Folk utensils. Old Russian dishes

For modern man so naturally when starting lunch, breakfast or dinner, use a spoon, fork, knife for eating, put food on a plate, and pour drinks into a mug or glass. And these are only the main items of everyday utensils that accompany our usual meal. And we don’t even think about how and when they appeared in our kitchen.

Let's start from the very simple knife. In traditional Russian cuisine, the knife began to be used a very long time ago. Our ancestors did not distinguish between a combat, hunting or table knife. It’s just that each Russian had his own knife, which was worn behind a belt or behind the top of a boot (only men wore it) and was used as needed. Special table knives appeared only in the 16th century, but in their own way appearance these knives did not differ from combat or hunting ones: they were just as sharp and heavy. There is a belief that the first knife with a rounded end was ordered to be made by Napoleon, who was afraid of an attack by conspirators during a dinner party.

A spoon, like a knife, in Russian traditional cuisine used since time immemorial. The oldest mention of a spoon was found in The Tale of Bygone Years, where it is said that this is a familiar and absolutely necessary tool for eating. The story says that the warriors of Prince Vladimir began to complain that they eat with wooden spoons, not silver ones. And the wise prince ordered that spoons be forged for them, because you can’t buy a real squad for gold and silver, but with a good squad you can always get both gold and silver.

Our ancestors made scabbards for knives, and special cases for spoons. However, much more often a spoon, like a knife, was worn behind a belt or shaft. Imagine such a hero with a table set behind his top. But what can you do - what happened, happened.

And if today we are talking about a table, tea or dessert spoon, then in traditional Russian cuisine the range of spoons was much wider: draft, mezheumok (simple wide), butyrka, burlatskaya, bare (oblong and blunt-nosed), semi-bosk, thin, white, nosed and others.

Traditional Russian cuisine did not know the fork. More precisely, it will be said that for many centuries the fork was not used in Russian cuisine. This is one of the cutlery that appeared in Russian cuisine only some three hundred years ago. Our ancestors took the cut off pieces by hand or "whatever was more capable."

The first to use the fork were the aristocrats during the time of Peter I. According to the existing legend, the royal batman was obliged to carry a wooden spoon, a table knife and a fork, and lay out the cutlery and plates of the king - in those days, even aristocrats rarely used a fork and the king tried to instill culture nutrition. In fairness, it must be said that in Europe the fork, at that time, was not often used.

The forks were forged two-pronged. And very expensive. Perhaps for this reason, ordinary Russian people began to use a fork in the kitchen only in the 19th century.

Now let's talk about plates. Bowls of Russian cuisine, like spoons, have been known since ancient times. The bowls were earthenware or wood. This is for the peasants. Wealthy citizens, merchants and aristocrats used bowls of gold and silver in their kitchens. Somewhat later, bowls made of iron appeared. Russian bowls were not intended for individual use, so they were quite large, because. the whole family ate from one such dish.

There were even rules of etiquette that prescribed how to eat from a common bowl. For example, man of culture had to wipe his spoon before scooping food, because. not everyone may enjoy eating food if someone dips a spoon into it directly from their mouth. Dubious advice: just imagine a family where everyone takes turns wiping spoons ... With what or how do they wipe? Napkins in Russian cuisine appeared much later.

But back to the plate. After all, a bowl is not a plate. Let's start with the fact that the plate is intended for individual use. So, real plates appeared in Russia in the middle of the 16th century. And it was only a hundred years later that they became widespread. And then, only the wealthiest part of the population. Ordinary people used bowls for a long time: they became smaller in size, they began to eat them individually, but they were still bowls, not plates.

For many centuries, Russian cuisine has made a ceramic pot the main serving vessel. The pots were different sizes and shapes, and were used as a modern pan, and as a jar for spices (and spices were very fond of in Russian cuisine - Read "Traditions of Russian Cuisine"), and as a container for bulk and liquid, etc. Shchi, soups and porridges were cooked in pots and pots, meat and fish were stewed, sweets and butter were made, water was boiled. Accordingly, the sizes of the pots were very different - from multi-bucket pots to babies with a capacity of 200-300 grams.

The pots differed in their appearance. Russian cuisine has always been not only tasty and satisfying, but also beautiful. Those pots in which food was served on the table were decorated with ornaments and drawings. The most interesting are the pots that were made in ancient times. The more perfect the pottery became, the less often the craftsmen applied ornaments to the pots. Those ancient pots had extraordinary strength, and if it happened that the pot cracked, then it was not thrown away, but braided with birch bark and used to store loose, spices and cereals.

There is an opinion that our distant ancestors, if only boiled, steamed and baked, did not eat fried food. Allegedly, even such dishes were not in Russian cuisine. Once again, I suggest you read the article “Traditions of Russian Cuisine”, and there you will find a description of dishes that are described as frying pans. It was pans, as we know them today, that appeared in Russian cuisine much later.

The traditional Russian frying pan was… ceramic!!! In shape, it resembled a saucepan, which expanded at the top. These pans were called patches. The patch had a hollow handle into which a wooden handle was inserted. Agree, just an analogue of a modern frying pan - ceramics with a removable handle.
However, over time, pans began to be made from cast iron.

Now let's talk about the tablecloth. This item in Russian cuisine is not new at all. The first written mention of the surviving, which mentions a tablecloth, dates back to 1150. This is the "Smolensk charter".

And now let's remember the tableware that was intended for drinks. In my opinion, Russian cuisine has no competitors in this dish: goblets, horns, brothers, charms and cups, piles and glasses, and, of course, ladles.

Buckets are a completely different story: scoops, brackets (with two handles), liqueurs (small ladles), ladles and more, a huge number of varieties of ladles.

And in the conclusion of the article, it is necessary to recall such a traditionally Russian table item as a samovar. The tradition of tea drinking appeared in Russia relatively recently - a little over three hundred years ago.

And this "hot water vessel for tea with copper pipe appeared ... no, not in Tula. The first Tula samovar was made by master Lisitsyn in 1778. And in the Urals, samovars began to be made from 1740. And our Russian samovar had predecessors in Europe. True, the Russian samovar and its European counterpart are similar only in name.

I will not engage in criticism, but will draw your attention to only one interesting fact. Have you ever drunk tea from a real samovar? Not electric! From a real Russian samovar? The thing is that in the Russian samovar, the water warms up evenly, and does not boil from the bottom up. As a result, the salts contained in the water, scale, mechanical particles settle to the bottom of the samovar, and are not shaken. Accordingly, all this “garbage” does not get into tea. Our ancestors were wise.

A mandatory attribute of the Russian samovar was a tray.

Well, perhaps that's all about the traditions of Russian cuisine.

I hope I managed to convince you that Russian cuisine has its own deep traditions not only in cooking, but also in the use of kitchen utensils and utensils. This is part of Russian culture, which today is safely forgotten.

Sitting down for festive table, covered with a snow-white tablecloth, beautifully served, picking up a glass or a fork, we do not think that each item has its own history, that it took many centuries to create it, to give it a convenient, simple and beautiful shape. We don’t think about why the prongs of the fork are bent, why the knives have such a shape and not another, why the cup has a handle, but the bowls don’t have them, and finally, why the serving items we are used to are called that way and not otherwise.

