Cabbage and Caviar : A History of Food in Russia

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910794436303321
• Autore: Smith Alison K
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: London : , : Reaktion Books, Limited, , 2021; ©2021
• ISBN: 1-78914-365-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (353 pages)
• Collana: Foods and Nations
• Disciplina: 641.300947
• Soggetti: Food habits
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di contenuto: Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- A Note on Transliteration and Translation -- INRODUCTION: Let Us Begin with Soup -- ONE: The Elements of Russian Cuisine -- TWO : Environment, Agriculture and Technology -- THREE: Eating and Drinking in the Earliest Days of Russia -- FOUR: Russia Becomes an Empire -- FIVE: Champagne and Kvas: Russia Divided -- SIX: Russia Becomes Modern -- SEVEN: Hunger and Plenty: The Soviet Experience -- EPILOGUE: Russia Again -- Recipes -- Glossary -- References -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgements -- Photo Acknowledgements -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: When people think of Russian food, they generally think either of the opulent luxury of the tsarist aristocracy or of post-Soviet elites, signified above all by caviar, or on the other hand of poverty and hunger--of cabbage and potatoes and porridge. Both of these visions have a basis in reality, but both are incomplete. The history of food and drink in Russia includes fasts and feasts, scarcity and, for some, at least, abundance. It includes dishes that came out of the northern, forested regions and ones that incorporate foods from the wider Russian Empire and later from the Soviet Union. Cabbage and Caviar places Russian food and drink in the context of Russian history and shows off the incredible (and largely unknown) variety of Russian food.