There is a saying from ancient times “Shchi and porridge are our food”. These words describe almost all the food that made up the diet of simple Russian cuisine a hundred years ago.

Most of the dishes were cooked in a Russian oven - very large and massive, retaining heat for a long time. That is why most dishes were adapted for prolonged simmering. First, the stove was heated for warmth. And then, in the already cooling oven, they put large clay pots with cabbage soup (the sauerkraut was filled with water, meat was added), vegetables in the same pots right in their uniforms (that is, unpeeled), but most often, various cereals were cooked. Filled with water and simmered slowly, they remained warm for a long time. And they managed to prepare perfectly. The result was a delicious crumbly porridge - which was seasoned with butter or vegetable oil.

Russia is an agricultural country. Therefore, all kinds of cereals were always in abundance.

The most popular and currently remain:
Buckwheat porridge. Porridge made from buckwheat grains.
Pearl barley porridge. Prepared from boiled barley grains. Finely crushed barley grains are also used to make porridge. But they are called differently - yachka, barley porridge.
Millet porridge, or millet, is prepared from small millet grains.
Semolina porridge is made from durum wheat of a certain grinding.
Pea porridge from whole or crushed dry ripe peas is prepared less frequently.
Rice porridges made from rice grains are also popular in modern Russian cuisine.

Oatmeal is very popular in modern Russian cuisine. It is prepared from Hercules oat flakes.
Semolina, millet, and oatmeal porridge are usually prepared with milk and used as an independent dish, most often for breakfast. Pearl barley, rice and buckwheat porridge are also sometimes prepared with milk. Milk porridges are usually prepared sweet.


Porridges prepared without milk and sugar - buckwheat, pearl barley, barley, rice, pea and others - are used as a side dish. This is one of the surviving features of Russian cuisine - most often meat or fish dishes are served with a side dish of cereals or vegetables on one plate.

Section: William Vasilievich Pokhlebkin
"NATIONAL COOKES OF OUR PEOPLES"
11th page of the section

Russian kitchen
SECOND DISHES - porridge

Porridge is one of the most common Russian national dishes, second only to cabbage soup in its importance on the Russian table.

For a long time, porridge was a favorite dish in Russia, and initially even a solemn, ritual one. It was used at celebrations, including feasts, weddings, and christenings. That is why in the XII-XIV centuries. the word "porridge" was equivalent to the word "feast". Thus, the chronicle reports that in 1239 Prince Alexander Nevsky staged a big mess in Toropets, and then another in Novgorod.

Later, porridge began to be constantly consumed during all kinds of collective work, especially during mutual assistance during the harvest, when they acted together as an artel. Therefore, the artel often began to be called “porridge”. “He and I are in the same mess,” meant a water artel, one detachment, one team. This meaning of “porridge” lasted especially long on the Don and in other places where Russian freemen settled.

The variety of types of Russian porridges was based primarily on the variety of cereal varieties produced in Russia. Almost every type of grain was used to make several types of cereals - from whole to crushed in various ways.

Most of all we loved buckwheat cereals. In addition to large grains - kernels, used for steep, crumbly porridges, they also made smaller ones - Veligorka and very small ones - Smolenskaya (they were not crushed, like the modern “done”, but rolled round). In addition, so-called scalded cereals were obtained from buckwheat, which, wrapped in cloth, were quickly boiled in boiling water, and then dried and only then used in porridge.

Three types of cereal were made from barley - large pearl barley, Dutch, smaller but whiter, and barley, very small, like semolina. Barley porridge was Peter I’s favorite dish.

Spelled porridge from spelled (now cultivated only in Transcaucasia, where it is called “zanduri”), millet (from millet), semolina (from durum wheat), oatmeal (from whole and crushed oats) and green (from young, unripe, half full of rye).

In the XIV-XV centuries. rice porridge came into use from imported, and then from our own, Russian, so-called Akulininsky or dry rice, grown in the Astrakhan and Saratov regions.

Later, in the 19th century, imported or artificial types of cereals appeared in Russia - sago and pink starch cereals, which, however, were consumed quite rarely.

In Russian cuisine, porridges have long been divided according to consistency into three main types - kashitsy (or thin porridge), smears (or viscous porridge) and steep, crumbly ones. Most of all in Russia they loved crumbly porridges; in the old days they also willingly ate porridges (especially with fish), which replaced soup, but they did not like slop: it was believed that they were neither this nor that, in a word, they looked at them as spoiled porridges.