Wooden slotted ladles

The once banquet and everyday tables were adorned with bread bins made of wicker twigs, carved and painted boards for serving bread and pies, fermenters and kumgans, goblets and bratinas, wooden salt bowls and painted ladles. Now such table decoration has given way to modern serving. There are no words - much in modern dishes is convenient and practical, but one should not forget no less convenient old dishes, cutlery, various items everyday life.
We go to museums and exhibitions to admire the wonderful ceramics of the Gzhel masters, Khokhloma burning with gold, the bright painting of Zhostovo trays, and these wonderful works of folk craftsmen are rarely seen on our tables. Therefore, let's remember a little about the traditional decoration of the tables of our grandfathers. Here is a description of the serving of a feast in a rich resident's house Kievan Rus: “On the table were valleys with overseas wine, brothers with honey, feet, cups and bowls. The guests scooped honey from the brothers with cords and brackets. Servants served wine from taverns.”
How much will the modern reader understand in this description?
Old valleys have given way to unstable schedules. Endova, or yandova, has been known since the times of Ancient Russia and served to serve home brew, mead, wine and beer. It was made of wood, metal and usually decorated with painting or embossing. There were valleys and clay ones. The valley is characterized by a squat, stable shape with a narrow, long spout open at the top - a groove. Such a vessel cannot be accidentally turned over. Soft rounded outlines, the absence of small details gave the valley a solemn, solid look. Its volume could be different - from a damask (about 1.2 liters) to a bucket, so depending on the number of guests it was possible to pick up a valley so that its contents were enough for everyone.
The history of the word "decanter" is funny. Giraf was once called by the Arabs a long and high measure loose bodies, and therefore the longest-necked animals were called giraffes (later giraffes). From the word "giraf" came the name of the Arab cups - guraf. then this name came to Spain. France, Germany and finally to Russia.
For such a long journey, the giraffe turned into a carafine, and then into a decanter. Back in the 18th century, they usually wrote "karafin". Its surface was covered with rich decor - niello, enamel, etc.
All ancient tableware was distinguished by stability, the absence of high legs. Such was the brotherhood - an old vessel for serving honey and beer at the "brotherly" feasts, that is, christenings, name days, and even at the commemoration, they drank from it "around".
The bratina is characterized by a spherical shape of the body, mounted on a low pallet or without it. They were made of wood (in folk life), of copper in richer houses, of silver and gold for the feasts of the feudal nobility.
The solemnity of the form, stability and rich decor (chasing, painting) perfectly matched the purpose of these banquet vessels. The spherical shape of the body is not accidental - in a spherical vessel, a cold drink (honey, beer) heats up more slowly, and a hot one (sbiten) does not cool down for a long time. Bratiny often had a tall, richly decorated conical lid, which not only helped keep the contents warm, but also broke the squat uniformity of the rest of the serving with its shape.
Copper and wooden bratinas have been known since the 11th century, while silver and gold ones with a chased pattern and dedicatory or instructive inscriptions have come into use since the 16th-17th centuries. In the 19th century, bratinas lost their purpose and turned into decorative gift vessels or prizes.

Small vessels for strong drinks were also stable: cups, or small charms, which in the old days replaced glasses. Sometimes they were supplied with a leg, but not thin and long, like modern glasses, but thick, stable. The form of cups and charms was surprisingly diverse, and the surface was covered with rich decor - niello, enamel, etc.
Cups were usually supplied with a small flat handle. The cup was also a measure of volume. One cup was equal to 1/10 of a damask or 1/100 of a bucket, or 2 scales, and corresponded to approximately 0.12 liters (more precisely, 0.12299 liters).
Larger vessels - bowls - served for honey and beer. These are vessels round shape with a wide top and a narrow bottom, usually without a leg. Their body was directly connected to the stand. They drank from cups and light wines. They are also mentioned in Russkaya Pravda.
There were also stops in use, but they were completely different from our modern piles. Firstly, they were larger, and secondly, they were often supplied with lids. They were often made faceted, the surface was decorated with drawings. The stacks narrowed slightly downwards, but not so much that the vessel lost its stability, which was further enhanced by a thick, massive bottom. These were original glasses made of glass or metal.
The word glass itself came to us later and was borrowed from the Turkic languages. Initially, these vessels were called "dostokan", as they are now called in the East. Over time, as is often the case, the first letters were lost. It should not be thought that our ancestors did not know vessels with a high stem. Such dishes were, but had a different purpose. So, high legs had chalices - liturgical vessels for consecrated wine (from the Greek name for a bowl or goblet).
Goblets also had high legs - vessels for wine, known since ancient times. These were vessels not for everyday use, but for feasts: having been filled with wine, they were offered to dear guests. For these purposes, the shape of the cups also served - solemnly strict, emphatically festive.
Cups were often supplied with lids, decorated with engraving, carving, chasing, etc. They were made of metal, glass, bone, and precious woods. In particular, in Russia they used caps - growths on a birch for the preparation of goblets and bowls. Starting from the 15th century, cups began to be used more and more often as memorable gifts and prizes.
At the end of the 17th century, cups received new life. In 1635, the first glass factory in Russia was founded.
In the 70-80s of the 17th century, the most diverse glassware was made at the sovereign's factories (sulei, vials, glasses, brothers, etc.). The Maltsev cups with engraved coats of arms, symbolic drawings, and various inscriptions were especially famous. The glory of Russian glassware was created by the products of the Ust-Rudetskaya factory (1753), founded by Peter I near Moscow, as well as the products of the Gusevsky and Dyatkovo glass factories. Already at the beginning of the 18th century, “crystal” glasses, goblets and shtofs, decorated with polishing, engraving and gilding, were being produced.
Ladles were one of the most ancient serving items. In different places of our country they had the most various titles: Kortsy, nalevki, scoops, brackets, etc. The oldest wooden ladle, which is about 2 thousand years old, was found by archaeologists in the Gorbunovsky peat bogs. Ladles served not only as dishes, but also as table and dwelling decorations. Just like cups, from about the 16th-17th centuries, ladles made of bone, silver and gold began to be used as memorable gifts.

Carved wooden utensils

However, it was different: serving items lost their decorative character and became everyday items. Such a fate befell the karchagi. In Kievan Rus in X - XII centuries karchags were vessels for storing and transporting wine, aromatic oils and other valuable products. These were vessels of the amphorae type with rounded shapes, they were supplied with decorative ornaments, inscriptions and drawings. Gradually, their character and purpose changed, and they turned into large clay vessels in the shape of a pot with a very wide bell. Even now, in such karchags, dough is fermented, bird cherry and mountain ash are soared, etc.
T plate - comparatively new item on our table, which came into wide use only in the 18th century.
They say that before that there were no individual tableware in Russia and the whole family, including guests, ate from the “common cauldron”, scooping food in turn with spoons. This is not entirely true. We also had stavets (“every elder - have his own stavets”), and bowls, and bowls.
Stavets is a very peculiar vessel, consisting of two equal-sized containers in the form of hemispheres. The upper half (lid) had (just like the lower) stops. If you remove it and put it next to the bottom one, then it turns out, as it were, two bowls that replaced our ancestors with the entire set of modern plates. Only if the stave lid had a handle, then it could no longer be used as a vessel.
There were also various bowls and bowls made of wood (turned and carved) and metal.
Tables were made in the old days especially massive, stable. Their place in the living quarters was strictly defined - in the red corner, benches were attached to the walls and a table was placed near them.
The tabletop was made thick, cleanly planed and scraped off as it got dirty.
Tablecloths appeared a long time ago already on miniatures of the 15th century tablecloths, knives and spoons are depicted.
Napkins, although they were known to the ancient Romans, and became widespread in Europe in the 15th century, appeared in Russia only under Peter I. Initially, they were served only to noble guests. Since the napkins were borrowed by us, the foreign name, passed from the German language, was also preserved behind them. The Germans borrowed it from the Italians and the French.
Sometimes borrowed serving items were immediately received Russian name. So it was with the fork. This is understandable - it was very similar to a pitchfork, an ancient item of peasant life.
The fork became widespread only in the 18th century, and Peter I was its ardent propagandist. True, there is reason to believe that they appeared much earlier (wooden and bone), but even in the 18th century they were rare. Foreign guests wrote about the customs of the table of that time: “At dinner, a spoon and bread are placed on the table for each guest, and a plate, napkin, knife and fork are placed only for honored guests” (V. Makushev. The legend of foreigners about the rules and life of the Slavs. St. Petersburg , 1861).
Spoons came into use a long time ago, since it was impossible to eat liquid dishes without them. The use of spoons made of wood and silver is known as early as the 10th century. No wonder A. Nikitin in his notes (1466-1472) was so struck by the fact that in India “... they don’t hold a knife, they don’t know liars.” Gradually, the shape, size of forks, knives and spoons changed and differentiated according to their purpose. Dinner, tea, coffee, and dessert spoons appeared; forks - snack bars, for meat, for fish: a whole set of knives, etc.

