Kashi is a traditional Russian food. Pokhlebkin

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

Russian kitchen
SECOND DISHES - porridge

Kasha is one of the most common Russian national dishes, second only to shchi in its importance on the Russian table.

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

Later, porridge began to be constantly used in all sorts of collective work, especially during mutual assistance during the harvest, when they acted together, in an artel. Therefore, the artel was often called "porridge". “We are in the same mess with him,” meant a water artel, one detachment, one team. This meaning of “porridge” was preserved for an especially long time on the Don and in other places where the Russian freemen settled.

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

Most loved buckwheat groats. In addition to large cereals - the core, which goes for steep, crumbly cereals, they also made smaller ones - veligorka and very small ones - Smolensk (they were not crushed, like a modern “thread”, but rolled round). In addition, the so-called scalded groats were obtained from buckwheat, which, wrapped in cloth, quickly scalded in boiling water, and then dried, and only after that they were used in cereals.

Three types of barley were made from barley - large barley, Dutch, smaller, but whiter, and barley, very small, like semolina. Barley porridge was the favorite food of Peter I.

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

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

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

In Russian cuisine, porridge has long been divided by consistency into three main types - porridge (or thin porridge), slurry (or viscous porridge) and steep, crumbly. Most of all, crumbly porridges were loved in Russia, in the old days they also willingly ate porridges (especially with fish), replacing soup, but they did not like slurs: it was believed that this was neither this nor that, in a word, they looked at them like spoiled porridge.

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

It must also be borne in mind that it is impossible to change the ratio between cereals and liquid after the porridge has begun to boil. In other words, you cannot evaporate water after combining it with cereals so that it does not affect the consistency (as you can do with root crops or legumes), you cannot turn a liquid or viscous porridge into a steep, crumbly one. That is why it is so important to properly fill the cereal with water to get porridge of one kind or another. At the same time, it is more convenient to be guided by the ratios of the volumes of water and cereals (so many glasses of cereals for so many glasses of water).

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

With the transition to stove-top cooking, the duration of cooking cereals was reduced to about 1-1.5 hours, but not by much if it is then steamed in the oven or wrapped warmly.

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

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

During the cooking process, you need to stir the porridge all the time (except for buckwheat and rice), make sure that it does not burn, drain excess water, add milk, etc.

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

However, pure porridge is not yet porridge. Its taste will largely depend on what it was flavored and seasoned with. To do this, you need to know and feel well what suits this type of cereal and cereal, with which it goes best.

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

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

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

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

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

As for oils, finally, almost all animal and vegetable oils are suitable here. Pork lard and mutton fat go mainly into hot slurries.

For crumbly cereals, the use of butter and ghee is most characteristic, and of vegetable - sunflower, hemp, poppy, nut, including almond.

In the oven and oven, it is best to cook porridge in clay pots and cast iron, and when cooking on the stove, use metal utensils, mainly aluminum with a rounded bottom, such as kettles. Only liquid slurries can be boiled in enamelware, but always make sure that they do not burn.

SMOLENSKAYA gruel

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

In salted boiling water, put a whole onion, finely chopped parsnip roots, boil for 5 minutes, then add grits and cook over low heat, stirring, until the grits are completely boiled.
After that, remove the onion, remove the gruel from the heat, season with pepper, parsley, sour cream. oil, add salt and let stand under the lid for 15 minutes to steam.

KASHITSA KOSTROMA

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

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

TIKHVINSKAYA gruel (PEA gruel with buckwheat zaspa)

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

Rinse the peas, boil them in water, in no case adding salt, and when the water has evaporated by 1/3 and the peas are almost ready, add the prodel and cook it until tender.
Then season with finely chopped onion, fried in butter, and salt.

BELEVSKAYA PURREL (SWEET OAT PURREL)

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

Boil Hercules in lightly salted water to a viscous porridge, removing the foam that appears on the surface all the time, even when it has not yet begun to boil.
Then pour the porridge with milk, stir, bring to a boil, separate the undigested hard flakes and cook again over very low heat, stirring all the time, add sugar after 10-15 minutes, and when it disperses, season with spices, boil for 5-7 minutes, pour cream, stir, remove from heat.

BUCKWHEAT PORRIDGE

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

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

BUCKWHEAT DAIRY PORRIDGE

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

PORRIDGE BUCKWHEAT DOWN

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

PORRIDGE BARLEY SMOOTH

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

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

oatmeal porridge

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

Pour the grits with water and cook over low heat until the water boils and thickens completely, then add hot milk in two steps and, continuing to stir, cook until thickened, season with salt.
Season the finished porridge with oil.

