Chapter:
Dishes of the Kremlin cuisine
2nd page

BROWS and SOUPS

Kremlin chefs not only use culinary recipes from many sources, but also create them themselves. Their exquisite dishes are truly works of art, and the chefs themselves are simply culinary artists.
The Kremlin kitchen provides both the organization of ceremonial banquet tables and the usual daily meals for employees, children's and individual dietary meals.
All dishes on the Kremlin table are the fruit of long analysis, discussions and endless tastings of the highest class culinary specialists, health doctors and nutritionists.

The Kremlin chef talks about the menu of heads of state - Galkin

Presidential Kitchen – Galkin

Chef Anatoly Galkin – working day

Kremlin chef: photo with worm is fake
Jérôme Rigaud – Kremlin chef

The Kremlin is fed up! – Anatoly Galkin and Barack Obama (Galkin’s story)

Master class from the Kremlin chef – Viktor Belyaev

Kremlin chef shared his kitchen secrets

Government kitchen! Victor Belyaev

Meat broth

Ingredients :
500 g of meat, 2.5-3 liters of water, salt to taste.

Preparation

Rinse the meat under running cold water, add to the pan, and add cold water. Cover the pan with a lid and put on high heat so that the water boils faster, and then reduce it, avoiding rapid boiling.
Skim off any foam and fat that appears during boiling.
1-1.5 hours after the start of cooking, add salt. When the meat is ready (after 2.5-3 hours; check the readiness of the meat with a fork: if it pierces the meat freely, then it is ready), it must be removed from the broth and put in another bowl, and the broth must be strained.
Meat broth is used to prepare various soups, cabbage soup, borscht, etc.
The meat is served with soup or used to prepare various dishes.
Meat broth can be cooked with roots: after the foam has been removed from it, add peeled and washed carrots, turnips, parsley and onions.

Fish broth

Ingredients :
500 g fish, 1 onion, 1 parsley root, 1 bay leaf, 3-4 black peppercorns, salt to taste, 2-3 liters of water.

Preparation

A good fish broth is made from small fish (pike perch, perch), as well as from scap, mackerel, sablefish and catfish.
Clean the fish from scales, cut the belly, remove the entrails, rinse, cut into portions, remove the gills from the heads.
Place the fish prepared in this way in a pan, add cold water, add salt, roots and onions. Then cover the pan with a lid, bring to a boil, remove the foam and cook over low heat for 25-30 minutes.
After this, remove the pieces of fish, and continue to cook the head and fins for another 15-20 minutes.
When cooking fish with a specific smell and taste, you can add cucumber brine (200-800 g per 1 liter of water), or pickled cucumber peels, or vinegar.
Strain the finished fish broth and use it for making soups and hodgepodges.

Mushroom broth

Ingredients :
50 g dried mushrooms, 2-3 liters of water, 1 onion, salt to taste.

Preparation

Thoroughly rinse the dry mushrooms in warm water, put them in a saucepan, add the peeled and halved onion, add cold water and cook at low boil for 2-2.5 hours.
Strain the finished broth.
Rinse the mushrooms with cold water, chop finely and add to the soup prepared with mushroom broth.

Hunter's Kulesh

Ingredients :
For 4 servings: 1 chicken, 100 g lard, 1 liter of water, 1 onion, 10 tomatoes, 10 eggs, salt, 10 g parsley, 10 g dill, ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Cut the chicken into small pieces and simmer. Finely chop the lard and fry in a roasting pan, adding finely chopped onion. Mix the chicken pieces with lard, onions and fry it all with constant stirring so as not to burn.
Then place in a saucepan with water (about 2 liters of water per chicken) and bring to a boil. When the water boils, throw in a glass of already sorted, washed rice and cook for 15-20 minutes.
After this, grate 10 fresh tomatoes and add to the kulesh. Then take 10 eggs, beat them and pour them through a sieve. Let the dish simmer for 5 minutes and add salt to taste.
Then add greens to the kulesh. Do not boil, just cover the dish with a lid and let it brew.

Broth "Muscat"

Ingredients :
1 liter of chicken broth.
For the dumplings: 100 g semolina, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley.

Preparation

Beat eggs, add water, olive oil, grated nutmeg, salt, semolina, herbs. Mix everything thoroughly, use a spoon to separate the oblong dumplings, place them in lightly salted boiling water and cook over low heat until they float.
Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and place in the prepared chicken broth.

Milk vegetable puree soup

Ingredients :
500 g of lettuce or spinach, 50 g of carrots, 2 glasses of milk, 2.5 glasses of water, 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of wheat flour, 2 yolks, salt to taste.

Preparation

Wash the lettuce and spinach in several waters, place it in a sieve, then chop it, put it in a saucepan, add chopped carrots and butter. Simmer everything in its own juice, covering the pan with a lid.
Then dilute lightly toasted wheat flour in milk, half diluted with water, and add vegetables to it. Boil them for 30 minutes, then rub through a sieve, add salt to taste, and steam.
Before serving, add yolks diluted with a small amount of warm soup to the prepared soup.

Borscht with sea cucumbers

Ingredients :
150 g dried sea cucumbers, 100 g beets, 80 g cabbage, 50 g carrots, 20 g parsley, 50 g onions, 80 g potatoes, 25 g tomato paste, 20 g melted butter, 20 g sour cream, 5 g sugar, 5 g of 3% vinegar, bay leaf, black peppercorns, parsley, salt to taste.

Preparation

Rinse dried sea cucumbers in warm water, pour cold water for 24-30 hours to swell (change water 2-3 times). Then cut along the belly, remove any remaining entrails and cook for 2-3 hours. Cut the boiled sea cucumbers into strips.
Cut beets, carrots, parsley root, onions into strips, add tomato paste, melted butter, a little water and simmer until tender.
After 20-30 minutes, add white cabbage and continue to simmer. In the boiling broth left over from cooking the sea cucumbers, put potatoes cut into cubes, 10-15 minutes before readiness - stewed vegetables, bay leaf, black peppercorns.
Season the borscht with salt, vinegar and sugar.
At the end of cooking, add boiled sea cucumbers to the borscht.
When serving, add sour cream and finely chopped parsley to a plate with borscht.

Ukrainian borscht

Ingredients :
500 g of meat, 400 g of cabbage and potatoes, 250 g of beets, 1/2 cup of sour cream and tomato puree, 1 pc. roots, 1 onion, 20 g lard, 1 tablespoon butter, garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, allspice and hot pepper, salt to taste.

Preparation

Boil meat broth and strain. Cut the peeled roots, onions and beets into strips. Lightly fry chopped roots and onions in oil, mix with toasted flour, dilute with broth and bring to a boil. Simmer the beets for 20-30 minutes, adding fat, tomato puree, vinegar and broth (you can also add bread kvass).
In the broth prepared for borscht, add potatoes, cut into large cubes, coarsely chopped cabbage, stewed beets, salt and cook for 10-15 minutes, then add roots, bay leaves, allspice and hot peppers fried with flour, cook until the potatoes and the cabbage will not be ready.
Season the finished borscht with lard, mashed with garlic, add tomatoes, cut into slices, quickly bring to a boil, then let the borscht brew for 10-15 minutes.
Pour the borscht into plates, add sour cream and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.

Fresh cabbage soup

Ingredients :
500 g meat, 500 g fresh cabbage, 200 g roots and onions, 2 tablespoons butter, 200 g tomatoes, 200 g potatoes, 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Let the meat broth cook. After 1.5-2 hours, remove the meat, strain the broth into a soup pot and add cabbage. Bring to a boil, add pre-fried roots and onions, then add meat and cook for another 25-30 minutes.
5-10 minutes before the end of cooking, add peppercorns, bay leaf, and salt to the cabbage soup.
During cooking, you can put potatoes and tomatoes in the cabbage soup. In this case, the potatoes should be added 15-20 minutes after the cabbage is added, and the tomatoes, cut into slices, should be added at the end of cooking, along with the seasonings.
Before serving, place a piece of meat, sour cream, finely chopped parsley and dill into each plate.

