B. Пасха

In pre-revolutionary Russia the rules of the last week of [ Великий пост ] were followed rigorously: the women spring-cleaned their homes, [ пекли куличи и готовили пасху ] as well as pies and delicacies for the Easter table, and with the rest of the family [ раскрашивали яйца ] to be given to friends and relations. These traditions, subdued for decades, are re-emerging today.

On Easter Saturday, [ кулич ] is taken to the church to be blessed by the priest, [ вместе с пасхой и сваренными вкрутую крашеными яйцами ].

In the evening the whole family dress in their best clothes and go to church [ на пасхальную всенощную ] the service lasts until the early hour in the morning. The priest incants [ Христос воскресе! И прихожане отвечают «Воистину воскресе!» И после этого прихожане трижды целуются ].

After [ всенощная ] the family go home [ к обильному пасхальному столу ]. It is about 4 a.m. [ Весь стол уставлен разнообразными закусками и мясными блюдами. Рыба к пасхальному столу не подается ]. There are bowls baskets of [ крашеные яйца с буквами ХВ ].

The drinks are poured and the feasting begins. [ Наконец подают десерт – кулич и пасху. Пасха тоже украшена буквами ХВ ].

C. That the Russians have a special gift for borrowing foreign ideas and making their own is as true in the kitchen as it is in any of the finer arts. The French helped create [ бефстроганов ], the Germans and Scandinavians inspired [ закуски ], the Caucasians introduced [ шашлык ], but today all of them count as Russian dishes.

By the middle of the 18^th century, while the peasant diet remained unchanged, the upper classes were eating large, rich meals embracing seven or eight courses. A full meal or [ обед ] began with a soup, and moved through meat and fish courses to savory pies and [ каша ]. [ Пряники ] and other sweet pies followed.

Thanks to close ties with Northern Europe, wrought by Tsar Peter the Great, they had their first introduction to [ котлеты, омлет, мусс и компот ]. One important modification of the Russian table, encouraged by the Dutch, German and Swedish chefs whom Peter the Great employed, was [ закуски ]. It gave the classic [ обед ] a new beginning. More foreign words, such as [ бутерброд ], were borrowed. Happily the traditional delicacies like smoked fish, caviar and pickles fitted alongside the new foods like old friends.

The 18^th century was also when fresh milk products, butter and cream, were first eaten as delicacies by the aristocracy. The old Russian staples were [ творог, сметана ], and other forms of curdled and sour milk.

Soup is one part of a Russian meal in which the simple native tradition has never been superseded by richer or more varied foreign preparations. The classics, [ щи, уха, борщ, рассольник, солянка, окрошка и ботвинья ], all held their own on the aristocratic Francophile tables of the 19^th century Russia. They were in addition inexpensive, simple to assemble, easily digested and sustaining. No two recipes are the same for [ щи и борщ ] and all set instructions and measures are rightly regarded with skepticism by seasoned Russian cooks.

The basic Russian way with meat is either to roast it or to boil it on the bone. The French were thus in a position to introduce to the aristocracy in the 19^th century many new ways of cutting and cooking meat off the bone, a fact borne out by the invasion of French terms: [ антрекот, эскалоп, филе ]. Other ways with filleted meat came from Germany [ шницель ] and as early as the 16^th century from the Baltics [ зразы ].