RICE-OAT PORRIDGE

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

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

PORRIDGE RICE PORRIDGE SWEET

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

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

MILK PORRIDGE

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

MILLET PORRIDGE - PUMPKIN

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

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

KOLIVO

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

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

GURIEVSKAYA PORRIDGE

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

Preparing nuts.
Peeled nuts, pour boiling water for 2-3 minutes, peel the thin skin, dry and pound in a mortar, adding 1 teaspoon of warm water to each full tablespoon of nuts. Put in a cup.
Foam preparation.
Pour the cream into a flat dish (cast-iron enameled frying pan), put in a heated oven and remove the strong foams that form when they start to blush, putting them in a separate bowl.
Collect 12-15 skins.
Preparation of semolina.
Boil thick, well-boiled semolina porridge on the remaining cream or milk, add crushed nuts, sugar, butter, ground spices into it, mix.
Cooking Guryev porridge.
In a refractory enameled frying pan with high edges or a wide flat saucepan, pour a little prepared semolina porridge to form a layer of 0.5-1 cm, cover it with foam, pour a thinner layer of porridge again, re-layer with foam, etc.
Add a little jam and star anise to the penultimate layer.
Put for 10 minutes in a preheated oven, but with low heat.
Then take it out, pour the remaining jam on top (for the most part) and serve in the bowl in which the porridge was cooked.

Server rental. Site hosting. Domain names:

New C --- redtram messages:

New posts C---thor:

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

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

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

Porridge is a cult dish

Kasha is undoubtedly a traditional Russian dish. Moreover, porridge is a cult dish. According to old Russian traditions, during the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom always cooked porridge. Obviously, from this tradition the saying was born: “You can’t cook porridge with him (with her”). The whole history of the Russian state is inextricably linked with porridge. Russian porridge is the most important dish of national Russian cuisine.

Russia, as it happened historically, has always been and, I would like to believe, will be an agrarian country. The main product of Russian agriculture has always been cereals (and, to a lesser extent, legumes) crops. The body of a Russian person, over many centuries (and even millennia), has been formed and evolved on the basis of the structural composition of cereals. Man and cereals, during their joint existence, have created an inseparable community.

Only plants are endowed by nature with the ability to accumulate sunlight (energy) in themselves and extract nutrients from the earth. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate in themselves the nutrients and biologically active substances necessary for a person (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). The human body alone is capable of producing only a tiny fraction of the substances that are vital to it for a full existence.

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

Kasha is a Russian product

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

This is a natural process. Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. In Russia, cereals have always been treated with reverence.

Porridge for a Russian person has always been not just food, but a ritual dish. It was impossible to imagine any celebration or holiday without traditional Russian porridge on the table.

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

Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for commemorations or funerals. Without porridge of their own original preparation, it was impossible to receive guests. Moreover, each hostess had her own recipe, which was kept secret. Porridge was always prepared before big battles, and even at victorious feasts, “victorious” porridge was not enough. Porridge served as a symbol of a truce: in order to conclude peace, it was necessary to cook “peaceful” porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called "porridge": for example, at the wedding of Alexander the Great, "porridge was repaired" twice - one at the wedding in the Trinity, the other during the national festivities in Novgorod. Porridge was necessarily prepared on the occasion of the beginning of a big business. This is where the expression "make porridge" come from. Porridge in Russia "determined" even the relationship between people. They said about an unreliable and not accommodating person: "You can't cook porridge with him."

Christmas porridges were prepared, and porridges on the occasion of the end of the harvest. The girls prepared porridge for the day of Agrafena Kupalnitsa from a mixture of various cereals. In addition to grain and pea porridges, fish and vegetable porridges were cooked. And who has not heard about the famous "Suvorov porridge"?

According to legend, in one of the long trips, Suvorov was informed that there were a few different types of cereals left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, peas, etc. Ie. porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then the great commander, without further ado, ordered all the remaining cereals to be boiled together. The soldiers really liked the Suvorov porridge, and the great commander contributed to the development of Russian culinary art.

Porridge and modern dietetics

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

Bala "rejuvenating porridge" is popular. Groats were made from rye grains of milky-wax maturity. It turned out very tasty and fragrant porridge, which had a beneficial effect on health and rejuvenated the body.

Three types of groats were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were subjected to weak polishing, Dutch - smaller grains were polished to white, and barley - very small groats from unpolished (whole) grains.

Barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite food. He recognized "barley porridge as the most spicy and delicious." Spelled porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was grown in large quantities in Russia back in the 18th century. Or rather, spelled grew by itself, was not whimsical and did not require any care.

She was not afraid of pests or weeds. Spelled itself destroyed any weed. Spelled porridge was coarse, but very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, "cultivated" varieties of wheat replaced spelled, because. she didn't peel well. Spelled grain fuses with the flower shell, creating an almost integral whole with it. In addition, the yield of spelt was much lower than that of cultivars of wheat.

