From the royal table: the culinary tastes of Russian emperors. What did Russian tsars eat?

What and how Russian tsars ate.

RUSSIAN PIR - "FOR THE WHOLE WORLD" or What did Russian tsars eat?.

Feast- joy, a symbol of unity, a way to celebrate a significant event that should organically fit into the chain: the expectation of a celebration - the celebration itself - a feast.

They prepared for the feast not long, but ahead of time. Information about the staff of servants of the Patriarch's Stern Palace in 1667-1682 has been preserved.

So only paid cooks and henchmen in the Kremlin kitchen were two dozen. In addition, there were five bakers (who baked besides regular bread huge pies and loaves, which were supposed to give special splendor and beauty to the festive table), kvasovars, elders who oversaw the kitchen, cooks (students), as well as an uncounted number of kitchen workers from lackeys without proper qualifications. A special part of the servants were peddlers. Their job was to serve food. But the one who considers this a simple matter will be wrong.

Since ancient times, the tradition of luxury in serving has been preserved at Russian feasts. The guests, especially foreign ones, were impressed by the picture when, on a huge tray, five or six peddlers carried out a whole carcass of a roasted bear or deer, a two-meter-long sturgeon or several hundred quails, or even just a huge sugar loaf, which was much larger than a human head and weighed several pounds (since sugar was expensive in those centuries, such a supply was impressive).

Information has been preserved about family dinners of the Grand Dukes, which give a clear idea of ​​the system of this ritual.

Here, for example, as A. Tereshchenko, a connoisseur of old Russian life, describes it: “Long tables were placed in several rows in a large room. On alms on the table, food was announced to the king: “Sir! The food is served!“ - Then he went to the dining room, sat down on an elevated place; next to the king, his brothers or the metropolitan sat down, there were nobles, officials and ordinary soldiers, distinguished by merit.

The first dish was always fried swans. At dinner, cups of malvasia and other Greek wines were passed around. The sovereign sent food from his table as a sign of special mercy to the guest distinguished by him, and he had to bow to them. During dinners, conversations were conducted without coercion. They ate with silver spoons, which became famous in Russia from the end of the 10th century. It is curious that the most solemn dish, intended only for eminent guests, was „ lamb or pork head “. The head, boiled in water with spices, and served with horseradish mixed with sour cream, was considered the most delicious dish. The guest was given the right to cut pieces of meat himself and distribute them only to those who were dear to his heart or out of diplomatic necessity.

At the royal dinners there were the kraichi, the chasnik and the charmers; each of them looked after the timely serving of food and drinks; but in addition to them, special officials were appointed to the table, who were supposed to “look at the tables and express the tables”. They served ladles or bowls at the tables, to whom the sovereign ordered.

Bringing a ladle of wine to a noble boyar, they called him with the addition of “hundred” or “su”, for example, if his name was Vasily. - “Vasily-hundred! The great sovereign favors you with a cup. He, having accepted it, drank standing and bowed, and the one who brought it reported to the king: “Vasily-hundred drank the cup, beats it with his forehead.” The less noble ones were called: “Vasily-su”, the rest, without any surplus ending, simply Vasily.

They ate a lot and thoroughly, sometimes without leaving the owner's yard for many days. According to the ancient ritual, when an overeaten guest went away with a peacock or pheasant feather to tickle his throat and empty his stomach, in Russia tall goats were placed in the backyards like those that are made for sawing firewood. A man, choking from overeating, lay down on their stomach and, lowering his head, swayed slightly, emptying his stomach. After that, he again went to the table, because there was not just a lot of food, but a lot.

If before food was carried on clay and wooden plates and trays, then by the 16th century there was already a tradition when at receptions guests drank from golden vessels and ate from golden and silver dishes.

The servants changed their clothes at least three times during dinner. An ordinary dinner could last until night, and at John IV - until dawn. Usually at such feasts there were from six hundred to seven hundred guests. Moreover, not even special events were celebrated in this way (like the capture of Kazan), but also absolutely ordinary ones. At one time, two thousand Nogayev soldiers were having dinner in the Kremlin chambers.

Eminent feasts gave Boris Godunov. One of them - in Serpukhov - went almost six weeks in a row. Then, under the vaults of tents, up to ten thousand people were treated each time. Meals were served only on silver dishes. Parting with the army, Boris gave a sumptuous dinner in the field, where five hundred thousand (500,000!) people were feasting on the coastal meadows of the Oka. Meals, honey and wine were transported by convoys. Guests were presented with velvets, brocade and damask (old silk patterned fabric). The overseas guest Varoch - the ambassador of the German emperor - could not count the gold and silver dishes lying in a mountain in the room adjacent to the dining room. The ambassador of the German Emperor Henry IV, Lambert, could not believe his eyes when the tables cracked under the weight of shiny silver dishes. A certain Margeret left evidence that he personally saw cast silver barrels in the royal pantry, huge silver basins, which were lifted by four people by the handles. He noted three or four more vases with large silver bowls intended for scooping up honey, and 300 people could drink from one vase alone.

At the solemn royal dinner, up to two or three hundred people served in brocade robes with gold chains on their chests and in black fox hats. The sovereign sat separately on a raised platform.

The servants first of all bowed low to him, and then, two in a row, went for food. Only bread cut into large slices was placed on the tables (it was more convenient to pick up leftover food from the dish), salt, oriental seasonings (primarily black pepper and ginger), sometimes a flask of vinegar, as well as knives and spoons. Moreover, the knives did not at all resemble modern service knives. These were rather large and sharp daggers with pointed ends, which were convenient to pick out the marrow from the bones. Napkins were not known then: there is an opinion that they appeared under Peter I, although even in the time of Alexei Mikhailovich, guests were served an embroidered cloth for cleaning. In addition, sometimes they put on the table cabbage leaves, with which it was convenient to remove fat or sauce adhering to the fingers. (True, the boyars most often used their lush beards to wipe their mouths, keeping the smell of the feast until the next visit to the bath).

There were also no separate plates for each guest on the tables. Prince Buchau, who dined with John IV, recalled that he did not have his own plate, knife, or spoon, but used them along with the boyar sitting next to him, since these devices were picked up “for a couple”. This fact does not mean that the prince fell out of favor. Soup, for example, was often served in one deep bowl for two, and the guests, turning face to face, slurped from one dish. This allowed neighbors to get to know each other more easily and communicate more actively, while maintaining a certain disposition towards each other. However, this custom caused active hostility among foreigners. Sometimes they simply refused to continue the feast. Therefore, later the presence of overseas guests was taken into account in advance, they were served separate dishes and the plates were changed after each change of dishes.

The reception of the Danish prince John - the groom of Xenia, the daughter of Boris Godunov, blinded the foreigner's eye with pomp and brilliance. The tables were bursting with food, the servants now and then brought out dishes of silver and gold. After the dining room there was a special table decorated with trays, bowls and goblets of pure gold, where not a single shape, not a single coinage or casting was repeated. Nearby stood a royal chair, also made of pure gold, and next to it, a gilded silver table, covered with a tablecloth woven from the finest gold and silver threads. With all such luxury, a rare foreigner did not note the very “shameful behavior” of his comrades: they spoke loudly and even shouted across the table, stretched, wiped their lips with the back of their hand or simply with the edge of their caftan, belched with pleasure, arousing the approval of the comrades, and blew their nose, plugging one nostril finger, right under your feet ... Along with the aromas of luxurious dishes in the air was a strong smell of garlic, onions and salted fish.

Servants carried dishes on trays and arranged them on the table so that the person sitting could reach him himself or with the help of his nearest neighbor. The meat was usually cut into thin pieces - they could be taken by hand and put on a slice of bread. But it happened that when cutting, a rather large bone remained. Then the end of it was cleaned and the guest took it. This custom later passed into the tradition of cooking meat on ribs (it is juicier and more convenient for eating).

Dishes for the sovereign were placed on a special table, and the cook tried each of them in front of the steward. Then, from the same dish, but already before the eyes of the king, the kravchiy tasted. After that, the king could allow the dish to be placed next to him or send it to the guests. At the end of the meal, soft drinks were served - sugar, anise and cinnamon.

But perhaps the most original custom of Rus' was the tradition serving gingerbread. The heyday of the art of making this delicacy falls on the Middle Ages (XIV-XVII centuries), where the leading positions are occupied by Tula (printed gingerbread with jam filling), Vyazma (small ones with starch syrup and jam), Arkhangelsk and Kem (figurative, in multi-colored glaze) , Gorodets (broken gingerbread - according to the name of the dough, which is constantly knocked down during cooking), Moscow (on molasses with honey), etc.

Serving the gingerbread meant preparation (setting up) for the end of the feast - there was even the name "accelerating gingerbread". Gingerbread is not a cake, not a cream cake. It can be put in your pocket or in your bosom and taken as a hotel to the household. However, in the custom of those years, there was a custom when the sovereign sent "through his obedience" to the tables of those present and delicacies: fresh and candied fruits, sweet wines, honey, nuts ... Moreover, he personally indicated: exactly where or near whom the hotel should be placed. At the end of the dinner, the king himself distributed to the guests dried hungarian plums(prunes), giving someone a couple, and someone with a decent handful of this dish. And each of those present went home with a dish of meat or pies. Feast of Ivan the Terrible

Already in the Middle Ages of Russian history, the most striking features of the national cuisine are manifested through the features of the table of the wealthy nobility. Perhaps the most complete list of dishes (more than two hundred) prepared in the homes of a wealthy person can be found in the greatest monument of the first half of the 16th century - "Domostroy".

Among the dishes that are popular today, you can also find here those that have become history and are not served even in the most famous restaurants: black grouse under saffron, cranes under a broth in saffron, honey swan, salmon with garlic, hares in brine and others.

It is the Moscow courtyard that becomes a kind of conductor of the customs and mores of European fun and comfort. As V. O. Klyuchevsky writes: “... it is curious to follow the Moscow elites, how they greedily rush to foreign luxury, to imported baits, breaking their old prejudices, tastes and habits.” Porcelain and crystal dishes appear on the table,

Russian alcoholic drinks have noticeably made room for "overseas drinks", and feasts are accompanied by music and singing by specially invited actors.

Describing the reign of John IV (the Terrible), it is difficult to resist the temptation to quote A. N. Tolstoy "Prince Silver". By the way, here is a list of the king’s favorite dishes, which is absolutely correct from a historical point of view: “When John appeared, everyone stood up and bowed low to him. The king slowly walked between the rows of tables to his place, stopped and, looking around the assembly, bowed in all directions; then he read a long prayer aloud, crossed himself, blessed the meal, and sank into an armchair. […] Many servants in violet-coloured velvet caftans with gold embroidery stood before the sovereign, bowed to him from the waist, and two in a row went for food. Soon they returned, carrying two hundred roasted swans on golden platters. This started lunch...

When the swans had been eaten, the servants went out and returned with three hundred roasted peacocks, whose loose tails swung like a fan over each dish. The peacocks were followed by kulebyaki, kurniki, meat and cheese pies, pancakes of all possible kinds, crooked pies and pancakes. While the guests were eating, the servants carried ladles and goblets with honey: cherry, juniper and wild cherry. Others served various foreign wines: Romanea, Rhenish and Musketeel. Dinner continued...