Each of the listed types differs in the amount of liquid in which the porridge is cooked. The more water (milk, broth), the thinner the porridge. In addition, thinner porridges also contain mucus, which, when preparing steep porridges, either drains off or does not have time to boil out of the grain. The presence or absence of this mucus gives porridges a generally different taste.

We must also keep in mind that it is impossible to change the ratio between cereals and liquid after the porridge has begun to cook. In other words, you cannot evaporate the water after combining it with the cereal so that it does not affect the consistency (as can be done with root vegetables or legumes); you cannot turn a liquid or viscous porridge into a hard, crumbly one. That is why it is so important to properly fill the cereal with water to obtain porridge of one kind or another. In this case, it is more convenient to be guided by the ratio of the volumes of water and cereals (so many glasses of cereal per so many glasses of water).

In the past, almost all porridges were prepared the same way: cereals and water were placed in a clay pot and steamed in a Russian oven. This required a lot of time, sometimes 4-5 hours, although it gave good results.

With the transition to stove-top cooking, the cooking time for porridge was reduced to approximately 1-1.5 hours, but not by much if it was then steamed in the oven or wrapped warmly.

Meanwhile, by changing the usual technology and observing a certain ratio of water and cereals, you can reduce the time of cooking porridge on a gas stove to 15-20 minutes. To do this, you need, for example, to change the medium in which the cereal is cooked twice: first, easily boil the cereal in a large amount of salted boiling water, then drain off the excess water with mucus and finish cooking the porridge in milk. This technique can be used for rice, millet and barley porridges.

And for buckwheat porridge, it is important to accurately measure the water: exactly twice as much in volume as the cereal, and evaporate this water without stirring the porridge in 15 minutes. For oatmeal, the water ratio is different: for 2 cups of oatmeal, 3 cups of water. This water is quickly evaporated, the porridge is poured with 0.5-1 cup of meat broth and boiled, always stirring.

During the cooking process, porridge must be stirred all the time (except for buckwheat and rice), make sure that it does not burn, drain off excess water, add milk, etc.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the condition of the cereal: its ripeness, contamination, etc. Crumbly buckwheat porridge, for example, can only be cooked from ripe buckwheat without a greenish tint, otherwise the porridge will turn out viscous, no matter how correctly it is cooked.

However, porridge in its pure form is not porridge. Its taste will largely depend on what it was flavored and seasoned with. To do this, you need to know and feel well what is suitable for a given type of cereal and porridge, what it goes best with.

Of course, the first thing that goes into porridge is oil:
“You can’t spoil porridge with butter,” says the proverb. But oil is by no means the only and, most importantly, not the first additive to the porridge, but the final one.

The most common additives to porridge are dairy products - milk, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, cottage cheese and cream. In fact, they go into all types of porridges and often make up a sixth or even a fourth of their volume.

In second place in terms of frequency of use as additives are meat, fish, peas, eggs and mushrooms. The first three products are used most often in porridges (especially fish), the last two are used in crumbly porridges.

Onions go into many types of porridges. Pumpkin puree (for millet) and poppy seeds (for barley porridge) mixed in small quantities are suitable for some porridges.

To create a sweet range, in addition to sugar, they use jam, honey, raisins, apricots, dried apricots, nuts, fresh fruits, chocolate, suitable for white porridges (semolina, rice, sago). Spices used in porridge include black and red pepper, parsley, celery, parsnips, garlic, cinnamon, star anise, zest, nutmeg, and vanilla.

As for oils, finally, almost all animal and vegetable oils are suitable here. Pork lard and lamb fat are mainly used in hot porridges.

For crumbly porridges, the most typical use is butter and ghee, and among vegetable oils - sunflower, hemp, poppy, nut, including almond.

In the stove and oven, it is best to cook porridge in clay pots and cast iron, and when cooking on a stove, use metal dishes, mainly aluminum with a rounded bottom, such as kettles. Only liquid gruel can be cooked in enamel containers, but always be careful not to burn.

PURGE SMOLENSKAYA

:
1.5 cups of fine buckwheat (prodel), 1 liter of water, 2 onions, 2 parsnip roots, 2-3 tbsp. tablespoons parsley, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 0.5 cup sour cream, 2 tbsp. spoons of ghee or butter, 1 teaspoon of salt.

