There is a saying from ancient times “Shchi and porridge are our food”. These words describe almost all the food that made up the diet of simple Russian cuisine a hundred years ago.

Most of the dishes were cooked in a Russian oven - very large and massive, retaining heat for a long time. That is why most dishes were adapted for prolonged simmering. First, the stove was heated for warmth. And then, in the already cooling oven, they put large clay pots with cabbage soup (the sauerkraut was filled with water, meat was added), vegetables in the same pots right in their uniforms (that is, unpeeled), but most often, various cereals were cooked. Filled with water and simmered slowly, they remained warm for a long time. And they managed to prepare perfectly. The result was a delicious crumbly porridge - which was seasoned with butter or vegetable oil.

Russia is an agricultural country. Therefore, all kinds of cereals were always in abundance.

The most popular and currently remain:
Buckwheat porridge. Porridge made from buckwheat grains.
Pearl barley porridge. Prepared from boiled barley grains. Finely crushed barley grains are also used to make porridge. But they are called differently - yachka, barley porridge.
Millet porridge, or millet, is prepared from small millet grains.
Semolina porridge is made from durum wheat of a certain grinding.
Pea porridge from whole or crushed dry ripe peas is prepared less frequently.
Rice porridges made from rice grains are also popular in modern Russian cuisine.

Oatmeal is very popular in modern Russian cuisine. It is prepared from Hercules oat flakes.
Semolina, millet, and oatmeal porridge are usually prepared with milk and used as an independent dish, most often for breakfast. Pearl barley, rice and buckwheat porridge are also sometimes prepared with milk. Milk porridges are usually prepared sweet.


Porridges prepared without milk and sugar - buckwheat, pearl barley, barley, rice, pea and others - are used as a side dish. This is one of the surviving features of Russian cuisine - most often meat or fish dishes are served with a side dish of cereals or vegetables on one plate.

Porridge- perhaps the most Russian traditional dish. By right it is such, because from time immemorial Russia has been an agricultural country and one of the main sources of nutrition was cereal crops, as the most healthy and nutritious. It so happened historically that porridge in Rus' was not just food, but a ritual dish, so for each holiday a certain variety of this dish was served, and any celebration could not do without such a tasty and vital culinary product, be it a wedding, the birth of a child, christening or name day.

Each skillful housewife had her own individual recipe for a unique porridge, the secrets of which were not revealed to anyone and were passed on from generation to generation.

During great battles, porridge was prepared for the fighters as the most satisfying dish, charging the human body with a surge of earthly energy and good spirits. On the day of victory over the enemy force, “victory porridge” was prepared; it looked more solemn, and it was decorated with various fruits and vegetables. Also, as a sign of truce, “peaceful porridge” was served to the table at which the two conflicting parties were sitting, personifying the symbol of noble deeds.

According to the method of preparation and composition, porridges are conventionally divided into three types: crumbly, viscous, liquid.

Crumbly porridge It is prepared from various cereals, which must be well-cooked and the grains must not stick together. Such porridges are prepared in a container with a thick bottom; a clay pot would be an ideal option for the housewife. Before starting cooking, wash all cereals, with the exception of semolina, buckwheat and oatmeal. This will make it possible to remove from the grains the starch and fat present on them, which form on grains as a result of long-term storage. Then the washed cereal is poured into a container with boiling, slightly salted water so that the grains retain their beneficial qualities and vitamins. After the porridge is ready, wash it to remove the sticky coating and pour melted butter or vegetable oil over it.

The basis viscous porridge usually consists of milk, water or two ingredients at once. They have a thick consistency and do not spread on the plate. If desired, you can add various fruits and vegetables to them; when serving, season with butter and hot sweetened milk if the cereal was cooked in water.

Liquid porridge in the same way as viscous ones, they are boiled in milk or water, but 4-5 times more liquid is added per kilogram of cereal. The thick basis of such porridges is rice, semolina, millet, and oatmeal. After removing the liquid porridge from the heat, it is generously flavored with butter, because everyone knows that “you can’t spoil porridge with butter.”