The servants, who were in velvet clothes, now appeared all in brocade dolmans. This change of dress was one of the luxuries of royal dinners. At first, various jelly was placed on the tables, then cranes with a spicy potion, pickled roosters with ginger, boneless chickens and ducks with cucumbers. Then they brought different stews and three types of fish soup: white chicken, black chicken and saffron chicken. Behind the ear they served hazel grouse with plums, geese with millet and black grouse with saffron. Then came the truancy, during which the guests were served with honey: currant, princely and boyar, and from wines: alicante, bastre and malvasia. The conversations were getting louder, the laughter was more frequent, the heads were spinning. For more than four hours the fun continued, and the table was only half a table. The royal cooks distinguished themselves that day. They have never been so successful with lemon kali, twirled kidneys and crucian carp with lamb. The gigantic fish brought to Sloboda from the Solovetsky Monastery aroused special surprise. They were brought alive, in huge barrels. These fish barely fit on the silver and gold basins, which were brought into the dining room by several people at once. The intricate art of the chefs seemed here in full splendor. The sturgeon and stellate sturgeon were so incised, so not the dishes were planted, that they looked like roosters with outstretched wings, like winged kites with open mouths. Hares in noodles were also good and tasty, and no matter how loaded the guests were, they did not miss a single quail with garlic sauce, no larks with onions and saffron. But now, at the sign of the stewards, they removed salt, pepper and vinegar from the tables, removed all meat and fish dishes. The servants went out two abreast and returned in new attire. They replaced brocade dolmans with summer kuntush made of white axamite with silver embroidery and sable trim. These clothes were even more beautiful and richer than the first two. Thus cleaned, they brought into the chamber a sugar kremlin, five pounds in weight, and placed it on the royal table. This Kremlin was cast very skillfully. The battlements and towers, and even the men on foot and on horseback, were meticulously finished. Similar kremlins, but only smaller, no more than three pounds, decorated other tables. Following the kremlin, about a hundred gilded and painted trees were brought in, on which, instead of fruits, hung gingerbread, gingerbread, and sweet pies. At the same time, lions, eagles, and all kinds of birds made of sugar appeared on the tables. Piles of apples, berries and Voloshensky nuts towered between cities and birds. But no one touched the fruits, everyone was full ... "

FIRST RUSSIAN MENU

One of the first surviving records of the solemn marriage feast reads: “Served to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich as a sennik during the marriage with Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina: kvass in a silver polished brother, and from the stern yard by orders : Paparok swan in saffron broth, ripples sprinkled with lemons, goose giblets, and ordered dishes were served to the empress queen: roast goose, roast pigs, smoking in a necklace with lemons, smoking in noodles, smoking in rich cabbage soup, but about the sovereign and about the empress the queen was served bread: rebaking cereals in three shoulder blades of undersized, even sieve bread, a kurnik sprinkled with eggs, a lamb pie, a dish of sour pies with cheese, a dish of larks, a dish of thin pancakes, a dish of pies with eggs, a dish of cheesecakes, a dish of crucian carp with lamb, Then another rosol pie, a platter of rosol pie, a dish of hearth pie, a cow’s egg pie for the trading business, a short-lived Easter cake, and so on.

Of course, we do not yet have a menu in the sense that we put into this word. Rather, in front of us is a record of dishes served on a ceremonially laid table, at which eminent guests solemnly sat. Nowadays, such a document is most of all a historical monument, as well as a subject for reflection: how were “crucian carp with lamb” or “paparok swan” prepared.

EVERYDAY TABLE OF THE SOVEREIGN

By the 17th century, many ways of life of the Russian tsars had settled down and turned into traditions. So in the system of life of the sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich there was an early rise (usually at four in the morning). After washing, he went out to the Cross Room (chapel), where a long prayer was performed. Then the sovereign sent one of the servants to the queen's chambers - to ask her about her health, about how she deigned to rest. After that, he entered the dining room, where he met with his wife. Together they listened to matins, and sometimes to early mass, which lasted about two hours.

In connection with such a “busy schedule” (one foreigner watched how Alexei Mikhailovich stood in church for five or six hours during Lent and laid a thousand in a row, and on big holidays - up to one and a half thousand bows), most often there was simply no breakfast. Sometimes the emperor allowed himself a glass of tea without sugar or a small bowl of porridge with sunflower oil. Having completed the mass, the king proceeded to do business.

The meeting and hearing of cases ended by noon, then the boyars, striking with their foreheads, went to their towers. The sovereign was heading for an honestly deserved dinner. Sometimes the most respected boyars were invited to the table. But on ordinary days the king preferred to dine with the queen. Moreover, at the request of the empress, the table could be set in her mansions (in the women's half of the palace). Children, especially older ones, as well as the children of the sovereign, were present at the common tables only on holidays.

At dinner, the sovereign showed moderation, not at all like festive feasts. So, the most uncomplicated dishes were usually put on the table of Alexei Mikhailovich: buckwheat porridge, rye carpet, a jug of wine (of which he consumed less than a cup), oatmeal brew or light malt beer with the addition of cinnamon oil (or just cinnamon water ). Meanwhile, in fast days, up to seventy meat and fish dishes were served at the sovereign's table.

But all of them were sent by the tsar either to his relatives, or to serve the boyars and other respectable people invited to dinner. Such a procedure of the sovereign's "dispatch" was revered as a special sign of goodwill.

Lunch began with cold and baked dishes, then the body was served, then it was the turn of the fried. And already at the end of the dinner - stews, fish soup or ear. The tables were set only by the butler with the key keeper, who were especially close to the sovereign. They laid white embroidered tablecloths, arranged vessels - a salt shaker, a pepper shaker, vinegar, a mustard pot, a horseradish pot ... In the room in front of the dining room there was a so-called "stern setter" - a table for trays with dishes intended for the sovereign, which the butler carefully examined.

There was a certain order in which any food for the monarch passed the strictest approbation. In the kitchen, the cook who prepared this dish tried it in front of the lawyer or butler. Then the protection of the dish was entrusted to the solicitor himself, who oversaw the keykeepers who carried the tray to the palace. The food was placed on the stern stand, where each dish was tasted by the same housekeeper who brought it. Then the butler took the sample and personally handed over the bowls and vases to the stolniks. The stewards stood with dishes at the entrance to the dining room, waiting to be called (sometimes up to an hour). From their hands, the food was taken by the kraichi - the guardian of the table. Only he was trusted to serve food to the sovereign. Moreover, he also tried in front of the ruler from each dish and precisely from the place indicated by the sovereign.

A similar situation occurred with drinks. Before the wines reached the bowl and fell on the drinking stand, they were poured and tasted exactly as many times as they were in hands. The last, in front of the king, tasted the wine cup, pouring himself from the sovereign's goblet into a special ladle. Having finished dinner, the sovereign went to rest for three hours. Then came the evening service and, as needed, the meeting of the Duma.

But more often the king spent time with his family or friends, as well as reading books. After a light meal (dinner), the evening prayer followed. And then - a dream.

An ordinary working day of the sovereign ...

******************************************************************************************************************************************************

What PETER I THE GREAT ate

(1672-1725), tsar (1682-1721, independent from 1696), emperor (1721-1725)

Peter usually got up very early - at three or four in the morning. After washing, I walked around the room for half an hour, thinking about plans for the coming day. Then, before breakfast, I worked on papers. At six o'clock, having had a quick and light breakfast, I left for the Senate and other public places. He usually dined at 11 or 12 o'clock, but never later than one in the afternoon.

Before dinner, the king drank a glass anise vodka, and before each serving of a new dish - kvass, beer and good red wine. The traditional dinner of Peter, according to the testimony of the associate of the Emperor A. Nartov, consisted of thick hot sour cabbage soup, porridge, jelly, cold pig in sour cream (served whole and the sovereign himself chose a piece according to his mood), cold roast (most often duck) with pickles or salted lemons, ham and Limburg cheese. He usually dined alone with his wife and could not stand the presence of lackeys in the dining room, allowing only the cook, Felten. If one of the guests was at his table, then Felten, one orderly and two minor pages served. But they, having arranged all the dishes, snacks and a bottle of wine for each of those sitting at the table, had to leave the dining room and leave the sovereign alone - with his wife or guests. Naturally, this order changed dramatically during ceremonial dinners, when those present were served exclusively by lackeys.

After dinner, Peter put on a dressing gown and slept for two hours. By four o'clock he ordered to submit urgent cases and papers for signature to the report. Then he did his homework and favorite things. He went to bed at 10-11 o'clock without supper.

Note that Peter did not like to dine at home. He did this for the most part at a party - with nobles and other acquaintances, without refusing any invitation.

One of the first gardening experiments of Peter was the Catherine Garden, named after his wife (now it is better known as the "Summer Garden"). There, not only the oaks, elms, maples, lindens, mountain ash, and spruces that are already familiar to us, but also boxwoods, chestnuts, elms, as well as apple trees, pears, cherries, walnut trees, raspberry bushes and currants delivered from the warm regions, took root quite willingly. Between the trees, on specially cultivated beds, gardeners looked after carrots, beets, onions, parsley, cucumbers, peas, parsnips and fragrant herbs.

Peter adored family dinners in the fresh air, when tables were brought out into the clearing near the house. Ahead of time, the empress with her children went for vegetables and fruits, collected literally on a personal plot. Fruits and berries were thoroughly washed and served immediately. Peter, personally offering them to honored guests, did not forget to remind them that they were to taste the fruit from the imperial garden. Fruits and berries were always more than enough: they ate with pleasure, preferring imported ones, perhaps sweeter and more fragrant.

What did ANNA Ioannovna eat

(1693-1740), empress (1730-1740)

Lush and luxurious balls, given during the time of Anna Ioannovna, invariably ended with a plentiful dinner, where hot dishes were always served. The empress believed that after fast dances, among which there were necessarily Russian dances (Anna Ioannovna followed this strictly and herself gave a sign to the beginning of the “Russian”, clapping to the beat of fast-moving music and expressing great pleasure from contemplating whirling and frenzied trepak), the human body required reinforcements.

That is why at the end of the ball the guests went to the tables, literally bursting with food. They ate a lot and tasty, although there was little alcohol. The lackeys carried out on trays only light grape wine, moreover, it was poured into tiny glasses and not generously. Although those close to the Empress periodically hinted at the need to serve vodka or liqueurs and tinctures, or, at worst, larger glasses, all their judgments invariably met with a polite but firm refusal. Anna Ioannovna did not like wine, and moreover, people who drink.

In the third month after the coronation, Anna Ioannovna moved to the village of Izmailovo near Moscow, where she indulged in her beloved passion, almost daily leaving to shoot deer, black grouse and hares. When moving to St. Petersburg in 1732, the Empress brought with her all her hunting (in 1740 it was 175 people).

At first, the Empress fell in love with the so-called porfors or horseback hunting. From the bushes and from the undergrowth of the forest, the beaters drove the game. They were assisted by numerous packs of dogs that brought the animals into a pack. Following the dogs, hunters raced on horseback, shooting on the move. In the same 1740, from July 10 to August 26, “the empress deigned to shoot with her own hands: 9 deer, 16 wild goats, 4 wild boars, 2 wolves, 374 hares, 68 ducks and 16 large sea birds.” It is clear that not all the booty fell on the royal table, but there was practically not a day when meat that she had obtained with her own hands was not fried in Her Majesty's kitchen.

Later, riding became difficult for her, and Anna Ioannovna began to hunt only with a gun. In addition, she loved baiting animals with dogs. She was especially pleased with the persecution of bears.

It is significant that she ate the game she caught extremely rarely, more and more treating her guests and courtiers (while not forgetting to emphasize that this bear meat was obtained by her own hand!). Of the favorite hunting dishes of Anna Ioannovna, one can name only fried woodcocks, and hazel grouses cooked on an open fire without spices and served without a side dish. By the way, she practically did not shoot a bird.

INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SHORT KINGDOM

During the period of the "strange" and short reign of John Antonovich (1740-1764; emperor - from 1740 to 1741), a manuscript called "Cool Heliport, or Vrachev's things for the health of mankind" became popular among the people. Among the many wise pieces of advice, one can find, for example, the following: “Pea ear is healthy and strong and should be taken by fearful people” (recall that in those years almost any soup was called “ear”); “To take a horseradish on a skinny heart, saves for the whole day from a person’s feed”; “Cabbage boiled with cabbage seed is pleasant to drink, and in no way will that person on that day drink intoxicating drink to the point of drunkenness”; “If anyone has garden carrots with him, then he is not afraid of any poisonous creeping reptile”; "The mountain ash is more worthy of acceptance by the male sex than by the female"; and even such a folk “medicine after pravezh” (“Pravezh” was called beating with sticks of short-receivers of state taxes or debtors): “Borits is a grass that is hot and hygroscopic, in the second foot it has emollient, but it is not painful ... We apply fresh and dry leaves of that grass to internal sores, as well as to external ones, and to broken joints, and to broken ones, and to the splenic duct. And if anyone is beaten on the right in the morning or all day, let him eat the wrestlers dried and soar in good sour soup, and that night the legs that were that grass with sour soup soar much, and such a beaten place will become soft, and it does this all the days , as long as they beat on the right, and the legs from that battle forward will be intact.

These were the times, where only with the help of "sour cabbage soup" - a special kvass made from rye malt, buckwheat flour, honey and mint - it was possible to improve your health.

What ELIZAVETA PETROVNA ate

(1709-1761), empress (1741-1761)

Contemporaries called her the "merry queen." Sometimes fearful. Balls, masquerades, musical and dramatic performances by Italian, German and Russian troupes - all these noisy "promenades" dragged on long after midnight. The empress herself went to bed somewhere at six o'clock in the morning. What it was - the nature of the "owl" or the fear of repeating its own night coup on November 25 - it is difficult to say for sure. But her short reign was spent in stormy feasts and crowded carnivals, in music, dances and ... passionate prayers, to which the empress devoted considerable time.

The Empress paid no less attention to thinking through the system of her noisy life than to many hours of examining the lists of guests with a pencil in her hands. It was she who introduced the habit of serving in the middle of the night fun not only soft drinks and ice cream, but also hot soups in order to reinforce the forces of tired gentlemen and flirting ladies. She also tried to personally control the composition of the snack table and the selection of wines, not forgetting light sweet ladies' wines and liqueurs.

