation and adhered to a special gastronomic routine, which was drawn up for him by the physician-in-chief Tarasov. Early in the morning, the tsar treated himself to white bread croutons and green tea, into which heavy cream was poured.

After the morning walk, Alexander ate fruit, giving preference to fresh strawberries. For lunch, they served botvinya (this is a cold soup with sour kvass and beet tops broth). The emperor really liked the granular caviar, which was always present on the table. In the evening, after a horse ride, Alexander drank tea, to which honey was always added. And for the coming sleep he had a snack with yogurt or prunes, peeled from the skin. Healthy eating in all its glory!

Nicholas I - favorite pickles and no alcohol

Nicholas I treated food simply and did not require pickles. Most often, cabbage soup with lard, meat, game and fish, and certainly pickled cucumbers were present on the table. The emperor practically did not drink alcohol, and generally ate very little, preferring vegetables.

The most favorite dish was porridge in a pot, and pickles were the undoubted favorite. Nicholas ate at least five of them every day. On the initiative of the physician Manda, the emperor ate dietary "German", which was prepared from carefully mashed potatoes. It was this physician who began to prescribe therapeutic fasting to the highest persons.

Alexander II - hunting lunches with bear meat

Alexander II did not put forward any special culinary requirements. Contemporaries wrote that he preferred the European menu. But Alexander got particular pleasure from dining outdoors, as he was fond of hunting.

Camping meals were organized for the emperor in the open air: he himself ate standing or sitting on a tree stump, the others had to do the same. Despite this, tables were brought, covered with ironed tablecloths, and porcelain plates and crystal decanters were used as dishes. When dinner was held during the hunt, Alexander ordered to cook the prey he had just killed. He was very fond of bear meat, especially the liver, which should have been cooked over charcoal.

Alexander III - sweet tooth and lover of sour milk

Alexander III preferred simple and healthy food, especially his sour milk. For dinner, a piglet was often served with horseradish, and the emperor liked to season simple food with various exquisite sauces. Interestingly, he poured the usual pickles with the spicy Cumberland sauce, which was made from ripe red currants, spices and port. Here is such an unusual combination.

Visiting the Finnish skerries, the emperor fished fish, which was then cooked for him with boiled potatoes right on the street. But Alexander's real passion was sweet food. He loved fruit mousses and marshmallows. He was always served hot chocolate after breakfast. Alexander made special demands on this drink and got angry if the drink was prepared incorrectly.

Many foreigners love Russian cuisine. For example, Alexandru Dumas. He loved these Russian dishes the most.