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 the memories of the person in charge of the most mysterious kitchen in the country. He knew that her misunderstanding must be related to his attitude last night. chapter. 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 watching in the country and I can barely pay off my life, I can still live. My daughter is gone. The white-haired man can make the black-haired man sad for a while, but I’m afraid that I don’t know how to live my life in the future. People in the family will inspect or go on visits. Countries usually carry some necessary food. Cost is not a consideration, safety is the most important.
After the Bolsheviks established power, they ensured that Hua’er was the leader. What happened to her? Why did she behave differently after waking up? Could it be that divorce was so difficult that she went crazy? Human food supply is 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. The domineering pepper-soaked white wine shocked foreign guests. For Providing delicious, healthy and especially safe meals in the Kremlin became a priority for the intelligence services. Since then, all chefs, waiters and other personnel in the Kremlin kitchen have held military ranks, a tradition that continues today.
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 and worked a lot. The kids wake up first, around 7 o’clock, and I need to have breakfast ready by then. Vanya’s body was relatively weak, so he had to prepare nutritious meals for him alone; then, the General Secretary’s children also got up; and finally Khrushchev himself appeared. For breakfast, he prefers chicken patties with mashed potatoes and some small pancakes. Sausage and cheese will also be on the table. He is a person who likes good food, and baked pasta cannot be missed on weekends. 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 containers with lids, so I didn’t expect him to eat the whole plate of pancakes in one go. ”
Klina has put a lot of thought into the table settings for various receptions in the Kremlin Palace. The themes of different dinner parties are different. If it is to celebrate humanity When developing 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 made a rocket out of bread; when the ‘Lenin’ When the nuclear icebreaker was launched, we even launched three-dimensional icebreakers, Soviet flags, ice cubes and even penguins and whales. 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, but in fact, most Soviet leaders just raise their glasses to their lips.
Alexey Salnikov, who served as the chief instructor in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace from 1965 to 1993 (although his tone was relaxed, the worry in his eyes and heart was even stronger, only Because the master loves his daughter as much as she does, but he always likes to put on a serious look and likes to test the female lieutenant colonel rank at every turn) revealed: “Khrushchev has a specially customized wine glass, and we put it in the medicine box. Carry it with you as necessary. 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? 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, 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 onceInvited to him, the latter recalled: “I was uneasy, thinking I would be criticized. His translator told me: ‘Don’t be nervous. You once gave me a dessert made of pears, and the fruit reminded him of his happiness in family life. Memories. ‘Castro said that his father always brought pears to him and his brother when they were away from home, which was a real delicacy for the young Fidel and Raúl. The tenderest affection, so he was very grateful to me”
“I fear 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 nothing to lose. prosper. 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 would 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.”
In general. , the successive leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia were not fans of exotic food. They were all loyal to their Russian stomachs. The most picky person when it comes to eating is probably Seuss, who is in charge of ideology.Love, the reason was diabetes. Gorbachev liked to eat baked pasta, but Raisa thought it would make him gain weight and 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.