They usually gathered for balls and masquerades by six o'clock in the evening, and after dancing, flirting and playing cards, by ten o'clock, the empress sat down at the table with her chosen faces. Then the rest of the guests entered the dining room, having dined standing up and therefore not for long. In fact, they only slightly satisfied their hunger, because, following the etiquette, after having a bite, they should have retired, leaving those closest to the empress to sit at the tables. At the feast, there was a conversation not just of a domestic and secular nature - Elizaveta Petrovna made it a habit to discuss state and even political affairs in such communication. Of course, such gatherings did not touch on sensitive topics. It was a kind of information about the situation in the country and in the world for a narrow circle, transmitted, so to speak, "in an informal setting."

After dinner was over, the dancing resumed and lasted until late at night.

She especially paid tribute to her greatest passion - hunting, and she preferred dog hunting to bird hunting. Contemporaries recall that among the trophies of the Empress were not only hares and ducks ... So in August 1747, she shot a hardened bear in the vicinity of Peterhof, the skin of which turned out to be more than three meters long. On another occasion, she also killed a seasoned elk, two arshins 6 inches high from hooves to the scruff of the neck.

Needless to say, under these conditions, it was her hunting trophies that became Elizabeth's best and favorite dish. Moreover, she preferred a piece of ordinary meat, cut from the thigh of a roe deer or a bear and fried on a gun ramrod over coals.

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna's way of life at home turned out to be inverted: having a weakness for "drunkenness and voluptuousness" (according to A. M. Turgenev), she slept almost all day long, but led a nocturnal lifestyle. She ate dinner, and often dined after midnight. Moreover, the feast took place in the presence of a narrow circle of close people and completely without lackeys. It happened like this: the table was set, served, loaded with dishes and fruits, and then lowered on a special device on the floor below.

What PETER III ate

(1728-1762), Emperor (1761-1762)

The nephew of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III, was to reign for only six months. The strange misunderstanding that the personality of Pyotr Fedorovich left in history, of course, cannot be clarified by a brief digression into part of his drinking interests. Was it a half-witted, unbalanced drunkard who hated everything Russian, or (and there is such a judgment) a respectable emperor who sought to find new ways for the historical development of Russia? ..

Yes, he loved a noisy, talkative feast, in which he himself played a lot of jokes and frolicked. Rumor has turned him into a jester and a prankster. He loved and knew how to drink hard - and public opinion turned him into a drunken, lost person. A significant role in such "shifters" belonged to his wife, the future Empress Catherine the Great, who acted smart and sophisticated.

If in the first two months of his reign, Peter III still somehow restrained the ardor and passions of his companions, then later ordinary dinners began to increasingly acquire the qualities of ordinary feasts and even drinking parties, which caused reproaches from both Russians and his foreign contemporaries.

The emperor's wife Catherine rarely complained to society with her visits, but almost every day these dinners were attended by Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, the niece of the Grand Chancellor, a chamber maid of honor, who soon became a "lady of state". The same circle included Prince George-Louis, Chief Marshal

A. A. Naryshkin, chief-stallmaster L. A. Naryshkin, adjutant general of the sovereign: A. P. Melgunov, A. V. Gudovich, Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, I. I. Shuvalov ... Everyone knew each other in short and conversations between them were lively - over the spell of wine, in clubs of pipe smoke (we note that during the reign of Elizabeth no one smoked within the walls of the Palace - the empress could not stand the smell of tobacco).

Dinner usually lasted about two hours, after which the emperor rested for a short time, and then went either for a ride or played billiards, and occasionally chess and cards. The only event that could interrupt the revelry was a city fire (and they happened quite often). Peter III immediately left all his affairs, went to the fire and personally supervised its extinguishing ...

What CATHERINE II THE GREAT ate

(1729-1796), empress (1762-1796)

During the reign of Catherine II, both in the capital and in Moscow, the kitchen and buffet were considered one of the most important luxury items. And the owners were famous primarily not for the beauty of the mansion and the luxury of the furnishings, but for the breadth of the reception and the quality of the food served.

It is important to note that in most houses, especially in St. Petersburg, the cuisine and wines were predominantly French. Paris became a trendsetter. In society, they spoke French, dressed in the French manner, wrote out French tutors, lackeys, cooks ... Only in the old noble houses remained skillful chefs of traditional Russian cuisine who knew how to cook the so-called "statutory dishes" - kolobovy and hearth pies, kulebyaki, cabbage soup teams , yushka, pork and suckling pigs fried in huge pieces, omentums, sbiten ... But even with such hosts, French pâtés gradually began to penetrate the menu, italian pasta, English roast beef and beefsteaks…

Traditional cheesecakes, rolls and bagels, served with tea with jam and butter, were quite easily supplemented, and in some places they were replaced by cakes, blancmange, mousses and jelly. For dinner with dessert, new drinks for that time (crunch, cider) were served, as well as rare fruits, whose names were new to many (pineapples, kiwi, mangoes ...)

In the art of cooking, the desire to surprise, amuse guests with unprecedented, unusual and unusual dishes. Here, for example, is a list of dishes from one of the meals of Catherine II. Reading into it, you experience horror from the food orgy that played out at the feast. Is a normal person capable of overpowering even a fifth of what the guests were wearing? It was they who “worn out”, since there were usually only plates, cutlery, decanters and glasses on the table. And to refuse any dish was considered a very unseemly matter.

So, in the first serving there are ten soups and stews, then twenty-four medium entreme. * For example: turkeys with shio, royal pies, terines with wings and green puree, ducks with juice, rabbit roulades, cordonani pulards, etc. .

Antreme - dishes served before the main, "signature" dishes or before dessert.

Then comes the time of thirty-two orders, which could include: chicken marinades, wings with parmesan, chickens, etc. And then they arrived in time " large dishes»: glazed salmon, carp with cutlery, glazed thornboat with crayfish, perches with ham, fatty chicken with cutlery, poulards with truffles . Re-enter the stage thirty-two orders, such as hazel grouse in Spanish, various turtles, chiryats with olives, loaches with fricandos, partridges with truffles, pheasants with pistachios, pigeons with crayfish, snipe salmi. Then comes the turn of the roast: large entrees* and salads, lamb roast beef, wild goat, gato compiègne, young hares, 12 salads, 8 sauces… They are replaced by twenty-eight medium entremes of hot and cold types: ham, smoked tongues, cream turts, tartlets, cake, Italian bread. Then the change of salads begins, as well as oranges and sauces with thirty-two entrme hot: rubbish royally, cauliflower, sweet lamb meat, broths, oyster fillets, etc.

The recently cited information that Catherine II herself was very moderate in food refers rather to the last years of her reign. Here, for example, is a list of dishes from one of her daily meals: Turkeys with shio, terrines with wings and green puree, ducks with juice, chicken marinade, perches with ham, poulards with truffles, hazel grouse in Spanish, turtles, chiryata with olives, gato compiegne, twelve salads, seven sauces, Italian bread, cakes, tartlets, etc.”

Needless to say: in those years, they not only loved, but also knew how to eat.

Nevertheless, the empress gave her addiction for the most part ... to sauerkraut in any form. The fact is that for many years in the morning she washed her face with sauerkraut pickle, rightly believing that in this way she would keep it from wrinkles longer.

Ekaterina did not hide her tastes.

Unlike her predecessors, Ekaterina Alekseevna did not like dog hunting. She liked to wander with a gun in Oranienbaum, where she got up at three in the morning, dressed without servants and went to wander with the old gamekeeper along the seashore, shooting ducks. She was proud of her prey and certainly asked to make simple dishes from it.

Having ascended the throne, Catherine II left such walks, but occasionally in the summer she went to shoot black grouse or woodcocks, which she considered to be the most delicious bird.

Let us give an example of an “intimate dinner” of the Catherine era, at which “guests should be no less than the number of graces (3) and no more than the number of muses (9)”. It included: Ryabtsev chowder with parmesan and chestnuts. Large fillet in Sultan style. Beef eyes in sauce (called "waking up in the morning"). Palatal part [beef head baked] in [hot] ashes, garnished with truffle. Veal tails in Tatar. Calf ears crumbled. Leg of lamb stolistovaya. Pigeons in Stanislavsky. Goose in shoes. Doves according to Noyavlev and snipes with oysters. Gato from green grapes. Fat girlish cream.

At first glance, the dinner is simply luxurious. but it is worth understanding each dish separately. As you can see, with the exception of the goose, each name is quite moderate in terms of calories. There is nothing fat and sugary here. On the contrary, according to the sophistication of those years - a rather modest menu.

If we recall that Catherine herself preferred the usual boiled beef with pickles and sauerkraut from the entire culinary palette of her time, then from the point of view of modern nutrition, her diet is quite prudent. True, sometimes she ordered to make a sauce from dried deer tongues for this ... Well, that's why she is an empress, in order to have small weaknesses.

I cannot resist the temptation to give a recipe for a real ROYAL EASTER of the Catherine era. Perhaps this is one of the few recipes of the royal cuisine, not hidden from the people. And the point here is primarily in the consciousness of the unity of all Orthodox on the bright holiday of Easter.

So, rub two kilograms of fat cottage cheese through a sieve, add a dozen eggs, 400 grams butter of the highest quality (best of all - Vologda) - put everything in a saucepan and put on the stove, stirring constantly so as not to burn.

As soon as the cottage cheese reaches a boil (the first bubble appears), immediately remove the pan from the heat, put it on ice and continue stirring until it cools completely. Mix sugar, almonds, pitted raisins, pieces of walnuts, finely chopped dried apricots, candied fruits into the cooled mixture ... Knead well, put in a large shape (or in a tight canvas bag), put under pressure. Eating!..

What PAUL I ate

(1729-1796), emperor (1796-1801)

Having begun the fight against Catherine's orders, Paul I carried out reforms not only in the army, but also at court. So in the palace they were forbidden special tables. The emperor demanded that members of his family eat only with him. He personally hired a new staff of cooks, urging them to keep the food as simple as possible. Supplies for the palace kitchen ordered to be purchased at city markets, placing this responsibility on the cook team and decisively expelling "suppliers of the table of His Imperial Majesty."

Shchi, porridge, roast, cutlets or cue balls are the most popular dishes of the royal table of this period. Amazing spectacle - simple buckwheat porridge with milk in a luxurious china plate, eaten with silver tablespoons. True, Pavel had a weakness that nullified ostentatious asceticism: his table was luxuriously decorated with flowers and appliances of the most exquisite types and shapes, replete with vases of fruit and delicious desserts.

During dinner, there was a dead silence at the table, only occasionally interrupted by the emperor's remarks, and the remarks of the teacher - Count Stroganov. Sometimes, when the sovereign was in a wonderful disposition, the court jester "Ivanushka" was also called to the table, who was allowed the most daring speeches.

They dined, as a rule, at noon (the emperor got up at five in the morning). After an evening walk in the palace, there was a private home meeting, where the mistress of the house, the empress, herself poured tea for guests and family members, offered cookies and honey. The emperor went to bed at eight in the evening and, as M.I. Pylyaev writes, “following this, the lights went out throughout the city.”

What did Alexander the First eat?

(1777-1825), Emperor (1801-1825)

The royal family favored I.A. Krylov. The fabulist constantly received invitations to dinners with the Empress and the Grand Dukes. Nevertheless, his judgments about the imperial feasts were very critical and, apparently, not unfounded.

“- What royal cooks! - Krylov told A. M. Turgenev. “I never came back from these dinners full. And I used to think so - they will feed in the palace. The first time I went and I think: what kind of dinner is already here - and let the servants go. And what happened? Decoration, serving - one beauty. They sat down, - the soup is served: some kind of greens on the bottom, carrots are cut out with scallops, but everything is so aground and stands, because the soup itself is only a puddle. By God, five spoons total. Doubt took over: perhaps our brother, the writer, is being surrounded by lackeys? I look - no, everyone has the same shallow water. And the pies? - no more than a walnut. I grabbed two, and the footman is already striving to run away. I held it by the button and took off a couple more. Then he broke free and surrounded the two next to me. It’s true, it’s forbidden for lackeys to fall behind.

Good fish - trout; after all, Gatchina, their own, and they serve such small fry - much less than a la carte! Yes, what's so surprising when everything that is larger is lowered to merchants. I myself bought from the Stone Bridge.

After the fish went French trinkets. Like a pot overturned, lined with jelly, and inside there are greens, and pieces of game, and cut truffles - all sorts of remnants. Doesn't taste bad. I want to take a second pot, but the dish is already far away. What is this, I think? Here only to try give?!