To rejuvenate the body in the old days, “rejuvenation porridge” was especially often prepared from rye; in general, it has a good ability to have a beneficial effect on a person’s general well-being and strengthens the immune system.

Now in the world there are a great variety of different varieties of cereals, which makes it possible not to limit yourself in choosing the preparation of this or that porridge. By crushing and grinding, several types of cereals can be obtained from one cereal crop, for example, pearl barley and barley are obtained from barley, depending on the degree of processing of the grain.

Not a single celebration in Rus' was complete without traditional Russian porridge. Whole grain cereals are an important source of plant proteins and carbohydrates. They contain quite a lot of minerals and essential vitamins, especially B vitamins.

Therefore, porridges made from cereals are widely used in the nutrition of children and the elderly. Another advantage of porridges is their versatility. They go well with any other foods: meat and fish, mushrooms and vegetables, fruits and berries.

Over the past many years, nutritionists have encouraged us to increase the use of grains and legumes in our daily diet. Whole grains contain everything our body needs. It contains a sufficient amount of fiber, namely, coarse dietary fiber is not enough in the diet of a modern person. From cereal grains we get vital amino acids, 18 of which are essential.

Porridge is a cult dish

Porridge is undoubtedly an original Russian dish. Moreover, porridge is a cult dish. According to Old Russian traditions, during the wedding ceremony the bride and groom always prepared porridge. Obviously, this tradition gave rise to the saying: “You can’t cook porridge with him (her).” The entire history of the Russian state is inextricably linked with porridge. Russian porridge is the most important dish of national Russian cuisine.

Russia, as it happened historically, has always been and, I want to believe, will be an agricultural country. The main product of Russian agriculture has always been cereals (and, to a lesser extent, legumes). The Russian human body, over many centuries (and even millennia), has been formed and evolved on the basis of the structural composition of cereals. Man and cereals, during their coexistence, have created an inextricable community.

Only plants are given by nature the ability to accumulate sunlight (energy) and extract nutrients from the earth. Only plants have the ability to synthesize and accumulate nutrients and biologically active substances necessary for humans (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.). The human body is independently capable of producing only a tiny fraction of the substances it vitally needs for a full existence.

That is why, since time immemorial, people have been growing plants for food. The most valuable and biologically important of them are cereals. Without them, our existence is unthinkable. Cereals are the compressed light of the Sun. They contain everything that our body needs for full functioning.

Porridge - Russian product

And today, such a native Russian product as whole grain porridge is finally returning to our diet. First, the most fashionable and pretentious restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg began to introduce dishes from native Russian cereals into their menus: rye, barley, oatmeal, wheat (semolina), buckwheat, etc. Following them, almost all catering enterprises, at least for breakfast, began to offer various porridges prepared according to old Russian recipes.

This is a natural process. Porridge is a very healthy, nutritious, tasty and, importantly, inexpensive product. In Rus', porridge has always been treated with reverence.

For Russian people, porridge has always been not just food, but a ritual dish. It was impossible to imagine a single celebration or holiday without traditional Russian porridge on the table.

Moreover, a certain ritual porridge was necessarily prepared for various significant events. Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for wakes or funerals.

Porridge was cooked for a wedding, at the birth of a child, for christenings and name days, for wakes or funerals. It was impossible to receive guests without our own original preparation of porridge. Moreover, each housewife had her own recipe, which was kept secret. Porridge was always prepared before big battles, and at victory feasts it was impossible to do without “victorious” porridge. Porridge served as a symbol of truce: to make peace, it was necessary to prepare “peaceful” porridge.

In ancient Russian chronicles, the feasts themselves were often called “porridge”: for example, at the wedding of Alexander the Great, “porridge was made” twice - one during the wedding in Trinity, the other during a national celebration in Novgorod. Porridge was always prepared on the occasion of the start of a big business. This is where the expression “make a mess” comes from. In Rus', porridge even “defined” relationships between people. They said about an unreliable and uncooperative person: “You can’t cook porridge with him.”