Pearl barley soup with mushrooms

Ingredients :
50 g onions, 40 g carrots, 20 g parsley root, 40 g vegetable oil, 200 g potatoes, 50 g pearl barley, 700 g mushroom broth, 40 g dried white mushrooms, salt and spices to taste.

Preparation

Cut the onion and carrots into small cubes and sauté. Cut potatoes and parsley into cubes.
Place prepared pearl barley, potatoes, sautéed vegetables into boiling mushroom broth and cook until tender.
5-10 minutes before the end of cooking, add boiled chopped mushrooms, salt, and spices.

Meat okroshka

Ingredients :
For 4 servings: 100 g each of beef, ham and tongue, 1 liter of bread kvass, 3 cucumbers, 10-12 onions, 2 eggs, 100 g of sour cream, salt, sugar, mustard to taste, dill.

Preparation

Hard boil the eggs and cool. Grind the yolks with salt, sugar, sour cream, mustard and dilute with cold bread kvass.
Cut boiled beef, ham, tongue and fresh peeled cucumbers into cubes. Finely chop the green onions and grind with salt. Chop the whites.
Place the prepared products into a saucepan with kvass.
When serving, sprinkle with finely chopped dill.

Meat rassolnik

Ingredients :
For 300 g of kidneys: 3 pickled cucumbers, 1/2 cup cucumber brine, 2-3 potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 2 tablespoons pearl barley, 1 tablespoon dill, 1 parsley (root and greens), 1 celery (root and herbs), 3 bay leaves, 6 black peppercorns, 2 allspice peas, 100 g sour cream.

Preparation

Kidney preparation. Trim the buds from membranes and fat, soak in water for 6-8 hours, changing the water, boil for 20-30 minutes in boiling water, remove with a slotted spoon and cut into small slices..
Preparation of cereals. Rinse the cereal with cold water, pour boiling water in a saucepan and let it steam for 30-45 minutes, changing the boiling water.
Preparing cucumbers. Cut the skin off the cucumbers, pour 1-1.5 cups of boiling water over it and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, then remove the boiled skin, and dip the pulp of the cucumbers into the brine, cut lengthwise into 4 parts, and then crosswise into small slices; simmer for another 10 minutes.
Cooking pickle. Dip the prepared kidneys in 1.5 liters of boiling water, cook for about 30 minutes, add chopped roots (carrots, parsley, celery), prepared cereals, after 10-15 minutes - potatoes, finely chopped onions and cook until the potatoes are ready over moderate heat.
Then add the prepared cucumbers, taste, if necessary, add brine or salt, add and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes, then season with spicy herbs and cook for another 3 minutes.
Before serving, season the pickle with sour cream.

Kharcho

Ingredients :
500 g meat. 2 onions, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree or 100 g of fresh tomatoes, 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup sour plums, 1 tablespoon butter, cilantro, parsley, dill, salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation

Kharcho is made primarily from beef brisket, but it can be replaced with lamb brisket.
Wash the meat, cut into small pieces at the rate of 3-4 pieces per serving, put in a pan, add cold water and cook. Remove any foam that appears on the surface with a slotted spoon.
After 1.5-2 hours, add finely chopped onion, crushed garlic, rice, sour plums, salt, pepper and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.
Lightly fry tomato puree or tomatoes in oil or fat skimmed from the broth, and add to the soup 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking.
Before serving, sprinkle the kharcho with finely chopped cilantro, parsley or dill.

Bazbash

Ingredients :
300 g peas, 200 g apples, 1 g tomato puree, 800 g boiled lamb, 1 capsicum, salt, herbs to taste.

Preparation

Boil peas in meat broth, add slices of apples, tomato puree, red pepper, pieces of boiled lamb and cook for another 10 minutes.

Sea fish soup

Ingredients :
For 1.5 kg of fish or 1.25 kg of fillet (about 0.5 kg of cod, halibut, sea bass): 1.75 liters of water, 2 onions, 1/2 carrots, 3 potatoes, 4 bay leaves, 10- 12 black peppercorns, 1 leek, 1 parsley, 2 tablespoons dill, 4-5 saffron stamens, 2 teaspoons salt, 4 lemon slices.

Preparation

Put diced potatoes, chopped carrots and parsley, finely chopped onions into salted boiling water, boil for 10-15 minutes over moderate heat until the potatoes are half cooked, then add all the spices except dill, and a little leek, and after 3 minutes - cut into large pieces fish and continue cooking for another 8 minutes over moderate heat. Add salt if necessary.
A minute before it’s ready, add dill and leeks.
Let it brew and add lemon slices.

River fish soup

Ingredients :
For 1.5 kg of fish: 1.75 liters of water, 2 onions, 1/2 carrots (small), 1 parsley (root and greens), 1 parsnip root, 2 potatoes, 1 tablespoon of dill, 3 bay leaves, 8 peas black pepper, 1 tablespoon tarragon, 2 teaspoons salt.

Preparation

Place potatoes cut into quarters, fish heads and tails, finely chopped onions, chopped carrots and parsley into salted boiling water and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, then skim off the foam, and strain if desired.
Then put the bay leaf and pepper, boil for another 5 minutes, increase the heat and put the fish, cleaned and cut into large pieces (4-5 cm wide), into the prepared broth, which is cooked over moderate heat for 15-17 minutes, without letting it boil too much.
At the end, if necessary, add more salt, add parsley, dill and tarragon, remove from heat, close with a lid and let steep for 7-8 minutes.

Eel soup

Ingredients :
500 g eel meat, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 2 pods of sweet pepper, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons of tomato paste, 1/4 liter of tart white wine, 1/4 liter of water, 1 bunch of dill and parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper.

Preparation

Peel the eel and cut into pieces 5 cm long.
Finely chopped onions and crushed garlic, as well as sweet peppers cut into rings, simmer in vegetable oil. Add tomato paste, wine and a bunch of herbs.
Place eel cut into pieces into the soup, season the soup with salt and pepper, and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat.
Before serving, remove a bunch of greens from the soup, and pour the soup into bowls with fresh dill. Separately, boil the remaining apricots in water, peel them and add them to the puree. Add sugar, lemon juice, boil.
Serve hot or cold. You can add 1 tablespoon of boiled vermicelli to each plate.

Nut soup

Ingredients :
1 potato, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 parsley root, 300 g cabbage, approximately 200 g beets without white veins, 6 any nuts, 1 teaspoon lemon juice or 1 tablespoon white wine.

Preparation

Peel the potatoes, chop the onion, cut the carrots and parsley into slices. Cut out rough cores from the cabbage leaves and boil them along with the root vegetables. Cut a thin part of the leaf and after a few minutes put it in the pan.
Boil the soup until the potatoes are ready (about 5-6 minutes after adding). Remove from heat and leave covered.
Prepare nut crumbs, grate the beets on a fine grater, season them with lemon juice or wine, put them in a saucepan and stir everything.

New messages from C --- redtram:

New messages from C --- thor:

Viktor Belyaev is one of the most famous Kremlin chefs. For more than thirty years this man has been cooking for the top officials of the state. Belyaev's signature dishes were tasted by the entire Soviet elite - Leonid Brezhnev, Vladimir Shcherbitsky, as well as the presidents of America and France, and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In the 2000s, Vladimir Putin raved about his cold soup, and Leonid Kuchma himself came into the kitchen to shake his hand.

Born into a family of a mason and a milling woman, he never dreamed of a big career. After graduating from culinary school, he was assigned to the best Moscow restaurant “Prague” in the Union, and from there to the Kremlin kitchen, where he worked his way up from a simple errand cook to the general director of the Kremlevsky food processing plant. But in 2012, at the age of 55, due to denunciations and intrigues, he retired of his own free will: his colleagues gave him a heart attack and he did not risk his health.