Place a whole onion and finely chopped parsnip roots into salted boiling water, boil for 5 minutes, then add cereal and cook over low heat, stirring, until the cereal is completely boiled.
After this, remove the onion, remove the pulp from the heat, season with pepper, parsley, and sour cream. oil, add salt and let stand covered for 15 minutes to steam.

PORRIDGE OF KOSTROMSKAYA (FRIED FRINGED POSH)

:
1.5 cups barley, 2 liters of water, 0.25 cups peas, 1 onion, 2 tbsp. spoons of thyme or savory, 3 tbsp. spoons of butter or sunflower oil, 1 teaspoon of salt.

Rinse the barley in several waters and boil in salted water for 15-20 minutes (from the moment of boiling) over moderate heat, be sure to remove the foam that forms on top, then drain off the excess freely separating water, add peas pre-soaked and boiled in water and finely chopped onion and continue to cook over low heat until the pulp is completely softened.
Season with oil, thyme, stir, boil for 5 minutes.

TIKHVINSKAYA MUSH (PEA MUSH WITH BUCKWHEAT)

:
0.5 cups of peas, 1.5 liters of water, 1 cup of buckwheat, 2 onions, 4 tbsp. spoons of ghee or sunflower oil.

Rinse the peas, boil in water, without adding salt in any way, and when the water has evaporated by 1/3 and the peas are almost ready, add the mixture and cook until tender.
Then season with finely chopped onion, fried in oil, and salt.

BELEVSKAYA GRUSH (SWEET OAT GREAT)

:
2 cups of Hercules oatmeal, 1 liter of water, 0.5 liter of milk, 0.5 teaspoon of star anise, 0.5 teaspoon of cinnamon, 0.5 teaspoon of coriander, 4 buds of cloves, 1 lemon (fresh lemon zest), 0.5 cups cream, 5-6 tbsp. spoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt.

Boil Hercules in lightly salted water to a viscous porridge, skimming off the foam that appears on the surface all the time, even before it begins to boil.
Then pour the porridge with milk, stir, bring to a boil, separate the uncooked solid flakes and cook again over very low heat, stirring all the time, add sugar after 10-15 minutes, and when it dissolves, season with spices, boil for 5-7 minutes, pour in cream, stir, remove from heat.

POWDERED BUCKWHEAT PORridge

:
3 cups of water, 1.5 cups of buckwheat, kernels, 2 onions, 2 eggs, 3-4 dry porcini mushrooms, 6-7 tbsp. spoons of sunflower oil.

Sort the kernel, sift out the flour dust (but do not wash it), add water, cover with powdered mushrooms and put on high heat, closing the lid.
When it boils, reduce the heat by half and continue cooking for 10 minutes until thickened, then reduce the heat again to low and cook for about 5-7 minutes until the water has completely evaporated.
Remove from heat and wrap warm for 15 minutes.
At the same time, heat the oil in another pan, fry finely chopped onion in it, add salt.
Finely chop the hard-boiled eggs and add them together with the onions fried in oil into the porridge, stir evenly.

BUCKWHEAT MILK PORRIDGE

Sort the kernel, pour in milk, cook until it boils completely, then pour in cream, add a little salt and put in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

BUCKWHEAT DOWN PORRIDGE

Grind the cereal with beaten eggs, scatter on a baking sheet and dry in a preheated oven, but with the heat off.
Then pour in milk, season with oil and cook like buckwheat porridge (see above).
When ready, add salt to taste, let cool, then strain through a colander and eat with cream.

PORRIDGE BARLEY SMASH

:
2 cups barley, 3 liters of water, 1 cup milk, 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 2 tbsp. spoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of salt.

Pour the cereal into cold salted water and cook over moderate heat, skimming off the foam all the time.
As soon as signs of thick white mucus begin to appear from the cereal, drain the excess water and continue cooking the porridge in another bowl, adding milk and stirring all the time until a thick spread is obtained.
When the porridge becomes soft, season it with cottage cheese, add salt, stir evenly, let stand for 5 minutes under the lid without heating, then season with oil.

OAT PORRIDGE

:
2 cups of Hercules oatmeal, 0.75 l of water, 0.5 l of milk, 2 teaspoons of salt, 3 tbsp. spoons of butter.

