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 includes the document secretary “Why are you not worthy? You are the daughter of the scholar’s house, the only daughter of Scholar Lan, the jewel in his palm.” 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, she stayed in Moss specifically for this purpose. In addition to dressing up and preparing to serve tea to her mother, she also went to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast. After all, this is not the Lan Mansion and there are many servants to serve. Here, only the Gorki Farm was established outside Cai Xiu Ke. 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.
30Let’s fly, my dau is higher. Be brave enough to face challenges, overcome everything, and have happiness. My parents believe you can do it. 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 dignitaries. Providing delicious, healthy and especially safe meals to the Kremlin has become a top priority for the intelligence agency. 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 stood up; finally, Khrushchev himself appeared. He preferred chicken cakes and mashed potatoes for breakfast. It was really hard to look at such a face. Imagine that in a few years, this face will become older and haggard than her mother. Some pancakes and cheese will also be on the table. He is a person who likes food, and he must not do it on weekends. In the absence of baked pastries, baked apricot pancakes were 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 placing his snacks in separate metal containers with lids. “”
Klinna was the host of various receptions in the Kremlin Palace. A lot of thought goes into setting the table. 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 the Soviet state banquet was full of joy.In the scene of drinking, in fact, most Soviet leaders just raised 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 decorative pattern on the body of the glass, it looks the same as the crystal wine glass used at banquets. In fact, The bottom and walls of the cup are much thicker. The capacity is 30 ml instead of the usual 50 ml. Khrushchev usually does not drink it all in one drink, but only takes a sip. During the later period of his rule, Khrushchev has been reducing the number of banquets. 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 local party committee came over and scolded the waiter when he couldn’t find the liquor. The latter argued that he did it according to my instructions. He started to blame me: ‘How can you do this? ‘ I replied politely: “Please don’t yell. You think Khrushchev came to you to drink vodka.” “I want to help them, I want to atone for my sins, Caixiu, find a way for me.” “Lan Yuhua turned to look at her maid and said seriously. Even though she knew this was a dream and not a conversation? Do you think this is 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. Still new. ”
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro once invited Ponomarev to come to him. The latter recalled: “I was uneasy, thinking that 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 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 Where’s Anatos? “Are you married?” This is not good. “Mother Pei shook her head, but her attitude still showed no sign of softening. Li Zhukov (lieutenant colonel rank) was quite impressed by that business trip: “We saw with our own eyes how cooking was done there… They can put ice cubes into it. Smash it on the ground, smash it, pick it up and put it 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. 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 open 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. Lan Yuhua first smiled at her mother, and then said slowly: “Mom, right?” My own children are the best. In fact, my daughter is not good at all. She relies on her parents’ love, is arrogant and ignorant, and has ants crawling everywhere. We can only sprinkle vinegar around the table. “
Not a pampered gentleman
Alexey Salnikov shared his views on Kremlin leaders: “Many leaders are not pampered men, so they advocate frugality on certain issues. Khrushchev is one. He likes to eat light food and eat less greasy food. He prefers Ukrainian red cabbage soup with thick pancakes, and he will ask his companion Podgorny to cook it.For farmhouse soup, put 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
The current President Putin is eating. He is never picky and advocates simplicity. The last time he invited reporters to visit his private kitchen was 6 years ago. His breakfast was milk residue with honey, quail eggs, sugar cane juice and horseradish. Of course, he did not squeeze the drinks himself. It’s a job in the kitchen of the Kremlin.