Christmas porridges were prepared, as well as porridges to mark the end of the harvest. The girls prepared porridge for the day of Agrafena Kupalnitsa from a mixture of various cereals. In addition to grain and pea porridges, fish and vegetable porridges were cooked. Who hasn’t heard about the famous “Suvorov porridge”?

According to legend, during one of the long campaigns, Suvorov was informed that there were a few different types of cereal left: wheat, rye, barley, oatmeal, pea, etc. That is. porridge from any of the remaining types of grain would not be enough for half the army. Then the great commander, without further ado, ordered all the remaining cereals to be boiled together. The soldiers really liked “Suvorov porridge”, and the great commander made his contribution to the development of Russian culinary art.

Porridge and modern dietetics

Modern dietetics has confirmed that porridge from several types of cereals is healthier than porridge from one specific cereal. Each cereal has its own chemical composition, with beneficial qualities unique to this cereal, and a mixture of several cereals combines the beneficial properties of each cereal, which increases the nutritional and biological value of such porridge.

Bala “rejuvenation porridge” is popular. The cereal was made from rye grain of milky-waxy maturity. The result was a very tasty and fragrant porridge, which had a beneficial effect on health and rejuvenated the body.

Three types of cereals were made from barley: pearl barley - large grains were lightly ground, Dutch - smaller grains were ground white, and barley - very small grains made from unpolished (whole) grains.

Barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite dish. He recognized “egg porridge as the most delicious and delicious.” Spelled porridge was popular, which was cooked from small grains made from spelled. Spelled is a semi-wild variety of wheat, which was grown in large quantities in Rus' back in the 18th century. Or rather, spelled grew on its own, was not whimsical and did not require any care.

She was not afraid of either pests or weeds. The spelled itself destroyed any weed. Spent porridge, although coarse, was very healthy and nutritious. Gradually, “cultivated” varieties of wheat replaced spelled, because it peeled off badly. The spelled grain grows together with the flower shell, creating almost a single whole with it. In addition, the yield of spelled was much lower than that of cultivated wheat varieties.

Today, due to its high biological value, there is a revival in the production of spelled. Spelled is grown in the Caucasus: its crops have been resumed in Dagestan and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Here it is called "zanduri". American spelt is also sold in Russia today. It is called “spelt”, and is sold here under the trade name “kamut”. Sometimes you can find spelt grown in Europe. It is called “spelt”.

All this brings some confusion, but “spelt”, and “zanduri”, and “spelt”, and “kamut”, are names of the same plant, Old Russian spelled. Moreover, it came to both America and Europe from Russia.

Why did people in Rus' always treat porridge with such reverence?

It seems to me that the roots of the ritual attitude towards such seemingly simple food lie in our pagan roots. It is known from manuscripts that porridge was sacrificed to the gods of agriculture and fertility in order to ask for a good harvest for the next year. As is known, the gods were offered only the best. And to be able to eat every day what the gods can afford once a year, you see, is nice.

When we worked as an artel, we prepared porridge for the entire artel. Therefore, for a long time the word “porridge” was synonymous with the word “artel”.

They said: “We are in the same mess,” which meant in the same artel, in the same brigade, something like the modern expression “we are one team.” On the Don, you can still hear the word “porridge” in this meaning.

The huge variety of Russian porridges was determined, first of all, by the variety of cereal varieties that were produced in Russia. Several types of cereals were made from each grain crop - from whole to crushed in various ways. The most favorite porridge was buckwheat. In addition to whole grains - kernels, used for steep, crumbly porridges, they also made smaller grains - “Veligorka” and very small ones - “Smolenskaya”.

