"Promother of bread" is popularly called porridge. Somehow an ancient culinary specialist cooked porridge and inadvertently poured cereals more than expected. In short, the mistake turned into a cake. People, having properly scolded the negligent cook, nevertheless tried a new dish and, apparently, they liked it. Over time, cakes began to be baked from flour. So, according to a folk saying, bread was born from porridge.
In Rus', porridge from time immemorial has occupied an important place in the nutrition of the people. It was cooked from millet (millet), oats, barley, buckwheat and other cereals on weekdays and holidays. Interestingly, the porridge in Ancient Rus' they called not only cereal dishes, but in general all dishes that are cooked from crushed products. So, in ancient sources, bread porridges, which were cooked from crackers, as well as a wide variety of fish porridges are mentioned: herring, whitefish, salmon, sturgeon, sturgeon, beluga. Apparently, this fish was finely chopped and, possibly, mixed with boiled cereals.
According to some reports, meat was also added to such porridge in fast days. They also prepared porridge from a mixture of different cereals. In the 18-19 centuries, cereals were boiled together with potatoes. seasoned with onions and vegetable oil, this dish was called kulesh. They also prepared pea, juice (on hemp oil), church, turnip and many other cereals.
And in ancient times, and in the recent past, porridge was the main meal of both poor and rich people. Hence the Russian proverb: "porridge is our mother".
The great importance that porridge and other cereal dishes had in the nutrition of the Slavic peoples, including the Russian people, could not but affect their use as ritual dishes.
For example, in ancient Rus', "porridge" was called a wedding feast. The Novgorod chronicle of 1239, reporting on the marriage of Alexander Nevsky, says that the prince was married in the Trinity, that (there - ed.) porridge was repaired, and another in Novgorod.
But what a story came out with the "porridge" of Prince Dmitry Donskoy. Deciding to marry the daughter of the Nizhny Novgorod prince, he, according to the custom existing at that time, had to go "for porridge" to the father of his bride. However, the prince of Moscow considered it below his dignity to celebrate his own wedding on the land of his future father-in-law and invited the latter to come to Moscow. But the Nizhny Novgorod prince would have fallen in his own eyes and in the eyes of his neighbors, had he agreed to such an “insulting” proposal.
And then they chose the golden mean. The porridge was cooked not in Moscow and not in Novgorod, but in the city of Kolomna, which lies almost in the middle of the road between glorious cities.
In general, the organization of a wedding feast in those days, however, as today, was a rather troublesome business, and it was not without reason that the saying “brew porridge” was born.
Porridge was also cooked at the conclusion of a peace treaty between the warring parties. Then, as a sign of alliance and friendship, former opponents sat at the same table and ate this porridge. If the parties failed to reach an agreement on peace, they said: "You can't cook porridge with him." This expression has survived to our time, however, its meaning has changed somewhat. Today we more often address this phrase to an inept person than to an enemy.
How porridge was cooked in Rus'
Christmas holidays, homelands, weddings, funerals and many other events in the life of the people could not do without porridge in Rus'.
On Vasily's Day in many Russian provinces, porridge was cooked in accordance with a certain ritual. It happened like this. Cooked porridge "until light". Groats from the barn (at night) were brought by the eldest woman in the house, and water from the river or well was brought by the eldest of the men. And they put water and cereals on the table and God forbid anyone touch them until the stove is heated.
But now the stove is heated, the whole family sits down at the table and the older woman, stirring the cereal, says: “We sowed, grew buckwheat all summer; our buckwheat was born and large and blush; called-called buckwheat to Tsargrad with princes, with boyars, with honest oats, golden barley; they waited for buckwheat, they waited at the stone gates; princes and boyars met buckwheat, planted buckwheat at an oak table to feast; buckwheat came to visit us. Probably, if porridge was cooked from other cereals, she was also praised. But buckwheat has always enjoyed special respect among the Russian people. It is no coincidence that she was called the princess.
After this lamentation, everyone rises from the table, and the hostess, with bows, puts the pot of porridge in the oven. Then the family sits down at the table again and waits for the porridge to cook.
Finally, the porridge is ready, and here comes the crucial moment. With the words: “You are welcome to our yard with your good,” the woman takes the porridge out of the oven and first of all examines the pot in which it was cooked. There is no greater misfortune for the family if the porridge gets out of the pot, or worse, the pot will be cracked. Open the gates for future troubles. But that's not all. If the porridge turned out to be red, well boiled - to be a happy family in the new year, with a good harvest. The pale color of porridge is a harbinger of alternative consequences.
In general, there were a great many ways of divination on porridge. At the same time, the future harvest was most often the object of fortune-telling. For example, in Galician Rus', kutya was eaten at dinner on the eve of Christmas. And such an unusual way of predicting the harvest was widespread. The owner of the house, having scooped up a full spoonful of porridge, threw it under the ceiling. The more grains stick to the ceiling, the richer the harvest.
Kutya
By the way, about kutya. It was prepared from wheat, rice, barley and other cereals with raisins, honey, poppy seeds, etc. As a rule, kutya everywhere had a ritual memorial significance. But in Rus', as we noted above, it was also prepared for Christmas.
Here is what M. G. Rabinovich writes about Kutya: “Kutya was mentioned for the first time at the beginning of the 12th century (in the chronicle source - The Tale of Bygone Years - author).
Initially, it was prepared from wheat grains with honey, and in the 16th century - with poppy seeds. In the 19th century, rice and raisins were already taken for kutya, as they do now. If the ancient kutya, apparently, is of rural origin, then the later one (completely from imported products) is of urban origin. The charter of the meals of the Tikhvin Monastery distinguishes between kutya and “kolivo, that is, wheat is boiled with honey and raisins”. Apparently, at the end of the 16th century, raisins were just added to kutya, and for distinction they used the name kolivo, which meant the same as kutya.
Porridge in rituals in Rus'
An integral part of wedding ceremonies in Rus' was the feeding of young porridge. She was considered a symbol of sowing and fertility. Apparently for the same reason, the women who took birth cooked a special porridge for women in labor.
Everywhere in Rus', the custom of sprinkling the bride and groom with cereals and grains was also widespread. The young were sprinkled before going to the crown, when leaving the church, before entering the house. In some provinces, this was not limited. Even the next day, when the young people came out of the bath, they were greeted with a rain of grain.
The meaning of sprinkling the young was twofold: so that good bread was born and the beauty (health) of the young was preserved. Therefore, in the sentences that accompanied sprinkling, wishes for a good harvest and health are often repeated.
Usually sprinkled young with oats, barley, wheat. True, in different areas they used different cereals and grains. Sometimes the groom was sprinkled with hops, as hops are a symbol of masculinity.
Porridge was often the main treat at the festivities on the occasion of the end of the harvest, especially if the work could not be done without the help of hired workers. When hiring for work during the labor season, the worker often pronounces obligatory porridge for lunch as an important condition. The Karelians were especially scrupulous in this respect, as they considered millet porridge a great delicacy.