Antique Russian porcelain

Wooden carved and painted utensils
The tree served our ancestors as the main material for the construction of houses and palaces, fortresses and temples, the manufacture of peasant household items (arcs, sleighs, etc.) and utensils. Everyday dishes and utensils were made of wood: dough troughs, bowls, scoops, barrels, jugs, bowls, bowls, salt licks, spoons
etc. They also made festive dishes from it: staves, carved dishes, valleys, ladles for honey and kvass, brothers, etc. Hollowed dishes were especially widespread: spoons, ladles, troughs, mortars, bowls, troughs and dishes for cutting vegetables and meat. Wooden tableware was distinguished by more complex shapes and decorative patterns.
Wooden dugouts are very beautiful and varied. Their most common forms were northern brackets in the form of ducks, geese, swans with handles in the form of heads and tails of birds. Tver ladles were decorated with horse heads, Vologda ones - with a frieze depicting birds, Kozmodemyansky ones - differed
a highly raised handle in the form of a bird or a horse's head.
Absolutely amazing works of Russian decorative art are carved wooden salt licks. In wooden vessels, the salt did not get wet and remained crumbly. Salt licks (now called salt shakers) were often shaped like birds or animals. They were equipped with lids on wooden pins that opened as if on hinges or rotated on an axis.
No less expressive and convenient were carved dishes and boards for serving bread, pies, gingerbread and other baked goods.
However, wooden spoons differ in the greatest variety of forms. Their shape was determined by the purpose (pouring spoons - scoops, soup spoons, small spoons for salt, etc.) and local traditions. In the Gorky region, which was considered one of the main centers of spoon production, they made thick spoons (mezheumki) and thin, Basque (beautiful) and semi-Basque, bends and silvers, thick edges and ladles. Their scoop is usually made spherical, the handle is round or faceted with a thickening at the end (forging). Vyatka spoons have an egg-shaped scoop and a flat, curved handle, etc.
Spoons were made white, painted, and less often with carved ornaments on the handle.
If on serving items and utensils the carving was purely decorative, then on gingerbread boards it was service, since it served as a stamp.
The artist A. Efimov wrote: “To make the gingerbread beautiful and tasty, two masters worked - a wood carver and a baker.”
Carved items were subjected to various types processing: sanding, staining (painting wood with water-soluble paints), waxing, smoking, varnishing, etc.
Painted wooden products have been known since ancient times, and they are found during excavations of ancient settlements. The products of Gorodets, Pinega, Arkhangelsk, Semyonov (Gorky region) and other centers of folk decorative painting stand out for their color, technique and the special nature of the painting. Ancient traditions of painting wooden utensils have survived to this day.
First of all, it is the golden Khokhloma, which is considered to be the birthplace of the city of Semenov, Gorky region. In the second half of the 17th century, master icon painters who fled from the persecution of the church and settled in the village of Khokhloma created a peculiar and unique in color lacquer painting of household utensils. They used the secrets of church painting, which more than once aroused the wrath of the patriarchs and sovereigns of Moscow.
Spoons, ladles and other utensils carved from wood were primed with a solution of clay, crude linseed oil and tin (now aluminum) powder. An intricate floral ornament was painted on this base. Then the products were varnished (based on linseed oil) and hardened in furnaces. In this case, the clear varnish took on an amber hue, and through the layer of varnish, the tin primer looked golden.
Gold, black and red colors create a special color, and the intricate pattern with "Kudrina" is a special elegance of Khokhloma painting.
There are two varieties of it - riding and background.
When horse painting on a golden background, a pattern painted with black and red paint is clearly distinguished - grass (twigs and bushes) or a pattern “under a leaf” (a branch with leaves).
When painting under the background on a red, green or black background, a golden ornament is applied, the famous Khokhloma “Kudrina”. The assortment of Khokhloma dishes is varied: dishes, plates, spoons, goblets, ladles, brothers, ladles (ladles), trays, salt shakers, spice devices and even whole sets, sets for serving honey, kvass, fish soup, okroshka, etc. Dishes this one is not afraid of heat, soap solutions and acids.
No less famous are the Polkhovo-Maidansky painted boxes, salt shakers, mortars and other utensils (the village of Polkhovsky Maidan). They attract with bright painting on a white or colored background.
The "Obvinskaya rose" (painting of the Kama region), Gorodets and Ural painting (Turinsk) are also famous.
trays
The birthplace of metal painted trays was probably Nizhny Tagil, where in the middle of the 18th century the production of lacquered trays with color painting arose at the Demidov factories. These trays differed in a variety of forms. They made them round, oval, four- and triangular, etc. The original "picture" painting of the Ural trays was replaced by a "flower", close to the painting of peasant household items in Siberia and the Urals. The painting was carried out on a red-brown background.
In the village of Zhostovo, the "Institution of the Vishnyakov brothers of lacquered metal trays, biscuits, pallets ..." appeared.
The basis for painting Zhostovo trays was a bright bouquet of flowers on a black lacquered background.
Ceramic tableware
The plasticity of clay attracted the attention of man at the dawn of its history, but only the discovery of a way to give hardness and water resistance to clay products by firing played a huge role. It happened about 4 thousand years BC. Since then, ceramics has firmly entered the life of a person, helped him in the struggle for existence, since cooking greatly expanded the list of edible products. The honor of this discovery belongs to no nation.