In an interview with GORDON, Viktor Belyaev told how he managed to get three service apartments while working in the Kremlin, while his colleagues stole meat and sold it on Arbat, and about what secret papers were signed by the cooks in a special kitchen.

My working day ended at one in the morning. I can’t count how many separate calls there were! Every day is like a knife edge...

Viktor Borisovich, you worked in the government kitchen in the Kremlin for more than 30 years. What time did your working day start and end?

It started at five in the morning and ended at one in the morning. In the morning a car came to pick me up and took me to work. I can’t count how many separate calls there were! They could call at any time of the day or night. The discipline is serious: every day is like a knife edge... The responsibility is great, God forbid someone gets poisoned!

The only perk that the cook had was that we came to work early, at half past four, and were still asleep. If it was summer, then I made myself some good coffee, they brought me fresh bread, I cut off a piece of hot smoked sevruga, made myself a sandwich, sat on the balcony and listened to the nightingales sing. And then he took a good Philip Morris cigarette from a plastic pack (there are no such cigarettes now) and lit it. I got high! There was a certain merit in this, but then it could not be said.

- Were there any cases when one of the top officials was poisoned in the Kremlin kitchen?

Thank God, no, but in order for them not to exist, everyone understood perfectly well how to select people and build a leadership system, so that there was strict discipline and understanding of where they work. It required a lot of dedication.

Viktor Belyaev teaches chefs how to decorate ready-made dishes Photo: pk25.ru

All Kremlin chefs still sign a non-disclosure document. What secrets are implied by this in the document?

This is a “secret”; it exists not only for chefs and not only in our country - wherever people are connected with the work of top officials. This is a document that states that you undertake not to tell what and how is happening in these units. All personnel who worked for the protected person - cooks, security - all people liable for military service, were questioned, checked. I myself did not sign such a paper. I, as the head of a food processing plant, also had a “secret”, but it was related to other articles.

Today, even in the Kremlin, there is a shortage of real products. There are a few subsidiary farms left, but they work for themselves

The quality of food for the higher ranks, who were fed in a special kitchen, was always carefully monitored. In which era were the products of better quality?

Today, even in the Kremlin, there is a shortage of real products. Before the sanctions, Russia had a large number of foreign cheeses, fish, and meat delicacies, but after the sanctions they disappeared. It’s probably even better, let our producers start working themselves. It’s easier to buy abroad and do nothing, but it’s shameful when Russia buys garlic from China.

Previously, food for the Kremlin table was supplied from subsidiary farms in the Moscow region, there were farms where calves were raised, they had their own milk, vegetables, fruits, berries - raspberries, currants, gooseberries, we always made large preparations for the winter. And today there are almost no subsidiary farms, a few remain, but they work for themselves and supply little product.

- I always thought that such people eat, if not the food of the gods, then certainly the best...

Of course, there is a special service that checks the quality of products coming to state receptions; it was, is and will be. They take tests and check for heavy metals and other harmful substances. If this product does not meet the standards, it is removed. But even if it passes the test, there is still no meat, fish, and dairy products that were there before.

“I spoke with Brezhnev only twice” Photo: forum.for-ua.com

- Do modern politicians differ from Soviet general secretaries in their gastronomic preferences?

Our old people, as we called them, didn’t get anything in their younger years - the Stalinist regime, then the war... Naturally, you can’t travel abroad: if you went somewhere, it was on official visits. And the new generation of leaders differs from the previous one in that they have traveled around Europe, Asia, tried different cuisines: shrimp, arugula, foie gras... But in my memory, it has never happened that the Kremlin kitchen invented any special dishes for them recipes.

- What do they feed you now?

Russian cuisine is always present. Especially when foreign representatives come. Jellied meat, herring under a fur coat... Pizza was never made, but there was a rack of lamb. Fish dishes: sea bass is coming now, and we used our sturgeon.

Gone are the days when a whole stretched tongue, a pig, vases of fruit were served... Imagine: there is a large vase, and there are apples, pears, grapes, plums, tangerines... You can still eat a tangerine, but how can you get a whole apple at a reception? ? Naturally, they were not eaten, they were taken into pockets. And now we’ve switched to small individual two-story fruit bowls, where they put different berries on skewers. They began to serve everything individually to each guest. A person sits down at the table, and on his plate there is a cold fish appetizer, then the waiter takes it away and brings meat dishes, after that - a hot dish, dessert.

I ran into the buffet and asked the manager: “How are you?” I haven’t even seen Putin, suddenly he answers: “Yes, everything is fine.”

"To Vladimir Vladimirovich I liked my soup. It was hot outside, about 35 degrees. In the evening it was necessary to serve something tasty, but cool. And we made tomato soup" Photo: news.qip.ru

What did you prepare for the current Russian President Vladimir Putin? There are legends that he loves some of your famous red soup...

Yes, he liked my cold soup. We prepared it at the summit in Sochi in 2006. We looked at it with the technologists, with the management, and agreed with the protocol. Why soup? It was hot outside, about 35 degrees. In the evening it was necessary to serve something tasty, but cool. And we made tomato soup. After that, when the meeting ended, Putin called the people who were involved in the protocol and asked them to thank him, saying that it was very tasty. It was a holiday for us. As a rule, everyone ate, talked and went on to work; in this bustle, you rarely hear gratitude to the cooks.

-Have you ever crossed paths with Putin again?

He came up repeatedly at similar events in other cities. My first acquaintance with Putin was six months after my work in the Kremlin. He was sitting in the buffet drinking coffee, and I ran in and asked the manager: “How are you?” I haven’t even seen Putin, suddenly he answers: “Yes, everything is fine.” I turn around and he’s drinking coffee. He always knew everything about the main people who served him.

- Do the current president of Russia have any other food preferences?

He really loves ice cream. And the usual: ice cream or fruit. When we had receptions, we always tried to include at least a scoop of ice cream in any dessert.

You once admitted that with the arrival of Putin, the level of alcohol in the Kremlin fell. Have you started drinking less? Or do they drink, but different drinks?

This is age related! In Soviet times, except for Alexei Kosygin (he was not only a non-drinker, but also a non-smoker), everyone in the Kremlin drank. Brezhnev loved vodka. If the doctors had not forbidden Leonid Ilyich after his stroke, perhaps he would have had a glass, but otherwise he would have abstained. Nikita Khrushchev, according to the stories of the cooks, was also partial to strong drinks. With the arrival of Vladimir Putin in 2000, the strength of alcohol changed. If, for example, in Soviet times there was 60% vodka and 40% wine, then with the advent of Vladimir Vladimirovich there came good wines - French, Chilean, Spanish, South African. From Russian brands - "Abrau-Durso". I remember when we coordinated the Kremlin menu with the protocol department, we even invited a good sommelier who presented this or that wine at receptions. Until now, good wines prevail in the Kremlin. True, now they also put Crimean ones on the tables. Although it is not right for Russia, with its space and capabilities, to do this, we had wonderful wines that won Grand Prix at various exhibitions.

At state receptions, per person there were 70 g of vodka, 50 g of cognac and 150 g of white and red wine. But, of course, a small reserve was also taken

Official receptions in the Kremlin Photo: eto-omsk.ru

- I wonder how much alcohol per person was allowed to drink at major Kremlin events?

At state receptions, per person there were 70 g of vodka, 50 g of cognac and 150 g of white and red wine. Everything was calculated, multiplied by the number of guests, but, of course, a small reserve was also taken in case someone ran out of drinks. Alcohol is never served at executive receptions. There is also such a form of service - a “glass of champagne”: when the first person of the state congratulates and rewards respected persons, a glass of champagne is served. Or signing some important documents. But this is a protocol thing. As for lunches and dinners, they have personal chefs and have their own calculations. But I think they also have a box of good wine in stock - you never know, guests will come - it’s a common thing.