In the Kholmogory district, millet porridge was an obligatory treat after christening.
The so-called "votive" porridge was eaten on the day of Agrafena Kupalnitsa (June 23) upon returning from the bath or after bathing. This porridge was prepared with special rituals. Often, girls from different houses gathered to crush cereals for porridge, while each brought her own cereal. They also cooked "worldly porridge" on this day, which was fed to the poor.
Any collective work, whether it was harvesting or building a house, could not do without artel porridge. Sometimes the artel itself was called porridge. “We are from the same porridge,” the artel workers said.
As you can see, porridge for Russian people in the past was much more important than it is today. But above all, it was valued as the main dish of the national table. Kasha accompanied a person all his life from birth to the last day.
Few other cuisines can offer as many varieties of cereals as Russian. They differ primarily in the types of cereals. The most common cereals for cereals in Russia have always been millet, barley, oats, buckwheat, rice, etc.
Each cereal, depending on the type of processing, was divided into types. So, they made a core from buckwheat and did it, from barley - pearl barley (large grains), Dutch (smaller grains) and barley (very small grains). By the way, it is believed that barley porridge was the favorite food of Peter I.
Millet porridge was cooked from millet, semolina from hard wheat groats, oatmeal from whole crushed oats. Green porridge was widely distributed in some provinces. It was brewed from young, unripe, half-filled rye.
Since childhood, we all know the fairy tale of A.S. Pushkin, in which the priest fed his worker Balda with boiled spelled. What is this spelled? Some believe that this is such a porridge, others confidently attribute it to vegetables. In fact, spelled in Rus' was called a spike plant, something between wheat and barley. Porridge and stew were cooked from crushed cereals. This food was considered coarse, but nutritious, therefore it was intended mainly for the poorest segments of the population.
In general, porridge was cooked from raw grains, crushed and finely ground cereals.
Many old recipes for cereals have long been forgotten. But it was they who laid the foundation for Russian cooking. And how many traditions our ancestors have associated with this wonderful dish!
They ate porridge in order to reconcile with the enemy - only after that the peace treaty came into force. At the wedding, the young ate for festive table exclusively porridge, and invited guests from one pot.
"Green porridge"
This is not only old, but also indigenous Russian National dish. It is based on whole rye grain, which has reached the stage of wax ripeness. It was considered a seasonal summer food, available mainly to wealthy people: only ripened grain was used to make “green porridge”. Landlords could get ripened grain, as they had more land than ordinary peasants.
Cooking this dish is not so difficult, but there are some tricks. Grain is thrown into boiling water, boiled until all the water boils away. Then they throw salt, butter, thoroughly mixing everything. And, having covered with a lid, they are placed for 3 hours in a pre-heated Russian stove or oven.
Simenuha porridge
Surely you have never heard of such porridge, which was once considered a traditional Russian dish. 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 weld 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
A number of traditions are associated with this dish. On memorial days in Rus', a funeral kutia was prepared, which was also called "kolivo". It was nothing more than a sweet porridge based on 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 the baby's christening, but in this case it was given a life-affirming meaning. And, of course, not a single Christmas could do without kutya.
What was different about baptismal porridge? And the fact that they cooked it in milk, and also put 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.
Guryev 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 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? Peel the walnuts, chop some, and dip some in sugar, frying in the oven. Put the cream in the oven over medium heat, watch until a ruddy foam appears. Remove foam 5-6 times. Mix the remaining cream with sugar and semolina, and then cook until the porridge thickens. Add raisins, chopped nuts, skins, cut into strips, mix thoroughly. Then put a layer of porridge in a dish, placing foam on it (make up to 4 layers), and sprinkle sugar on the very top. Place in oven until browned. Then lay marmalade or candied fruits, nuts fried with sugar, jam or canned fruits on top.
spelled porridge
They made such porridge from small cereals made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was cultivated on the territory of Rus' as early as the 18th century. Spelled did not need special care, it was completely unpretentious, neither weeds nor pests were afraid of it. The main feature of spelled porridge was that it gave off a pleasant nutty flavor, and it was also incredibly useful. 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 by eating spelled porridge.
How to cook? You will need: a glass of spelt, half a glass of milk, water and yogurt, 100g butter. Spelled is soaked for 6 hours (preferably overnight) in a mixture of water and curdled milk. Then they are washed in water, boiled over low heat in a mixture of milk and water (or just in milk) until tender. Then the porridge is wrapped for 30-40 minutes.
Barley porridge
This porridge was Peter's favorite dish I . He called it "the most delicious and spore." Also, this porridge is mentioned more than 20 times in the Bible. Served barley porridge mostly on weekdays. Prepared for sure clay pot in the oven.
How to cook? You need to take: 50g butter, a liter of milk, 2 cups barley groats, salt. Add salt to the milk, bringing it to a boil. Then - cereals, and cooks until the mass thickens. Don't forget to stir. Then the food should be transferred to pots, bringing to readiness in a preheated oven. Before serving, porridge is poured with melted butter.
14.05.2015
Porridge has been known since ancient times to all agricultural peoples. In Russian written monuments, this word is found in documents of the end of the 12th century, however, archaeological excavations find pots with the remains of kasha in layers of the 9th - 10th centuries. Word "porridge" comes, according to linguists, from the Sanskrit "porridge" , which means "crush, rub".
Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. Without traditional Russian porridge on the table, it was impossible to imagine any celebration or holiday. Moreover, a certain ritual porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. This is reflected in the proverbs:
"Porridge is our breadwinner"
"You can't feed a Russian peasant without porridge"
"Without porridge, lunch is not at lunch"
"Schi and porridge are our food"
"Borscht without porridge is a widower, porridge without borscht is a widow"
Among some peoples of our country, porridge, which was called "grandmother's" welcomed the newborn. At the wedding, the bride and groom certainly cooked porridge, which was an obligatory part of the wedding ceremony - "The hostess is red - and the porridge is delicious". Kasha was cooked for christenings and name days, porridge (kutya) was used to commemorate a person, seeing him off on his last journey to a funeral or commemoration.
Without porridge of their own original preparation, it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each hostess had her own recipe, which was kept secret.
Porridge was always prepared before big battles, and even at victorious feasts without "victorious" porridge was not enough. Porridge served as a symbol of a truce: to make peace, it was necessary to cook "peaceful" porridge.
In the ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called "porridge": for example, at the wedding of Alexander Nevsky "they made porridge" twice - one at the wedding in the Trinity, the other during the national festivities in Novgorod.
Porridge was necessarily prepared on the occasion of the beginning of a big business. Hence the expression "make porridge".
Porridge in Rus' "determined" even the relationship between people. About a man unreliable and intractable they said: "you can't cook porridge with him". When they worked as an artel, they cooked 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 one artel, in one brigade. On the Don even today you can hear the word "porridge" in this sense.