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

All this introduces some confusion, but also "spelled", and "zanduri", and "spelt", and "kamut", the names of the same plant, the old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to America and Europe from Russia.

Why is porridge always treated with such reverence in Russia?

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

When they worked as an artel, they cooked porridge for the whole artel. Therefore, for a long time the word "porridge" was synonymous with the word "artel".

They said: "We are in the same mess", which meant in the same artel, in the same brigade, something like the modern expression "we are one team." On the Don even today you can hear the word "porridge" in this sense.

The huge variety of Russian cereals was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereals that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways. The most favorite porridge was buckwheat. In addition to whole grains - the core, which goes for steep, crumbly cereals, they also made smaller cereals - "veligorka" and very small - "Smolensk".

For gourmets of that time, the Econom magazine for 1841 provides a recipe for rose porridge: “Tear off a few roses and crush the leaves in a mortar as finely as possible; release the egg white into the mortar and add as much potato starch as needed to make a thick dough. Then wipe through a sieve on a dry board and dry in the sun. Thus, get excellent grits. Porridge from it is cooked on cream. You can add some sugar to it if it doesn't seem sweet enough."

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

Porridge "Children's joy"

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

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

Rutabaga-potato porridge

0.3 liters of milk
400 g swede
800 g potatoes
150 g onion
60 g butter margarine or butter

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

Guryev porridge with apricots

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

Cooking method: Bring milk to a boil, season with salt. Then, while stirring, pour semolina in a thin stream. Boil viscous porridge, cool slightly. Grind the yolks with sugar, beat the whites into foam. Add the mashed yolks, proteins, vanilla sugar, nuts in turn to the porridge, gently mixing. Cut apricots in half, remove pits. (Wash dried apricots and cut into large pieces.) Finely chop the butter.

Put a layer of porridge in a buttered form. On it - halves of apricots (or dried apricots), pieces of butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cover with a layer of porridge. Bake porridge for 15-20 minutes in an oven heated to 200 °. Garnish the finished dish with berries, fruits, candied fruits, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve in the same bowl in which it was prepared.

Barley porridge with potatoes

150 g of barley groats, 1 liter of water, 500 g of potatoes, 0.5 liters of milk, salt Rinse the groats, dip in boiling water and boil. Peel the potatoes, cut into small pieces and add to the grits at the end of cooking. Make sure the porridge doesn't burn. Gradually add milk, salt to taste. Serve porridge with cracklings or sour cream sauce with onions.

Crushed oatmeal porridge

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

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

Semolina porridge with cranberry juice

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

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

Viscous semolina porridge with carrots

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

Raw carrots are grated or finely chopped and stewed with butter. Salt, sugar are placed in a bowl of boiling water, heated to a boil, the cereal is poured in and, stirring, cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Hot milk, carrots are added to the finished porridge, mixed and put the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve porridge with a piece of butter.

Enjoy your meal!

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

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

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

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

Loose porridge prepared from various cereals, which must certainly be well-cooked, and the grains must not stick together. Such porridges are cooked in dishes with a thick bottom, an earthen pot would be an ideal option for the hostess. Before cooking, all cereals are washed, with the exception of semolina, buckwheat and oatmeal. This will make it possible to remove from the grains the starch and fat present on them, which are formed on cereals as a result of long-term storage. Then the washed cereals are poured into a container with boiling, lightly salted water so that the grains retain their beneficial qualities and vitamins. After readiness, the porridge is washed to remove a viscous coating and poured over it with melted butter or vegetable oil.

basis viscous cereals usually consists of milk, water, or two ingredients at once. They have a thick consistency and do not spread on the plate. If desired, various fruits and vegetables can be added to them; when served, they are seasoned with butter and hot sweetened milk, if the cereal was cooked in water.

Liquid cereals just like viscous ones, they are boiled in milk or water, but 4-5 times more liquid is added per kilogram of cereals. The thick basis of such cereals is rice, semolina, millet, oatmeal. After removing the liquid porridge from the fire, it is abundantly flavored with butter, because everyone knows that "you can't spoil porridge with butter."

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

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

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

Most of the dishes were cooked in a Russian oven - very large and massive, keeping heat for a long time. That is why most of the dishes were adapted for long languishing. First, the stove was heated for heat. And then, in the already cooling oven, they put large clay pots with cabbage soup (sauerkraut was poured with water, meat was added), vegetables in the same pots right in their uniforms (that is, unpeeled), but most often they cooked various cereals. Filled with water with slow languor, they remained warm for a long time. And they were well prepared. It turned out delicious crumbly porridge - which was seasoned with butter or vegetable oil.

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

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

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

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