Gzhel ceramics

Scientists are still arguing about how pottery was discovered. For a long time it was considered an indisputable truth that the first pottery was obtained by accident, noting that when heated on fire, wicker baskets coated with clay became hard and waterproof. However, in Lately scientists from the laboratory of the history of ceramics at the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences proved that this was not the case at all: ancient people sculpted their first pots from a mixture of clay with fragments of shells, crushed grass, bird droppings, etc., and then burned them. There are other hypotheses as well.
The oldest pottery was sharp-bottomed, as it was placed between stones over a fire. With the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, flat-bottomed dishes appeared, and the Russian stove required the creation of a very special type of dishes - Slavic pots.
There is a vessel for kvass in Russian tableware - kvass. He is not here. and it could not have been with any other people. This vessel is very peculiar - it has a disk-shaped flat body, often with through hole in the middle; its neck ends in a funnel, the massive body is emphasized by the curve of the handle and spout.
First of all, it strikes a flat disc-shaped body. However, there is a reason for this: flat vessels took up less space when placed on shelves in glaciers. A funnel is also needed: a cloth was placed on it and kvass was sifted from barrels. Finally, a hole in the center of the disk is also needed. The fact is that with such a shape, the body was well blown by the cold air of the glacier and quickly cooled. Of course, it was difficult to wash such fermenters, but it more than paid off with other advantages.
Of great importance was the decorative effect of these vessels. They were a wonderful decoration of the home, and special shelves were made for them in living rooms. How could such a vessel appear? It is believed that kvass appeared in our country at the end of the 17th century and is first found in Gzhel ceramic products. Indeed, Gzhel workshops from 1770 to 1780 produced kvass, decorated with paintings and sculptural compositions at the base of the neck. Usually these were scenes of hunting, battles, and less often - genre scenes. Later, the drawing of the Gzhel kvass was simplified, the sculptural compositions disappeared and only the painting remained. It is hard to believe that before the 17th century there were no kvass-makers in Russia. Of course, they were and are even mentioned in Domostroy, but we do not know their form.
Finally, at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, ceramic kumgans were widespread in Russia. They made kumgans polished and etched (coated with green glaze). Decorated with a relief pattern. Later, more expensive (majolica and faience) kumgans began to be decorated with polychrome painting. The southern Kumans also look like them. Russian ceramic kumgan is very similar to oriental metal kumgans. characteristic feature this dish had a long spout.
By the way, Ukrainian Kumans are of two types: "splashers" with two ears or with a spout and a handle freely spaced from the neck, and "kalachi" - always with a spout and a handle and often with big hole in the center of the body. Such Kumans-kalachs are not fundamentally different from kvass.
Modern table setting
The transfer of ceramic production to an industrial basis expanded the range of tableware: snack plates, bread plates, underplates, small plates, deep plates, soup bowls, gravy boats, butter dishes, herring bowls, salad bowls, spice utensils, tea sets, bowls, all kinds of vases, etc.
The assortment of utensils for drinks has also changed. Charms and cups were replaced by glasses, feet were replaced by piles and glasses, goblets turned into wine glasses, decanters appeared instead of kvass, kumgans, kumantsy, brothers and valleys, etc.
Our table setting has largely lost its national features and has become international. This process is natural, since the nature of serving reflects the features of the new way of life, corresponds to the new range of dishes, the changed family way of life and the increased material standard of living of the people.
However, in recent years, more and more interest has been shown in Russian dishes, national style in the design of the table, dining room and tea utensils. The artists of our porcelain and glass factories carefully preserve and develop the best traditions of Russian applied art.
More and more often you can find embroidered tablecloths in restaurants and cafes, samovars, of course, modernized, electric ones, but still samovars, not thermostats. More and more specialized catering establishments are being opened, the interiors of which are decorated in antique style, tea houses are gaining popularity again. This is not nostalgia, but an urgent need and need. The fact is that this shows love for the past, for the preservation and study of national culture.
In addition, modern serving items, despite their convenience, do not always correspond to the peculiarities of Russian cuisine. So, cabbage soup, cooked and brought to the table in a pot, has a special taste; roast served in a pan retains its aroma; salt in a wooden salt shaker does not dampen; it is more convenient to drink kvass from mugs than from wine glasses; the samovar gives a special flavor to the tea table, and the taste of the drink is better; the cake is easier to cut into wooden board than on a porcelain dish, etc.
Serving items are placed on the tables in a certain order, which is now approximately the same in all European countries.
For each guest, a small dinner plate is placed, and a smaller snack bar is placed on it. On the left side and a little further from the edge of the table they put a pie plate for bread. To the right of the plates put a spoon and a knife (with the blade towards the plate, and the spoon with the concave side up). The fork is placed on the left and also with the concave side up. If several knives and forks are placed, then they are placed in the same order in which they will be used: a small snack knife (fork), a fish knife (wide) or fork, a dinner knife or fork.
Feast traditions
The meal has always been associated with traditions and was of a solemn nature. A special role at the table was assigned to the head of the family or the elder: he sat on the most honorable place at the head of the table in the red corner, no one could start eating before him, he monitored the observance of order and piety at the table. The order of places at the table, the order in which dishes were served, etc., were also strictly observed. Three meals a day reflected work schedule day. It is even difficult for a Russian person to imagine a different diet.
Our day starts with breakfast. Its very name indicates the time - it comes from the word "in the morning", that is, early in the morning. This time was determined by the start of work in accordance with the agricultural calendar. Usually they had breakfast in peasant families before sunrise.
The second meal is lunch. The root of this Slavic word "ed" indicates that this is the main meal. Its time was determined by the position of the sun in the sky - noon, sometimes even now this time is called lunchtime.
The origin of the word "dinner" is unclear, but most scholars believe that it came from the root "south". The fact is that “yu” often turns into “y”, and “g” into “g”, and from the root “south” or “already” the name of the meal came after noon (“south”).
In a number of Slavic languages, dinner is called "supper", i.e. evening meal.
The distribution of the diet for these three traditional meals is characterized by the proverb: “Eat breakfast
yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to the enemy, "that is, breakfast and lunch should be hearty, and dinner should be light. This tradition is typical for countries with a cold and temperate climate.
Previously (in the 16th century), Russians traditionally had four meals: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
In countries with a hot climate, the main meals usually occur in the early morning and cool evening hours.
Such a routine is expedient from a physiological point of view.
Perhaps, no side of family life is connected with folk rituals as much as cooking and table customs. In contrast to religious folk rituals, they corresponded to the needs of society, they reflected the peculiarities of its life, on their basis a national original art was formed and developed.
It should be especially remembered that folk customs were adopted by religion, which was unable to overcome them, and the essence of many of them was distorted beyond recognition by it.
So, for example, initially the posts were of a reasonable nature. The peoples engaged in agriculture and hunting were forbidden to eat meat during the period when slaughter and hunting were inappropriate. The fasts reflected the cycles of nature and regulated consumption. Many of these customs are physiologically expedient, but fasting taken to extremes has turned into fanaticism. Of course, the monks could eat during fasting
fish soup from sturgeon and sterlet, and the working people were starving on such days.
Folk customs appeared before religious ones, and among the Slavs, most of them developed before the spread of Christianity. So, new year holidays Carols have nothing to do with Christmas. Gogol's beekeeper Rudy Panko said: “They say that there was once a blockhead Kolyada, who was taken for a god, and that carols seemed to have gone out because of that. Who knows? Not to us. ordinary people, to interpret it. Last year, Father Osip forbade caroling around the farms, saying that as if these people were pleasing to Satan. However, to tell the truth, there is not a word about Kolyada in carols.
By the way, this name came to us from Byzantium, although the custom itself is Slavic. The Greco-Roman New Year's holiday was called "calende" and was accompanied by very similar customs. Kalende is the best suited to the labor calendar of our ancestors: all autumn work completed, the harvest is harvested.
A characteristic feature of the Russian feast has always been traditional dishes corresponding to the occasion on which the guests gathered. So, kurniki were served at weddings, the groom was fed with scrambled eggs, at christening the father was treated to salted "babin porridge" so that he knew what it was like for his wife to give birth; pancakes, kutya and jelly were served at the wake.
The treats at the spring, autumn and winter holidays were completely different. For example, on spring holidays, eggs, cottage cheese dishes, etc. were served. New Year sweet wheat porridge, etc. The pie was an indispensable part of the birthday table; pancakes, gingerbread and various cookies - Shrovetide, etc.
Many festive feasts were strictly regulated. Here, for example, is a sample wedding menu: “Loaf, gingerbread, gingerbread, poppy seeds, pies (“fish and meat”), fried lamb, geese, piglets, buckwheat or barley porridge, nuts, cranberries, lingonberries, apples (soaked and fresh) , mushrooms (salted and pickled), sauerkraut.
Let's try to describe some of these dishes.
Wedding loaf. Cook viscous rice porridge in milk, cool it, add egg yolks, mashed with sugar, raisins, candied fruit, vanillin and mix well. In a separate bowl, beat the whites until the foam sticks well on a whisk or fork.
The mass for the loaf is combined with whipped proteins and placed in molds, oiled and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. The surface of the loaf is smeared with an egg mixed with sour cream and baked in the oven. After the loaf has cooled down a little, it is taken out of the mold and placed on a dish. Berries from jam are laid on top of the loaf. On the table, the loaf is cut, laid out on plates and poured over with sweet gravy.
Rice 200, milk 500, water 100, eggs
2-3 pieces, raisins, candied fruits, crackers, butter, sour cream, jam.
Goose, duck fried with apples. goose or
the duck is processed, the legs are seasoned “into the pocket”, salted inside and out, put back down on a large frying pan, baking sheet or patch, low-fat poultry is poured with fat, and fatty - with water and put in the oven. Periodically, the bird is poured with fat
and juice. The finished bird is placed in a patch, covered with a lid and stored hot until serving. Meat broth is poured into a pan with juice, boiled and filtered.
From whole large unpeeled apples, the core is cut out so that the bottom remains, the meat juice obtained by frying the bird is poured into this hole, and baked on baking sheets greased with fat.
The fried bird is cut into pieces, placed on a large dish, and baked apples are placed around. Separately, soaked lingonberries or lingonberry not very sweet jam are served in a bowl.
In the family of L.N. Tolstoy, the "Ankovsky" pie was especially fond of, the recipe of which was given to them by the doctor S.A. Bers, who learned him from Professor Anke. This cake was served at all festive and dinner parties. Therefore, even the whole way of life in Yasnaya Polyana was called "Ankov's pie." Recall that the same traditional dish in the Wolf family in Trigorskoye was an apple pie, in the family of A. N. Tolstoy - baked potatoes, in the family of I. E. Repin - wild herb soup, etc. According to contemporaries, A N. Tolstoy described the preparation of baked potatoes as follows: “You first wash it, then salt it wet - in the oven, the skin will wrinkle, crunch ... Good!”.
The traditions of the festive table were observed strictly, unlike our today's festive feasts, which have become faceless and monotonous. It is difficult to distinguish the menu of a wedding dinner from the menu of an anniversary feast, New Year's table from May Day!
Traditional dishes are created not only in certain areas of the country, but often in individual families, and
good Russian housewives are proud of them to this day.
We find many descriptions of such family dishes in literary works, memoirs of contemporaries and home handwritten cookbooks. These books have been written before.
in many families. In the memorial museum Dacha A. S. Pushkin "(Kitaeva's house in Pushkin) there is such a cookbook by Natalia Nikolaevna Pushkina. S. A. Tolstaya also led such a book, some of the recipes from which were published by V. Kovchenkov in the journal “ Catering". Here are a few of them (slightly modified).
Black bread cake. Grind rye crackers and sift. Grind the yolks of 10 eggs with a cup of sugar, mix with a cup of ground crackers, mix, add whipped whites, peeled almonds. Put the dough in a mold, greased with oil, sprinkled with breadcrumbs, and bake.
Carrot or turnip porridge. Boil carrots or turnips in broth, rub, add broth, cream, butter, spices and heat.