Choose your porridge!
buckwheat: rich in iron and calcium, B vitamins, contains a lot of easily digestible proteins (therefore, in China it is considered an equivalent substitute for meat). It is useful for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, helps with hypertension, liver diseases, and edema. Normalizes digestion and bowel function. In addition, buckwheat contains 8% quercetin, which is considered one of the most powerful natural substances for the prevention and treatment of cancer.
Calorie content: 329 kcal / 100 gr.
CORN: promotes intestinal health, contains silicon, which has a positive effect on the condition of the teeth. Another plus is that from corn it turns out low-calorie porridge, which is also able to remove fat from the body.
Calorie content: 325 kcal / 100 gr.
MANNA: contrary to the prevailing stereotype, far not the most healthy porridge . Firstly, it contains a very allergenic vegetable protein gluten, and secondly, it leaches calcium from the body.
Calorie content: 326 kcal / 100 gr.
OAT: quite high-calorie, gives a "enveloping" effect. Useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, stomach ulcers, etc.)
Calorie content: 345 kcal / 100 gr.
BARLEY: normalizes metabolism (for example, in the initial stages of obesity), rich in microelements, B vitamins. Good for allergies recommended for the prevention of anemia.
MILLET: removes excess mineral salts from the body, binds and removes fats from the body. Millet is rich in vitamin A, which helps retain moisture in the skin cells and promotes skin regeneration. In addition, porridge contains calcium and magnesium salts, which are necessary for the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels. One thing is bad - millet is not stored for long (an indicator of freshness is a rich yellow color). If the cereal has turned pale, it means that it has lost the vast majority of its beneficial properties.
Calorie content: 334 kcal / 100 gr.
RICE: the lowest calorie porridge. Contains lots of vegetable proteins and starch, easily digestible.
Calorie content: 323 kcal / 100 gr.
BARLEY: Barley groats are crushed barley. This cereal is a source of the most useful vitamins and minerals for our body. It contains vitamins of group B, vitamins A, E, PP and trace elements - silicon, phosphorus, fluorine, chromium, zinc, boron. The cereal is enriched with potassium, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, nickel, iodine and other useful minerals.
Barley grain consists of 5-6% fiber, which is so necessary for our stomach and intestines. It helps to normalize digestion and remove all harmful products decay. In its own way nutritional value the protein in barley is superior to wheat and, unlike animal protein, is absorbed in the human body by almost 100%.
Calorie content: 324 kcal / 100 gr.
What porridges were cooked in Rus'
In Rus', spelled porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains made fromspelled. Spelled- This is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was grown in large quantities in Rus' back in the 18th century. Or rather, spelled grew by itself, was not whimsical and did not require any care. She was not afraid of pests or weeds. Spelled itself destroyed any weed. Spelled porridge was coarse, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, "cultivated" varieties of wheat replaced spelt, because. she didn't peel well. Spelled grain fuses with the flower shell, creating an almost integral whole with it. In addition, the yield of spelt was much lower than that of cultivars of wheat.
Spelled, or two-grain, is the oldest type of cultivated wheat (Triticum diciccon). Now it has almost been replaced by more productive varieties of soft and durum wheat, but there is a revival in the production of spelt, because spelt has a huge advantage over other varieties of wheat - drought tolerance. There is a lot of protein in spelled, from 27% to 37%, and there is little gluten, so people who are allergic to gluten can eat this porridge safely. Spelled is richer in iron and B vitamins than regular wheat and has a pleasant nutty flavor. Grown in the Caucasus: its crops have been resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". Sold today in Russia and American spelled. It's called "spelt". Sometimes you can find spelled grown in Europe. All this introduces some confusion, but "spelt", And "zanduri", And "spelt", And "kamut", the names of the same plant, the old Russian spelt. Moreover, it came to America and Europe from Russia.
In ancient times, dishes prepared not only from cereals, but also from other crushed products (fish, peas, bread) were called porridge. The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereals that were produced in Rus'. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways.
Porridge made from whole or crushed grains barley, was called: barley, barley, rye, crushed rye, thick, glaze, barley . Zhitnoy this porridge was called in the northern and central Russian provinces, where, in a word zhito was designated barley. Zhito crushed, barley - porridge made from finely crushed grain. Word thick in the Novgorod, Pskov, Tver provinces, steep barley porridge made from whole grains was called. She was so popular there that Novgorodians in Rus' were even called "thick-eaters". Term "eye" was used to refer to porridge cooked from barley with peas. The peas in the porridge were not completely boiled soft, and on its surface were visible "eyes"- peas. Pearl barley- this is a porridge cooked from whole grains, the bluish-gray color of which and a slightly oblong shape slightly resembled a "pearl grain" - pearl. Three types of cereals were made from barley: barley- large grains were subjected to weak grinding, dutch- finer grains were polished to white, and barley- very small groats from unpolished (whole) grains.
Oat porridge ( oatmeal, oatmeal) could be brewed from both whole and crushed grains. She liked her nutritional value and speed of preparation. It could be cooked on a light taganka without melting a Russian oven or stove.
Barley and oatmeal porridge has been cooked since ancient times throughout Rus', both in villages and in cities, and was served mainly on weekdays.
Millet porridge(millet, white - made from millet), was known to 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 a festive feast.
Wheat, made into very fine grains, was used to make semolina. Word "manna"- Old Slavonic and goes back to the Greek word "manna" - food. It was served only to children and was usually prepared with milk.
Rice porrige appeared in the 18th century, when rice was brought to Russia, it 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 cook kutya from it.
Buckwheat although it appeared rather late - in the 15th century, already in the 17th century. was considered a national Russian dish. There is also a proverb about her: "Our grief is buckwheat porridge: I would eat this, but there is no". In addition to whole grains - the core, going for the cool, crumbly cereals, made smaller cereals - "Veligorka"
and very small "Smolensk"
.
Along with porridges from whole or crushed grains, traditional for Russians were "flour porridge" , i.e. flour porridge. They were usually called mukawashi, mukaveshki, mukovinki, mukovki . Some of these porridges also had special names, which reflected the methods of making porridge, its consistency, the type of flour used for making: bearberry, (bearer, bearberry), straw(salamat, salamata, salamaha), kulaga(malt, kisselica), pea, brew, thicket(goose, goose), etc.
Toloknyakha was prepared from oatmeal, which was a fragrant, fluffy flour made from oats. Oatmeal was made in a peculiar way: oats in a bag were dipped into the river for a day, then languished in the oven, dried, pounded in mortars and sifted through a sieve. When making porridge, oatmeal was poured with water and rubbed with a whorl so that there were no lumps. Toloknyakha has been around since the 15th century. one of the most popular folk dishes.