We got to the turkey. Don't make a mistake, Ivan Andreevich, we'll win back here. They bring it. Believe it or not - only legs and wings, trimmed into small pieces, lie side by side, and the very bird is hidden under them and remains uncut. Good youngsters! I took a leg, gnawed it and put it on a plate. I look around. Everyone has a bone on their plate. Desert desert ... And I felt sad, sad, almost broke a tear. And then I see, the queen-mother noticed my sadness and says something to the main footman and points to me ... And what? The second time they brought me a turkey. I bowed low to the queen - after all, she was paid. I want to take it, but the bird is not cut and lies. No, brother, you're being naughty - you won't fool me: cut it like this and bring it here, I say to the lackey. So I got a nutritious pound. And all around look - envy. And the turkey is quite seedy, no noble corpulence, they fried it early in the morning and warmed it up for dinner, monsters!

And sweet! I'm ashamed to say ... Half an orange! The natural inside is taken out, and in return, jelly and jam are stuffed. Out of spite with the skin, I ate it. Our kings are badly fed - a swindle all around. And wine is poured endlessly. You just have a drink - you look, again the glass is full. And why? Because the court servants then drink them.

I returned home hungry, hungry ... How to be? He let the servant go, nothing was in store ... I had to go to a restaurant. And now, when I have to dine there, dinner is always waiting for me at home. You will come, drink a glass of vodka, as if you had not dined at all ... "

What NICHOLAS THE FIRST ate

(1796-1855), Emperor (1825-1855)

During the Nikolaev time, the table order in the Palace practically did not change. True, the cooks had one “signature” dish, which should be mentioned in particular. There is a legend that on the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Nicholas I stopped in Torzhok at the local governor, Prince Pozharsky. The menu, which the couriers sent ahead had previously agreed upon, included veal chopped cutlets. But the trouble is that Pozharsky did not have veal at that moment. Therefore, without hesitation, he prepared chicken fillet cutlets. The tsar was delighted and ordered to find out the recipe for making cutlets, which he called "pozharsky". True, the story is more reliable that we owe the invention of the famous cutlets to the buxom and ruddy-cheeked beauty Daria Pozharskaya, the wife of the famous innkeeper, whom everyone remembers thanks to Pushkin's muse :
"Dine at your leisure
At Pozharsky's in Torzhok,
Taste fried cutlets
And go easy…”

A reasonable question may arise: why "light"? It was simply impossible for carriage passengers to overeat - the quality of Russian roads caused them elementary "seasickness". By the way, the same rumor claims that the cutlets themselves were invented in Ostashkov, which Nikolai was passing by. And only then the enterprising Pozharsky moved to Torzhok and opened a tavern with a front sign: “Pozharsky, supplier of the court of his Imperial Majesty.” In conclusion, we note that Nikolai Pavlovich did not like hunting and did not do it at all. Apparently, therefore, game was not among his favorite dishes. But all subsequent sovereigns of the Russian Empire paid due tribute to this favorite royal pastime. .

What did Alexander II eat?

(1818-1881), emperor (1855-1881)

Alexander II adored celebrations and celebrated many significant events with deliberate ostentatious pomp. So, in particular, when Empress Maria Alexandrovna had a son, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, on this occasion a dinner was given for eight hundred people, accompanied by incredible pomp of rituals, the sophistication of dishes served and the luxury of table decoration.

The favorite types of hunting of Alexander II was shooting a large animal: a bear, a wild boar, a bison, an elk. Moreover, the sovereign did not like "stands". He was ready from morning to evening, accompanied by a small group of shooters, to roam the forests. At the head of the shooters was his constant companion, Unter Jägermeister Ivanov, whose duty it was to supply the emperor with loaded guns.

The hunt was considered successful if two or three bears were killed during it. Then the sovereign returned to the forestry, where he dined. Moreover, the best delicacy revered a piece of bear meat or bear liver roasted over coals. After dinner, the remnants of meat and wine, as well as everything left from the table, were distributed to local peasants.

What did Alexander the Third eat?

(1845-1894), Emperor (1881-1894)

Emperor Alexander III was of an unusually simple disposition: he did not like pomp and celebrations. In food he was moderate to the extreme. His favorite dishes are simple Russian dishes: cabbage soup, porridge, kvass. True, the Sovereign liked to overturn a hefty stack of Russian vodka, biting it with a crispy cucumber or a huge bast shoe of a fragrant salted milk mushroom. Empress Maria Feodorovna, at times, scolded him for the fact that Their Majesty buried his beard with soup or sauce. But she did it unobtrusively and tactfully.

Every morning the emperor got up at seven in the morning, washed cold water, dressed in peasant clothes, made himself a cup of coffee and sat down to write papers. Maria Fyodorovna would rise later and join him at breakfast, which usually consisted of boiled eggs and rye bread. Their children slept on simple soldier's cots with hard pillows. Father demanded that in the morning they take cold baths and have breakfast oatmeal. They met with their parents for lunch. There was always plenty of food, but since the children were allowed to sit down at the table last: after everyone invited, and they had to get up immediately after the father got up from his seat, they often remained hungry. There is a known case when the hungry Nicholas, the future emperor, swallowed a piece of wax contained in a pectoral cross, as a particle of the Cross of the Lord. His sister Olga later recalled: “Nicky was so hungry that he opened the cross and ate its contents - the relic and everything. Later, he felt ashamed, and noted that everything he did had a taste of "sacrilege."

Under Alexander II, all wines served on the table were exclusively of foreign origin. Alexander III created a new era for Russian winemaking. He ordered bottles with foreign labels to be served only when foreign monarchs or diplomats were invited to dinner. The example given from above was followed by regimental meetings. True, many officers considered such “wine nationalism” inappropriate and, as a protest, began to dine in restaurants that were not obliged to reckon with the will of the monarch. But the quality of Russian Crimean wine began to rise sharply. And soon, under the skillful influence of princes Golitsyn and Kochubey, truly outstanding wines appeared in Russia. So by 1880 the consumption of foreign wines had become a sign of common snobbery.

The royal family usually spent an hour and a half at the dinner table. Alexander borrowed this custom from the Danish royal house and passed it on to his son and successor, Nicholas II. He loved hunting, but he preferred fishing to everything. Alexander III liked to sit for hours with a fishing rod and catch trout. He preferred this prey to all others and especially proudly treated the household with fried trout in truffle sauce ...

When the Russian tsar is fishing, Europe can wait,” he replied in Gatchina to a minister who insisted that the emperor immediately receive an ambassador from some Western power. And, the right word, there was no arrogance in this answer ...

"Simplicity in everything". The reality of this principle can be seen in such an element of the feast as the royal menu.

Let's take a look at the list of special ceremonial officer dinners arranged in military units on the most lofty occasion - in honor of the arrival of His Imperial Majesty.

In 1888, Emperor Alexander III traveled around the Caucasus with Empress Maria Feodorovna. During the trip, they also visited military units. Naturally, the tables were laid with special care, but without pomp and luxury. We note a certain modesty and at the same time a sufficient uniformity of the list of dishes for the members of the imperial family. It is difficult to say what is this - the requirement of the sovereign or the usual officer's desk of that period. But somehow it does not seem in the Soviet and even in our time a similar table for the visit of a distinguished state guest.

By the way, let no one be fooled by sturgeon or stellate sturgeon - for the North Caucasus, this is far from a scarce fish (especially in those days). As for the hazel grouses, all the surrounding forests were full of them.

Okroshka, pea soup, pies, cold sturgeon with horseradish, poulard with mushrooms, strawberry ice cream.

Okroshka, American-style soup, pies, cold stellate sturgeon cutlets, brothelise, owl pheasant fillet, beef tenderloin with champignon puree, pear compote on champagne.

Okroshka, soup with tomatoes, pies, Russian-style stellate sturgeon, hazel grouse cutlets with truffles, beef tenderloin with garnish, ice cream.

Okroshka, count's soup, cake, cold sturgeon, partridges with cabbage, lamb saddle with garnish, pears in jelly.

Okroshka, soup with tomatoes, pies, cold fish aspic, hazel grouse cutlets, beef with garnish, ice cream.

In a similar way (or rather, even more modestly, officers, for example, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna are treated in Kaluga.

Breakfast menu on June 29, 1888, arranged in their presence in the building of the Officers' Assembly on the day of the regimental holiday of the Fifth Kyiv Grenadier Regiment:

Broth with pie, chicken, fish, ice cream.

And that's all! .. No special pickles, no wines (after all, breakfast).

And here are the civil menus of the same trip of Alexander III with his wife. At first glance, they are also not lush and not suffering from diversity. But this is only at first glance. Take a closer look. Here you can see fiction and taste, fantasy and the hand of a skilled chef:

Botvinia, turtle soup, pies, cold salmon cutlets, turkey tenderloin, foie gras soufflé with truffle, partridge roast, lettuce, cauliflower, hollandaise sauce, ice cream.

Botvinia, Scottish soup, pies, sterlet with cucumbers, veal with garnish, cold foie gras, roast duck, lettuce, artichokes with truffles, ice cream.

Duck soup, pies, boiled mullet, rump with garnish, poulard fillet with truffles, various roasts, salad, cauliflower and peas, cold, sweet.

Let's think about the deaf definition of "pies". In military units, these are usually pies or traditional Russian cabbage pies (in one place I even came across “porridge pies”, usually with buckwheat or Saracen millet - that is, with rice).

Meanwhile, in the secular menu, the concept of “patties” includes an assortment of up to a dozen different varieties: pies with meat and fish, with potatoes and peas, with screech and mushrooms, with sour and fresh cabbage, with burbot liver and veal liver, with quails and crayfish, as well as kurniki, pies, cheesecakes ... And don't let the simplicity of, say, such a product as "pie with peas" deceive you. After all, the filling was made from peas, calcined in a Russian oven, steamed, mixed with fried onions, pieces of goose liver and bacon. Really, it's hard to refuse such a pie!

So that pies with different fillings would not get mixed up on dishes, they were given various shapes and decorated with incredible patterns. And among the rich selection, one could also come across a “surprise pie” - with a bean, a coin or a ring of the hostess. Therefore, eat pies carefully. The lucky one who got the surprise was declared the "king of the evening" (during the visit of the Emperor, "surprises" were not done - it is not even a joke to declare someone king in the presence of the monarch). There could also be surprises-pranks: a pie with salted herring or hot pepper. Those who tasted such a dish became the object of good-natured jokes. Therefore, many who got such dishes preferred to pretend that they were eating the usual delicacy (with tears in their eyes). As long as you don't get ridiculed...

What NICHOLAS II ate

(1868-1918), Emperor (1894-1917)

CORONATION IN THE MOTHERSHOT After the end of the annual mourning, on May 26, 1896, the new emperor of Russia was crowned king in Moscow. Among the seven thousand guests who attended the coronation banquet, including princes and grand dukes, emirs and ambassadors from many countries of the world, ordinary people, whose ancestors made a significant contribution to supporting the monarchy, sat at the tables in one of the halls. So the most honored guests were the descendants of Ivan Susanin, who died under the swords of the Poles, but refused to help them get to Mikhail Romanov, the first tsar of the dynasty ...

On the tables in front of each of the guests lay a scroll tied with silk braid. It contained a menu written in elegant Old Slavonic script. The food was simple and sophisticated at the same time. Almost none of those present remembered her taste. But everyone unanimously recalled the luxury of the decoration of tables and dishes. Meanwhile, the table was served: borscht and hodgepodge with kulebyaka, boiled fish, a whole young lamb (for 10-12 people), pheasants in a sauce with sour cream, salad, asparagus, sweet fruits in wine and ice cream.

Nicholas II, together with his young wife, solemnly sat under a canopy (according to the old Russian tradition). Representatives of the highest Russian nobility were located in the galleries, watching the royal couple. The highest court officials personally brought them food on golden plates. For several hours, while the banquet lasted, foreign ambassadors, one after another, raised toasts to the health of the monarch and his wife.

And at night the whole Kremlin was flooded with light and music. The coronation ball was held here. Luxurious toilets, diamonds, rubies and sapphires shone everywhere ... The reign of the last emperor of Russia began.

He will note that his tastes, brought up by his father, were extremely simple. If not for the demands of his beloved wife Alexandra Fedorovna (Alice Victoria Elena Louise Beatrice), Nicholas II could well have been content with the Suvorov menu: cabbage soup and porridge.

So, in 1914, having taken over the supreme command, the sovereign went against all traditions: he ordered to cook only simple dishes for himself. In a conversation with General A. A. Mosolov, he once said:

Thanks to the war, I realized that simple dishes are much tastier than complex ones. I'm glad I got rid of the marshal's spicy cuisine.

