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, did something happen to the ensuring leader? “The food supply is one of the most difficult problems. In 1920, Gorky Farm was set up outside Moscow specifically for this purpose. However, the banquet was regarded as a luxury for a long time. Until the early 1930s, in the Kremlin It was customary to hold various meetings, celebrations, breakfast meetings, luncheons, and dinners in the Caucasus in the 1930s and during the Patriotic War. Food, especially Georgian cuisine, has always been the main course of various banquets of the Kremlin Palace. The domineering pepper-soaked white wine shocked the foreign guests, providing the Kremlin Palace with delicious, healthy and especially safe food.Meals have become a priority for the intelligence service. 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. Finally, Khrushchev himself appeared. He preferred chicken patties and mashed potatoes for breakfast, and some small pancakes with sausage and cheese would also be served. 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. One time, 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 mankind’s development of space, bread specially made into the shape of a globe will be placed on the table, and a world map 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 might think that at the Soviet state banquet, “Our family has nothing to lose, but what about her, a well-educated daughter?” They could have married into a suitable family and continued to live a luxurious life, drinking happily with a group of people. In fact, most of the Soviet leaders just raised their glasses to their lips.
Served as chief cook in the Kremlin kitchen from 1965 to 1993Alexei Salnikov (lieutenant colonel rank), the instructor, revealed: “Khrushchev had a specially customized wine glass. We put it in the medicine box and carried it with us as necessary. Because the cup body The decorative pattern looks the same as the crystal wine glass used at banquets. In fact, the bottom and wall of the glass are much thicker than the usual 50 ml. Khrushchev usually does not drink it all in one drink. , only a sip. During the later period 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 liquor at the reception. Only wine was served, and the vodka was placed on the side table, deliberately covered with a napkin. The first secretary of the local party committee came over and scolded the waiter when he could not find the wine. 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?” Is it my decision? Doesn’t he have his own vodka to drink? ‘”
Received 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.
Yuri Ponomarev (rank of captain), who worked in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace from 1972 to 1997, recalled: “Mongolia Chinese guests gave us fur coats, two- to three-meter-long suedes, camel hair quilts, and leather jackets; the Czechs gave them Bohemian vases and tea sets; and the Bulgarians left behind plum wine and suit fabrics. The one I most wanted to serve was an Iranian distinguished guest, because I had the opportunity to receive a 6-gram gold coin with his image as a reward from the king. I had such good luck twice and I felt happy that my efforts were respected, so I always remembered it. ”
The former Cuban leader Fidel Castro once invited Ponomarev to come. The reporter recalled: “I was nervous, 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.’” Cass Tello said that when his father came home from a long trip, he always brought pears to the young Fidel and Raul.Say, this is nothing short of a real delicacy. 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 was a difficult journey for the Kremlin chef, especially since the country was still in the ruins of war and was in need of reconstruction. Served as a service staff in the Kremlin from 1976 to 2012 Anatoly Zhukov (lieutenant colonel rank) was very impressed by that business trip: “We saw with our own eyes how cooking was done there… They could smash the ice cubes on the ground and pick them up directly after breaking them. Put it into a tall jar containing 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 hunting, he would ask his companion Podgorny to make a rich farm soup, adding yellow rice, 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 kitchen.