Leonid Brezhnev had four personal chefs. I think Putin has no more

- How many chefs cook for Vladimir Putin?

I do not know this. Leonid Ilyich had four people. I think Putin has no more either. I have never worked with so-called personalities. We knew them and communicated. But they were subscribed and tried not to show up too much. It was taboo, we walked past such people so as not to be exposed ourselves, and not to expose them. Of the current chefs who feed the top officials, I don’t know anyone. And I talked with the Brezhnevites. These were the most ordinary people from the people who accidentally ended up there.

" They called me to a special kitchen, I worked there for six years, and then they called me to the KGB, they say, would you like to work with the top officials? But I refused - I knew what kind of work it was."Photo: viktor-belyaev.livejournal.com

- Over the years, haven’t they tried to entice you to become a personal chef for one of the rulers?

First they called me from the special kitchen to the special kitchen, I worked there for six years, and then they called me to the KGB, they say, would you like to work with the top officials? But I refused - I knew what kind of work it was. There is more tension. I already had two children then, and I didn’t want to, I was afraid.

- Is it true that now in the Kremlin not only the furniture has changed, but also the dishes?

This happened back in the 2000s, when tablecloths and tables were changed, and then glass and porcelain. Previously, only USSR official plates were eaten at receptions. Under Yeltsin, they made the coat of arms of Russia; it was even on the glass. Then we moved away from this and began to use it very rarely. From that time the crystal remained, we exhibited it only on New Year's Eve. It looks much more beautiful and richer than any glass.

An estimate was drawn up for each deputy chairman. If lunch was supposed to be around 1 rub. or 1 rub. 50 kopecks, then they invested in this amount, they did not go for it

- Was there any kind of monthly budget in the Kremlin kitchen that could be spent per month?

I worked in a special kitchen that provided food for the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the entire apparatus of ministers; in that kitchen, a certain estimate for lunch per day was drawn up for entertainment expenses for each deputy chairman, and they worked strictly according to this calculation. If lunch was supposed to be around 1 rub. or 1 rub. 50 kopecks, then they invested in this amount, they did not go for it. It was very strict with this. I remember how at the end of the month it turned out that someone didn’t get the amount, and it was transferred to the next month, and someone went overboard - maybe they bought cigarettes or a bottle of cognac. If, for example, a person had business meetings, then even at them it was written down how many glasses of tea with lemon, crackers and sandwiches were spent. This 1967 decree appears to still be in effect today.

- I’ve always wondered where the excess food that remains after parties goes...

Today they count on every guest, so there is practically nothing left. In Soviet times, there was a lot left over, and after the receptions were over, we carefully removed everything that was untouched from the plates, set a separate table and fed the cadets and soldiers. Receptions are served by many services. People have always been grateful. Of course, the unscrupulous could turn it into their pocket, not without this. Now this is impossible.

- Didn’t you eat from the master’s table?

Waiters and cooks were fed in the workers' canteen an hour before the start of the reception. By the way, all the cooks were assigned to a separate clinic and underwent a medical examination every three months. And before the start of government receptions, the doctors came into the kitchen, examined the nails and fingers of all the staff so that there were no pustular diseases.

"Waiters at receptions were forced to wear gloves." Photo: spbtep.ru

Waiters were forced to wear gloves. Firstly, it’s beautiful, and secondly, girls, of course, have a manicure, but guys’ nails can be different, some get a manicure, some don’t.

- And the cooks?

For example, it was very difficult for me to do slicing with gloves on, my hand sweats, the knife slips, so the gastronomic part was done without gloves, and everything related to raw materials was done with gloves.

The waiters were not given tips, but they were given gifts. From Indira Gandhi, women were given cuts for dresses, men - watches

For every waiter, less often a cook, tips are a good help. Is there such a way to reward employees in the Kremlin?

No, they never gave me any money. The only thing is that foreign delegations who came gave souvenirs. For example, Indira Gandhi gave women cuts for dresses, and men - watches. Others handed the men a bottle of whiskey, and the women some small items.

"I fed Richard Nixon ve weeks. We talked a lot with him, one evening - almost an hour" Photo: surfingbird.ru

- You have cooked for many politicians. Whom do you remember with special respect?

I spoke with Brezhnev twice. Once, when there was a meeting with the then President of France Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, I cooked fish soup for them on the island - in the Moscow region there was a separate island where they caught fish. After lunch, Brezhnev and Giscard d’Estaing came to thank me personally.

I remember how I served former US President Richard Nixon. He came to Moscow for two weeks, before the meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan, these were serious negotiations on arms reduction. He acted as an intermediary and lived in a mansion on Leninsky Hills. I fed him for two weeks. We talked a lot, one evening for almost an hour. He was interested in everything: where I studied, who my parents were, how life was. He gave me a photo of himself in the White House, then we took a photo on the steps of the mansion and he signed the photo: “From President Nixon to a real Russian boss.” When he left, something turned upside down in my head: it seemed that we were doing something wrong, after all, I was a Soviet man, a member of the party, I was brought up at that time...

"Leonid Kuchma himselfcame into the kitchen and shook hands with the cooks and sister-hostess" Photo: polittech.org

- Were any of the Ukrainian rulers fed in the Kremlin?

I remember Leonid Kuchma well from individual meetings in the mansion and evening receptions. I really liked that he came into the kitchen and began thanking everyone. He could have told the assistant: “Go and tell it from me.” But no, he came and shook hands with the cooks and the sister-hostess. I remember the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Vladimir Shcherbitsky. When joint receptions took place, he often visited Moscow, always available, without any ostentatious poses. Just like the deceased first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus Pyotr Masherov. They were somehow real.

Nowadays people get jobs in the Kremlin through acquaintances, although they periodically go to restaurants and are selected, but this is rare

You came to work in the Kremlin when you were just a boy. Really without protection? In general, without cronyism, is it possible to get to such a bread-and-butter place?

I came to the Kremlin for the first time in 1975, on the thirtieth anniversary of the Victory, I was sent from the Prague restaurant, where I worked then. I was 18 years old. Even before the army. The chef of this restaurant sent young employees there for practice, he believed: let the young people study. And I ended up in the special kitchen. The boss took a closer look at me: “Would you like to work with us?” “I’m leaving for the army,” I say. “Well, when you come back after the army, I’ll see you.” And when I returned, I went to Prague again, and they sent me to the Kremlin again, and the boss came up again with the same offer. “Okay, I’ll think about it and call.” “Why call? Here’s your phone number, go to the HR department and talk.” Just at this time we had a meeting with graduates of the culinary school; my culinary teacher Zinaida Vasilievna was alive. “Victor, I heard you got married? Maybe you should go to the Kremlin to work? My uncle is the director of the Kremlin’s catering group.”

I came to Anatoly Kabanov, the then director of catering, the chef of the Kremlin kitchen was already sitting there, he gave me my profile and said that this guy was already in the personnel department. And he: “I have my own personnel department, my niece called me, she taught for him.” That’s how I got there, you could say I went in from both sides (laughs). And so... they don’t write on the fence that the Kremlin is looking for cooks - there will be a line. Naturally, they get in through acquaintances, although they periodically go to restaurants, look, select, but this is already rare. Mostly people move on from each other.

Stalin's cook taught me how to make raspberry parfait, chop greens with two knives, cut herring without a knife

- Your teacher was Stalin’s cook. What lessons from him were useful in life?

I will always remember Vitaly Alekseevich. He taught me how to make raspberry parfait, chop greens with two knives, and cut herring without a knife.

"E If the cook is angry and not in the mood, it’s better not to cook, otherwise you’ll over-salt, under-salt or overcook.” Photo: lidashealthandbeautyblog.com

- Is it possible?

Easily! First you need to remove the skin from the fish, then tear off the head (he did it so masterfully that all the insides went with it), and then you lift one fillet with two fingers to the tail, the bones remain right on the ridge. And you do exactly the same with the second fillet. I still know how to do it.