Carved wooden utensils

They had their own traditions, their own, as we would now say, "special dishes" in restaurants. So, Test restaurants were famous for Guryev porridge, pies, piglet and botvinya; Egorov's taverns - pancakes and fish dishes; Arsentiev - ham with red bread kvass, "Yar" - cold veal, "Peterhof" - shish kebabs, etc.
This good tradition is supported by our modern restaurants. However, restaurants and taverns in Russia were not only establishments where one could eat. They were a kind of clubs, a meeting place for friends. So it was under Peter I, when in the austeria the sovereign himself had lively conversations with foreign sailors and merchants.
So it was under A. S. Pushkin: “He rushed to Talon: he is sure
What is Kaverin waiting for him there?

So it was later. N. A. Nekrasov met with friends in St. Petersburg in a tavern on Razyezzhaya Street, A. Green, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak chose Capernaum. In the story about drinks, we already talked about the literary cafes of the first post-revolutionary years.
A very special role as a literary and artistic salon was played by I. S. Sokolov's restaurant "Vienna". V. Mayakovsky and A. Blok, A. N. Tolstoy, F. Chaliapin and I. Seveyanin, A. Kuprin and L. Sobinov, the organizer of the orchestra of Russian folk instruments V. Andreev and many other famous writers saw its cozy halls in their walls and artists.
In the same way, publishers of cheap publications gathered in the Moscow tavern Kolgushkin, at Shcherbakov -
artists, writers, playwrights, among them A. N. Ostrovsky, in the Hermitage - eminent merchants, employees of the Russian Thought (N. K. Mikhailovsky, Gleb Uspensky and others), artists.
Many restaurants were also original centers of musical culture. Suffice it to recall the concerts of the V. Andreev orchestra at the Vena restaurant in St. Petersburg, musical evenings at the Slavyansky Bazaar and the Sokolovsky Choir at the Yar in Moscow.
Necessary kind word remember the Russian chefs who worked in the semi-dark cellars of taverns and restaurants, the unknown workers who created the glory of our cuisine, who left us their culinary art as a legacy. Without them, without their talent, there would be no our modern cuisine, and there would be no dishes that are the pride of Russian cuisine even now.

A few household utensils in the hut were represented by dishes and tools of female labor. From dishes - clay pots or cast irons of various sizes for cooking, patches - clay pans with high vertical sides; nights, or nights - wide linden trays with low sides and two handles at the ends (dough was kneaded on them, pies baked in the oven were laid out here), a wooden scoop for flour, wooden spoons; high-necked krinks or gorlachas (kubans) for milk or kvass, clay and wooden cups and bowls, jugs of various sizes, with a handle and a lid, for beer and mash, ladles of various types and sizes - from bucket brackets with two handles to small liqueurs with one handle, for pouring liquids and drinking; valley, a large rounded wooden or copper tin-plated bowl with a spout for draining, or the same bratina, which did not have a spout, which were put on the festive table for beer and mash. There might also have been small wine glasses, copper or glass, made of thick green glass. In the huts are richer, and then everywhere - lafitniks, large glasses on legs, as well as cheap, brightly painted tea cups and saucers, products of numerous small peasant Gzhel factories or A. Popov's factory, whose products were designed for ordinary people. A large copper samovar made in Tula or the Urals was a luxury item and was usually only available to wealthy families; not without reason, when inventorying property for non-payment of taxes, the samovar was first of all described as an item absolutely unnecessary. Of course, in the hut there were one or two clay pots, buckets for two or three, for an expendable supply of water, for kvass, mash or beer, as well as buckets of cooperage, assembled from riveting on wooden hoops, tub or tub for slops. Near the door, at the entrance to the zakut, hung with a hand - a washing pot, with two ears and two spouts, and under it was a tub. Under the cooker's shop there was a cooper's work or a sourdough dug out of a thick linden trimming, or a jar in which the dough was kneaded. There was also a crown, or root, a rounded small basket, tightly woven from thin pine roots, for shaping bread. In the hut there were also a sieve made of horsehair and a sieve of bast, both with bast shells; they were used for sifting flour. There could also be a wooden, dugout trough, as well as a stupa with four handles, dug out of a stump of a strong tree (preferably oak), with a heavy, strong wooden pestle in it.

Solonitsa

jug

In the millstone corner in the hut, and more often in the passage, there were hand millstones on the bench: two flat round stones lying on top of each other and enclosed in a bast shell. A short vertical handle was driven into the edge of the upper stone, the runner, and in the middle there was a hole for filling grain for grinding. In poverty, instead of stones, two heavy wooden mugs were used, preferably oak, into which fragments of a broken cast-iron were tightly driven. A small amount of flour was manually ground for immediate use.

Besides, in peasant hut what was needed was such an object as a rubel - a flat, slightly curved bar a yard long, with a handle at the end and scars on the working plane.

Modern housewives know how difficult it is to iron linen items with an iron. In addition, with increased ironing, linen, especially at the seams, begins to become unpleasantly shiny and does not at all justify the name “northern silver”, beloved by journalists and art historians. And rightly so. Flax cannot be ironed. It needs to be rolled out with a rubel. The hostess wound a linen towel around a rolling pin and, pressing it with a ruble, rolled it with force on the table. From this, the canvas was wound tighter and tighter on the rolling pin, at the same time softening and smoothing out. When rolled out, the dried-up tiny villi, characteristic of linen fabric, straightened out, "stand on end" and the rolled-out product really turned silver. True, rolling out linen with a rubel is not for you to iron with a modern iron, then a lot of sweat will come off.