Pour water over the cereal and cook over low heat until the water has boiled down and completely thickened, then add hot milk in two additions and, continuing to stir, cook until thickened, adding salt.
Season the finished porridge with oil.

RICE-OATTEN PORRIDGE CRUMBLE

:
1.5 cups rice, 0.75 cups oats, 0.7 liters of water, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic, 4-5 tbsp. spoons of sunflower oil, 1 tbsp. spoon of dill.

Rinse the rice and oats separately, mix evenly, then pour the rice-oat mixture into boiling water and tightly cover the pan with a lid so that steam does not escape (this method can only be cooked in a tightly sealed container).
Keep on high heat for 12 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and keep for another 5-8 minutes, then remove from heat, wrap warm and only after 15-20 minutes open the lid.
Season the finished porridge with onions fried in oil and finely chopped garlic and dill.
Heat in a frying pan over low heat for 3-4 minutes.

SWEET FLAWLED RICE PORRIDGE

:
1.5 cups rice, 0.5 liters of water, 0.5 cups milk, 3 tbsp. spoons of sugar, 0.5 teaspoons of cinnamon or star anise, 3-4 tbsp. spoons of butter.

Prepare rice in the same way as for unsweetened rice-oatmeal porridge, but after boiling the rice, transfer it to another bowl, add hot milk and let it soak into the rice (without heating); season with sugar, spices and butter and heat for another 3-4 minutes in the oven or water bath.

MILLET PORRIDGE MILK

Sort the millet, rinse 5-6 times in boiling water until the water becomes clear after washing, then add hot water, put on fire, salt, skim off the foam, quickly evaporate all the water before the millet has time to boil, and then add hot milk and continue to cook the porridge over moderate and then low heat until completely thickened.
Season the finished porridge with oil and stir.

MILLET PORRIDGE - PUMPKIN

:
1 cup millet, 2 cups water, 2 cups milk, 1 cup pumpkin puree, 3 tbsp. tablespoons butter, 0.5 cups cream, 1 egg.

Boil millet milk porridge (see above), mix it with pumpkin puree cooked in milk, finely chopped hard-boiled egg, half a portion of butter and transfer to a clay pot coated with oil on the inside.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

QUANTITY

:
2 cups barley, 3 liters of water, 1 cup milk, 0.75-1 cup poppy seeds, 2-3 tbsp. spoons of honey, 2 tbsp. spoons of cranberry or currant jam.

Rinse the cereal, boil in water over moderate heat, skimming off the foam all the time. As soon as the cereal begins to secrete mucus, drain the excess water, transfer the porridge to another bowl, add milk and cook until the cereal is soft and thick, stirring all the time.
Prepare the poppy seed separately: pour boiling water over it, let it steam, drain the water after 5 minutes, rinse the poppy seed, pour boiling water over it again, drain it immediately as soon as droplets of fat begin to appear on the surface of the water. Then grind the steamed poppy seeds in a (porcelain) mortar, adding half a teaspoon of boiling water to each tablespoon of poppy seeds.
Mix the prepared poppy seeds with thickened, softened barley porridge, add honey. heat over low heat for 5-7 minutes. Stirring continuously, remove from heat and add jam.

GURYEV PORridge

:
1.25 liters of cream, 0.5 cups of semolina, 0.5 kg of nuts (hazelnuts, pine, walnuts), 10 bitter almonds or 4-5 drops of almond essence, 0.5 cups of sugar, 0.5 cups of jam ( strawberry, wild strawberry, pitted cherry), 2 tbsp. spoons of butter, 1 capsule of cardamom or 3-4 teaspoons of ground lemon zest, or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 0.25 teaspoons of ground star anise.

Preparing nuts.
Pour boiling water over shelled nuts for 2-3 minutes, remove thin skins, dry and pound in a mortar, adding 1 teaspoon of warm water to each full tablespoon of nuts. Place in a cup.
Preparing foams.
Pour the cream into a flat dish (enameled cast iron frying pan), place in a heated oven and skim off the strong foam that forms when it begins to brown, placing it in a separate bowl.
Collect 12-15 foams.
Preparing semolina porridge.
Using the remaining cream or milk, cook thick, well-cooked semolina porridge, add crushed nuts, sugar, butter, ground spices, and mix.
Cooking Guryev porridge.
Pour a little prepared semolina porridge into a fireproof enamel frying pan with high edges or a wide flat saucepan to form a layer of 0.5-1 cm, cover it with foam, again pour a thinner layer of porridge, re-layer with foam, etc.
Add a little jam and star anise to the penultimate layer.
Place for 10 minutes in a preheated oven, but with low heat.
Then take it out, pour the remaining jam (mostly) on top and serve in the same bowl in which you prepared the porridge.