I didn't like fiddling with the dough. Once we were ordered to make yeast pancakes, I honestly said: “Vitaly Alekseevich, I can’t! I’m afraid of this dough: it either doesn’t suit me, or it turns sour.” And he: “Do you like to sing songs?” “Of course I do, my mother is a singer.” “Come on, start singing and start kneading, and I’ll cut the appetizer.” He always said that you need a good mood for the test, and I was convinced many times that it senses the person’s aura. In general, if the cook is angry and not in the mood, it is better not to cook any product, otherwise you will over-salt, under-salt or overcook.

Everyone stole: those who stood on the chickens carried the chicken home, those who stood on the meat carried a piece of meat

- Were you ever tempted to bring something home from work?

The temptation is always there... Although when we worked in government mansions, no one really checked us, everyone was in front of us. As a rule, there were 12 people, but if there were 120, there would be more food there, maybe someone would be tempted. And when it’s 12, what will you take? Eat a piece, not without it...

There were people who stole, but I was somehow embarrassed and afraid, it was a shame to do it. When I worked at the Prague restaurant, I had a case when the chef threw tenderloin, chicken, and butter into my bag... He was sneaky and said: “Don’t you have a family?” I kept wondering why I didn’t take it. Although they were carried there, it was impossible to live otherwise. Those who stood on the chickens carried the chicken home, those who stood on the meat carried a piece of meat. In the 70s, when things were really bad with this product, a friend worked part-time at Prague... He took out the trash. He throws about five kilograms of meat into a trash can, and tops it with potato peels from the vegetable shop and takes it away, and then other people take it and go to trade on the Arbat, a whole gang works. But this man was quickly caught, fired, and he could not get a job anywhere. Now they also steal, but not meat, but billions. The politicians of that time could not even dream of such a thing even in their worst dreams.

- Are today’s Kremlin chefs mostly young?

Yes. All the senior staff left, only the youth remained. There was a French chef, but he had already left, working to exchange experience.

During my work in the Council of Ministers, from cook to chef, I received three apartments

You said that in Soviet times you received a salary of 130 rubles in the Kremlin kitchen. How were you paid for your work in our time?

As the director of a food processing plant, my salary was 60 thousand rubles. (at the current exchange rate $920.76. - "GORDON". ) But there were also bonuses for good work. For example, the summit was successfully held - the president thanked him, they presented him with a certificate, and also a cash prize - 15-20 thousand rubles.

"At work in the Kremlinthey intrigued, wrote and were afraid that I would take their place, they tried to belittle me. I've swallowed so much, it's not enough to write a three-volume book..." Photo: torrent-muzon.ru

Was it enough or not? The question is rhetorical. But there was an opportunity to get an apartment. During my work in the Council of Ministers, from cook to chef, I received three apartments. The system was like this: after working for three years, you could write an application. If you had poor living conditions or had children, you could get another apartment. Those who were smarter used a trick: they registered their mother and aunt in their apartment... It turned out that we lived with my mother, and then my son was born, there was not enough space, and for two years I was allocated an apartment, first on Leninsky Prospekt. After some time, a daughter was born - they gave me another. And then, for the 50th anniversary, in our time, they gave me an apartment on Mira Avenue. Plus the benefits were good. Now this is not the case, but back then we had our own ateliers where we could inexpensively sew winter boots or a muskrat hat; there was a big shortage. Those who were richer stood in line to buy a domestic car. There were also subordinate kindergartens where you could enroll without queues. At that time there were about forty rest houses and a sanatorium, and we were given two-day vouchers. On Friday evening they took the children, boarded the bus, arrived on Saturday, and rested until Sunday. There was a full three meals a day, and everything for three cost 6-8 rubles.

They don’t leave such places on their own. You said that you decided to take this step because your colleagues were intriguing and gave you a heart attack. Is this something that thrives in these circles?

Yes. What do you think, I was surrounded only by bosses from movies? (Laughs.) I beg you... Of course, there were intrigues, they wrote and were afraid that I would take their places, they tried to belittle them. I’ve swallowed so much, it’s not enough to write a three-volume book...

When I arrived at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, there were many buffets operating on the sixth floor. The employees brought their own sausage, alcohol... They earned money themselves, and the food plant received a profit. None of the buffets had cash registers. I began to put things in order, I wanted to change and destroy this system. You could say that he tore people away from their daily bread. As a result, they started writing letters to me. When I left, they didn’t call me back, but even if that had happened, I wouldn’t have gone myself - after all, I worked for 32 years, my heart is not the same. Neither health nor morale allows working in the same mode. The social and organizational work that I am currently doing as president of the Russian Culinary Association is enough for me to go on vacation with my wife to relax, to feed my family, and most importantly, it’s time to give away my experience and knowledge.

"Nothing to regret. Nostalgia is always there, but to regret and think about going back, no." Photo: torrent-muzon.ru

- But you have no nostalgia for that time? Don't you regret it deep down?

Nothing to regret. Nostalgia is always there, but to regret and think about going back is not. What was done was done honestly and frankly, with dedication. I'm not ashamed of those years. I didn’t expect that I would be able to grow from a cook into a general director, communicate with such people, and work in such a high position. And I try to forget all the bad things, we must remember the good and the present. The rest is to clean up. Then you will remain a kind and sympathetic person. Now there is a lot of evil, it’s so offensive when I see how society has changed! But I hope that it will be better, at least I am still able and will try to contribute.

— The profession came to me unexpectedly. I graduated from 8-year school on Pervomaiskaya, in the workers’ village of the Salyut plant. We lived in a barracks. My father was replaced by my grandfather Pyotr Yegorovich, who returned from the front without a leg. When he found out that after the 8th grade I decided to enter the historical and archival technical school, my grandfather said: I don’t understand, you will sit in a dark room, covered in ink and armbands, receive 50 rubles, and how are you going to feed your family? ..

One day he saw a notice on the door of a culinary school: Open Day. He came in, and this had to happen: Valentina Petrovna Minaeva, my future industrial training master, was walking towards him. She showed him everything, the grandfather returned and held a family council.

That's how I ended up in school. The scholarship was 26 rubles, and only then 32 rubles - then it was money! I can’t say that I liked everything right away; I didn’t want to be “serve and bring” (once we peeled boiled eggs in a restaurant for two weeks in a row). But I decided to learn a profession, and then choose my own path.

— Did you start from the dining room?

- No. The first miracle happened: I was assigned to the Prague restaurant. Then it was an institution for the elite: turquoise, walnut, mirrored halls, a winter garden, banquets for astronauts, the diplomatic corps, the patriarchate were held there - it was simply impossible to get there. And I got it. And just imagine, my rank was high, fifth, and then sixth and master chef. And I’m a sixteen-year-old boy, and there are thug cooks, they’ve been working for this fifth category for decades... I thought they’d put me at banquets, but that’s not the case. They put it in the preparation department, in the meat shop, and then in the fish shop. It’s not like now - a clean fillet arrives. Then there was cutting of meat, cutting of poultry, we processed a ton of stellate sturgeon and sturgeon, tons of pike perch, because at that time in “Prague” there was still a chic store of semi-finished products. And it turned out that everything was for the better, because I went through all the steps, starting from the very bottom. Not the cook who can cut stellate sturgeon, but the one who knows how to peel potatoes...

Is this jellied fish disgusting?

— Then you entered technical school, joined the army - when did the second miracle happen? And who helped?

- They always ask me: who? But it didn't work out that way for me. I first came to the Kremlin before the army, in 1975 - we were sent there for service, and the boss noticed me there. And after the army, when I returned to Prague, we went to banquets at embassies. And when I again got to serve a banquet in the Kremlin, the boss called me and asked: would I like to work there?

