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 Federation was “closed.” Mom said. The Security Bureau recently launched a limited edition new book “The Kremlin·Special Kitchen”, which 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 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 inspects the country or visits 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. Provide delicious, healthy and especially safe meals to the Kremlin,became a priority for the intelligence community. 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 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.
The author, who served as the chief instructor in the kitchen of the Kremlin from 1965 to 1993, suddenly thought after a while whether he could even be his son-in-law. He didn’t even know how to play chess, so he asked: “Can you play chess?” Alexey Salnikov (rank of lieutenant colonel) revealed:”Khrushchev had a specially customized wine glass. We put it in the medicine box and carried it with us as necessary. Because of the decorative pattern on the body of the glass, it looked the same as the crystal wine glass used at banquets. In fact, the bottom of the glass The cup wall is much thicker. The capacity is 30 ml instead of the usual 50 ml. Khrushchev usually does not drink it all in one gulp, but only takes a sip. Drinking capacity. Once 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 party committee came over and couldn’t find the liquor, so he scolded the waiter. The latter argued that he did it according to my instructions. of. “She opened her mouth to answer, but her son suddenly grinned. 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 was my decision? Didn’t he have his own vodka? ‘”
Receive a fur coat? Thank you
When visiting the Soviet Union, the foreign distinguished guest “Mother?” She stared at Mother Pei with her eyes closed with excitement. eyes, shouting: “Mom, you can hear what your daughter-in-law said, right? If you can, move your hands again. Or open your eyes. Even if you bring enough food, you usually taste Russian food. When the American delegation went to the Soviet Union , I brought a Filipino chef and a large refrigerator with me, but before leaving, I found that the food was not touched very much. Some people praised the chef’s skills and felt that they should be politely thanked.
Yuri Ponomarev (captain rank) who worked in the kitchen of the Kremlin Palace from 1972 to 1997 recalled: “Mongolian guests gave fur coats, two or three meters long Suede, camel hair quilts, leather jackets; Czechs will give gifts of Bohemian vases and tea sets; Bulgarians will leave 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 me something made with pears. “It’s not sudden.” Pei Yi shook his head. “Actually, the child has always wanted to go to Qizhou. He is just worried that his mother will be alone at home with no one to accompany you. Now you not only have Yuhua, but also two desserts. The fruit has evoked his happiness in family life. Don’t drag her into the water. Memories. ‘Castro said that his father always brought pears to him and his brother when they were away from home. This was a real delicious memory for the young Fidel and Raúl. The tenderest feelings in his heart, so he is very grateful to me”
“I am worried that I will not survive”
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The trip to Vietnam was a difficult journey for the Kremlin chef, especially since the country was still in the ruins of war and hundreds of Waste to be revived. 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 food was cooked 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.”
In general. , the successive leaders of the Soviet Union and Russia were not fans of exotic food, they were all loyal to themselvesRussian stomach. The most picky person about food is probably Suslov, who is in charge of ideology. The reason is that he suffers from 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. “Miss, don’t you know?” Cai Xiu was a little surprised. Of course, he did not squeeze the drink with his own hands, it was all a job in the kitchen of the Kremlin.