Original title: Foreign media reveals 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 limited edition new book “The Kremlin” Palace·Special Kitchen” sold out quickly. 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 the director’s advisor and is a doctor of history. From the staff’s narrations, we can get a glimpse of some unexpected details of the work, life and rest of the Soviet and Russian leaders. 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 the emperor is inspecting the country or visiting other countries, he usually brings 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, domineering The pepper-infused white wine impressed the foreign guests. 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
Alevtina Klinna (warrant officer rank) who was in charge of the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace from 1956 to 1983 once served Khrushchev. She recalled: “The whole family lived here. “Miss, do you think this is okay? “It’s a lot of work. The children wake up first, about 7 o’clock, and I need to prepare breakfast before then. Vanya’s body is relatively weak, so he has to make nutritious meals for him alone; then, the General Secretary’s children They also got up; the last person who appeared was Khrushchev. He preferred chicken pancakes with mashed potatoes, and some small pancakes with sausages and cheese. He was a person who loved good food. Baked pastries are indispensable, and baked apricot pancakes are his favorite. Once I made a large plate of apple pancakes for the whole family, but I didn’t understand the General Secretary’s habit of putting his snacks in separate metal lids. In the container, he ate the whole pancake in one go. ”
Klinna held various receptions for the Kremlin. The table settings are meticulously thought out. 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”, people may think that the Soviet state banquet is full of scenes of people drinking happily. In fact, most of the Soviet leaders just raise the glass 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 had a specially customized wine glass. We put it in the medicine box and carry it with us as necessary.bring. Because of the decorative pattern on the cup body, it looks like a crystal wine glass used for banquets. In fact, the bottom and walls of the cup are much thicker. The capacity is 30ml instead of the usual 50ml. Khrushchev usually did not drink it all in one gulp, but only took a sip. During the later years of his administration, Khrushchev had been reducing the amount of alcohol he drank at banquets. Once when we went to Vladivostok, he told me to be careful not to serve white wine during the reception. I asked the waiter to only bring 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 couldn’t find the liquor, so he scolded the waiter, who argued that he had done it according to my instructions. He started to blame me: ‘How can you do this? What’s your background? ’ I replied politely: ‘Please don’t yell. Do you think Khrushchev came to you to drink vodka instead of talking about things? Do you think this is my decision? Didn’t he have his own vodka to drink? ‘”
Received a fur coat as a thank you
When visiting the Soviet Union, foreign dignitaries usually taste Russian food even if they bring 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, It was found that the food had not been touched very much. Some people praised the chef’s skills and felt that they should be politely thanked.
1972- Yuri Ponomarev (with the rank of captain) who worked in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace in 1997 recalled: “Mongolian guests gave fur coats, two to three meters long suede, camel hair quilts, and leather jackets; the Czechs would Gift them with 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 I would be criticized. His translator told me: ‘Don’t be nervous. You gave him a dessert made of pears, and the fruit brought back happy memories of his family life. ’ Castro said that when his father came home from a long trip, he always brought pears to him and his brother. For young Fidel and Raul, this was a real treat. This memory aroused the tenderest feelings in his heart, so he was very grateful to me. ”
“I’m worried I won’t survive”
The trip to Vietnam was a difficult one for the Kremlin chef, especially Anatoly Zhukov, who worked as a service member of the Kremlin Palace from 1976 to 2012 as the country was still in the ruins of war. Lieutenant Colonel, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was quite impressed by that trip: “We saw with our own eyes how the food was cooked there… They could smash the ice cubes on the ground, smash them and then pick them up and put them directly into tall jars of juice. We always bring our own electric stove just in case. Once, I accompanied Gorbachev on a business trip to Vietnam. There was no chef or food with me. Fortunately, the first lady Raisa brought soft cheese, milk and some hungry things. After arriving in Vietnam, the place was devastated. People were hungry, lacked clothes and shoes, and the official residence where they stayed was infested with cockroaches and had no kitchen. Because I would be there for 12 days, I was worried that I would not survive. When you turn on the faucet, you can see something squirming inside with the naked eye. Fortunately, I brought a stainless steel pot with me. Use it to boil water, let it cool and then boil it again, repeating several times. There were ants crawling everywhere and we had to sprinkle vinegar around the table. ”
Not a pampered master
Alexey Salnikov shared his views on Kremlin leaders: “Many leaders are not pampered gentlemen, so they advocate frugality on certain issues. Khrushchev liked to eat light and eat less greasy food. He prefers Ukrainian cabbage soup with thick pancakes. When he went out hunting, he would ask Podgorny, who was traveling with him, to make farm soup and add yellow rice. White, the pale face instantly became even paler, without any color. Add potatoes and meat cut into large pieces. ”
Generally speaking, the successive 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 about eating was probably Suslov, who was in charge of ideology. The reason was that Gorbachev liked to eat baked pasta, but Raisa thought it would make him gain weight, so Yeltsin stopped it. Although he is tall, he actually has a small appetite, and he has a special liking for fried potatoes with mushrooms and onions.
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, and sugar cane juice Served with horseradish. Of course, he didn’t make the drink himself, it was all done by the Kremlin’s kitchen.