I had a cooking teacher, Zinaida Vasilyevna, she treated me very well, because for some reason I immediately began to cook delicious solyankas and everything else. And her uncle was the director of the Kremlin catering group. And thanks to her, I ended up not in the staff canteen, but straight into the Kremlin’s special kitchen. And then there were two royal kitchens: a special one - it fed members of the Politburo - and a special kitchen for members of the government. And I ended up in a special kitchen. My God... It was a standalone and absolutely amazing production. When I entered there for the first time, I saw gas stoves from Goebbels’ dacha, ten meters long, they were later converted to electric ones... And I worked there for 14 years.

— That is, all or almost all of the top officials ate from your hands?

“The special kitchen then fed Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin and the deputy presidents, and every day there were small receptions for about ten people. We have catered for both large and small receptions. And even then there were mansions on the Lenin Hills. And there I fed Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Nixon, Kohl, Carter, Giscard D'Estaing - it's true, the list is long. It was terribly interesting. Firstly, such people, and secondly, we recognized foreign cuisines.

- How could you please a person from another part of the world? After all, you knew nothing about these people, and the responsibility is unheard of.

— First, the advanced team, protocol officers, and doctors arrived. And they told us who loved what. All are living people, some have chronic diseases... But the representatives of Arab countries were sharply different, because they did not eat our soups and our food, the embassy cooks came, and we learned to cook national food.

- How long did it take to study?

- You look twice - and everything worked out. Let's say the Chinese came. When their sea cucumbers arrived, I shied away from them like hell from incense. So gelatinous, unpleasant to look at - but everything worked out, of course.

— So, not everyone liked Russian cuisine?

— No, everyone loved Russian cuisine. This was the case with Indira Gandhi. She liked the way I made the noodles with yolks. She came into the kitchen and asked for the recipe. Then, a few months later, she flew to some forum, and I ended up on this shift. And she specifically came and said: my family liked it so much, I prepared it myself, and it turned out simply extraordinary. It was nice. First of all, it looks beautiful, these noodles...

— A woman, even if she is the Prime Minister of India, will never pass by beauty, but what about men?

- Yes you! In 1987, I suffered psychological stress due to beauty during Nixon’s visit. They call me and say: you will serve. And he was no longer president then; he was supposed to fly in as an intermediary at the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev in Reykjavik. It’s not clear what to cook. Well, I decided to do something neutral. I ordered milk veal, stuffed it with carrots and onions - and into the oven. And then they say: the plane is delayed for four hours. I think: what should I do with the veal? There were no convection ovens then. And in the old days, as they did: if the bottom is on fire, you put a pot of water, steam comes from below, here you have a convection oven. So I put the veal on a small fire, covered it with foil, and in four hours it turned out simply fabulous. And we also needed a snack. A note needs to be made here. In mansions there was always a large table, and on it a 12-meter coat of arms tablecloth. And according to the rules, we displayed at least fifteen snacks. That is, in addition to the ready-made gastronomic cuts, there had to be something special. And I had to fantasize. And it had to be decorated in such a way that if, for example, a fish platter was decorated with a fence made of fresh cucumber, this fence could no longer be put on the platter of meat, everything had to have its own pattern. So, we had to make a rose out of a tomato, a bell out of a carrot... And we worked miracles.

Finally Nixon arrives. He enters the dining room, with a translator with him. I'm getting ready to serve the veal, an hour passes and there are no waiters. Just awful. Finally they appear. And the time is first one in the morning. I say: what happened? They answer: he doesn’t eat. So what is it? And he drank a glass of Bordeaux, walked around and took pictures of everything. And he says: you can’t eat such beauty... Well, of course, American cuisine is poor, they don’t do anything like that, it’s our tradition. Then he sat down. The waiters say: I haven’t touched the pattern on any of the dishes. Ate a piece of veal. Well, you can go home. I took off my uniform and went up to the kitchen to get sandwiches for the drivers, they were hungry. I arrive, and Nixon is there. He stands and asks: where is the boss? But I was young, thin, curly... And so he smiled, shook hands, patted me on the shoulder and said: manifik! Everything is delicious.

— Were there any capricious guests?

- There were, and quite a few. South Koreans, Romanian delegation. Do you know what the Romanians did? A man is sitting, holding a glass of red wine, and suddenly begins to slowly pour wine onto the tablecloth. And then he says: oh, I made “Red Square” for you...

— You fed Vladimir Putin too...

- Yes, I have an unforgettable memory. On the 60th anniversary of the Victory in 2005, there was a festive reception in the Kremlin. The parade passed, and the heads of state went to the State Kremlin Palace for a banquet. The orchestra was playing, everything was incredibly beautiful, Putin came out for a welcoming speech. And suddenly there was some confusion at the table of the US President. It turned out that Bush asked for non-alcoholic wine, but we were not told. The President of Russia makes a toast, but the distinguished American guest’s glass is empty. We must pay tribute, we were not at a loss, we called the nearest restaurant, found such wine, and the car flew to the Kremlin. The situation was unpleasant for Bush, naturally, and we asked the head waiter to wrap the bottle in a napkin and slowly open it, showing that we were serving wine - a whole performance... At Putin’s last toasts, a man runs in with a bottle of this wine, and under our exhalations they poured a drink for the American guest. We made it! But, believe me, it cost everyone their nerves.

One day, Viktor Borisovich Belyaev decided to try his hand at another country and left with his family for Syria. Where there: there was not enough black bread, kefir, herring, and the climate left much to be desired. I didn’t like standing in the kitchen in 50-degree heat. And he returned home. This time he ended up at Stalin’s nearby dacha - there they built something like a guest house for Gorbachev: a 3-story building with an office, a library, a restaurant and rooms for 8-10 guests. And Belyaev was sent there as director of the nutrition group. While he was furnishing an empty building, which didn’t even have curtains, and receiving delegations who went to Stalin’s dacha as if they were going to a museum, protests against privileges began. Gorbachev never even came there. And the “nearby dacha” was closed.

Then Gorbachev was replaced by Yeltsin, and Borodin appeared, who began to collect old personnel. So Viktor Belyaev returned to the Kremlin. The Kremlevsky Food Plant holding company was created, which he headed for 8 years. However, in 2008, after a heart attack, he went free: 32 years of work in the main kitchen of the country made their presence felt. Although it seems that the president of the Russian Culinary Association has no less work.

Victor Belyaev and Richard Nixon.

Two topics occupy Belyaev twenty-four hours a day. The first is the quality of the products on our table, the second is Russian cuisine.

As for Russian cuisine, here he turns from a cook into an artist. And he stubbornly insists: Russian cuisine is a national treasure, the same as ancient Russian painting, architecture and songs. And what happened to her today? Trouble.

— Find a restaurant with good Russian cuisine today, where you can try real jellied meat. Don't look!..

So I gave a master class in the Far East. And a Japanese man was working behind the wall. I had 9 dishes, and I cooked them for two days, and he had one - and he also cooked it for two days: sushi with tuna. The Japanese had fish and rice, and I had turkey with mousse, borscht with spicy croutons, which no one had ever heard of, a pike perch dish, cottage cheese sticks, and then they asked to add seasoning soup. This is, if you boil the broth, three hours, no less. And cabbage soup generally takes 24 hours to prepare; cabbage is stewed for five hours. You see, Mediterranean cuisine, for example, is light, where you throw these shrimp in a frying pan, take their favorite dandelion - arugula, and that's it, the dish is ready. The same thing happens with any fish. But we can’t eat such food, because we don’t need a lot of fish protein, but we need meat protein, milk casein: we have a different climate, and the body requires different food.

Pies or pancakes are a whole science. Dressing soups do the same, and they also take a lot of time. Meat takes a long time. They have pancakes on the water, and we have pancakes on sourdough. The dough only needs to be lowered three times and before baking, pour boiling milk over it so that it is spongy. The fact that we left our kitchen is a big mistake. It definitely needs to be fixed.

As for the quality of the products that we are forced to eat, Viktor Belyaev and I talked about this like we were talking about a sick child.