Rubel

As soon as they started talking about fabrics, it is necessary to say about " washing machine"Valke. This wooden product, however, most likely, it was not in the hut, but in the hallway. Valek was a weighty short, usually slightly arched wooden block with a handle. The hostess would take it to the river and, after lathering the folded fabric several times, would beat it with a forceful roller, “knocking out” the dirt along with the soapy water. Wet, pre-boiled in the oven in a trough with lye, the hostess carried the “laundry” to the river in baskets, clinging them to a yoke. They also carried water from the well with a yoke. It was a long, arm-span, flat bar, arched, lying comfortably on the shoulders; the shackles of buckets or the handles of baskets were hooked to the cutouts at its ends. The yoke hung or stood in a corner in the passage.

Well, of course, it is necessary to talk about one of the most important tools of women's labor - the spinning wheel. The spinning wheel with a flywheel and foot drive, known to many from the grandmother’s household, is not a spinning wheel, but a self-spinning wheel, a mechanism of relatively recent origin that came to us from Europe. A real Russian spinning wheel, or spinning wheel, can now be seen in museums or from collectors. There were two similar types of spinners. One of them, a kopyl, was cut down from a tree trunk with a rhizome. A relatively narrow bottom turned into a perpendicular leg, which expanded into a wide blade. A tow prepared for spinning was tied to the blade, and the spinning wheel itself was placed on a bench, and the spinning wheel sat on the bottom, pressing it with its weight. Later spinning wheels were prefabricated - turning spinning wheels: they had a separate bottom, and the leg was figured, turned on a lathe. There were simple spinning wheels, but mostly they were richly decorated with paintings or carvings, sometimes painted, and in some places they combined carving and painting. It was customary for the groom to give the bride a richly decorated spinning wheel. Such spinning wheels were kept, passing from mothers to daughters. After work, they were placed on the benches or hung on the wall, and they served as a decoration for the hut. For spinning, in some places wide, frequent maple combs with long legs were used, which were inserted into carved or painted bottoms. But in all cases, the spinner with three fingers of one hand pulled out several fibers from the tow, or lobe, twisting them into a thread, and with the other she rotated a vertically standing spindle, winding a thread around it; in spinning wheels, the thread was wound on a spool. Spindles with threads wound around them were placed in a round bast box.

spinning wheel

Vologda province

And women sewed using seamstresses - inserted into the bottom or cut down together with the bottom with low carved openwork columns; at the top a piece of leather was nailed or there was a cloth knob stuffed with tow. The seamstress clamped the fabric between two hoops of the hoop and pinned the sewing to the seamstress with a needle. When working, it was only necessary to slightly hold the sewing with one hand, acting with the other, and if the seamstress got up, the sewing in the hoop remained hanging on the seamstress. There were intricate seamstresses with pencil cases near the counter, where thimbles, threads, needles, pins and other trifles were folded.

In general, this is an amazing phenomenon - the decoration of peasant household items. It would seem that a hard life left neither time nor feelings for beauty. And now, come on: literally everything that could be decorated was decorated with carvings or paintings. Clay ant pots were covered with green, sometimes brown watering, and a simple ornament peeked out from under it. Sometimes the pots were brightly painted with colored clay - engobe. Cups, spoons, ladles, brothers, valleys, tuesas, yokes were painted, ruffles for flax, horse arches, rolls and rubels were covered with intricate fine carving, decorated with carvings or painting of the spinning wheel and bottom, sometimes even the interior of the hut was painted: the doors of the golbets and cabinets and even ceilings. Moreover, the carved Vologda spinning wheels were with rattles: turned colored stones were inserted into the holes in the blade on the wire, and when the spinning wheel trembled during operation, they emitted a slight rumble. By the way, many local schools of carving and painting on wood and their types have developed in Russia. Apparently, a harsh and difficult life required at least some kind of joy, spiritual compensation. Well, it would seem that it doesn’t matter if the woman ruffles the flax with a simple plank or a carved ruffle, which anyway will quickly work out, rub off on a hard linen straw or break. But no, the man was sitting over him with a knife, covering him with rosettes, so that the woman would have more fun working.

It is difficult to say from what time the manufacture of chiseled wooden utensils began in Russia. Archaeological finds on the territory of Novgorod and on the site of Bulgarian settlements in the Volga region indicate that the lathe was known as early as the 12th century. In Kyiv, in the recesses of the tithe church, a chiseled bowl was found during excavations. In the XVI-XVII centuries. installation of the simplest, so-called bow, lathe was available to every ordinary craftsman.

On the places of production and sales markets for turned wooden utensils in the 16th - early 17th centuries. give great material income-expenditure books, customs books, acts and inventories of property of monasteries. It can be seen from them that the quitrent peasants of the Volokolamsk, Trinity-Sergius, Kirilo-Belozersky monasteries, artisans of the Kaluga and Tver provinces, townsmen of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas were engaged in the development of wooden turning utensils. By the end of the XVIII century. the production of wooden turning utensils became massive. Russian artisans created truly perfect forms: staves, stavers, brothers, dishes, bowls, goblets, cups, glasses (Fig. 1). The craftsmanship, passed on by inheritance, was improved by the creativity of each generation.

Rice. 1. Common forms of Russian turning utensils. XV-XVIII centuries: 1 - brother; 2 - bowl; 3, 4 - dishes; 5, 6 - cups; 7 - glass; 8 - cup; 9 - staker; 10 - stake.

Of the individual dishes, the most common was stavets- a deep vessel like a bowl with a flat base and a voluminous lid. Some of them had curly handles. Stavits were different sizes: stakes, stakes And stakers. Stavets and stavchiki were used as dinnerware. Large stakes served as storage for smaller dishes and bread products. The festive table was decorated with brothers, dishes, plates, goblets, cups, feet. Bratina- a medium-sized spherical vessel with a small neck on top and a rim slightly bent outwards was always made on a pallet. Bratina served to serve drinks on the table. On dishes and plates with wide edges, flat sides and round trays or reliefs, pies, meat, fish, and sweets were served on the table. The diameter of dishes reached 45 cm. The most common type of dishes among the peasants was a bowl - a hemispherical vessel with a straight rim, a flat low tray or a small round relief. These bowls often had a ratio of height to diameter of 1:3. For stability, the diameter of the pallet was made equal to the height of the bowl. The diameter of running bowls is 14-19 cm. Large bowls reached a diameter of 30 cm, and burlatsky ones - even 50 cm. A salt shaker was an indispensable accessory of each table. Turned salt shakers are small, capacious vessels with a low, stable base, with or without a lid. Great popularity since the 19th century. Khokhloma dishes began to be used, which were made in large quantities in the Semenovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province (Gorky region). It could be found not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the East.

popularity Khokhloma dishes industrial exhibitions contributed: in 1853 it was first shown at a domestic exhibition, and in 1857 - at a foreign one. At the end of the last century, it was exported to France, Germany, England, North America. Over the centuries, certain types of wooden utensils have been developed and improved in this craft, distinguished by the noble simplicity of the silhouette, the severity of proportions, and the absence of pretentious details that crush the shape. Modern masters, using the best traditions of the past, they continue the manufacture of wooden utensils, which are both household items and a magnificent decoration of the home.