Solomat- 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 already mentioned in written sources of the 15th century. the word is "straw" borrowed by the Russians from the Turkic languages. Gorokhovka- porridge made from pea flour. Kulaga- food made from rye malt- germinated and steamed in the oven grain and rye flour. After cooking in the oven, a sweetish porridge was obtained. mess- porridge from any flour, poured into boiling water during cooking with continuous stirring. Gustikha- thick porridge made from rye flour.
Kashi was prepared in every house, both for everyday and for a festive meal. They could be consumed with milk, cow's or vegetable oil, fat, honey full, kvass, berries, fried onions, etc. Three porridges were usually put on the festive table: millet, buckwheat and barley.
Recipes for some cereals
Kulaga
Kulaga is an almost forgotten delicacy, once one of the most beloved in Rus'. However, in Belarus and the Pskov region, it is still being prepared, but in a slightly different version. In the wonderful book of the philologist I.S. Lutovinova "The Tale of Russian Food", the story of an old woman from Pskov is given: Saladuha was called a kulaga, rye will grow together, they soar, ana saladeit tada, it becomes sweet and lay the yagat. Bring yagat, fsypish rye muchicki, mix, pavarish and ish kulagu.
Recipe: Sort fresh blueberries, rinse and boil. Add sifted rye flour, diluted in a small amount of water, honey or sugar, mix and cook until tender over low heat, stirring occasionally. Blueberries can be replaced with fresh raspberries, strawberries, wild strawberries, blueberries, etc. Serve pancakes, bread, fresh milk or kvass separately.
But this - after all - is precisely the Pskov-Belarusian kulaga. Originally Russian kulaga was prepared only with viburnum!
Dahl's:
KULAG and. salamata; thick, brew; raw malted dough, sometimes with viburnum; steamed malted dough; knead in a bowl in boiling water equally rye flour and malt, until the density of kvass thick, evaporated in a free spirit, and put in the cold; it's delicious Lenten dish. Kulazhka is not a mash, not drunk, eat plenty.
The most accurate comparison of one and the other kulagi is in Pokhlebkina, here you can’t subtract or add:
KULAG. Russian national sweet dish. It exists in two versions: a real kulaga with viburnum and a Belarusian berry kulaga.
Real kulaga is made from rye malt, rye flour and viburnum, without any additives of sweet food products: sugar, honey. The malt is diluted with boiling water, allowed to infuse for 1 hour, then twice as much rye flour is added, the dough is kneaded and allowed to cool to the warmth of fresh milk (28-25 ° C), after which it is fermented with rye bread crust and after the dough has soured, put in a heated oven ( Russian) for several hours - usually from evening to morning (that is, for 8-10 hours). At the same time, the dishes are tightly closed and smeared with dough for complete sealing. Kulaga is created in the process of restrained fermentation without air access with weak non-heating. As a result, special enzymes are formed that are rich in vitamins of the Bg, Bb, B12 and Bi5f groups, which, together with the tocopherls that occur during yeast fermentation, and with the active viburnum vitamins (C and P), create an amazing effect of a “healing” product. Not without reason, kulaga was used for use against any diseases - colds, nervous, heart, kidney, gallstone, liver, invariably giving an excellent effect. At the same time, kulaga had an exceptional, restrained sweetish-sour pleasant taste. But both the taste and the healing effect were the result of very special cooking conditions, and not the composition of the raw materials.
Belarusian kulaga is prepared much faster and easier, without malt, as a result of mixing 100 g of rye flour with wild berries (any, and in the mixture - strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries) and a small amount sugar or honey (a glass of sugar or 1-2 tablespoons of honey). Then the mixture is aged in an oven or simply heated, after which it cools. Belarusian kulaga is very tasty due to its berry composition, but it does not have the effect of a real kulaga and is far from its taste.
I have prepared both types of kulagi. Berries of forest raspberries and viburnum frozen in summer and autumn were used. For the Belarusian kulaga, raspberries in a small amount of water were brought to a boil, added brewed rye flour and steamed for a short time in a water bath. And fermented the Russian rye bread, taking for her rye malt, flour, honey and excellent forest viburnum. And he kept it all night under a dough cover at T ~ 35 C. In spring beriberi, such a kulaga is really very useful.
Amaranth seed porridge
Healing properties of amaranth known from ancient times. Amaranth porridge should be eaten to strengthen the immune system, cleanse the body of toxins, toxins, radionuclides and salts of heavy metals, as well as for:
- Diseases of the digestive system (gastritis, gastroduodenitis, constipation, dysbacteriosis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, colitis, enterocolitis, fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis).
- Diseases of cardio-vascular system(atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension, heart failure, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, heart attack, stroke).
- Obesity and diabetes.
- Oncological diseases
- Diseases of the female and male reproductive organs.
- Diseases and traumatic injuries of the skin (psoriasis, eczema, herpes, neurodermatitis, atopic dermatitis, fungal skin diseases, trophic ulcers, bedsores, burns, frostbite, radiation skin lesions).
Important: Amaranth seed porridge is gluten-free and can be eaten by people on a gluten-free diet. And also to all comers - people who care about their health.
Option 1
Ingredients: 1 cup amaranth seeds, 1 small garlic clove, peeled and chopped, 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped, 3 cups water or vegetable broth, sea salt or tamari soy sauce to taste, hot sauce to taste (optimal); garnish: 2 plum tomatoes and 1 large fleshy tomato.
Cooking method: Combine amaranth seeds, garlic, onion and broth in a 2.5 liter saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Mix well. If the resulting mixture is too runny or the amaranth has not fully softened (it should be crunchy but not too hard), bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Add salt or tamari to taste. Serve with a dash of hot sauce if you like, and garnish with chopped tomatoes.
Option 2
Ingredients: 1 cup amaranth seeds, 2 cups water, salt, sugar, vegetable oil or butter.
Cooking method: Rinse amaranth seeds in water. Preferably through a sieve, because. Seeds do not completely sink in water. Place in container, add water. The number of seeds and water is not important, the main thing is to keep the ratio 2:1. Boil. Cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes. Add salt and sugar to taste. In the finished porridge, you can add vegetable or butter to taste.
Oatmeal with elecampane root seasoned with linseed oil
Prepared with water and without sugar. Elecampane root is bought at a pharmacy and ground in a coffee grinder, after which it is sifted through a fine sieve (for tea), a powder in the form of flour should be obtained, added to porridge (to taste) 15 minutes before the end of readiness.
In the finished porridge to taste and optionally added:
Blueberry
- raisins (pre-fill with clean water and let the berries draw water to increase in size to a grape);
- ground in a coffee grinder to choose from: flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds (or all together);
When ready, add a little melted butter (melt it yourself in a water bath, at a temperature of no more than 35-40 degrees) and a little unrefined linseed oil.
Porridge without cooking
People striving for a natural lifestyle often switch to a raw food diet. Its main essence is to eat foods that have not been subjected to heat treatment (frying, boiling, stewing, freezing). However, in such a case, eating porridge seems impossible at first glance. But only at first glance.
