Vegetarianism in Russia: neither fish nor meat

Nowadays, you will not surprise anyone with vegetarianism; there are more and more adherents of this type of nutrition every year. But how did this happen, who became the founder of this idea?

Our country has a long and religious tradition of not eating meat during Lent. But at the same time, it was the very term “vegetarianism” that arose in the West in the middle of the 19th century.

The development of a culture of plant nutrition was initiated by surgeon Alexander Zelenkov. In the mid-1860s, he founded a society in St. Petersburg with the comic name “Neither fish nor meat.” In 1913, his wife Olga Zelenkova published the first vegetarian cookbook in Russia. It’s called “I don’t eat anyone.” It contains about 1500 recipes by season. The book gained popularity and sold thousands of copies.

Leo Tolstoy also influenced the development of vegetarian nutrition. In 1884, the writer decided by his example to prove the moral component of this term and he himself refused to eat meat. Later, after the publication of his treatise The First Step, society began to realize the spiritual side of vegetarianism. Therefore, the first step of society was the rejection of excess consumption and luxury, which breeds violence and cruelty.

Plant-based nutrition continued to develop in Russia, but World War I and the 1917 revolution changed this area of ​​society. You can be convinced of this by visiting the virtual museum of the Main Archive “Moscow – with care for history.” It provides archival photos, recipes, menus that clearly show how the taste priorities of society have changed.

You can also read the book “Hospitable Moscow”. On the pages of this book, for example, you can find the following data on the situation of vegetarianism in pre-revolutionary Russia: “Among the edible establishments of the first decade of the 20th century, it is also worth mentioning canteens – A. Prokhorov’s Vegetarian on Petrovka, the French Orossi on Malaya Lubyanka, Medvedva on Gazetny Lane, the Jewish Mass on Varvarka and others. Lunches were held from 13:00 to 18:00, and the cost of two courses usually did not exceed 40 kopecks.”

Document “Report of the Moscow city government on the arrangement of city public canteens No. 318” dated August 21, 1916, the conditions for organizing canteens are prescribed, one of which is as follows: “The dining room should prepare several dishes (five to seven), both meat and vegetarian, in those forms so that the visitor has the opportunity to make a choice depending on his taste and the means that he has at his disposal; while the average price of a two-course meal should currently be around 35‒40 kopecks.

The idea of ​​vegetarianism did not appeal to the Soviet authorities so much that the term itself was excluded from dictionaries, and plant foods were used exclusively for health purposes. Nevertheless, some attempts to preserve the tradition were made. You can be convinced of this on the basis of newspaper articles preserved in the fund of the Main Archive of Moscow.

On August 3, 1926, the newspaper Rabochaya Moskva (now Moskovskaya Pravda) published an article “New vegetarian canteens” in which it was written: “Over the past year in Moscow, the demand for vegetarian lunches has greatly increased, in connection with this, the network of vegetarian canteens is expanding, first of all they will be opened in Smolensky, Sukharevsky, German and other districts.”

In addition, in the book “Hospitable Moscow” among meat and fish dishes, of course, you can find vegetarian positions. For example, Moscow in the late 1920s took into account the diverse tastes of its citizens, and along with typical canteens, dietary and vegetarian establishments functioned in the city. In November 1929, at a meeting in the Moscow Regional Department of Public Catering, in order to save meat stocks, it was decided to introduce a second vegetarian day in all canteens from December 1.

Nowadays it is difficult to name the exact number of vegetarians, because such a diet is divided into different types: ovo-vegetarians (eat eggs), lacto-vegetarians (combine plant foods and dairy products), ovo-lacto-vegetarians (eat both dairy products and dairy products). eggs) and pescatarians (they allow fish and seafood in their diet). But it is known for sure that this food culture has not been tabooed in society for a long time and has a large number of followers.

Now every year on October 1, World Vegetarian Day is celebrated, which was established in the 1970s.

Olga Bakhareva.

Photo www.mos.ru