Special kitchen —why Brezhnev ate cold burgers and where they fished for Stalin

Special Kremlin kitchen reveals its secrets. In 30-e years for a delicious, healthy, and safe food for the country's leadership was fully responsible for the security services. Since then happened that all the cooks, waiters and other professionals Particularly the kitchen — people "in uniform".
 

Where fished for Stalin?

On the weekly duty at Stalin's dacha in Volyn (the"Near dacha") succeeded each other 3-4 cooks. Sometimes with the arrival of the guests grilled kebabs right in the fireplace on skewers Melchior. The leader watched intently, as do the barbecue, and sometimes, unable to withstand, spoke: "You do not know. Here's how", and he set to work. All products come from spetsnaz, where they were subjected to scrutiny. But the fish had their own, live, from the pools in the basement of the house. In the evening podvaliti (waitress) was carrying silver dishes and cruets on a table in the Great room. Over dinner, which lasted after midnight, Stalin led the meeting with his colleagues.

Meanwhile, from the staff of the Special dishes required the ability not only to cook perfectly, but with frills to decorate their dishes and the table. Alevtina Carina, warrant officer, chef, member of Special dishes from 1956 to 1983, remembers that tables were often taken to their subjects. For example, for the reception on the occasion of Gagarin's flight into space in 1961, the table was decorated with rockets made out of sticks.

One of the dishes that made a special impression on the guests, assorted fillet birds "Fowl in flight": "the Main decoration was the stuffed pheasant in life-size, says Carina. From the bread we had to make the pedestal that sticks out of the frame of the bird, then provide it with his tail, all the feathers had to carefully handle alcohol".

No less impressive works of culinary art were perch, crab puff, and a pig, stuffed with ham, tongue, pate and cream. Another marine gimmick invented by the cooks of the NKVD, Kamchatka crab with glowing red eyes-lights on batteries. Or an aquarium with fish on the bottom filled with lanspik — clear broth, which freezes to the state of jelly, it is water lilies, algae, crayfish, after which the special flooring was put a large boiled sturgeon.

"Everything looked nice, but the waiters are always scolded me, says Carina. It was hard to bear". By the way, why waiters are among the Special dishes are almost no women. "Suckling pig with a side dish weighed about 7-8 pounds, not counting the impressive Nickel silver tray, on which he served, says Gennady Pavlenko, an active member of the Special dishes, major. Once the waiter brought a dish of pig, and Brezhnev began to speak. All 40 minutes, until Leonid Ilyich said, a colleague had to hold the dish in his hands."
 

Why Brezhnev poured the soup?

In the 70-80-ies of the Special cuisine served from 22 to 26 members and candidate members of the Politburo, the secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, taking into account their state of health. "In everyday menu (unlike Banquet. — Ed.) it was all very individually, — says Raisa Molotkov, a member of Special dishes from 1969 to 1992, Colonel. It was developed together with the doctor, dietitian, taking into account individual characteristics and preferences of the person. And completely normal was such a picture: go for lunch, and several are 20 different soups. It was the same with the second course: no mass, to each his own".



"When Brezhnev soups, he refused, not wanting to offend anyone, says Igor Metelev. — But since appetite was not all poured into the toilet. And, for example, the burgers he loved to eat cold. They brought Special food in the thermos, and that they have cooled down, the waitress put them in the freezer. Health Leonid Ilyich drinking alcohol is not recommended, but sometimes he allowed himself a little. Usually prefer "Bison". Victoria Petrovna (wife of the General Secretary. — Ed.) we said, "come on, we will be diluted in half".

"He had problems of a dental nature, explains chef Nikolai Morozov, and he had to cook that dish wasn't anything hard. He always recognized my brand patties: I made them so that you have lips. The secret was that the meat scrolled through a meat grinder 3 times, and she always added cream". published

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

Source: koko.by/facts/12149.html