Porridge can be cooked without cooking! Just soaking cereals. Thus, the grains retain all their strength and nutritional value.
How long does it take to soak different cereals?
For soaking cereals cold water the minimum time is:
- for rye, oat or wheat flakes - 5-10 minutes;
- for buckwheat - 1 hour;
- for barley - 2 hours;
- oats (cereals, not flakes) - 4 hours;
- for rye - 12 hours;
- for wheat - 30 hours;
- for rice - 70 hours.
Let's stop for a bit buckwheat. Ta buckwheat that you buy in the store (brown) is FRIED! For normal seeds buckwheat remove the outer (black) shell mechanically, after which the cleaned buckwheat has a greenish color and taste has nothing to do with the store. Now imagine you are buying fried buckwheat , then boil it (and, most likely, more than once, because after a while it is also heated up), as a result, you use it twice killed buckwheat!
soaked cereals remain alive (they can be germinated), they will give you all the useful substances without loss, and cooked ones cannot boast of this - heat treatment kills them and significantly reduces the content of useful substances.
The above plate is correct only at an air temperature not lower than +1°C, because in natural winter conditions, at the time of soaking, the water simply freezes - this is another reason to think about food on the estate, whether to eat cereals in winter… But that's another story.
Live cereal recipes
Live porridge from germinated wheat "Morning"
Put the sprouted wheat in a blender.
Add any fruits or berries to your taste (I like it with blackcurrant, as in the picture; sweeter - with raspberries or ripe banana) and some water. You can not add anything, but already put a couple of tablespoons of honey on a plate.
Mix at high speed until smooth.
We spread it on a plate ... and you can enjoy a healthy morning dish. 
Live porridge from germinated naked oats "Energy"
A little theory first...
Naked oats are a special variety of oats, on the grains of which there is no membranous shell. Such oats are not subjected to mechanical peeling, therefore, they retain high germination.
Naked oats contain trace elements necessary for health, it is especially rich in phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and zinc. And also there are B vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6; vitamin C, vitamins E, K, carotene.
Oat sprouts are especially beneficial, as when sprouting, the content of vitamin C increases from 0.88 mg/100 g to 13.82 mg/100 g, and the number of antioxidants increases from 34 mg/100 g to 334 mg/100 g!
Regular intake of sprouts normalizes the work of the gastrointestinal tract. Oat sprouts increase immunity, restore muscle strength, renew blood.
According to polls, hullless oats are in second place in popularity among adherents of a healthy diet, second only to green buckwheat.
Recipe:
1) We germinate naked oats.
2) Mash a soft banana.
3) Add the desired amount of ripe raspberries.
Sprouted oats with a banana can be twisted in a blender. It is better to add raspberries to the finished porridge with whole berries.
In the absence of raspberries, you can get by just fine with a banana.
However, you can take any berries and fruits that your soul desires ...
Raw oat bran porridge with cranberries and walnuts
1. In the evening, put oat bran, cranberries and crushed raw walnuts on a plate. Instead of cranberries, you can take your favorite dried fruits: for example, raisins, dried apricots, prunes - a sour note is good here.
2. Fill warm water and leave to soak and soak until the morning.
3. In the morning, add honey to the swollen mass to taste, decorate with mint leaves ...
Live porridge from sprouted green buckwheat with sweet fruits
1. We germinate green buckwheat. (It can be ground in a blender with the rest of the ingredients).
3. Mix sprouted buckwheat with your favorite sweet fruits. I especially like two flavors: with mashed (or finely chopped) ripe banana and with soaked raisins.
And green buckwheat is good for breakfast with "milk" - for example, from sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
Eat porridge and be healthy!
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Porridges were cooked from collapsed whole and crushed grains of rye, wheat, barley, oats, millet (millet). In Rus', until the 18th century, an ancient type of wheat was cultivated - spelt, using it for cooking porridge.
Chronicles testify to the use of four cereals in ancient Rus': wheat, barley, millet and rye. The first three date back to the Paleolithic era. Of course, they were also used for making cereals - the simplest cereal dishes.
. So, Theodosius of the Caves wrote: "Yes, Having cooked Wheat and Mixed with Honey, Presenting the Brothers 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 XVI century. rice began to appear - Saracen millet. In addition to this name, it is found in the sources of the 16th - 17th centuries. The word "Brynets" ("smoking under the brynets with saffron", "hearth pies with brynets and with brushwood" - "serve books all year round at the table". The word "Brynets" is from the Persian "byuringj comes". Obviously, there was two names for rice depending on where it comes from.
For cooking cereals, not only cereals from whole and crushed cereals were used, but also flour from them. A very long time ago, hydrothermal treatment (according to modern terminology) of oats was also used. Oatmeal was made from it, dishes from which are considered the oldest Slavic dishes. To obtain oatmeal, oats were steamed, dried and crushed. After such treatment, 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 groats were made from unripe grain. Green porridge was cooked in times of famine, when supplies ran out in the house, and vegetables and rye were not yet ripe. Unripe grains of rye were dried, ground and boiled porridge from the resulting flour. Of course, green porridge appeared in peasant life due to a lack of food, but, obviously, it fell in love with its delicate and peculiar taste, and then entered 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 common Russian dishes. Green porridge was cooked in rich houses, even in the 19th century.
Cereals were used to prepare cereals, soups, fillings for pies and pies, sausages with porridge, loaves, pancakes and other culinary products (krupeniks, casseroles. Along with cereals from cereals, cereals were prepared from legumes (in the whole form and from pea flour. Clear 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 cereals from it surprised foreigners who visited our country.
This passage needs some explanation. Indeed, mash (golden beans, sheep peas), so popular in the East, the Russians did not know. As for the lentils, there was a clear mistake. The fact is that lentils were widely used in Rus' as early as the 13th - 14th centuries. It was widely used by the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Theodosius of the Caves), but the companions of Macarius, obviously, knew fine-grained lentils, and our plate-shaped (coarse-grained) was probably unusual for them.
Eastern guests, of course, knew well "Tsargradskie Horns" - beans with sweet juicy fruits. In Rus' they were known and simply called "Rozhki", but they were gourmet 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 from ancient beans, so they quickly entered our everyday life.
Why cereals are useful for the body.
Bags and bruises under the eyes, an unhealthy complexion, extra pounds, dull hair, rashes on the face, constant fatigue and drowsiness ... these symptoms mean that our body is filled with various unnecessary substances. Traditional medicine has discovered a way to solve the problem since ancient times. Ordinary cereals will help us get rid of toxic substances.
Groats are originally fiber, and with a high content of various organic substances necessary for the human body for normal life. Pesticides, heavy metals and other substances that are bad for our body attract organic substances. Therefore, cereals are especially useful for those who work for a long time in harmful conditions, the elderly, and are also indispensable in the diet of expectant mothers.