-Where did the good bread go? Everything went to freezing. And why? Because the good flour has disappeared. Where did it go? As a cook, I see that the flour is not of the same quality at all, and our bread is moldy due to a violation of the technology for making flour. At the Kremlevsky plant, I refused frozen dough until the last minute. My pastry chefs came at half past six, put out the dough, the buffets started working at ten o’clock, and you can’t imagine what the smell was. And by 11 o’clock all my baked goods were completely bought up. Well, I don’t understand why they switched to foreign technologies for making bread!

The same can be said about milk. We lived in a workers' village in Izmailovo, it was the edge of the city. I went to school, and at the door there was a small can of milk, a jar of sour cream and sometimes a piece of butter. A village woman came to us who had three cows. And it was impossible to wash the glass, that was the milk.

- Do you believe that this can be returned?

- Not to return, but to correct! The name of the country changed, and everyone began to get involved in politics. But you won’t be fed up with politics. Under no circumstances should people be weaned off the land and from work. Look what happened. Everyone rushed to institutes, especially commercial ones, where they don’t teach anything. Result: good specialists disappeared, including agronomists and livestock breeders. There are no pastures. The public sector was destroyed, but the farm sector was not created. And every year there is a decline in milk yield and in everything. A steady process of decline is taking place; only powdered milk, and imported one at that, helps out. And almost all production is based on it. That is, we have almost no real cottage cheese, butter, or sour cream.

- What happened to the potatoes?

- The same thing, but this is our second bread. In commodity science, we studied about 50 varieties of potatoes. We saw it all, there were practical classes, they cooked it for us, fried it, and explained where things grow. And today in Russia there is mainly import, and what is most surprising is from China, and it contains only starch. And next to it is odorless Chinese garlic. Do you know, for example, that potatoes must be calibrated, because large and small fruits cannot be stored together. The small one rots quickly, and the large one puts pressure on the middle one, etc. Potatoes love black soil, but the Chinese don’t have it - potatoes are full of chemistry. Not only that: it is frozen and then fried in the worst oil. And such disgusting stuff is served in the most expensive restaurants! This is what we did: the best varieties were gone, production stopped, storage rules were violated.

— I have a question about the picture in the store - from the last century...

- Exactly. Previously, in stores there was a picture of a cow, where the names of the parts of the carcass were written. The picture has disappeared, since there is practically no meat on the bone now. It is believed that this is inconvenient, unprofitable, and that specialist cutters can no longer be found. Nowadays, the menu of many restaurants includes ribeye and marbled meat. And everyone says: there is no marbled meat in Russia. Why so? It wasn’t invented yesterday, and we had it. I remember when meat came from the Mikoyan factory, knowledgeable chefs immediately put a thin edge in the fatty fibers, because it was the softest and most delicious meat. That is, there were such breeds of cows. We have forgotten everything that is ours.

— There is, for example, a Spanish national delicacy - jamon...

— And there was our great forgotten brand: Tambov ham. We invited specialists and the president of the World Culinary Association to the first culinary congress in Yekaterinburg. Now in Russia, good Tambov ham is made at one factory. And I ordered ten legs there. They cut this ham properly and offered it to the guests to try. They ate everything and asked what it was? I answer: Russian brand. And people say: this is better than jamon...

There is a special secret: it is soaked in a saline solution, then boiled, and then smoked. The method is unusual, but quite accessible. Well, why, one might ask, can’t this be resumed? Why? Why buy this completely unaffordable jamon? Pork is very cost-effective; lightweight structures with a thermal perimeter are needed. It's not difficult to do all this. We know how to do everything, and once upon a time there were legends about our cuisine and our products...

Finally, Viktor Borisovich told me two wonderful stories - about Kosygin and about Margaret Thatcher.

— Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin remained in my memory as one of the most worthy people. I don’t dare talk about him as a politician, but in everyday life he was a very modest person. The menu included the usual light soups, favorite buckwheat and cheesecakes. And he had one rule: either himself or through his assistants, after eating, he thanked all the employees. His personal chef told me this story. An American businessman came to Kosygin, and the chef decided to surprise the American. And he made magnificent black caviar canapés in the shape of dominoes. Real dominoes, like playing pieces. The work was done simply like jewelry. The American was surprised, and from Kosygin the chef was reprimanded for excess.

But Margaret Thatcher never stayed at the residence on the Lenin Hills and always lived only at the embassy. One morning she stopped by the mansion and asked for a cup of tea. And one of the English employees advised her to try round pancakes with cottage cheese from a Russian chef for breakfast. At that time I worked there serving the delegation. I made palachinki with cottage cheese for breakfast. The waiter came and I put five whole executioners on the dish for her. Imagine my surprise when the waiter said that Mrs. Thatcher had eaten all the pancakes. The cook doesn't need a better thank you. And suddenly the door opens, and Thatcher appears on the threshold of the kitchen - with a magnificent hairstyle, in a formal suit and with a magnificent smile on his face. I stand in front of her as if in hypnosis, and this makes her smile even wider. She took off her glove, extended her hand to me and said in broken Russian: thank you very much, sir. At that moment I was the happiest person on earth...

Yes, I almost forgot. I asked Belyaev what he likes to eat. After all, he is a Kremlin chef. Perhaps, like Catherine II, he prefers boiled beef and sauce made from dried deer tongues? It turns out that Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin once asked him such a question. And he answered: cutlets with noodles. And Nikulin said: it can’t be, me too!

Victor Belyaev

From 1975 to 2008, he worked at the Kremlevsky food processing plant, where he worked his way up from cook to general director. Today he is the president of the Russian Culinary Association

About working in the main kitchen of the country

“Most often I think of Richard Nixon.”

Both kitchens were located literally behind the wall from each other. Where did this division come from? The fact is that the Council of People's Commissars has traditionally been located in the Kremlin. This was the case even under Lenin. But party power was located elsewhere.

In the Kremlin, I immediately ended up not in the usual canteen for employees, but in a special kitchen, where I worked for 14 years. We fed members of the government - the Council of Ministers of the USSR and deputy chairmen. And members of the Politburo were served by a special kitchen, where personal chefs worked, assigned to a specific leader.

The Council of Ministers met in the first building of the Kremlin. And the special kitchen, which served both the Council of Ministers and the Presidium, was located in building 20. We prepared lunch, which was then taken to the first building in special vehicles. We only encountered special cuisine at large events with the participation of top government officials. The special kitchen held all receptions on the territory of the Kremlin, and the special kitchen prepared only for members of the Politburo - in the Kremlin, in apartments and dachas. Once I had the opportunity to work a little side by side with Stalin’s personal. At one time, he miraculously escaped execution - on the day of the death of the leader of the peoples, it was not his shift. He arrived in Kuntsevo on the evening of March 5, 1953, when everything had already happened. He turned around on the threshold, rushed to Moscow, took his family and fled to Saratov. There were such times. He taught me how to make dough. He was a great master and gained experience from pre-revolutionary chefs. This is how the tradition was preserved.

In the special kitchen there was the most severe selection; people were checked inside and out. And if they were allowed to work, they were immediately awarded a title. There was strict discipline there. If you went on vacation, you certainly had to inform the competent authorities where exactly you went and where to look for you if something happened. There were no cell phones. They could call at any time. Therefore, employees often came to work with suitcases containing everything they needed: a change of clothes, a razor, a toothbrush. I was invited to work there, but I didn’t go - I had just returned from the army and didn’t want to show off again. Therefore, I don’t know which top official I should have been assigned to.

When I first entered the special kitchen, I was amazed by its size, vaulted ceilings and huge slabs 12 meters long. There were 48 burners alone. If you look closely, it becomes clear that initially they were heated with wood, then converted to gas and, finally, to electricity. In fact, it was a battle trophy. Once upon a time, these slabs stood at Goebbels’ personal dacha.