On weekdays, the royal spouses got up between 8 and 9 in the morning. Moreover, the servants usually woke them up by knocking a wooden hammer on the door. After the morning toilet, the royal couple had breakfast in a small office. Later, when Alexandra's health deteriorated, she remained in bed until eleven, when the emperor drank morning tea or one coffee. Butter and various types of bread (rye, rich, sweet) were served on a special tray. In addition, there were always ham, boiled eggs, bacon, which could be requested at any time.

Then rolls were served. It was a tradition established at court for centuries and maintained by the empress. Kalachi appeared in Rus' as early as the 14th century as a borrowing of Tatar unleavened white bread, to which (in the Russian version) was added rye sourdough. The original way of preparing the dough, its special shape (belly with a lip, and on top of the bow), where each part of the kalachik had a special taste, as well as the ability of the kalach to be stored for a long time, aroused special interest and respect for this type of Russian pastry. In the 19th century, Moscow rolls were frozen and transported to major Russian cities and even to Paris. There they were thawed in hot towels and served as freshly baked even after a month or two. Moscow bakers have created a whole legend that real kalach can only be baked on water taken from the sources of the Moskva River. There were even special tanks and they were driven along the rails to those places where the royal court went. Kalach was supposed to be eaten hot, and therefore it was served wrapped in a warmed napkin. Then the emperor went to his office, where he worked with letters and government papers.

The second breakfast was served at one. Children were brought to common table between three and four years of age. The only stranger at the table was the Emperor's adjutant on duty. In exceptional cases, a minister who had urgent business in the palace, or one of the members of the royal family who were visiting the Romanovs, could be invited to the table.

During tea, when there were no strangers nearby, the sovereign continued to work with papers. The table was set in the Empress's study, where there was a basket of toys, and the children often fumbled and played while the adults continued to eat.

It is curious that the long-awaited heir was born almost at breakfast. At noon on a hot summer day, the emperor and his wife were sitting at a table in the Peterhof Palace. The empress barely managed to finish her soup when she was forced to apologize and head to her room. An hour later, Tsarevich Alexei was born.

Morning and afternoon tea were very modest. On the table stood a teapot and boiling water in a large china teapot, dried wheat bread, English biscuits. Such luxuries as a cake, cakes or sweets rarely appeared. During the war, food became especially simple: sometimes they drank in the morning tea without sugar with cakes. The empress, a convinced vegetarian, never touched fish or meat, although she sometimes ate eggs, cheese and butter. Occasionally she allowed herself a glass of wine and water.

The second breakfast consisted of two or three meat and fish dishes. They were served several varieties of light wine. For lunch, after appetizers, soup with pies and four more dishes were served: fish, meat, vegetables and dessert. The sovereign preferred simple healthy food to exquisite. The same menu was on his favorite yachts "Standard" and "Polar Star" during the summer voyages.

The formal dinners were the sumptuous creations of an entire team of chefs led by French chef Cube. The menu for such dinners was discussed for a long time with the empress and the master of ceremonies, Count Benckendorff, and was approved by the empress personally. Many preparations (including expensive meats) were brought from abroad and from all over Russia.

There were official dinners during receptions on the royal yachts. And here Kyube's talent was fully manifested, who acted not only as a chef, but also as a head waiter. He could appear in front of the sovereign and guests during a snack and advise to taste this or that delicacy - mushrooms in sour cream, one of the many types of crabs, crayfish, etc.

The formal side of official dinners has not changed at court since the establishment of order by Catherine II, and even the sovereign was not entitled to change it. The meal began with a prayer: the confessor of the royal family got up from the table and, turning to the icons, read it in a singsong voice. The rest repeated the prayer to themselves.

The family usually dined at eight in the evening. Guests at the table were rare, but the adjutant was always present. Sometimes one of the state ladies was invited to dinner. Lunch lasted an hour and a half. After that, the sovereign returned to his office, where he read until late at night.

It is curious that a dining room was not provided for in the residential part of the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace. Covered dinner table and a table for snacks was rolled into one of the rooms of the empress's premises or, if she did not feel well, into her office. Official dinners were served in the large Tsarskoye Selo Palace.

Before the second breakfast and before dinner, they served several small dishes purely Russian snacks - sturgeon, caviar, herring, boiled meat (although there were also French "canapes"). They always stood on a separate table. There were also two or three varieties of hot appetizers: sausages in tomato sauce, hot ham, "Dragomirovskaya porridge". Before the second breakfast, the emperor usually drank a glass or two of vodka and took extremely small portions of snacks. The empress, however, considered breakfast standing unhygienic and never approached the table with snacks. During snacks, the emperor talked with the guests: everyone ate standing up. At the same time, Nikolai did not like delicacies, and especially caviar.

During breakfast, two dishes were served, each in two types: eggs or fish, white or dark meat. Who had a good appetite could get all four courses. The second course was served with vegetables, for which there were special plates of a very original shape - in the form of a quarter of the moon. Compotes, cheese and fruits were served at the end of breakfast.

Usually, the footman holding the dish put a portion on the plate, waiting for a nod of the head - “enough!”. But later the emperor began to take from the dishes himself, they began to imitate him, and the former custom changed.

Official dinners always proceeded evenly and calmly, sedately and solemnly. Another thing is a family feast. Here the spouses could argue and even (although this happened quite rarely) quarrel. Lunch began with soup, which was served with small vol-au-vents, pies or small toasts with cheese . Then came fish, roasts (game or chicken), vegetables, fruits, and sweets. Of the drinks served mostly Madeira. But there was also wine (red and white). They could also bring beer if they wanted. Dinner ended with coffee, to which glasses of liquor were placed on the table.

All wines were of excellent quality. But in the palace there was also a reserved, so-called "reserve" cellar, which contained wines of outstanding ages. Count Benckendorff was personally responsible for the safety of this cherished place. To get a bottle of old wine, a recommendation was no more, no less than that of the minister of the court, Fredericks. He himself loved Chateau Yquem, which was called nectar. In this, his taste coincided with the passion of the Empress. (The reserved cellar was devastated during the October Revolution. What they could not drink was poured into ditches and onto the pavement. However, this will happen later ...)

Each breakfast and lunch had to last exactly fifty minutes - not a minute more, not one less. It was also a tradition and the marshal strictly followed its observance. The tradition was started by Alexander II, who liked to change the place of dining (sometimes he chose a room or hall that was very far from the kitchen). Meanwhile, he kept the order, which passed into the twentieth century, so that the dishes were served without interruption: as soon as the fish was finished, the roast was already on the table ... Hofmarshal Benckendorff complained that he had to sacrifice culinary delights in the name of speed of serving. Therefore, special heating pads with boiling water were invented: the change was brought in advance 20 minutes in advance, on a silver dish with a silver lid; the dish was placed on a heating pad in anticipation of the order to serve. But, alas, when heated, the sauces perished ingloriously, and the finest flavors disappeared.

Nicholas II did not like to dine alone. He began dinner with a glass of vodka, inviting those present at the table to join him. The emperor was very proud of his invention of an appetizer for this regular sip of liquor. Usually a glass was served, covering it on top with a slice of lemon, sprinkled with a pinch thinly. ground coffee and sprinkled with sugar on top. There was an opinion among the people that he abused alcohol. This rumor has no basis. Nikolai's usual norm was two regular-sized cups of special vodka "slivovitz". The rest of the time at dinner he drank either ordinary table wine or apple kvass. At the end of the meal he could afford a silver glass of sherry or port. No liqueurs were served with coffee.

Then it got hotter. Shchi and borscht were practically not prepared in the yard. The empress preferred clear soups and broths with roots and greens, the emperor preferred boiled fish and meat (mainly beef) with sauce and a side dish from a set of vegetables. Therefore, cabbage soup and his favorite buckwheat porridge got him most often on campaigns.

At the end of dinner, coffee was served - always with cream. The Empress with her children loved to nibble on a bunch of grapes or eat peaches after dessert. Nicholas sometimes ate one apple or pear. Then the sovereign smoked half of the cigarette and immediately lit a new one, which he smoked to the end. This was the signal that dinner was over and everyone was allowed to leave the dining room.

CATERING IN STATE

Breakfast usually consisted of three courses and coffee. Lunch - four courses (soup, fish, meat, sweets), fruit and coffee. Madeira and red Crimean wine were served at breakfast, Madeira, red French and white wines were served at dinner. Champagne was drunk on special occasions - on the occasion of name days or victories of the Russian troops, and only the domestic "Abrau-Durso" was served. In addition, the sovereign usually had a special bottle of old wine from which he drank alone, only occasionally offering a glass or two to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich.

Despite the high costs, many of those present noted that the dishes from the royal table left much to be desired, soups were especially tasteless. Many of the guests after dinner went to the headquarters canteen or home, where they ate "heartily". And Prince Dolgorukov was called behind his back "a worthless marshal to hell."

When the royal family was moved to Yekaterinburg, fresh produce she was supplied by local nuns who brought vegetables, fruits, eggs, butter, milk and cream to the Ipatiev house. As sister Maria recalls, shortly before the terrible execution, she brought a basket of provisions for inspection. Unfortunately, Ya. M. Yurovsky was nearby. After carefully examining each item, he asked: why so much milk.

It's cream," the nun explained.

Not allowed! - soared Yurovsky.

No more cream was brought. Just in case, so as not to anger the "commissioner".

Why "not allowed"? Who is "not allowed"? I doubt that this was in the numerous circulars and instructions regarding the maintenance of the royal family in captivity. The instinct of class hatred simply worked: stop, drank cream for your sweet life!

List of sites that I used when choosing illustrations for this article:

1. About royal hunting

http://www.kknoka.ru/index.php?/topic/1794-%D1%86%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%B…
2. Coursework "Russian cuisine" http://works.tarefer.ru/41/100051/index.html

3. The book "Russian feast" - http://www.belygorod.ru/preface/N00104010395.php?idSer1=974

4. Food and Russian painting http://www.ljpoisk.ru/archive/6532731.html

5. Lavrentiev "Culture of the feast of the 19th century. Pushkin's time"

http://www.gumer.info/bibliotek_Buks/Culture/lavr/index.php

6. Kremlin tableware http://www.kreml.ru/ru/virtual/exposition/PreciousTableware/TsarPatriarc…
7. Russian feast - for the whole world http://lilitochka.0pk.ru/viewtopic.php?id=1298
8. History of traditional Russian cuisine http://kuking.net/11_122.htm
9. Wikipedia, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_…

10. About Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich http://pro100-mica.livejournal.com/75871.html?thread=1741407

11. Feast at Ivan the Terrible. Russia, XVI century http://bibliogid.ru/articles/58

In general, it can be argued that Russian autocrats, starting with Catherine II, were quite moderate in food. Quite often they casual table was notable for its simplicity, although this, of course, did not exclude gastronomic delights during public fristiks (breakfasts), lunches and dinners.

Look here...

Emperor Alexander I (1777-1825) and fire cutlets that appeared thanks to him
The memoirists brought to us the "gastronomic daily routine" of Emperor Alexander I. A very competent person writes about this side of the tsar's life - physician D.K. Tarasov, who, no doubt, recommended certain dishes to the tsar, taking into account the characteristics of his body:
“In Tsarskoye Selo, the sovereign constantly observed the following order in spring and summer: at 7 o’clock in the morning he ate tea, always green, with thick cream and toasted white bread ... at 10 o’clock he returned from a walk and sometimes ate fruit, especially strawberries, which preferred all other fruits ... At 4 o'clock he dined. After dinner, the sovereign walked either in a carriage or on horseback. At 9 o'clock in the evening he ate tea, after which he went about his work in his small office; at 11 o'clock he sometimes ate yogurt, sometimes prunes prepared for him without an outer skin.
It can be said with confidence that green tea in the morning and yogurt with prunes at night are the recommendations of the doctors who were responsible for the normal digestion of the king. But strawberries and prunes without skins are the emperor's gastronomic passions.


Tea service of Emperor Alexander I.
Fruit on the imperial table winter season were pretty common. These fruits and berries were regularly supplied not only from greenhouses in Tsarskoye Selo, Gatchina and Ropsha. They were taken to St. Petersburg and from the Moscow imperial greenhouses. For members of the imperial family, there were some unspoken "quotas" for the supplied fruits. And when fruits were sent from the imperial greenhouses to the table of a dignitary, this testified to his special closeness to the imperial family.
Of the national gastronomic passions of Alexander I, memoirists mention botvinia: “Sovereign Alexander Pavlovich was very disposed to the English ambassador. Once, speaking with him about Russian cuisine, he asked if he had any idea about botvinia, which the sovereign himself loved very much.
In this quote, the very fact of “gastronomic conversations” between the Russian emperor and the English ambassador at a social event is noteworthy, that is, this topic was considered quite “secular”. This conversation had a rather comical continuation. When Alexander I sent the botvinya so beloved by him to the English ambassador, it was served warmed up to the table. It is clear that this was no longer a botvinya. And when the emperor asked about the “impressions” of the ambassador from this dish, the diplomat found himself in great difficulty ...

