As everything else in the Soviet Union, the issue of food was turned into a grand state project.
The goal was to modernize and standardize meals across the USSR’s 11 time-zones, and create the staples that would allow the proud communist proletariat to build a glorious future.
Shortages did not always make life easy for the successive food commissars. But they finally came up with a Soviet cookbook full of approved and delicious recipes. So take a trip with Pivnaya No. 1 and explore the flavors of the Soviet Union.
Soviet cuisine included many popular meals from Russian and other Slavic cuisines, such as succulent potato pancakes (deruny) with fresh sour cream , or beef stroganoff with the popular porridge known as kasha or grechka. Others incorporated spicy flavors from “exotic” Soviet republics, like Caucasian shashkyk, or grilled pork. Some were the result of unparalleled creativity and fusion, like the Quail’s Nest, a salad invented in the 1970s, which combines baked beef, onion, gherkins and quail’s eggs, topped with caviar, in the form of – you guessed it – a nest!
Others reach back into imperial Russian history. Indeed, no Soviet-style menu can be complete without the famous Olivier salad – the single most popular salad in communist times and one of the best known and beloved dishes throughout the region to this day.
Originally created by the Belgian chef Lucien Olivier at the celebrate Moscow restaurant Hermitage, it started as a fancy bourgeois treat, featuring such ingredients as grouse, caviar and smoked duck. But it was democratized, as Soviets would say, by Olivier’s sous-chef Ivan Ivanov, who stole the recipe and added more hearty, people’s ingredients like potatoes, dill pickles, peas, eggs and boiled chicken dressed with mayonnaise.
Follow the leader, of taste
Pivnaya No. 1 also offers you a chance to enjoy the favorite meals of the Soviet Union’s venerable leaders. Unlike in the corrupt, capitalist West, Soviet leaders were representatives of the working class, forgoing elitist fancies – and ate accordingly.
Thus, you can enjoy the favorite meals of Nikita Khrushchev, reflecting the impulsive leader’s rural, southern Russian origins: borscht with pampushki, varenyky dumplings with various fillings, or a hearty pea soup.
Or follow Leonid Brezhnev, the metallurgical engineer from Dniproderzhynsk, in southeastern Ukraine, whose favorite meal was a solid plate of pork chops and sauerkraut. His 18-year term as secretary general may have come to symbolize the Soviet Union’s economic and social stagnation, but he knew how to eat. For full historical immersion the meals are served in authentic dishes and pots from the 1980s.
The ultimate beer snacks
Forget about chips and dips, the Soviets knew exactly what was needed to accompany a good mug of solid communist beer. These range from the popular cold meats like Armenian bastruma and fried and salty cheeses. But aquatic treats are considered the top choice, from crawfish, to fried carp, to jerky made from Taran, a savory fish from the Black Sea basin.
So come try them out for yourself. As they say, the proof is in the pudding!
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