We also had a giant beater that could knead up to 100 kg of dough at a time. It was also German, made in 1911. Can you imagine? And I came to the Kremlin in 1975! Everything worked.
From time to time I was sent to serve distinguished foreign guests, who were usually accommodated in mansions on the Lenin Hills. I treated many people there - Margaret Thatcher, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, Arab sheikhs.

Among other things, it was also useful for me personally, because I could get acquainted with the traditions of different national cuisines of the world. The Arabs, for example, did not eat our soups, the Chinese also have their own problems, and we cooked for them together with the embassy chefs. Where else would I have such an opportunity? But a lot of funny stories happened.

Once I came to cook breakfast for German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He was a very large man and, apparently, not entirely healthy - his age and workload were making themselves felt. His wife put him on a strict diet. So, I’m laying out the groceries and suddenly I hear footsteps. I turned around, and in front of me was the Chancellor in a robe and slippers. He shows me with gestures: fry some eggs and sausages and don’t worry, I’ll sit here on a chair. I quickly prepared everything, but I ate with gusto and didn’t leave a crumb. He thanked me and returned to his room. And after a while - already officially - he came down to breakfast, clean-shaven, in a suit. And he says to his wife - I probably won’t eat today, I’ll arrange a fasting day for myself.

Another time, together with Indira Gandhi, we cooked noodles with duck yolks - according to an old recipe that I extracted from my grandmother. It was generally difficult to work with Indians. Their cuisine is specific, many products cannot be used. Each member of the delegation was prepared personally, and it was impossible to repeat themselves, but they sometimes lived for two weeks. Well, when my imagination was already pretty weak, I remembered my grandmother’s recipe and prepared noodles for Indira. About fifteen minutes later she came down to the kitchen and asked me to show how I did it. She and I stood shoulder to shoulder and cooked - rolling out the dough, this, that. At some point, she began adding water without permission. Quite reflexively, I lightly hit her on the hand: what are you doing? And only then did I realize that I was grumbling at the Prime Minister!

Some time later, Gandhi came to Moscow again. She called me and told me that she had prepared noodles according to my recipe at her home for a family celebration. Everyone was delighted. She thanked me and gave me a little god. I still have it to this day.

Yeltsin made sure everyone at the table drank to the bottom

Ictor Belyaev, who worked as a chef in the Kremlin for about 30 years, spoke about the tastes of the powerful:

– Viktor Borisovich, how did you get behind the Kremlin wall?

– Graduated with honors from culinary school and received assignment to Prague, the main restaurant in Moscow. And then there was such a system: the best restaurants sent cooks, waiters, and head waiters to the Kremlin to serve state receptions. So in 1975, I went there for the first time - for an event on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory... Over time, they took a closer look at me, and from “Prague” I moved to the special kitchen of the Kremlin and the USSR Council of Ministers.

– Which of the greats did you feed?

– Indira Gandhi, Eric Honecker, Helmut Kohl. Once I was able to please Margaret Thatcher herself, who usually did not use our services; she was served by cooks at the embassy. But on one of her visits, she went down to the dining room when the entire delegation had already had breakfast. She was served a cup of tea, toast, jam, juice. And someone suddenly says: “Today the pancakes are simply wonderful - executioners!” She became interested. And they have already been eaten. I had to quickly make them from cottage cheese, bake them and present six of them to her. She ate all six. The next two days, when she came down for breakfast, I already had executioners ready for her. Then she came into the kitchen, thanked me and, taking off her glove, personally shook my hand. As a keepsake of Thatcher, I still have a small book with the program of her visit to Moscow. One of the points there was the laying of flowers at Lenin's mausoleum. She crossed out this point, put three exclamation marks and signed it.

In the mid-80s, American President Richard Nixon came to Moscow as a mediator in the Gorbachev-Reagan disarmament negotiations. I was very worried and thought for a long time about what to cook. Nixon arrived, went into the dining room, about forty minutes later the head waiter appeared: “You know, he hasn’t sat down at the table yet. They poured him Bordeaux, and he walks around with his secretary Diana, taking pictures of the dishes and repeating: “Delicious! Amazing! And I understand him. The appetizer portion of that dinner consisted of about 15 courses. These are four types of fish appetizers - salmon, stellate sturgeon, marinated pike perch, aspic. Then meat snacks - rolls, boiled pork, tenderloin in egg. Three salads are required, including natural vegetables. Everything was served on stamped plates. After dinner, Nixon shook my hand, hugged me and again: “Delightful, Victor!” And the next morning at 9 o’clock a car brought me to the residence and, in order not to wake up the guests, dropped me off at the entrance gate. I’m walking and suddenly I hear a whistle. I look up and Nixon is standing on the balcony in his dressing gown and whistling at me. I didn’t know then that among Americans, whistling is an expression of delight. I waved back. He lived in Moscow for a week, we began to communicate. He turned out to be an avid fisherman and asked him to cook fish for a hot meal.

– The person at the desk is one person. The person at the set table is completely different. Has it ever happened that during a high feast people opened up in a completely unexpected way?

– I rarely managed to be at the same table with top officials. But, for example, Patriarch Alexy II always invited people to the table, was a very interesting storyteller, and loved to recall episodes from his childhood and youth. And in the process of communicating with him, you did not feel squeezed, but began to dissolve in his stories, easily maintaining a conversation.

Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov was also a soul-man. He easily opened up and entered into any company. He could skillfully lead the table like a toastmaster. Pavel Pavlovich Borodin is the same. Once at the table, he loved to tell jokes and at the same time he laughed boisterously. When I found myself at the same table with Zhirinovsky, I saw in him the sweetest and kindest person. But with Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin it was not easy, he was annoying because he always made heavy toasts and every time you had to drink to the bottom, because he himself personally monitored this. At the same time, I don’t remember any cases of anyone getting drunk at receptions. Some kind of internal discipline kept me going.

– Did any of the first persons know how to cook?

– I saw Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin preparing kebabs. And judging by the pleasure with which he did it, it seemed to me that this was not the first time. And Yeltsin loved to teach how to cook fish soup, what kind of fish to put in and how much to put in.

– Have you ever met picky eaters or, say, gourmets?

– I found the leaders of the Soviet era at an age when most of them were already deeply sick people. The doctors carefully made sure that we gave them everything pureed and dietary. In the Brezhnev family, I worked three times in Zavidovo. The requirements are simple: porridge, omelette, sausage, cheese. No foreign products. I remember that in those years the doctors just forced Leonid Ilyich to quit smoking, but he always had a pack of Novost cigarettes lying somewhere nearby. He sometimes smoked Marlboros and sometimes asked his driver: “Volodya, light a cigarette.” Volodya was a non-smoker, but he took a cigarette and lit it.

Kosygin also had a very simple diet. I loved buckwheat and cheesecakes. But one day he amazed me with his knowledge. There was a small reception, about twenty people, for the Korean delegation. Kosygin decided to check whether the guests knew our cuisine well. He took the menu and read: “Borscht with pie.” Koreans say: “Well, we know, beets, cabbage.” “No,” says Kosygin, “borscht is an old Russian dish. When you try it, you will be amazed." They ask him: “How do you know?” He says he read it in some book. And borscht is a broth made from hazel grouse, combined with a strong decoction of beets and seasoned with a spoon of cognac. In the old days they took it with them hunting. The strong broth provided nutrition, the beets cleansed, and the cognac invigorated.

– Do you think Russian cuisine is known abroad?

- I think yes. Once, at one of the conventions of the World Association of Chef Communities, delegations from different countries – about five hundred people – gathered for the final evening. Buffet. And on the tables there is only bread and butter. Half an hour passes. They don't carry anything. But the Russians have everything with them. We took out caviar, herring, black bread, vodka, and lard from the diplomats. All of Europe began to come to our table, then America, then Asia. Finally, the then president of the association, Bill Gallagher, takes the stage: “I always said, as long as the Russians drink, they are invincible.”

Roman Vologodtsev