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Porridge- perhaps the most Russian traditional dish. By right it is such, because from time immemorial Russia has been an agricultural country and one of the main sources of nutrition was cereal crops, as the most healthy and nutritious. It so happened historically that porridge in Rus' was not just food, but a ritual dish, so for each holiday a certain variety of this dish was served, and any celebration could not do without such a tasty and vital culinary product, be it a wedding, the birth of a child, christening or name day.

Each skillful housewife had her own individual recipe for a unique porridge, the secrets of which were not revealed to anyone and were passed on from generation to generation.

During great battles, porridge was prepared for the fighters as the most satisfying dish, charging the human body with a surge of earthly energy and good spirits. On the day of victory over the enemy force, “victory porridge” was prepared; it looked more solemn, and it was decorated with various fruits and vegetables. Also, as a sign of truce, “peaceful porridge” was served to the table at which the two conflicting parties were sitting, personifying the symbol of noble deeds.

According to the method of preparation and composition, porridges are conventionally divided into three types: crumbly, viscous, liquid.

Crumbly porridge It is prepared from various cereals, which must be well-cooked and the grains must not stick together. Such porridges are prepared in a container with a thick bottom; a clay pot would be an ideal option for the housewife. Before starting cooking, wash all cereals, with the exception of semolina, buckwheat and oatmeal. This will make it possible to remove from the grains the starch and fat present on them, which form on grains as a result of long-term storage. Then the washed cereal is poured into a container with boiling, slightly salted water so that the grains retain their beneficial qualities and vitamins. After the porridge is ready, wash it to remove the sticky coating and pour melted butter or vegetable oil over it.

The basis viscous porridge usually consists of milk, water or two ingredients at once. They have a thick consistency and do not spread on the plate. If desired, you can add various fruits and vegetables to them; when serving, season with butter and hot sweetened milk if the cereal was cooked in water.

Liquid porridge in the same way as viscous ones, they are boiled in milk or water, but 4-5 times more liquid is added per kilogram of cereal. The thick basis of such porridges is rice, semolina, millet, and oatmeal. After removing the liquid porridge from the heat, it is generously flavored with butter, because everyone knows that “you can’t spoil porridge with butter.”

To rejuvenate the body in the old days, “rejuvenation porridge” was especially often prepared from rye; in general, it has a good ability to have a beneficial effect on a person’s general well-being and strengthens the immune system.

Now in the world there are a great variety of different varieties of cereals, which makes it possible not to limit yourself in choosing the preparation of this or that porridge. By crushing and grinding, several types of cereals can be obtained from one cereal crop, for example, pearl barley and barley are obtained from barley, depending on the degree of processing of the grain.

Not a single celebration in Rus' was complete without traditional Russian porridge. Whole grain cereals are an important source of plant proteins and carbohydrates. They contain quite a lot of minerals and essential vitamins, especially B vitamins.

Therefore, porridges made from cereals are widely used in the nutrition of children and the elderly. Another advantage of porridges is their versatility. They go well with any other foods: meat and fish, mushrooms and vegetables, fruits and berries.

Over the past many years, nutritionists have encouraged us to increase the use of grains and legumes in our daily diet. Whole grains contain everything our body needs. It contains a sufficient amount of fiber, namely, coarse dietary fiber is not enough in the diet of a modern person. From cereal grains we get vital amino acids, 18 of which are essential.

Porridge is a cult dish

Porridge is undoubtedly an original Russian dish. Moreover, porridge is a cult dish. According to Old Russian traditions, during the wedding ceremony the bride and groom always prepared porridge. Obviously, this tradition gave rise to the saying: “You can’t cook porridge with him (her).” The entire history of the Russian state is inextricably linked with porridge. Russian porridge is the most important dish of national Russian cuisine.

Russia, as it happened historically, has always been and, I want to believe, will be an agricultural country. The main product of Russian agriculture has always been cereals (and, to a lesser extent, legumes). The Russian human body, over many centuries (and even millennia), has been formed and evolved on the basis of the structural composition of cereals. Man and cereals, during their coexistence, have created an inextricable community.