To one degree or another, any type of cereal is useful to the body. Except for rare medical contraindications. Each type of cereal affects our body in different ways. The impact of a particular 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 useful for the pancreas and liver, as it contains a lot of iron. Buckwheat porridge is quickly digested and contains a small amount of calories, so it is ideal for dinner. It is best not to boil buckwheat, but to steam it. To do this, the cereal must be poured with boiling water, wrapped and put in a warm place. With this method of cooking, the porridge will be crumbly and will provide greater usefulness 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 is associated with the risk of lead or arsenic poisoning are especially recommended to eat rice porridge. By the way, the rice diet is very effective for weight loss. Before cooking rice, thoroughly rinse the cereal under running water, as water washes out the starch and speeds up the cooking process.
Oatmeal is the absolute champion in terms of usefulness for female body is. It reduces the risk of cancer, helps the gastrointestinal tract, prevents the occurrence of stomach ulcers and gastritis. Oatmeal with vegetable proteins and fats is useful. It contains: magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, sodium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins B 1, B 2, E, PP. Such a wealth of useful substances increases the body's defenses, helps to overcome depression. Oatmeal helps to strengthen bones and maintain normal blood pressure, which is especially important for the elderly. This porridge is recommended for those prone to dermatitis, this porridge has a very beneficial effect on the skin condition.
Millet porridge gives additional strength and energy to the body. It contains elements that can strengthen tissues. For example, copper, which gives tissues additional elasticity, silicon, which helps the formation of bones and teeth. For a healthy complexion and normal blood circulation, millet supplies the body with iron. It also contains fluorine, which is responsible for dental health, magnesium, necessary for workaholics, manganese, which contributes to normal metabolism.
Contains the least amount of vitamins semolina. It is recommended for people with a diseased intestine or stomach, as it is digested quite easily due to the lack of fiber in it. Semolina itself is made from shelled wheat grains. The shell contains the most vitamins, so semolina is not very rich in them. But the remaining vitamins are perfectly preserved after cooking, because they do not have time to collapse due to quick cooking.
Barley porridge is almost twice as high as other cereals in terms of phosphorus content. Phosphorus helps to increase the speed and power of muscle contractions, so it is essential for athletes and people engaged in physical labor. Therefore, visiting a fitness club, be sure to include it in your diet. Barley porridge is necessary for normal brain function and a balanced metabolism. To prepare barley porridge takes a long time, up to an hour and a half. Attention! Only if you soak it for 2-3 hours, then the cooking time can be somewhat reduced. Barley should be eaten immediately after cooking, because after cooling it becomes hard and tasteless.
An excellent solution for cleansing the body of toxic compounds of fluorine and chlorine is corn porridge. This porridge contains vitamins of groups 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 to get rid of organic mercury, which is present in the substance that is used to process grain.
There are no hard limits for cereal-based diets. Any porridge goes well with mushrooms, nuts, sauerkraut, olives, eggplants. Perfectly perceived with soft and sheep cheese, cheese, milk. Products such as dried apricots, raisins, dried fruits, apples, honey perfectly complement any porridge. As you can see, the benefits of cereals for the body are obvious. Therefore, you should not refuse them just because you are on a diet, or you do not like their taste, or eating porridge has become out of fashion.
Blush in ancient Egypt was made from ocher, a mineral consisting of iron oxide hydrate mixed with clay. The mineral was available and literally lay underfoot. Ocher was used as a dye for fabrics, cosmetics, and insect control. To obtain a 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 fresh and hid their age.
From Egypt, the fashion for rosy cheeks passed to Greece. Ancient Greek women managed 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 cereals 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 could do without them, they ate them, pouring milk or honey full, adding vegetable and cow butter, fat, kvass, fried onions and other ingredients. One of the most popular cereals in Rus' was buckwheat porridge, which in the 17th century was already rightfully considered the national dish of the Russian people, although it appeared in the expanses 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, grown everywhere, buckwheat porridge is wonderful in taste and nutritional qualities, having eaten a bowl of such porridge for breakfast, you can feel full for a very long time. The people considered buckwheat not only delicious food, but also very beneficial for health, it was used in case of loss of strength and, even, with symptoms of a cold.
The history of the origin of buckwheat
It will seem surprising to many that buckwheat, from which such an ordinary and traditional side dish for the Russian people as buckwheat porridge is brewed, did not originally 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 from it are still called "black porridge"), other historians believe that this species grain culture appeared in Altai (it was there that archaeologists discovered the fossilized remains of buckwheat grains in burial places and at the sites of ancient tribes), from there it spread throughout Siberia and the Urals. In those days, it grew as a wild herbaceous plant with small white inflorescences. Its seeds, similar to small pyramids, people tried and realized that they were edible, began to make flour from them for making cakes, and also cook delicious and nutritious buckwheat porridge from them. Neighboring countries unanimously borrowed this useful culture and began to grow and eat it everywhere, as, for example, did the Bulgarian peoples who lived on the Volga, who later passed the baton to the Slavic tribes. There are also theories about Ancient Greece as the homeland of buckwheat.
How a foreigner became native
According to various historians, buckwheat in Rus' began to be grown around the 7th century, it got its name during the time of Kievan Rus, when Greek monks from local monasteries were mainly engaged in its breeding. The Slavs really liked the hearty and delicious porridge, boiled from buckwheat grains, which was previously called buckwheat, buckwheat, Greek wheat, buckwheat, as well as "tatar" 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, 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 receive much popularity there either in those days or today.
As history shows, buckwheat of Himalayan origin turned out to be a rather capricious and fastidious grain crop, very troublesome to cultivate, which, however, did not stop the stubborn Russian farmers who achieved good harvests of buckwheat on fertile and fertile Russian lands.
How buckwheat porridge was cooked in Rus'
The greatest connoisseur of Russian culinary arts, historian William Pokhlebkin, in his writings, said that when preparing crumbly buckwheat porridge, the Slavs used the core - groats from whole grains of buckwheat, for sweet and semi-sweet porridge they took Smolensk groats (crushed peeled kernels). In order to cook viscous buckwheat porridge, popularly called porridge-slurry, they used the so-called parting, chopped grains of large and small sizes. Porridge was prepared on water, milk, with the addition 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, some rules must be observed when preparing buckwheat porridge:
- The proportion of buckwheat to liquid is 1:2;
- The lid of the pot must be tightly closed when cooking;
- After boiling, the porridge is boiled over low heat and allowed to brew;
- Before full cooking do not interfere with the porridge and do not open the lid.
Buckwheat porridge was prepared and languished 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 the national dish of the Russian people, which we still cook and respect, like our distant ancestors.
So affectionately they say about buckwheat in Rus'. Indeed, buckwheat is an indispensable product in the diet of every Russian. We cannot imagine our table without fragrant and tasty buckwheat porridge. In addition, it is also convenient 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 wonderful dish healthy food. And pediatricians recommend starting feeding babies with buckwheat porridge, because it is very satisfying and nutritious. In general, buckwheat porridge is useful for children, adults, and the elderly!
