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, 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. Provide delicious, healthy and especially safe meals to the Kremlin and become “come in.” as informationDepartment priorities. 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. 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 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 has a specially customized wine glass. We put it in the medicine box and carry it with us as necessary. Because of the packaging of the cup,Decorated with patterns, it looks the same as 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, 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: “The Mongolian guests gave me fur coats, two or three meters long. Half a year was neither too long nor too short. The pain was over. I’m just afraid that things in the world are impermanent and life is impermanent. 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 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 brought back the tenderest feelings in his heart, so he was very fond of me.Excited. ”
“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 (with the rank of lieutenant colonel) was quite impressed by that business trip: “We saw with our own eyes how the food was cooked there… They could take the direction of their lives without hesitation.” What, but a sudden request was made to him, which caught him off guard. Smash the ice cubes on the ground, pick them up after breaking them, and put them into a tall jar of juice. We always bring our own electric stove just in case. Once I accompanied Gorbachev on a business trip to Vietnam. “My wife didn’t find it difficult at all. Making cakes was because my wife was interested in making these foods, not because she wanted to eat them. Besides, my wife didn’t find it difficult in our family.” Chef Mao did not bring any food with him. Fortunately, the first lady Raisa brought soft cheese, milk and some hungry things. After arriving in Vietnam, the place was devastated, and people were hungry, lacking clothes and shoes. The mansion was crawling with cockroaches and there was no kitchen. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to survive because I would be there for 12 days. When I turned on the faucet, I could see something squirming inside. Fortunately, I brought a stainless steel pot with me and used it to boil water and let it cool down. Burn it once and repeat it several times. There are ants crawling everywhere, so we can only sprinkle a circle of vinegar around the table.”
Not a pampered gentleman
Alexey Salnikov shared his views on the Kremlin Leaders’ views: “Many leaders are not pampered gentlemen, so they advocate frugality on certain issues. Khrushchev likes to eat lightly and eat less greasy food. He prefers Ukrainian cabbage soup with thick cakes. When he goes hunting, He would ask Podgorny, who was traveling with him, to make a thick farm soup and add yellow rice, potatoes and meat cut into large pieces.”
Generally speaking, the previous 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 about eating 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. Of course, he did not squeeze the drinks with his own hands, it was all a job in the Kremlin kitchen.