Only plants are given by nature the ability to accumulate sunlight (energy) and extract nutrients from the earth. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate nutrients and biologically active substances necessary for humans (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). The human body is independently capable of producing only a tiny fraction of the substances it vitally needs for a full existence.

That is why, since time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of them are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable. Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun. They contain everything that our body needs for full functioning.

Porridge - Russian product

And today, such a native Russian product as whole grain porridge is finally returning to our diet. First, the most fashionable and pretentious restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg began to introduce dishes from native Russian cereals into their menus: rye, barley, oatmeal, wheat (semolina), buckwheat, etc. Following them, almost all catering enterprises, at least for breakfast, began to offer various porridges prepared according to old Russian recipes.

This is a natural process. Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. In Rus', porridge has always been treated with reverence.

For Russian people, porridge has always been not just food, but a ritual dish. It was impossible to imagine a single celebration or holiday without traditional Russian porridge on the table.

Moreover, a certain ritual porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for wakes or funerals.

Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for wakes or funerals. It was impossible to receive guests without our own original preparation of porridge. Moreover, each housewife had her own recipe, which was kept secret. Porridge was always prepared before big battles, and at victory feasts it was impossible to do without “victorious” porridge. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare “peaceful” porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called “porridge”: for example, at the wedding of Alexander the Great, “porridge was made” twice - one during the wedding in Trinity, the other during a national celebration in Novgorod. Porridge was always prepared on the occasion of the start of a big business. This is where the expression “make a mess” comes from. In Rus', porridge even “defined” relationships between people. They said about an unreliable and uncooperative person: “You can’t cook porridge with him.”

Christmas porridges were prepared, as well as porridges to mark the end of the harvest. The girls prepared porridge for the day of Agrafena Kupalnitsa from a mixture of various cereals. In addition to grain and pea porridges, fish and vegetable porridges were cooked. Who hasn’t heard about the famous “Suvorov porridge”?

According to legend, during one of the long campaigns, Suvorov was informed that there were a few different types of cereal left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, pea, etc. That is. porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then the great commander, without further ado, ordered all the remaining cereals to be boiled together. The soldiers really liked “Suvorov porridge”, and the great commander made his contribution to the development of Russian culinary art.

Porridge and modern dietetics

Modern dietetics has confirmed that porridge from several types of cereals is healthier than porridge from one specific cereal. Each cereal has its own chemical composition, with beneficial qualities unique to this cereal, and a mixture of several cereals combines the beneficial properties of each cereal, which increases the nutritional and biological value of such porridge.

Bala “rejuvenation porridge” is popular. The cereal was made from rye grain of milky-waxy maturity. The result was a very tasty and fragrant porridge, which had a beneficial effect on health and rejuvenated the body.

Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were lightly ground, Dutch - smaller grains were ground white, and barley - very small grains made from unpolished (whole) grains.

Barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite dish. He recognized “egg porridge as the most delicious and delicious.” Spelled porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was grown in large quantities in Rus' back in the 18th century. Or rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care.

She was not afraid of either pests or weeds. The spelled itself destroyed any weed. Spent porridge, although coarse, was very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, “cultivated” varieties of wheat replaced spelled, because it peeled off badly. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, the yield of spelled was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.

Today, due to its high biological value, there is a revival in the production of spelled. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops have been resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". American spelt is also sold in Russia today. It is called “spelt”, and is sold here under the trade name “kamut”. Sometimes you can find spelt grown in Europe. It is called “spelt”.

All this brings some confusion, but “spelt”, and “zanduri”, and “spelt”, and “kamut”, are names of the same plant, Old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to both America and Europe from Russia.

Why did people in Rus' always treat porridge with such reverence?

It seems to me that the roots of the ritual attitude towards such seemingly simple food lie in our pagan roots. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was sacrificed to the gods of agriculture and fertility in order to ask for a good harvest for the next year. As is known, the gods were offered only the best. And to be able to eat every day what the gods can afford once a year, you see, is nice.

When we worked as an artel, we prepared porridge for the entire artel. Therefore, for a long time the word “porridge” was synonymous with the word “artel”.

They said: “We are in the same mess,” which meant in the same artel, in the same brigade, something like the modern expression “we are one team.” On the Don, you can still hear the word “porridge” in this meaning.

