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 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, Sergei Devyatov, serves as an advisor to the director and is a doctor of history. From the staff’s stories, we can see that the Soviet Union and Russia are good news, not bad news. , Pei Yi had an accident in Qizhou and his whereabouts are unknown. “Some unexpected details about the work, life and rest of Ross leaders. The names of the chefs have been made public for the first time, and they all have military ranks.
Lianta.com extracts the essence for readers:
The kitchen in charge of the intelligence department
Special kitchens are not a new product of the 20th century. The imperial kitchen in the tsarist era fell under the responsibility of the chamberlain. Including being in charge of the intelligence department and responsible for the safety of the emperor and his family. Since 1878, the palace has begun to carry out chemical identification of food. If the emperor is inspecting the country or visiting other countries, the cost is not considered. The most important thing.
After the Bolsheviks established their power, ensuring the leaders’ food supply was one of the most difficult problems. However, banquets were considered a luxury for a long time, and it was not until the early 1930s that various meetings, celebrations, breakfast meetings, luncheons, and dinners were held in the Kremlin. .
In the 1930s and during the Great Patriotic War, Caucasian cuisine, especially Georgian cuisine, was always the main course at various banquets in the Kremlin. The domineering pepper-infused white wine shocked the foreign guests.Providing delicious, healthy and especially safe meals to the Kremlin has become a top priority for the intelligence services. 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: “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; and 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. Baked 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”, 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 custom-made wine glass and we put it onKeep it in your medicine box and carry it with you as a necessary item. 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 the whole drink in one gulp, but only took a sip. In the later years of his administration, Khrushchev had been reducing the amount of alcohol consumed 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? What do you think Zhang. Is this 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, I found that the food had not been touched very much. Some people praised the chef’s craftsmanship 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 suedes, 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 that 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 into a tall jar of juice just in case. Not only Lan Yuhua is observing his maid Cai Xiu secretly, but Cai Xiu is also observing. Her own master. She always felt that the young lady who committed suicide in the swimming pool seemed to have grown up overnight. Not only had she become mature and sensible, but she also knew how to be considerate of others. Her former innocence, arrogance and willfulness were gone forever. I felt like a new person. 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 food. Things. After arriving in Vietnam, the place was devastated. People were hungry, lacked clothes and shoes, and the official residence where I stayed was crawling with cockroaches. There was no kitchen. I was worried that I would not be able to survive even if I turned on the water. There was something squirming inside. Fortunately, I brought a stainless steel pot with me. I boiled the water with it, let it cool and then boiled it again. There were ants crawling everywhere, so we could only sprinkle a circle of vinegar around the table.” /p>
Not a pampered gentleman
Alexey Salnikov shared his views on Kremlin leaders: “Many leaders are not pampered gentlemen, so they advocate frugality on certain issues. Khrushchev is one. He likes to eat light food and eat less greasy food. When he goes out hunting, he will ask his companion Podgorny to make a thick farm soup with yellow rice and cut into large pieces of potatoes and meat. Go in. ”
Generally speaking, the leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia are not fans of exotic food. They are all loyal to their Russia. Stomach. The most picky person about eating is probably Suslov, who is in charge of ideology. The reason is that he suffers from diabetes. Gorbachev liked baked pasta, but Raisa thought it would increaseFat, then stopped. Although Yeltsin was tall, he actually had a small appetite and had 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 six years ago. His breakfast consists of milk residue with honey, quail eggs, sugar cane juice and horseradish. Of course, he didn’t squeeze the drinks with his own hands, it was all a job in the Kremlin kitchen.