For gourmets of that time, the magazine “Economy” for 1841 provides a recipe for rose porridge: “Pluck several roses and pound the leaves in a mortar as finely as possible; Pour the egg white into a mortar and add as much potato starch as needed to make a thick dough. Then rub through a sieve onto a dry board and dry in the sun. This way you will get excellent cereal. Porridge from it is cooked with cream. You can add a little sugar to it if it doesn’t seem quite sweet.”

So, I think that all of the above proves that Russian porridge is not only the healthiest of foods, but can also satisfy even the most sophisticated tastes. You just need to cook it, like any other dish, with a good mood, love and imagination.

Porridge “Children's Joy”

• millet 1 cup
• water 2 glasses
• pitted prunes 0.5 cups
• chopped walnuts 3 tbsp. l.
• butter 1 tbsp. l.
• salt and sugar to taste

Wash the prunes and chop finely. Place in a saucepan, add cold water and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Then add the sorted and washed millet, add sugar, salt and cook the porridge for 15 minutes. Add nuts 5 minutes before the end of cooking. Season the hot porridge with butter, stir and serve.

Rutaberry and potato porridge

• 0.3 liters of milk
• 400 g rutabaga
• 800 g potatoes
• 150 g onions
• 60 g butter margarine or butter

Mashed potatoes are prepared from boiled rutabaga and potatoes, seasoned with onions and milk fried in butter or margarine.

Guryevskaya porridge with apricots

• 100 g semolina
• 4 glasses of milk
• 0.5 cups chopped walnuts
• 300 g apricots or 200 g dried apricots
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar
• 2 tbsp. spoons of butter
• 2 eggs
• vanilla sugar
• powdered sugar
• berries, candied fruits for decoration

Cooking method: Bring milk to a boil, add salt. Then, stirring, add semolina in a thin stream. Cook viscous porridge, cool slightly. Grind the yolks with sugar, beat the whites into foam. Add the mashed yolks, whites, vanilla sugar, and nuts to the porridge one by one, stirring gently. Cut the apricots into halves, remove the pits. (Wash the dried apricots and cut into large pieces.) Finely chop the butter.

Place a layer of porridge in a greased pan. Top it with halves of apricots (or dried apricots), pieces of butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cover with a layer of porridge. Bake the porridge for 15-20 minutes in an oven heated to 200°. Decorate the finished dish with berries, fruits, candied fruits, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve in the same container in which it was prepared.

Barley porridge with potatoes

150 g barley groats, 1 liter of water, 500 g of potatoes, 0.5 liters of milk, salt Rinse the groats, put in boiling water and cook. Peel the potatoes, cut into small pieces and add to the cereal at the end of cooking. Make sure that the porridge does not burn. Add milk little by little and add salt to taste. Serve the porridge with cracklings or sour cream and onion sauce.

Crushed oatmeal porridge

• 4 glasses of milk
• 2 cups cereal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-3 tbsp. spoons of butter

Pour crushed oatmeal into boiling milk, add salt and cook over low heat, stirring for 20-30 minutes until thickened. Add oil to the porridge.

Semolina porridge with cranberry juice

• 0.4 liters of cream
• 200 g semolina
• 100 g cranberries
• 1.1 liters of water and juice
• 150 g sugar

The cranberries are crushed and the juice is squeezed out. The pomace is poured with water and boiled. The resulting broth is filtered, sugar is added and brought to a boil. Semolina is diluted with cranberry juice, poured into boiling syrup and a thick semolina porridge is brewed. The hot porridge is poured onto baking sheets, allowed to cool, cut into portions and served with cream.

Viscous semolina porridge with carrots

• 0.25 liters of milk
• 200 g semolina
• 0.5 liters of water
• 30 g butter
• 250 g carrots
• 50 g sugar
• 40 g butter

Raw carrots are grated or finely chopped and stewed with butter. Place salt and sugar in a bowl of boiling water, heat to a boil, add cereal and, stirring, cook at low boil for 15 minutes. Add hot milk and carrots to the finished porridge, mix and place the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve the porridge with a piece of butter.

Enjoy your meal!