We have long considered buckwheat to be “ours”, although its real homeland is Northern India. There, this culture was cultivated 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', so our ancestors called it groats - buckwheat.
Let's take a closer look at unique composition this product!
So, buckwheat contains:
Dietary fibers, which stimulate intestinal motility, “cleanse” the body of toxins, remove “bad cholesterol”, have a positive effect on the state of normal microflora and are a prophylactic 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 maintain beauty and youth (by the way, buckwheat surpasses other cereals in the content of these biologically active compounds);
Rutin (from the vitamin P group), 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 contributes to the normalization of 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 operation of all hormonal and enzyme systems of the body;
Organic acids (maleic, citric, oxalic), which contribute to good digestion and the formation of energy in cells;
Proteins, or rather a set of amino acids, which is considered unique in digestibility human body(especially important are amino acids such as lysine and methionine, which ensure the normal functioning of the liver and nervous system, and the amino acid tryptophan is involved in the construction of new cells and prevents the development of oncological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract);
Complex carbohydrates that have a low glycemic index and therefore are absorbed by the body for a long time (due to this, a person feels full for several hours after eating buckwheat);
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 for providing good nutrition: proteins - 12.6 g (~ 50 kcal); fats - 3.3 g (~ 30 kcal); carbohydrates - 57.1 g (~ 228 kcal).
It is useful to include buckwheat porridge in the diet for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, as well as for diabetes, hemorrhoids, anemia (anemia) and cardiovascular diseases.
Since buckwheat has antitoxic properties, it is useful to use it for people working in hazardous industries or living in adverse environmental conditions.
Buckwheat porridge is an ideal product for obese people and those who watch their weight. Unloading days on buckwheat are well tolerated and quite effective.
Before cooking, buckwheat can be fried, then it will become much more aromatic. To save more useful substances, you can pour boiling water over the cereal in the evening, leave it to brew overnight. In the morning, do not cook, but simply eat - with yogurt or dried fruits. To diversify your diet, buckwheat can be consumed with mushrooms, vegetables, liver, different types of meat, cheese.
And finally, another wonderful quality that indirectly affects our health: buckwheat is a great honey plant. The flowers of this plant produce a lot of nectar, which then turns into honey of a beautiful red-brown color with a spicy aroma and a 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, reduced 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 stay healthy!
Tatyana Arkadievna Selezneva, nutritionist
From what they drank 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 in the history of the Russian people have always been of considerable importance. As reported in chronicles, many worldly affairs in Rus' certainly began with an honest feast. Our ancestors knew great amount various drinks, egg and honey, which they brought from their Aryan homeland. Throughout history, a whole culture of drinking has been developed in Rus'.
Brother.
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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 healthy bowls, from which they drank honey, beer and kvass at communal feasts. In addition to the fact that brothers were a necessary accessory of the banquet table, they could also be used as funeral bowls. It is possible that the origin of the word "brother" itself dates back to the times when blood relatives-brothers met at a solemn feast. Bratina is the most important attribute that characterizes the Russian person.
endova
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 you could hold a vessel with a drink.
The valleys were of various sizes, from those that could hold a bucket to very small ones.
Buckets
Ladles are wooden boat-shaped, metal vessels in which drinks were served on the table. They drank from small ladles like from a cup, from those that were larger they poured an intoxicating drink into other vessels with scoops. It is known that ladles were hollowed out from a whole piece of wood, its root or burl. At the same time, 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 of copper, iron, tin and silver.
Skobkari
Skobkari are boat-shaped, round or oval, large vessels with two handles, in which all kinds of drinks were put on the festive table. The stapler bucket was usually made of wood: birch, alder, aspen, linden or maple. The very name of this vessel ("staple" or "kopkar") came from the material or the method of processing it (cop-dig, dug, dug out)
Bowls and cups
These are wooden, earthenware, less often metal utensils, which served both for drinking and for eating. Wooden bowls were a hemispherical vessel with straight edges, on a small pallet, always without a lid. The bowl was indispensable in ancient rituals, especially in rituals associated with the birth of a child, weddings or funerals. At the end holiday dinner it was customary to drink the cup to the bottom for the health of the owner and mistress: one who did not do this could be considered an enemy.
With the arrival of the Spaniards on the territory of America and the beginning of the Inquisition, the clergy declared amaranth "a devil's potion." The Spaniards called amaranth "devil's plant". The Spaniards disliked the "mystical Aztec grain" for its direct "involvement" in bloody rituals - after all, amaranth was a ritual culture. And the Catholic Church fully supported the Spanish conquistadors "in the fight" against amaranth.
Fighting the pagans Spanish conquistadors 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 of 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 Native Americans. But even the fear of the colonialists could not make the ancient Indian tribes refuse to grow amaranth. The tribes that inhabited mountainous, hard-to-reach villages were especially successful in this. It was only thanks to these brave tribes that amaranth was preserved.
Such "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 food and medicinal properties amaranth, quite deservedly put amaranth above any other food herbs and roots.
Bread made from corn (maize) was not very tasty. Although they satisfied human hunger, they caused stomach pain and intestinal inflammation. When adding amaranth bread to the dough, the peasants effectively solved the above problem. Therefore, it is clear that Mexico, the countries of South and Central America, the United States cultivated and actively cultivated 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 crop of the twenty-first century for its amazing healing and nutritional properties. David Lenman believes that with the help of amaranth it will be possible to solve the world food problem in the future.
Already in the middle of the 9th century, that black, rye, porous and baked bread made from leavened sourdough appeared, without which the Russian menu is generally unthinkable.
Following him, other types of national bread and flour products were created: dezhni, loaves, juicy, pancakes, pies, pancakes, bagels, baika, donuts. The last three categories are almost a century later, after the introduction of wheat flour. 
Adherence to kvass, sour was also reflected in the creation of kvass proper, the range of which reached two to three dozen types, very different in taste from each other, as well as in the invention of primordial Russian oatmeal, rye, wheat kissels, which appeared almost 900 years earlier than modern berry starch jelly.
At the very beginning of the Old Russian period, all the main drinks were formed, in addition to kvass: all kinds of perevarovs (sbitni), which were a combination of decoctions of various forest herbs with honey and spices, as well as honey and honey, that is, natural honey fermented with berry juice or simply diluted juices and water to different consistency.
Kashi, although they were insipid according to the principles of their manufacture, were sometimes acidified with sour milk. They also differed in diversity, subdivided according to the types of grain (spelt, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, wheat), according to the types of grain crushing or its running (for example, barley gave three cereals: barley, Dutch, barley; buckwheat four: core , Veligorka, Smolensk, I did it; wheat is also three: whole, korkot, semolina, etc.), and, finally, by the type of consistency, for porridges were divided into crumbly, slurry and gruel (quite thin) 
All this made it possible to vary from 6-7 types of grain and three types of legumes (peas, beans, lentils) to several dozen various cereals. In addition, a variety of flour products were made from the flour of these crops. All this bread, mainly flour food diversified mainly with fish, mushrooms, forest berries, vegetables, and less often with milk and meat.
