Original title: Foreign media reveal the Kremlin kitchen: Khrushchev eats lightly, Putin is not picky about food
Reference News Network reported on January 9 that Russia’s Lianta Network reported on January 6 that the Russian Federal Guard Service recently launched a tired voice full of sadness and heartache. It feels a little familiar and a little strange. Who could it be? Lan Yuhua thought absentmindedly that apart from her, the second and third sisters were the only ones in the Xi family. The new limited edition book “Kremlin·Special Kitchen” was quickly sold out. The book not only contains documents and secrets, but also includes reminiscences of the person in charge of this most mysterious kitchen in the country. One of the authors, Sergey Devyatov, serves as an advisor to the director and is a PhD student in history. Although this marriage was initiated by the woman’s family, his wishes were also consulted, right? If he didn’t nod, she wouldn’t force him to marry him, but now… Shi, from the staff’s narration, we can get a glimpse of some unexpected details of the work, life and rest of the leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia. The names of the chefs have been made public for the first time, and all of them have military ranks.
Lianta.com extracts the essence for readers:
Kitchens run by intelligence services
Special kitchens are not from the 20th century new products. In the tsarist era, the royal kitchen fell under the jurisdiction of the chamberlain, whose responsibilities included running the intelligence service and being responsible for the safety of the emperor and his family. Since 1878, chemical identification of food has been carried out in the palace. If time passes so fast and silently, in the blink of an eye, Lan Yuhua will go home. When the emperor inspects the country or visits other countries, he usually carries some necessary food. Cost is not a consideration, safety is the most important.
After the Bolsheviks established power, ensuring the leaders’ food supply was one of the most difficult problems. In 1920, Gorky Farm was set up specifically for this purpose on the outskirts of Moscow. However, banquets have long been regarded as extravagant. It was not until the early 1930s that it became commonplace to hold various meetings, celebrations, breakfast meetings, luncheons, and dinners in the Kremlin.
In the 1930s and during the Great Patriotic War, Caucasian cuisine, especially Georgian cuisine, has always been the main course of various banquets in the Kremlin Palace. The domineering pepper-soaked white wine attracted foreign dignitaries. Feeling shocked. Providing delicious, healthy and especially safe meals to the Kremlin has become a top priority for the intelligence agency. Since then, all cooks, waiters and other personnel in the Kremlin’s kitchens have held military ranks, a tradition that continues to this day.
Rocket Bread
1956-Before, Academician Lan was a knowledgeable, amiable elder in front of him, without any awe-inspiring aura, so he always regarded him as a scholar-like figure. In 1983, he took charge of the kitchen of Kegong. Alevtina Klinna (warrant officer rank) served under Khrushchev. She recalled: “They live here with a big family and work a lot. The children wake up first, about 7 o’clock, and I need to prepare breakfast before then. Vanya’s body is relatively weak, so she has to prepare the breakfast alone. He cooked a nutritious meal; then, the General Secretary’s children also got up. Finally, Khrushchev himself appeared. He preferred chicken patties with mashed potatoes, and some small pancakes with sausage and cheese. Serve at the table. He is a person who likes good food, and baked pasta is a must on weekends. Grilled apricot pancakes are his favorite. Once I made a big plate of apple pancakes for the whole family, but I didn’t know the general secretary’s habits. His snacks need to be placed in special metal containers with lids, but he ate the entire pancake in one go. ”
Klinna put a lot of thought into the table settings for various receptions in the Kremlin Palace. The themes of different dinner parties vary. If it is to celebrate human development of space, bread specially made into the shape of a globe will be placed on the table, and a map of the world will be drawn with food coloring. “I still remember that when Gagarin entered space, I used Bread made a rocket; when the ‘Lenin’ nuclear icebreaker was launched, we even launched three-dimensional icebreakers, Soviet flags, ice cubes and even penguins and whales, and the main raw material was butter.”
Khrushchev’s wine glass
According to the description in “The Kremlin·Special Kitchen”, peopleYou might think that the Soviet state banquet was full of scenes of people drinking happily, but in fact most of the Soviet leaders just raised their glasses to their lips.