The huge variety of Russian porridges was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereal varieties that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways. The most favorite porridge was buckwheat. In addition to whole grains - kernels, used for steep, crumbly porridges, they also made smaller grains - “Veligorka” and very small ones - “Smolenskaya”.

For gourmets of that time, the magazine “Economy” for 1841 provides a recipe for rose porridge: “Pluck several roses and pound the leaves in a mortar as finely as possible; Pour the egg white into a mortar and add as much potato starch as needed to make a thick dough. Then rub through a sieve onto a dry board and dry in the sun. This way you will get excellent cereal. Porridge from it is cooked with cream. You can add a little sugar to it if it doesn’t seem quite sweet.”

So, I think that all of the above proves that Russian porridge is not only the healthiest of foods, but can also satisfy even the most sophisticated tastes. You just need to cook it, like any other dish, with a good mood, love and imagination.

Porridge “Children's Joy”

• millet 1 cup
• water 2 glasses
• pitted prunes 0.5 cups
• chopped walnuts 3 tbsp. l.
• butter 1 tbsp. l.
• salt and sugar to taste

Wash the prunes and chop finely. Place in a saucepan, add cold water and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Then add the sorted and washed millet, add sugar, salt and cook the porridge for 15 minutes. Add nuts 5 minutes before the end of cooking. Season the hot porridge with butter, stir and serve.

Rutaberry and potato porridge

• 0.3 liters of milk
• 400 g rutabaga
• 800 g potatoes
• 150 g onions
• 60 g butter margarine or butter

Mashed potatoes are prepared from boiled rutabaga and potatoes, seasoned with onions and milk fried in butter or margarine.

Guryevskaya porridge with apricots

• 100 g semolina
• 4 glasses of milk
• 0.5 cups chopped walnuts
• 300 g apricots or 200 g dried apricots
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar
• 2 tbsp. spoons of butter
• 2 eggs
• vanilla sugar
• powdered sugar
• berries, candied fruits for decoration

Cooking method: Bring milk to a boil, add salt. Then, stirring, add semolina in a thin stream. Cook viscous porridge, cool slightly. Grind the yolks with sugar, beat the whites into foam. Add the mashed yolks, whites, vanilla sugar, and nuts to the porridge one by one, stirring gently. Cut the apricots into halves, remove the pits. (Wash the dried apricots and cut into large pieces.) Finely chop the butter.

Place a layer of porridge in a greased pan. Top it with halves of apricots (or dried apricots), pieces of butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cover with a layer of porridge. Bake the porridge for 15-20 minutes in an oven heated to 200°. Decorate the finished dish with berries, fruits, candied fruits, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve in the same container in which it was prepared.

Barley porridge with potatoes

150 g barley groats, 1 liter of water, 500 g of potatoes, 0.5 liters of milk, salt Rinse the groats, put in boiling water and cook. Peel the potatoes, cut into small pieces and add to the cereal at the end of cooking. Make sure that the porridge does not burn. Add milk little by little and add salt to taste. Serve the porridge with cracklings or sour cream and onion sauce.

Crushed oatmeal porridge

• 4 glasses of milk
• 2 cups cereal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-3 tbsp. spoons of butter

Pour crushed oatmeal into boiling milk, add salt and cook over low heat, stirring for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Add oil to the porridge.

Semolina porridge with cranberry juice

• 0.4 liters of cream
• 200 g semolina
• 100 g cranberries
• 1.1 liters of water and juice
• 150 g sugar

The cranberries are crushed and the juice is squeezed out. The pomace is poured with water and boiled. The resulting broth is filtered, sugar is added and brought to a boil. Semolina is diluted with cranberry juice, poured into boiling syrup and a thick semolina porridge is brewed. The hot porridge is poured onto baking sheets, allowed to cool, cut into portions and served with cream.

Viscous semolina porridge with carrots

• 0.25 liters of milk
• 200 g semolina
• 0.5 liters of water
• 30 g butter
• 250 g carrots
• 50 g sugar
• 40 g butter

Raw carrots are grated or finely chopped and stewed with butter. Place salt and sugar in a bowl of boiling water, heat to a boil, add cereal and, stirring, cook at low boil for 15 minutes. Add hot milk and carrots to the finished porridge, mix and place the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve the porridge with a piece of butter.

Enjoy your meal!