Botvinya.
Sometimes the gastronomic habits of the autocrats, taking into account the peculiarities of the time, posed some danger to their health. For example, Alexander I loved tea with honey. It's completely normal, useful and harmless. However, the tastes of the emperor somehow became the tastes of his environment, and tea with honey, as you know, is a good diaphoretic. When during balls, among other things, tea with honey was served in silver bowls, low-necked ladies dancing in the halls and enfilades of the Winter Palace, where drafts sometimes walked, willingly ate it and then often caught a cold. Therefore, the court physicians recommended that this treat be excluded from the menu.

Imperial ball (Mihai Zichy).
Alexander I after the Napoleonic wars traveled a lot around Europe. He tried not to burden his motorcade with cooks and wagon trains with provisions, and made do with the kitchen that came across to him along the way. However, later, for sanitary and regime reasons, this practice gradually disappears, and from the second quarter of the 19th century, emperors, if possible, ate “their own” on the road.
With all the unpretentiousness in food, the appearance of the famous fire cutlets is associated with the name of Alexander I. According to legend, the emperor, during his regular trip to Moscow, stopped to eat in the city of Torzhok at Pozharsky's tavern. Chopped veal cutlets were listed on the menu, and it was them that the emperor ordered. However, Pozharsky did not have veal. In order to avoid embarrassment, he ordered to urgently prepare chicken cutlets. The tsar liked the cutlets so much that he asked about the recipe for cutlets, calling them “pozharsky” after the name of the innkeeper. This random "know-how" is loved by many to this day.

It is noteworthy that such everyday life, traditional on the noble table, as granular, pressed or chum caviar, began to penetrate into Europe under Alexander I. At first, foreigners looked at caviar as an exotic “Russian” product. The first consul Bonaparte, to whom Count Markov sent grainy caviar, received it from his kitchen cooked: the Russian table at that time was little known in foreign lands.

Nicholas I (1796-1855) and his favorite cabbage soup (shchi)
Unlike his older brother, Nicholas I did not like strawberries for breakfast, but pickles. And in general, he was considered by many to be a champion of a healthy lifestyle.
Memoirists unanimously emphasize the culinary unpretentiousness of Emperor Nicholas I. The French artist O. Vernet, who traveled around Russia with the emperor in 1842, wrote to his relatives: “The Emperor is a great teetotaler; he only eats cabbage soup with bacon, meat, some game and fish, and pickles. He only drinks water." As for "pickles", many of his contemporaries mentioned that the king really loved pickles. According to the statement of 1840, Nikolai Pavlovich was to be served five pickles daily in the morning.
He loved buckwheat porridge, which was served to him in a pot. The emperor did not particularly like expensive fish delicacies and game. In the last years of his life, Nikolai Pavlovich preferred vegetable dishes, mashed potato soup and compote. Without a doubt, the "German" soup of mashed potatoes was prescribed to the tsar by his life physician consultant M.M. Mand, he was the first to introduce therapeutic fasting "at the highest level" into medical practice.

Potato puree soup.

Kalachi.

Strasbourg pie.

Guryevskaya porridge.

Sauce Cumberland.

Cranberry paste.

Hot chocolate.

Bordeaux sauce (Bordeaux sauce).

The ceremonial is a certain cultural message of one social group to another. Secular ceresonils are events in the life of society that have a symbolic meaning. It is known that when a form of behavior begins to be controlled by legal acts, it becomes a ceremonial designed to maintain a harmonious relationship between generations. It is important to note that a meal is an obligatory component of secular ceremonial. Therefore, let us turn to the table ceremonial of the tsars of the Romanov dynasty, the newly elected dynasty after the Time of Troubles, which lasted from 1598 to 1613. It can be said with confidence that by this time the table ceremonial of the Moscow court had already fully developed.

That's how it's done...

In Rus' of the 17th century, it was customary that even on such holidays as a wedding, a man and a woman should sit in different rooms. In no case should a woman enter into a conversation with her husband and appear in public without his permission. The owner could, for example, take his wife out for show, only as a sign of the greatest respect for the guests. After offering a glass of water to the guest, the wife left. This characteristic of the etiquette of the behavior of a married woman is quite applicable to the princess herself - Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest (1645−1676).

in Rus' in the 17th century. at a wedding, a man and a woman sat in different rooms

In the first surviving record of the solemn marriage feast, so to speak, in the first royal menu, it is written: “Served to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich as a sennik during the marriage with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina: Kvass in a silver polished brother, yes, from the stern yard by order of nature: P aparok swan on saffron broths, the ripples are sprinkled with lemons, goose offal, roast pig, roast goose, smoking in a necklace with lemons, smoking in noodles smoking in the soup of the rich, but about the sovereign and about the empress queen, bread was served: perepecha groats in three shoulder blades undersized, even sieve bread, the chicken is sprinkled with eggs, lamb pie, a dish of sour pies with cheese, lark dish, a dish of thin pancakes, a dish of pies with eggs, a dish of cheesecakes, a dish of carp with lamb.

Then again: pink cake, dew pie dish, a dish of hearth pies, for trading Korovaya Yaitsky, kulich undersized and so on.

Sovereign's day

The king himself got up quite early - at 4 in the morning. After bath procedures, he went to the Cross room (ie the prayer room), where he performed a long morning prayer. After the prayer of the cross, the sovereign sent a neighbor to the queen in the mansions, to ask her about her health, how she rested. Then he himself went out to greet her in the hall or dining room.

Alexei Mikhailovich could stand for hours in a post, giving thousands of bows

Then they listened together in one of the riding churches to matins, and sometimes to early mass. One of the foreigners of that time told how Alexei Mikhailovich could stand fast for 5-6 hours and give a thousand bows. It should be noted that, sometimes, breakfast should not have been. Somewhere in the afternoon, after the completion of meetings with the boyars, the sovereign went to dinner.

Please to the table!

The moderation of the table ceremonial is quite characteristic of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest. His dinners bore little resemblance to solemn feasts. Often the sovereign dined next to his queen. The most uncomplicated dishes were usually served at the table of the royal family: buckwheat porridge, rye carpet, a jug of wine (of which he consumed less than a cup), oatmeal mash or light malt beer with the addition of cinnamon oil (or just cinnamon water).

The most uncomplicated dishes were usually served at the table of the royal family.

Although there is evidence that in modest days up to seventy meat and fish dishes were served on the royal table, however, all of them were sent by the king either to his relatives or to be served by boyars and other respectable people invited to dinner. The above procedure of the sovereign's "dispatch" was revered in Rus' as a special sign of goodwill.

How and in what order were the dishes served to Alexei Mikhailovich? So let's imagine. Lunch has begun. Stolniki, waiting for a call, stand at the entrance to the dining room. The table guard is a kravchiy, tastes food (akin to our taster) and serves food himself, because only he was allowed to do this. First, the kravchiy serves cold and baked dishes, then the whole dish was served, then it was the turn of the fried. If the king feels like it, he can order the local to taste the dish in front of him. Dinner ends with stews, fish soup or ear. The tables were set only by the butler with the key keeper, who were especially close to the sovereign. They laid white embroidered tablecloths, arranged vessels - salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, horseradish. In the room in front of the dining room there was the so-called "stern set" - a table for trays with dishes intended for the sovereign, which were carefully examined by the butler.

Imperial simplicity and prudence in food

Another obvious dislike of the magnificent palace ceremonial from the house of the Romanovs is the well-known Peter I.

Peter I was not a fan of magnificent palace ceremonial

His ceremonial dinners were amazed by foreign contemporaries, who left behind many records.

Let's see what surprised them so much. Firstly, simplicity in the way of life, unusual for the monarch of the Russian Empire. For example, about the audience that was given to the Danish envoy Just Yul in the German Quarter, one can say that it was very simple. “The tsar was half-dressed, in a nightcap, because he does not care about ceremonies and does not attach any importance to them, or at least pretends not to pay attention to them,” Yul wrote. At the opera, in the company of the Duke of Orleans, as Saint-Simon tells in his memoirs, after a while the king asked: “Is there any beer?” When Peter was brought a tray with beer and a napkin, everyone was surprised by the scene when the regent, handing over the glass, took the plate on which the napkin lay, and Peter, without getting up, took the napkin and wiped himself off, which spoke to those around him about the king’s improper upbringing. Having dinners in the same France, Peter often ordered to lay a table that was not entirely decent, according to French eyewitnesses, and which was always modest in nature, not what it should be. The king drank and ate at lunch and dinner quite a lot, which also amazed the others, and his retinue drank and ate even more. One or two bottles of beer, as much, sometimes more, red wine, and "after eating a pint or half a pint of liquor." It was like that at every meal. At the assemblies of Peter the Great, the treat consisted of tea, coffee, almond milk, honey and jam. The owner offered beer and wine to the men. Lemonade and chocolate were considered rare and were served only at balls with the Duke of Holstein and his minister Bassevitz.

Peter I loved ordinary soldiers' canteens, he ate soup with them and drank wine

Petra's menuI

Peter liked to visit ordinary soldiers' canteens, ate soup with the soldiers, drank wine, patting them on the shoulder. After all, he apparently tried to be everywhere at home, and one cannot see anything negative in this. However, this feature was often met with hostility from foreign contemporaries, as it did not correspond to their ideas about the way of life of the monarch. And here is how Peter's companion describes the dining ceremony. As A. K. Nartov recalled: “Peter the Great did not like any pomp, splendor and many servants ...<…>His food was: sour cabbage soup, jelly, porridge, fried with cucumbers or salted lemons, corned beef, ham, and Limburg cheese was excellent ...<…>The Sovereign used aniseed vodka, ordinary drink - kvass, during dinner he drank Hermitage wine, and sometimes Hungarian; never ate fish; one of the orderlies always stood behind the chair; about lackeys, he used to say: “Slaves should not have witnesses when the owner is eating and having fun with friends. They are the bearers of news, they talk about things that have never happened.

Peter's drinkers

Arranging many days of drinking bouts, Peter soldered everyone around him to unconsciousness, immediately put double guard at the door so that no one could go out, and he himself rarely drank more than one or two bottles of wine. He was rarely seen completely drunk. As soon as the king realized that the guests were drunk to desired degree, began to talk with them, trying to find out what was on everyone's mind. Although Peter loved splendor in the festivities in honor of any memorable dates, his private life, as noted, was distinguished by extraordinary simplicity: a fork and a knife with wooden handles, a dressing gown and a nightcap made of mediocre linen, clothes suitable for carpentry or other work in which he often practiced. Simplicity and prudence - this is what characterizes Peter I in relation to the royal dining ceremonial of the Romanovs' house.

Over 3,000 guests attended Catherine II's birthday

royal appetite

The ceremonial receptions of the next representative of the Romanov dynasty can by no means be called modest. For example, on the birthday of Catherine II there were more than three thousand guests. It is mentioned that twenty-five cooks barely had time to prepare the dishes. The nobles of the room stood behind Repnin's armchairs, serving at the table and cutting the served poulards in the air.

However, in ordinary life, Catherine’s menu was quite simple, as in the time of Peter I. The Empress allowed herself to be very strong coffee with cream (went a pound of grains for 5 cups). And for lunch - cabbage soup, boiled beef with pickled cucumber, buckwheat porridge, currant juice. For dessert, apples and cherries were served. In the evening the Empress drank only cold water with ice and a drop of juice from berries. Life physician Rogerson believed that these Russian dishes with brown bread are the most useful and healthy, especially when a person leads a sedentary lifestyle. Catherine II fasted twice a week. Boiled fish and porridge, vegetables and fruits were served.

Looking at the dining ceremonial of some of the representatives of the Romanov dynasty, one can say that their meal is characterized by simplicity and moderation. However, they knew how to surprise their guests, as evidenced by the notes left by domestic employees and foreign envoys. But this is only the beginning of the story, because after Catherine II, many more interesting features await us in relation to the meals of the monarchs of the dynasty, which became the last in the history of Russia and approved the traditions of the table ceremony as such.

Even the most cursory review of how the simple festive table from the royal, makes you think properly. For example, here is a description of the New Year's reception in the Winter Palace in the middle of the 18th century. On the Russian throne then was Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Her name is quite rightly associated with the era of the most unbridled luxury, when whole fortunes could go to arrange a holiday.

