[Sca-cooks] Zakuskas

[Stephanie Ross]

The Domostroi is only marginally period. Most of it is way out of period.
The zakuska table is a 19th Century invention. I am sure that you did
a great job of it and that it was most tasty and delicious, but the concept
isn't period.
 
Huette

I am unsure why you think The Domostroi is OOP, especially WAY OOP. Its
translator and the text itself puts it firmly within the 1500's, during the
time of Elizabeth and when she sent envoys to Russia in hopes of becoming
the first European country to trade with them. "It was not printed until
1849 - partly because printing did not become established until the 1630's,
at least 50 years after the Domostroi, partly because when printing was
introduced, the chuch controlled the presses for its own use. By the time
private printing presses became established (after 1775) public interest
had passed the Domostroi by..." Pouncy, p. 38. Basically, by that time the
book was too quaint for the masses to care about mass-producing it. There
are 42 hand-written editions of The Domostroi, and while the sections in
the back on feast days and wedding info were probably not written by the
original author, there is nothing in it to suggest they were from the
1800's. The wedding sections state that furs were being used as currency,
the architecture of the houses mentioned in passing was firmly 16 century,
and the structure of the wedding feast was common only during the Middle
Ages. This book is definitely period, in all its parts.

 Also, you folks with European personas for whom the Middle Ages ended
before 1630's Cavalier (If Digby can be used for documentation for brewers,
then the cutoff is not firmly set at 1600 IMO), must understand that the
Middle Ages did not end in Russia until 1700. That was when Peotr the Great
made his reforms. He brought in French cooks which mortally changed the
cuisine of the nobility, and declared that only French fashions could be
worn at court. He exempted the peasant and clergy from changing the
fashions however, and it is known that he continued to wear kaftans and eat
traditional Russian cuisine when not at court. The only things that changed
Russia through the centuries until 1700 were their invaders, and then the
Russians absorbed the fashions and cuisine of their overlords, never
actually changing, just adding to what was already there. The kaftan is a
good example. It is not native to Russia per se, but when the Mongols
brought it with them, it just became another layer of clothing while the
peasants wore what they always wore underneath it. In fact, parts of
Russia's peasant costume, "folk costume", haven't changed from the time of
the Rus (1000 AD), namely the shirt and lapti, birchbark shoes still
produced in Russia. Up until the 20th century, married women still covered
their hair with the tradional towels (what rushnyks actually were - they
became table linens when covering the head went out of fashion). Life
changed excruciatingly slowly in Russia, and some villages in Russia still
cling to the old ways and styles of dress. I need to write a paper/article
about how things didn't change to educate my European friends. The Laurels
in my kingdom think that all peasant clothes are 19 century, and it just
isn't so.

As far as the concept of the "zakuska table" being period, I'm really not
sure it isn't. A lot of cultures put out a variety of dishes for feast
days, especially Christmas when people came visiting. The Russians
commercialized the zakuska table during the 1800's, selling a set number of
dishes for a set price, but the idea is far older. I have been trying to
find out if the smorgasbord table of the Swedes is tracable to period. It
has become a Christmas custom also, but started out (supposedly) as a type
of "pot-luck". http://www.scandinaviancook.com/page10.htm  So many things
came to Russia from Scandanavia that the concept of smorgasbord as zakuskas
is not really much of a stretch. Russia is a culture that always feeds its
guests (a very old Ukrainian greeting is to offer black bread and salt as
welcome), and putting out blini pancakes with herring, caviar, sour cream
and butter at Easter for guests to eat is a type of zakuska table. If you
read the description of dishes "put on the table" during feast days at the
back of the Domostroi, one could extrapolate from the wording that all the
dishes were put out on the table together, creating a zakuska table. My
thought is that setting a variety of dishes out for people to eat from is a
concept from at least the later Middle Ages. The term "zakuska table" as
the starter to a meal is probably not that old however. Russian noblity
during the time of the Tzars was driven to excess, and a zakuska table with
beaucoup vodka to wash it all down before the main meal is a vivid symbol
of that excess.

A zakuska table for the Judge's luncheon was the perfect format for the
Laurels. They could nibble on it all afternoon and not have to take a
complete break from judging to eat. The theme for the event was Russian, so
there really was nothing else to be done but do a zakuska table, even
though it might be OOP. More on my zakuska table next post.


~Aislinn Columba of Carlisle~
aka Nadezhda Petrova Stoianova

Et si omnes ego non.

"The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the
first and only legitimate object of good government." --Thomas Jefferson to
Maryland Republicans, 1809.