In the Gorky region, there are two historical centers of fishing - in the village of Semin, Koverninsky district and in the city of Semenov. Semin products - massive bowls And buckets- made in the traditions of peasant wooden utensils. Semenovskaya dishes is distinguished by greater sophistication, it is characterized by improved forms, intricate lids and handles. The search for new types of products led to the creation of previously unknown sets and sets of dishes. Dining and fishing sets, sets for coffee (Fig. 2) and tea, sets for salad, berries and jam, and spices have received wide recognition. Sets, as well as services, usually include several items - up to six cups, piles, glasses, saucers, a large brother or tureen with a lid, a coffee pot or kvass pot, a sugar bowl, a creamer, a salt shaker and a pepper pot. Often sets are complemented by large plates - trays. Each set necessarily includes spoons - tablespoons or teaspoons, for salad, ladles. Fundamentally utilitarian, Khokhloma utensils are distinguished by their plastic expressiveness of forms, favorably emphasizing the artistic merits of the murals that adorn them.

Rice. 2. Set for coffee. Linden, oil, turning, carving, painting “Kudrin”. N. I. Ivanova, N. P. Salnikova, 1970s, Semenov, Khokhloma painting association.

Russian wooden spoons

The most ancient spoon (Fig. 1), which apparently had a ritual purpose, was found in the Gorbunovsky peat bog in the Urals. It has an elongated, egg-shaped scoop and a curved handle ending in a bird's head, which gives it the image of a floating bird.

Rice. 1. Spoon. Wood, carving. II millennium BC. e., Nizhny Tagil, Gorbunovsky peat bog. Historical Museum.

In Novgorod the Great, there were many varieties of wooden spoons (Fig. 2). Particularly noteworthy are spoons with a small, as if raised on a scallop, flat handle. Novgorod craftsmen decorated them with carvings and paintings. Ornament - braid, made in the technique of contour carving, was applied with belts to the handle and framed the blade. In the Russian North in the XVII century. Vologda onion spoons were known, made in the Vologda Territory, as well as shadra spoons with bones, indigenous ones with bones or spoons with a sea tooth addition, i.e., inlaid with bone, walrus tusk.

Rice. 2. Spoons. Maple, carving. Novgorod the Great: 1, 2 - simple spoons. XIII centuries; 3, 4, 5 - travel spoons, X, XI, XVI centuries.

Each nationality of our country has its own forms of spoons, but the most famous are spoons made in the Volga-Vyatka region (Fig. 3). There are over forty varieties of them, only in the Gorky region they made and are making ladles, a rubbing spoon, salad, fishing, thin, mezheumok, half-bass, Siberian, children's, mustard, a spoon for jam, etc. The scoop of Gorky spoons is more often spherical in shape, and rounded or the faceted handle-handle ends with a forging - a thickening in the form of a cut pyramid. The Kirov spoon has an egg-shaped scoop and a flat, slightly curved handle. The production of spoons has already been a well-established, branched production in the past. In some villages, blanks were made, the so-called fragments or buckwheat. In a small stump with slightly hewn edges, expanding in the part that should become a scoop, a spoon was hardly guessed. In other villages, lozhkars used a rough adze to gouge out a recess, which was then completely removed with a chisel-hook. With a confident movement of the knife, they cut off the excess from the handle, giving it a slight bend, and the spoon was ready. Russian masters have worked out the methods of carving a spoon so much that it takes 15-20 minutes to make it.

Rice. 3. Russian spoons of the XIX-XX centuries. GIM.

Russian wooden ladles

In Russia, wooden utensils of various shapes, sizes and purposes have long been cut: ladles, skopkari, valleys and others. Today, several types of traditional Russian ladles are known: Moscow, Kozmodemyansk, Tver, Yaroslavl-Kostroma, Vologda, Severodvinsk, etc. (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Russian holiday dishes. XVII-XIX centuries: 1 - burl boat-shaped Moscow ladle; 2 - a large Kozmodemyansky ladle; 3 - Kozmodemyansk buckets-scoops; 4 - Tver bucket "groom"; 5 - ladle of the Yaroslavl-Kostroma type; 6 - Vologda ladle; 7 - Severodvinsk skopkar; 8 - Tver valley; 9 - Severodvinsk valley.

Moscow ladles, made of burl with a beautiful pattern of texture, are characterized by bowls of a clear, even exquisite boat-shaped shape with a flat bottom, a pointed spout and a short horizontal handle. Due to the density and strength of the material, the walls of such vessels were often as thick as a nutshell. Burlap dishes were often made in a silver frame. Buckets of the 18th century are known, reaching a diameter of 60 cm. Kozmodemyansk ladles were hollowed out of linden. Their shape is boat-shaped and very close to the shape of Moscow ladles, but they are much deeper and larger in volume. Some of them reached the capacity of two or three, and sometimes four buckets. The handle is flat horizontal with a constructive addition of a purely local nature - a slotted loop at the bottom. Kozmodemyansk is also characterized by small scoops, which served to scoop drinks from large bucket ladles. They are predominantly boat-shaped, with a rounded, slightly flattened bottom. An almost vertically set, multi-tiered handle in the form of an architectural structure extending from the bottom is decorated with a through carving, ending with the image of a horse, less often a bird.

Tver ladles are noticeably different from Moscow and Kozmodemyansk ones. Their originality lies in the fact that they are hollowed out from the root of a tree. Keeping basically the shape of a rook, they are more elongated in width than in length, which makes them appear flattened. The nose of the ladle, as usual for boat-shaped vessels, is raised up and ends with two or three horse heads, for which the Tver ladles received the name "grooms". The handle of the bucket is straight faceted, the upper face, as a rule, is decorated with ornamental carvings. The dippers of the Yaroslavl-Kostroma group have a deep rounded, sometimes flattened boat-shaped bowl, the edges of which are slightly bent inwards. In earlier ladles, the bowl is raised on a low pallet. Their handles are carved in the form of a figured loop, the nose is in the form of a cock's head with a sharp beak and beard. Vologda scoops are designed for scooping up drinks from large scoops. They are characterized by a boat-shaped shape and a round spherical bottom; as a rule, they were hung on a large ladle. Hook-shaped handles were decorated with carved ornaments in the form of ducks.

In the Russian North, skopkari ladles were carved from the root of a tree. Skopkar is a boat-shaped vessel, similar to a ladle, but having two handles, one of which is necessarily in the form of a bird's or horse's head. According to domestic purposes, skopkari are divided into large, medium and small. Large and medium - for serving drinks on the table, small - for individual use, like small cups. Severodvinsk skopkari were also cut from the root. They have a clear boat-shaped shape, handles, processed in the form of a head and tail of a waterfowl, and in all their appearance they resemble a waterfowl.

Along with ladles and skopkars, valleys or "yands" were decorations of the festive table. Endova - a low bowl with a sock for draining. Large valleys held up to a bucket of liquid. Tver and Severodvinsk variants are known. The best Tver valleys are carved from burl. They are a bowl on an oval or cubic pallet with a spout in the form of a trough and a handle. The endova of the Severodvinsk type has the shape of a round bowl on a low base, with slightly bent edges, with a half-open toe in the form of a groove, sometimes figuratively carved. The handle is very rare. The initial processing of the described objects was carried out with an ax, the depth of the vessel was hollowed out (selected) with an adze, then leveled with a scraper. The final external processing was carried out with a cutter and a knife. Samples of Russian wooden utensils demonstrate high craftsmanship developed by more than one generation of folk craftsmen.

It is difficult to say when the manufacture of wooden carved dishes began on the territory of Russia. The earliest find of a ladle dates back to the 2nd millennium BC. e. Archaeological excavations on the territory of Kievan Rus and Novgorod the Great indicate that the production of wooden utensils was developed already in the 10th - 12th centuries. In the XVI - XVII centuries. wooden utensils were made by serf landowners and monastic peasants or archers. The production of wooden utensils and spoons was widely developed in the 17th century, when the demand for them increased both in the city and in the countryside. In the 19th century With the development of industry and the advent of metal, porcelain, faience and glassware, the need for wooden dishes is sharply reduced. Its production is preserved mainly in the fishing areas of the Volga region.