24 salads for 24 hours

“A great many pyramids with sweets were placed on the tables, as well as cold and hot entreme dishes. There were up to 1,500 people of both sexes, all of whom, at the request of each, were satisfied with different vodkas and the best grape wines, as well as coffee, chocolate, tea, orshat and lemonade and other drinks.

The Swipe recipe is impressive. Fifteen thousand people is no joke. Against this background, the treat as such is somehow lost. Meanwhile, there is something to adopt, especially for those who are tired of the eternal and obligatory champagne. Orshad, or rather, orshad - very peculiar and more than worthy, although soft drink. Moderately sweet blend of almond milk and orange water. Considering that the orange is the closest relative of the mandarin, the aroma is very New Year's.

The cited description is part of a note from the Petersburg Vedomosti newspaper dated January 2, 1751. There are no special details about the “cold and hot dishes of the entreme” there. However, some descriptions of the New Year's receptions of another famous royal lady, Catherine the Great can help in this matter.

In general, entrme is exactly what, oddly enough, prevails on the New Year's table of our contemporary. It is a completely independent dish, but served before the main one, but it is not an appetizer as such. Heavy salads fall into this category - Olivier, herring under a fur coat, Mimosa and others, burdened with mayonnaise. Another thing is that during the time of Catherine the Great, the New Year's set of entreme looked somewhat different.

"Twenty-four large antrme - terrines with green puree, ham with smoked tongues, spicy turtes with fat cream, royal rot, sweet lamb meat with cauliflower, chicken marinade, perch with ham, twelve salads and eight sauces ... "

After the entrée, it was the turn of the main dishes: “glazed salmon, carp with cutlery, glazed thornboat with crayfish, fatty chicken with cutlery, poulards with truffles, turkey with shio, hazel grouse with parmesan and chestnuts, large sirloin sirloin...”

To understand in detail all this brilliance and splendor is the task of at least a monograph. Therefore, we will clarify only a few details. The mysterious thornboot is the fish that now bears the name of turbot, the poulard was the name for a walnut-fed chiseled rooster, and the spicy turts are just cakes similar to today's liver ones.

Soup on the bottom. Walnut pie?

However, this truly royal splendor and splendor could sometimes serve as an excellent illustration of the French proverb: "You can eat a five-course meal and remain hungry." Here's how about one of the New Year's receptions, however, not from the time of Catherine II, but Alexander I, the famous Russian responded fabulist Ivan Krylov.

“Before, I thought they would feed me in the palace. And it turned out that from these dinners he never returned full. Soup is served - some kind of greens on the bottom, carrots are cut out with festoons, and the soup itself is only a puddle. By God, five spoons total. And the pies? No more walnut! I captured two, and the footman strives to escape ... Then the French trinkets came. Like a pot overturned, lined with jelly, and inside there are greens, and pieces of game, and cut truffles - all sorts of remnants. Doesn't taste bad. I want to take a second pot, but the dish is already far away. What is this, I think? Here only to try give?! And sweet! I'm ashamed to say... Half an orange! The natural inside is taken out, and in return, jelly and jam are stuffed. Out of anger with the skin, I ate it.

Sarcasm is forgivable, especially since Ivan Andreevich hit the mark. At the royal New Year's receptions, it was really not customary to eat to satiety. The dishes gave exactly what to try - there was a ball ahead, entertainment, games, flirting, a masquerade, which does not fit with a full stomach in any way. These were the requirements of court protocol.

But the most curious thing is that the table as such was subject to strict requirements. The reception protocol for the reigning persons was quite strict, retreats were not encouraged. Let's remember the order in which the main dishes went on Catherine's New Year's table - fish, poultry, meat. This is no accident. At the royal reception, dishes from animals living in three elements were to be present without fail - in water, in air and on land, which symbolized the complete power of the monarch. In addition, again, three types of processing were necessarily used - boiling, frying and baking. All in order to achieve three types of product consistency - soft or liquid, moderate and, finally, brittle, crispy.

Even an orange with a “natural gut taken out,” which angered Krylov so much, is also a victim of the protocol. According to tradition, two types of sweets must be preserved in the New Year's version of the royal table. The first is “juicy”, that is, fresh fruits and berries. The second is dry. N-not necessarily cookies. Dry means processed by man. So the ill-fated orange with jam and jelly is an attempt to combine two protocol principles in one dish.

If you think about it, it's a funny thing. The modern New Year's table of an ordinary person one way or another corresponds to the protocol of the royal reception. Even in a stripped-down, most primitive version. Judge for yourself. Caviar and herring under a fur coat. Olivier and Caesar. Ham or baked beef. Tangerines and cake with tea. As the greedy man from the cartoon “Last Year's Snow Was Falling” said: “Who is the last king here? Nobody? Then I'll be the first!"

Lamb ribs with beans

Photo: Shutterstock.com / Yellowj

Ingredients:

• Lamb ribs - 450 g
• Garlic - 2 heads
• Rosemary - 1 tsp
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.
• Cumin - 2 tsp
• Ground black pepper - 0.5 tsp
• Salt - 0.5 tsp

For garnish:

• Beans - 1 cup
• Carrot - 1 pc.
• Onion - 1 pc.
• Vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.
• Tomato paste - 4 tbsp. l.
• Water - 1 glass
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Black pepper, paprika - 1/2 tsp each.

Recipe

How to cook:

1. Pepper the meat, salt and fry on all sides in olive oil for 4-5 minutes.
2. Grind the garlic with salt, pepper and other seasonings and 1 tbsp. l. olive oil.
3. Lubricate the fried meat with garlic mixture and bake in an oven preheated to 200 ° C for 20-25 minutes.
4. Lightly cover the meat and let it brew for 5-10 minutes. Serve with beans in tomato sauce, prepared in advance.
5. Rinse the beans, sort, pour water and leave for 12 hours (it is advisable to change the water every 3-4 hours). Before cooking, drain the water and put the beans in a saucepan, pouring water again: for 1 cup - 3 cups of liquid.
6. Boil beans for 50 minutes. Salt 5 minutes before done.
7. Boil clean water and cool slightly, pour into a bowl, add tomato paste and mix with other ingredients.
8. Fry chopped onions with carrots. Then add tomato sauce and simmer for another 5-7 minutes. At the end, pour the boiled beans and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid, turn off the heat and let the dish brew for 5 minutes before serving.

Advice from the chef:

You can use both white and red beans to make a side dish. Canned tomatoes can be used instead of tomato paste.

The memoirists brought to us the "gastronomic daily routine" of Emperor Alexander I. A very competent person writes about this side of the tsar's life - physician D.K. Tarasov, who, no doubt, recommended certain dishes to the tsar, taking into account the characteristics of his body:

“In Tsarskoye Selo, the sovereign constantly observed the following order in spring and summer: at 7 o’clock in the morning he ate tea, always green, with thick cream and toasted white bread ... at 10 o’clock he returned from a walk and sometimes ate fruit, especially strawberries, which preferred all other fruits ... At 4 o'clock he dined. After dinner, the sovereign walked either in a carriage or on horseback. At 9 o'clock in the evening he ate tea, after which he went about his work in his small office; at 11 o'clock he sometimes ate yogurt, sometimes prunes prepared for him without an outer skin.

We can say with confidence that green tea in the morning and yogurt with prunes at night are the recommendations of the doctors responsible for the normal digestion of the king. But strawberries and prunes without skin are the gastronomic passions of the emperor.

Tea service of Emperor Alexander I.

Fruit on the imperial table during the winter season was quite common. These fruits and berries were regularly supplied not only from greenhouses in Tsarskoye Selo, Gatchina and Ropsha. They were taken to St. Petersburg and from the Moscow imperial greenhouses. For members of the imperial family, there were some unspoken "quotas" for the supplied fruits. And when fruits were sent from the imperial greenhouses to the table of a dignitary, this testified to his special closeness to the imperial family.

Of the national gastronomic passions of Alexander I, memoirists mention botvinia: “Sovereign Alexander Pavlovich was very disposed to the English ambassador. Once, speaking with him about Russian cuisine, he asked if he had any idea about botvinia, which the sovereign himself loved very much.

In this quote, the very fact of “gastronomic conversations” between the Russian emperor and the English ambassador at a social event is noteworthy, that is, this topic was considered quite “secular”. This conversation had a rather comical continuation. When Alexander I sent the botvinya so beloved by him to the English ambassador, it was served warmed up to the table. It is clear that this was no longer a botvinya. And when the emperor asked about the “impressions” of the ambassador from this dish, the diplomat found himself in great difficulty ...

Botvinya.

Sometimes the gastronomic habits of the autocrats, taking into account the peculiarities of the time, posed some danger to their health. For example, Alexander I loved tea with honey. It's completely normal, useful and harmless. However, the tastes of the emperor somehow became the tastes of his environment, and tea with honey, as you know, is a good diaphoretic. When during balls, among other things, tea with honey was served in silver bowls, low-necked ladies dancing in the halls and enfilades of the Winter Palace, where drafts sometimes walked, willingly ate it and then often caught a cold. Therefore, the court physicians recommended that this treat be excluded from the menu.

Imperial ball (Mihai Zichy).

Alexander I after the Napoleonic wars traveled a lot around Europe. He tried not to burden his motorcade with cooks and wagon trains with provisions, and made do with the kitchen that came across to him along the way. However, later, for sanitary and regime reasons, this practice gradually disappears, and from the second quarter of the 19th century, emperors, if possible, ate “their own” on the road.

With all the unpretentiousness in food, the appearance of the famous fire cutlets is associated with the name of Alexander I. According to legend, the emperor, during his regular trip to Moscow, stopped to eat in the city of Torzhok at Pozharsky's tavern. Chopped veal cutlets were listed on the menu, and it was them that the emperor ordered. However, Pozharsky did not have veal. In order to avoid embarrassment, he ordered to urgently prepare chicken cutlets. The tsar liked the cutlets so much that he asked about the recipe for cutlets, calling them “pozharsky” after the name of the innkeeper. This random "know-how" is loved by many to this day.

It is noteworthy that such everyday life, traditional on the noble table, as granular, pressed or chum caviar, began to penetrate into Europe under Alexander I. At first, foreigners looked at caviar as an exotic “Russian” product. The first consul Bonaparte, to whom Count Markov sent grainy caviar, received it from his kitchen cooked: the Russian table at that time was little known in foreign lands.

Nicholas I (1796-1855) and his favorite cabbage soup (shchi)

Unlike his older brother, Nicholas I did not like strawberries for breakfast, but pickles. And in general, he was considered by many to be a champion of a healthy lifestyle.

Memoirists unanimously emphasize the culinary unpretentiousness of Emperor Nicholas I. The French artist O. Vernet, who traveled around Russia with the Emperor in 1842, wrote to his relatives: “The Emperor is a great teetotaler; he only eats cabbage soup with bacon, meat, some game and fish, and pickles. He only drinks water." As for "pickles", many of his contemporaries mentioned that the king really loved pickles. According to the statement of 1840, Nikolai Pavlovich was to be served five pickles daily in the morning.

He loved buckwheat porridge, which was served to him in a pot. The emperor did not particularly like expensive fish delicacies and game. In the last years of his life, Nikolai Pavlovich preferred vegetable dishes, mashed potato soup and compote. Without a doubt, the "German" soup of mashed potatoes was prescribed to the tsar by his life physician consultant M.M. Mand, he was the first to introduce therapeutic fasting "at the highest level" into medical practice.

Potato puree soup.

As follows from archival documents, the usual breakfast of Nicholas I was as follows. Early in the morning Nikolai Pavlovich "ate tea" in his office. It was accompanied by a “fryshtik”, that is, a breakfast consisting of sweet and sour bread, two round buns and crackers. The emperor avoided any spices. The emperor's daily allowance also included refreshments for the speakers who were in his office. The treat was rather modest and included: refined sugar (“refinade”) 2 pounds (819 g, counting 409.5 g in the Russian pound), black and green tea “family”, that is, the best firms, 18 spools each ( 97 g, counting 4.266 g in the spool), Lebanese coffee 3/4 pound (103 g), as well as cream, various rolls and pretzels (butter, sugar, with anise, with salt), “vitushki” and “sticks”.

Easter cakes were served in the imperial office on Easter, and morning pancakes were served on Maslenitsa.

For the workaholic Nicholas I, everyday dinners sometimes became a continuation of the working day, since two or three people close to the tsar were invited to them. At dinners "in a narrow circle", without outsiders, various "working issues" continued to be discussed in an informal setting. This is another feature of the emperor's daily life.