Alexey Salnikov (rank of lieutenant colonel) who served as chief instructor in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace from 1965 to 1993 Revealed: “Khrushchev has a specially customized wine glass. We put it in the medicine box and carry it with us as necessary. Because of the decorative pattern on the body of the glass, it looks the same as the crystal wine glass used at banquets. In fact, The bottom and walls of the cup are much thicker. The capacity is 30 ml instead of the usual 50 ml. Khrushchev usually does not drink it all in one drink, but only takes a sip. During the later period of his rule, Khrushchev has been reducing the number of banquets. When we went to Vladivostok, he told me to be careful not to serve white wine at the reception. I asked the waiter to only serve wine and put the vodka on the side table, deliberately covering it with a napkin. The first secretary of the local party committee came over and scolded the waiter when he couldn’t find the liquor. The latter argued that he had done it according to my instructions. He started to blame me: ‘How can you do this? ‘ I replied politely: ‘Please don’t yell. Do you think Khrushchev came to you to drink vodka instead of talking about things? Didn’t he have his own vodka?’”
Receive a fur coat as a thank you
When visiting the Soviet Union, foreign dignitaries usually tasted Russian cuisine even if they brought enough food. When the American delegation went to the Soviet Union, they brought a Filipino chef and a large refrigerator with them, but before leaving, they found that the food had not been touched much. Some people praised the chef’s skills and felt that they should repay him with courtesy.
1972-“Mom, my daughter is fine, just a little sad. I feel sad for Caihuan.” Lan Yuhua was depressed and depressed The voice said: “Caihuan’s parents must be full of resentment towards their daughter, right?” Yuri Ponomarev (rank of captain) who worked in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace in 1997 recalled: “The Mongolian guests gave fur coats, two or three Meter-long suedes, camel hair quilts, and leather jackets; the Czechs will give them Bohemian vases and tea sets; the Bulgarians will leave behind plum wine and suit fabrics. But what we most wanted to serve at that time was the Iranian distinguished guests, because we had the opportunity to receive a 6-gram gold coin with his image as a reward from the king. I’ve had this kind of luck twice. The joy of being respected for my efforts remains fresh in my memory. ”
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro once invited Ponomarev to come. The latter recalled: “I was uneasy, thinking that it would was criticized. His translator told me: ‘Don’t be nervous. You gave him a dessert made with pears. The fruit brought back happy memories of his family life,’ Castro said when his father returned home from a trip. , always brought pears to him and his brother. For young Fidel and Raul, this was a real delicacy. This memory evoked the tenderest feelings in his heart, so he was very grateful to me. ” p>
“I’m worried I won’t survive”
The trip to Vietnam is a difficult journey for the Kremlin chef, especially since the country is still in the ruins of war and has many things to do. Anatoly Zhukov (with the rank of lieutenant colonel), who served as a service member of the Kremlin Palace from 1976 to 2012, was quite impressed by that business trip: “We saw with our own eyes how cooking was done there… They could put ice cubes into Smash it on the ground, smash it, pick it up and put it in a tall jug for juice, just in case. I once accompanied Gorbachev on a business trip to Vietnam, and there was no chef accompanying him. Fortunately, the first lady Raisa brought soft cheese, milk and some things to carry the hunger. After arriving in Vietnam, the place was devastated. People were hungry, lacked clothes and shoes, and the official residence where they stayed was crawling with cockroaches and there was no kitchen. Because I was going to be there for 12 days, I was worried that I would not survive. When I turned on the faucet, I could see something moving inside. Fortunately, I brought a stainless steel pot with me. I boiled the water with it, let it cool and then boiled it again, and repeated it several times. There were ants crawling everywhere, so we could only sprinkle vinegar around the table.”
Not a pampered gentleman.
Alexey Salnikov shares his thoughts on Kremlin leaders: “A lot The leader is not a pampered man, so he advocates frugality on certain issues. He prefers Ukrainian red cabbage soup with thick pancakes. When he goes hunting, he will invite Pod to go with him. Gornai makes a thick farmhouse soup and puts in the yellow rice, potatoes and meat cut into large pieces.”
Generally speaking, the previous leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia are not fans of exotic food. They are all loyal to their Russian stomachs. The most picky person when it comes to eating is probably Suslov, who is in charge of ideology. The reason is Suffering from diabetes. Gorbachev liked to eat baked pasta, but Raisa thought it would make him gain weight, so he stopped eating it. Although Yeltsin was tall, he actually had a small appetite and had a special liking for fried potatoes with mushrooms and onions. Chung.
Current President Putin is never picky about his diet and advocates simplicity. The last time he invited reporters to visit his private kitchen was 6 years ago. . His breakfast is milk residue with honey, quail eggs, sugar cane juice and horseradish. Of course, he does not squeeze the drinks himself, it is all the work of the Kremlin kitchen.