At present, scoop buckets and table buckets are one of the favorite types. art products from wood. Arkhangelsk craftsmen, preserving the traditional basis of the North Russian ladle, prefer not to lacquer the velvety wood surface, slightly tinted in silvery or light brown tones. Masters of the Khotkovo craft near Moscow created their own image of a modern ladle, ladle-bowl, ladle-vase, decorating the festive table (Fig. 2). They are characterized by a powerful plasticity of forms, an unusual surface, gleaming with inner light, of a pleasant tone. A ladle-sail with a highly raised straightened sail-handle, on which, as a rule, a bush of the famous Kudrin ornament is carved, has become traditional for fishing.

Ancient Russian dishes were distinguished by their diversity, despite the fact that they were most often created from wood. Its attractiveness for modern people is that it is beautiful, unusual, and making dishes was a real creative process, a true art in which the imagination of Russian craftsmen manifested itself.

Features of ancient dishes

As already mentioned, in Russia all dishes were carved from wood, both for food and for drinking. That is why very few samples of real folk art have come down to us. Old Russian dishes are diverse - these are bowls, and ladles, and jugs, and carved spoons. These attributes were created in different centers of the Russian principality, and each master was distinguished by his own unique handwriting. Painting and carving are the most common decorations of ancient dishes. Today, these products can only be found in museums and in private collections of lovers of antique gizmos.

What material was used

Not all types of wood were suitable for creating dishes. The most commonly used birch, aspen, conifers trees. Soft linden was used to create spoons, pouring ladles. Moreover, the documentation contains ancient Russian dishes, the names of which attract attention with their unusualness. For example, a straight spoon, a root ladle - such names do not tell us anything, modern people who are accustomed to glass and porcelain for table setting. In fact, straightness is the wood of the trunk, and the root vessel is a vessel made from a powerful rhizome. Peasants, as a rule, used any tree to create dishes - both ruins, and bark, and flexible roots that are convenient to weave. And the most expensive dishes were considered to be made of burl - a growth on a tree.

Ladle

This ancient Russian crockery has come down to us in a modified form, because modern models not made from wood. Metal ladles in modern Russia are often used in villages when equipping a bath. In Ancient Russia, a ladle was considered the most common type of festive drinking utensils - honey, kvass, and beer were served in them. An ensemble of large and small ladles served as a real table decoration.

This ancient Russian wine dish has always been elegant and interesting, for example, in the form of a boat, a floating bird. On the Northern Dvina, they created this dish with two handles that resembled the head and tail of a duck. An important role was also played by the bright painting with which these simple peasant attributes of life were decorated. In the Tver province, local craftsmen created vessels in the form of a horse's head, decorated with carvings and a geometric rosette in the center, which is an ancient symbol of the sun. And in 1558, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, on his orders a ladle was created, decorated with three large sapphires. Today, this work of art is kept in one of the museums in Germany, where it ended up during the Great Patriotic War.

Buckets from different regions

Moscow craftsmen created buckets from burl, which made it possible to preserve a beautiful pattern of texture. These products had the shape of a boat, a flat bottom, a pointed spout and a short horizontal handle. The vessels had dense and durable walls, and a silver frame was used as an additional decoration. Kozmodemyansk ladles were made of linden and resembled those in Moscow in shape, but were deeper and larger in volume. Ladles made by Tver craftsmen were hollowed out from the roots of trees, most often in the form of an elongated boat. And in northern regions ladles-skopkari were created - vessels in the form of a boat with two handles, one of which was necessarily made in the form of a bird's or horse's head.

Bread box and salt box

This ancient Russian utensil was also an obligatory attribute on any table, because bread and salt were important components of the diet. A bread box was used to store flour products, and it was made from bast - a layer of a tree trunk, which is located between the bark and the core. Such dishes reliably protect bread from mold and moisture.

Salt in Russia was an expensive pleasure, so the creation of dishes for storing it was approached very carefully. The salt box was made in two main forms - in the form of a high chair, in which the seat-cover rises, or in the form of a floating bird. Ancient Russian dishes looked very beautiful and unusual - the pictures show how much attention was paid to the elements of painting and carving.

Bratina, bowls and eyelid

If the names "ladle" and "salt cellar" (although we often call it "salt cellar") are familiar to everyone, then with the word "brother" everything is much more complicated. Most likely, the name of this dish comes from the word "bratchina", which meant a festive feast. As a rule, it was made in the form of a ball, which was intercepted from above by a neck-crown with bent edges. on the dishes of this type was very different. For example, a bratina made in the 18th century, decorated with painting in the form of scales with an inscription, has survived to this day. By the way, inscriptions also played a big role in the design of ancient dishes. They could tell a lot: about the place and date of creation of the attribute, about its owner, and so on.

There were also bowls in use in the old days, which are wide dishes with low edges. They served fried and baked dishes, and in the monasteries they even baked loaves. The eyelid was an oblong-shaped dish, which was covered with a lid on top and additionally equipped with handles. It was used for various purposes: for baking pies, storing kvass, cooking meat dishes. Subsequently, this dish turned into a frying pan known to us.

Valley and cups

If everything is clear with the goblets, then the endova is an ancient Russian dish, the names of which were different: both the bowl, and the yandova, and the brother. This dish is a round vessel made of copper or bast, which was used to drink beer, mead, home brew. Such vessels were stylized in the form of figures of a duck, goose, rooster, boat, and each region had its own drawings. Until now, such utensils have been preserved among the Karelians - they create valleys from linden, oak, maple or birch wood.

Tver craftsmen created the best valleys from burl (growth on a tree). The dishes were made in the form of a bowl on a special pallet (oval or square) and were supplemented with a spout-plum. Vessels were processed with an ax, then leveled with a scraper.

Staves and spoons

Old Russian wooden dishes are unusual and very colorful, and sometimes their names are very unexpected. For example, a stave was used for food, which was created by turning on a special machine. This dish consisted of two deep bowls - one served as a lid, but it could also be used as a plate. Well, what holiday table can do without spoons? Probably, many people have this element of utensils - a beautiful and thick wooden spoon, richly decorated with paintings. Fruits and vegetables were also served in stavtsy in Russia. But there was also dishes under specific view fruits - lemongrass, vegetable, borage.

A large number of types of wooden spoons were in Veliky Novgorod. Products that had a kind of raised stalk looked especially beautiful. Most often, braid was used as an ornament, which was carried out using the technique of contour carving. And in the northern regions, shadra spoons were created with inlaid bones or fangs. In addition, in each region, the spoons had their own unique shape. For example, in the Gorky region they created ladles, salad, fishing, thin spoons, which were distinguished by a rounded and faceted handle-handle. The Kirov spoon was distinguished by an egg-shaped scoop and a flat handle.

Drinking vessels

In Ancient Russia, all the utensils used for drinking were called drinking or drinking utensils. At the same time, the name of almost each of them is interesting and original in terms of origin. Perhaps the simplest and most understandable vessel is a jug - drinks were stored in it and served on the table. A variation of the jug was a kumgan, borrowed from the eastern neighbors, distinguished by a narrow neck, a long spout and a handle. Water was most often stored in kumgans, so they were of large volume. Pewters are also a type of jug. Various drinks were stored and served to the table in it. But with glass products In Russia, things were very interesting. So, already in the XII century, the word "glass" was known, but they were brought from other countries.

Both glass utensils and ancient Russian wooden utensils look very interesting. Pictures from chronicles and ancient records show that most of these attributes were simple, concise, and differed only in drawings and ornaments. Kitchen dishes It was named after its appearance or the material that was used to create it.