A highly authoritative biographer of Nicholas I claims that the tsar "ate moderately at lunch, often a piece of black bread for dinner." Another memoirist, confirming the tsar's abstinence in food, writes that he "never had dinner, but usually, when carrying pickles, he drank two spoonfuls of cucumber pickle." Also, from the time of Nicholas I, kalachi came into use in the courtyard, they were eaten hot, in a heated napkin. To prepare these kalachi, Moscow water was delivered to the royal kitchen in special tanks. One of the memoirists mentions the name of the head waiter of Nicholas I. It was a certain Miller, to whom the tsar ordered "that at dinner he should never have more than three dishes, which was resolutely carried out."

Like any person, the emperor loved to eat ice cream in his childhood. However, when the doctors forbade the younger brother of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, to eat ice cream, Nicholas, in solidarity with his brother, refused his favorite treat.

With all the culinary unpretentiousness of Emperor Nicholas I described above, during the ceremonial dinners, the generally accepted Anglo-French cuisine dominated. A.S. Pushkin in his immortal "Eugene Onegin" described this "typical" table of the second quarter of the 19th century:

Before him roast-beef bloody

And truffles, the luxury of youth,

French cuisine best color,

And Strasbourg's imperishable pie

Between live Limburg cheese

And golden pineapple.

Strasbourg pie.

As already noted, when traveling around the country, the emperors could well have a bite to eat in a tavern with a good reputation. And despite the gradual abandonment of this practice for security reasons, periodically such episodes were repeated, if not for the emperors themselves, then for their loved ones.

Guryevskaya porridge.

In such taverns, the emperor could enjoy the gastronomic "hits" of his era. For example, Guryev porridge. As follows from the historically fixed name of porridge, its name is associated with the name of the Minister of Finance, Count D.A. Guriev. His track record is very solid, but today few people remember Count Dmitry Alexandrovich Guryev (1751-1825) as a statesman and finance minister. He is remembered solely as the person whose name is the famous porridge. Although in fact the authorship of porridge does not belong to him at all. The famous porridge was invented by the serf cook Zakhar Kuzmin - the "property" of the retired major of the Orenburg Dragoon Regiment Georgy Yurisovsky, with whom Guryev was visiting. Subsequently, Guryev bought Kuzmin and his family and made him the full-time cook of his court. Although there is a very unreliable version that Guryev himself is the author of the famous porridge recipe.

Alexander II (1818-1881) and meat on the coals

Alexander II, unlike his father, adhered to refined European traditions in the menu. In addition, Alexander II, as a passionate hunter, greatly appreciated hunting meals in the open air after the hunt.

“Early in the morning, the kitchen with the maître d’ and the chamberlain went to the hunting ground; they chose not far from the beast, even in the wilderness of the forest, if possible an open place; some snow will be cleared, a table will be prepared, a stove will be set up on the sidelines, and breakfast is ready. The sovereign approaches the table, making a gesture with his hand inviting him to breakfast; everyone comes up, surrounds the table and eats breakfast standing up; there were no chairs. Great picture! The sovereign and the whole retinue are dressed alike; only in the middle of this group do you see the tall and majestic figure of the Sovereign, ”recalled an eyewitness to these meals.

As a rule, peasants and retired soldiers from nearby villages gathered around the breakfast hunters. The emperor could accept the petition or order the official with the "royal casket" to give the peasants a ruble each, and the Knights of St. George three each.

The eyewitness story can be illustrated with cards from the "Hunting deck" by the court artist M. Zichy, who repeatedly participated in such hunts. On the maps, he drew scenes from one of the winter hunts of 1860. In one of the drawings, moose approached the table being set, and palace waiters fight off "intruders" with pans. In another picture, the reputable generals of the retinue, in a very Russian way, decided to eat at night, began to heat pasta in the kitchen themselves and, of course, burned it. It should be noted that in the second half of the 19th century, pasta was quite expensive and, as a rule, was imported from Italy (although the first pasta factory in Russia was opened in Odessa at the end of the 18th century).

Maps of Zichy.

Despite the camping surroundings, the tables "in the hunting plein air" were covered with starched tablecloths, porcelain plates, crystal decanters with drinks and plates with snacks were placed on the table. A picture has been preserved where Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (St.) is having a snack on one of the hunts. Everyone, including the emperor, ate standing or sitting on a stump, holding plates on their knees. During these meals, Alexander II liked to taste a piece of bear meat or bear liver cooked on coals.

Teddy bear on the coals.

After the end of the hunt, already in the residence, a table was laid, on which the fresh meat of the killed game went. As a rule, a court hunting band of 20 people played during dinner.

Maria Alexandrovna, circa 1860.

In his younger years, Alexander II, then still a crown prince, spoiled his wife. By his order, in the fall, an apple tree with fruits was placed in a tub in the dining room in the half of the princess, so that Maria Alexandrovna herself could pick the apple she liked. In the spring they put baskets with the first strawberries and other berries. However, then the pampering ended, the fruits began to be sent to another person ...

Alexander III and okroshka on sour milk, as the emperor liked

But the most exciting will be the story about the culinary passions of Alexander III. Since the emperor loved and ate delicious, and even, like many, sometimes at night.

Yes, Alexander III struggled with being overweight, because he believed that the shapeless, fat emperor discredited the usual good-looking appearance of the Russian autocrat. But, like everyone who is losing weight, sometimes he broke down and strove to eat at an inopportune time. This problem was solved by valets. For example, in the Gatchina Palace, in the room behind the private quarters of Alexander III, a washbasin, two samovars and a saucepan with a stand were kept, on which the valets could heat something “quickly” for the emperor. There are memoirs that the already seriously ill emperor, who was on a milk diet, periodically asked to bring him the simplest soldier's dishes from the guard barracks.

A lot of memoirs and various culinary stories from the reign of Alexander III have been preserved. If we talk about his culinary preferences, then, according to contemporaries, the king was moderate in food and loved a simple, healthy table. One of his favorite dishes was horseradish pig “from Testov”, which was always ordered during visits to Moscow.

The famous everyday writer of old Moscow V.A. Gilyarovsky in his famous book “Moscow and Muscovites” mentioned that “the Petersburg nobility, headed by the Grand Dukes, specially came from St. Petersburg to eat the Test pig, crayfish soup with pies and the famous Guryev porridge.”

Stuffed test piglet.

At the same time, the gastronomic preferences of Alexander III should not be simplified at all. A good table with fine and varied dishes is a completely common thing in imperial palaces, but the "merchant's" pig under horseradish was a rare exotic in the "a la russe" style. However, apparently, the combination of thin sauces and "common" dishes was the characteristic gastronomic style of the emperor. Thus, one of the people close to the tsar mentioned that "he loved Cumberland sauce very much and was always ready to eat pickles, which he preferred in Moscow." Apparently, for the king, Cumberland sauce and pickles were organically combined. Judging by the memoirs, Alexander III really loved spicy sauces. He loved so much that he could thank with a “kind telegram” for “some especially delicious sauce brought to him by Vladimir Alexandrovich from Paris.”

Sauce Cumberland.

This famous sauce was reproduced with varying degrees of success by several generations of court headwaiters. For example, Cumberland sauce was served at a ceremonial dinner in 1908 (in Revel) during the meeting of Nicholas II with the English King Edward XVIII. According to the memoirist, “the dinner was very lively ... When a wild goat with redcurrant sweetish jelly was served with amazing Cumberland sauce, the famous deli (meaning the English king. - I. Zimin) praised: “You can eat your own mother with such sauce” ” . Pierre Kyuba, head waiter, was very pleased.

It should be noted that the culinary preferences of Alexander III remained a mystery even for dignitaries very close to the king. What was served during the solemn meals was a quality version of the restaurant menu. And what the king ate did not go beyond the usual, very high, but standards.

Dessert table (exposition of the Arkhangelskoye museum).

In 1889, during military exercises, Alexander III lived for several days in the country house of State Secretary A.A. Polovtsev. Among other things, the owner was concerned about compiling the menu for these few days. And although Polovtsev repeatedly visited meals in both the Winter and Anichkov palaces, he was extremely puzzled by the search for the emperor's favorite dishes. With this question, he turned to Count S.D. Sheremetev, since he had already received the king in his village. When asked what gastronomic preferences Alexander III had, S.D. Sheremetev replied: "Sour milk, yes, perhaps nothing else," adding that Empress Maria Feodorovna had no gastronomic preferences.

Alexander III willingly ate fish. Especially often they cooked fish during their holidays in Finnish skerries. This is quite understandable, since it was there that the king often fished, and the fish he caught, naturally, were served at the royal table. It is clear that the fish caught by oneself is especially tasty. During the holidays in Finland, the royal family was surrounded by the most modest number of courtiers, and the family tried to live the lifestyle of "ordinary people." Maria Fedorovna fried flounder, the Emperor's favorite delicacy, with her own hands.

From the sweet in his younger years, Alexander III loved marshmallows and fruit mousse. He liked to drink hot chocolate at the end of breakfast.

Cranberry paste.

The quality of the chocolate, which was specially prepared for him, often did not suit the king: “The sovereign tried it and sharply pushed the cup away. “I can’t get,” he told Zeddeler, “to be served decent chocolate.” It is difficult to say with what he compared the quality of the delicacy served.

Hot chocolate.

It should be noted that royal "irritations" at the table could arise for a variety of reasons. So, during one of the breakfasts, the emperor "threw the fork, surprised by the ugliness of its shape." He also had “diplomatic stories” with cutlery. For example, at one of the "diplomatic breakfasts", when the Austrian ambassador dropped that in response to the exercises of the Russian army, Austria would move several army corps to the borders of Russia, Alexander III flared up very prudently. He twisted his fork into a corkscrew and, throwing it in the direction of the Austrian ambassador, added: "This is what I will do with your cases."

Imperial table setting. Photo from the exhibition in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace.

The emperor was a hospitable but zealous host. So, he periodically did not disdain to personally check the accounts and lunch calculations of the Chamber of the Marshal's unit. In the Gatchina Palace, dinners were held on the ground floor in the Arsenal Hall not far from the stage and the children's wooden mountain. As a rule, dinners were accompanied by musical accompaniment. The lunch menu consisted of two parts: the culinary menu was printed on one half, and the musical menu was printed on the other. After lunch, the usual "cercle" (French for "circle") took place. Empress Maria Feodorovna amiably walked around everyone. The emperor offered to smoke and choose his own alcohol to taste.

Vasnetsov V.M. "Menu of the ceremonial dinner of Alexander III."

During his trips, outside the iron rules and traditions of the imperial residences, Alexander III could afford some culinary liberties, which in the palaces were considered outright mauvais ton. So, during a trip to the Caucasus in the fall of 1888, the emperor enjoyed tasting dishes of Caucasian cuisine, regardless of the fact that they contain a lot of onions and garlic: “The sight of onions and garlic delighted him, and he diligently set about it. The Empress became agitated, she could not stand garlic and reproached the Sovereign for setting a bad example. Perhaps that is why the court artist M. Zichy depicted Alexander III having breakfast alone in the watercolor of the “Caucasian series” of 1888. In the background sits the Empress, also having breakfast at a separate table. I did not find it, I found another.

Dinner of the family of Alexander III (M. Zichy).

There are several menus from this trip. It can be seen from them that European cuisine prevailed during the ceremonial receptions. For example, on September 19, 1888, while traveling in the Caucasus, Alexander III was offered okroshka, pea soup, pies, cold sturgeon with horseradish, poulard with mushrooms and strawberry ice cream.

At a breakfast with officers and a deputation in Vladikavkaz on September 20, the following were served on the table: okroshka, American soup, pies, cold cutlets from stellate sturgeon, brothel, owl pheasant fillet, beef tenderloin with mashed mushrooms, pear compote on champagne. And on September 26, 1888: okroshka, count's soup, cake, cold sturgeon, partridges with cabbage, lamb saddle with garnish, pears in jelly.

Bordeaux sauce (Bordeaux sauce). It consists of wine (red or white), demi-glace sauce and a little tomato sauce.

Since the emperor was a passionate hunter, meals in nature, as under Alexander II, were given the closest attention. But, judging by the note of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich that came down, for some reason they didn’t arrange the usual meals at some of the hunts: “I insist on breakfast in the forest: in the old days it was always done that way; time for the device and clearing a suitable place is much ahead.

A group of participants in the royal hunt for dinner; on the right - Emperor Alexander III, on his right hand - Empress Maria Feodorovna; the third from her is the Minister of the Imperial Court and Destinies I.I. Vorontsov-Dashkov.

Under such "pressure" traditions were restored and strictly carried out. While the hunters gathered and went hunting, becoming "on the numbers", the kitchen attendants had their own worries. A whole convoy of bulky carriages drove out into the forest. All this was called royal cuisine.

Cooks preparing dinner in the forest during the royal hunt.

Emperor Alexander III (far right), Empress Maria Feodorovna (on his right) and participants in the royal hunt during lunch in the forest; far left (in a hat) - Prince V. Baryatinsky.