Already in the early Middle Ages, a clear, or rather, sharp division of the Russian table into lean (vegetable, fish, mushroom) and stern (milk meat, egg) arose. Wherein Lenten table included far from all plant products.
So, beets, carrots and sugar, which were also classified as fast food, were excluded from it. Drawing a sharp line between fasting and fasting tables, fencing off products of various origins from each other with an impenetrable wall and strictly preventing their mixing, naturally led to the creation of original dishes, for example, various kinds fish soup, pancakes, kundums (mushroom dumplings). 
The fact that most days in a year are between 192 and 216 in different years were lenten, caused a completely natural desire for a variety of lenten table. Hence the abundance in Russian national cuisine mushroom and fish dishes, a tendency to use various plant materials from grain (cereals) to forest berries and herbs (sowweed, 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 cooked separately. So, cabbage, turnip, radish, peas, cucumbers (vegetables known since the 10th century) were cooked and eaten raw, salted (pickled), steamed, boiled or baked separately from one another.
Salads and especially vinaigrettes were not characteristic 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, beetroot salad, potato salad, etc. 
Even more differentiation was mushroom dishes. Each type of mushrooms, milk mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms, ceps, morels and stoves (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 considered each individually a special, different dish, and not just fish. Therefore, the ear could be perch, ruff, burbot or sturgeon. 
The taste variety of such homogeneous dishes was achieved in two ways: on the one hand, the difference in heat and cold processing, as well as through the use of various oils, mainly vegetable hemp, walnut, poppy, wood (olive) and much later than sunflower, and on the other hand, the use of spices .
Of the latter, onion and garlic were more often used, and in a very large quantities, as well as parsley, mustard, anise, coriander, Bay leaf, black pepper and cloves, which have appeared in Rus' since the 11th century. Later, in the 11th and early 12th centuries, they were supplemented with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, calamus (iry root) and saffron. 
In the ancient period of Russian cuisine, liquid hot dishes also appeared, which received the general name Khlebovak. Especially widespread are such types of bread as cabbage soup, stews based on vegetable raw materials, as well as various zatiruhi, zaverihi, talkers, straws and other types of flour soups, which differed from each other only in consistency and consisted of three elements of water, flour and fat. , to which sometimes (but not always) was added, onion, garlic or parsley. 
They also made sour cream and cottage cheese (according to the then terminology, 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 of poor quality at first. Due to imperfect methods of churning, cleaning and storage, oil quickly goes rancid. 
National sweet table consisted of berry-flour and berry-honey or honey-flour products. These are gingerbread and different types of unbaked, raw, but folded in a special way dough (Kaluga dough, malt, kulagi), in which a delicate taste effect was achieved by long, patient and laborious processing. 
When a person lacks strength, they say about him: "Kashi ate little." Porridge is indeed an ideal source of energy. Especially in winter, especially during the Advent, when you need a lot of strength, and the usual meat delicacies turn out to be modest.
Many old recipes for cereals have long been forgotten. But it was they who laid the foundation for Russian cooking. And how many traditions our ancestors have associated with this wonderful dish! They ate porridge to reconcile with the enemy - only after that the peace treaty came into force. At the wedding, the young people ate only porridge at the festive table, and the invited guests ate from one pot.
"Green porridge"
This is not only an old, but also a native Russian national dish. It is based on whole rye grain, which has reached the stage of wax ripeness. It was considered a seasonal summer food, available mainly to wealthy people: only ripened grain was used to make “green porridge”. Landlords could get ripened grain, as they had more land than ordinary peasants.
Cooking this dish is not so difficult, but there are some tricks. Grain is thrown into boiling water, boiled until all the water boils away. Then they throw salt, butter, thoroughly mixing everything. And, having covered with a lid, they are placed for 3 hours in a pre-heated Russian stove or oven.
Simenuha porridge
Surely you have never heard of such porridge, which was once considered a traditional Russian dish. 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
A number of traditions are associated with this dish. On memorial days in Rus', a funeral kutia was prepared, which was also called "kolivo". It was nothing more than a sweet porridge based on 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 for the baby's christening, but in this case it was given a life-affirming meaning. And, of course, not a single Christmas could do without kutya.
What was different about baptismal porridge? And the fact that they cooked it in milk, and also put 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.
Guryev 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 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? Peel the walnuts, chop some, and dip some in sugar, frying in the oven. Put the cream in the oven over medium heat, watch until a ruddy foam appears. Remove foam 5-6 times. Mix the remaining cream with sugar and semolina, and then cook until the porridge thickens.
Add raisins, chopped nuts, skins, cut into strips, mix thoroughly. Then put a layer of porridge in a dish, placing foam on it (make up to 4 layers), and sprinkle sugar on the very top. Place in oven until browned. Then lay marmalade or candied fruits, nuts fried with sugar, jam or canned fruits on top.
spelled porridge
They made such porridge from small cereals made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was cultivated on the territory of Rus' as early as the 18th century. Spelled did not need special care, it was completely unpretentious, neither weeds nor pests were afraid of it. The main feature of spelled porridge was that it gave off a pleasant nutty flavor, and it was also incredibly useful. 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 by eating spelled porridge.
How to cook? You will need: a glass of spelt, half a glass of milk, water and yogurt, 100 g of butter. Spelled is soaked for 6 hours (preferably overnight) in a mixture of water and curdled milk. Then they are washed in water, boiled over low heat in a mixture of milk and water (or just in milk) until tender. Then the porridge is wrapped for 30-40 minutes.
Barley porridge
This porridge was a favorite dish of Peter I. He called it "the most delicious and spore." Also, this porridge is mentioned more than 20 times in the Bible. Barley porridge was served mainly on weekdays. It was cooked without fail in a clay pot in the oven.
How to cook? You need to take: 50 g of butter, a liter of milk, 2 cups of barley groats, salt. Add salt to the milk, bringing it to a boil. Then - cereals, and cooks until the mass thickens. Don't forget to stir. Then the food should be transferred to pots, bringing to readiness in a preheated oven. Before serving, porridge is poured with melted butter.
Oatmeal
This porridge cooks the fastest. On this occasion, it is no coincidence that Dahl writes: "Knead and carry it in your mouth." Oatmeal is obtained after pre-treatment of the grain: steamed in water, dried and pounded in a mortar. This is actually where the name comes from. It must be said that not only oats were included in the basis of oatmeal: rye and pea oatmeal were used for cereals.
How to cook? The simplest recipe is to simply brew oatmeal with water, adding oil. There is another option: pour oatmeal with milk, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and then let it boil for half a minute. Then, to taste, you can add sugar, jam or salt - as you like.
