While Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy may be the first recognized and most famous vegetarian in Russian history, vegetarianism was practiced in Russia long before his time. Throughout history, the majority of the peasants in Russia have been de facto vegetarians as a result of socioeconomic conditions and religious fasting practices. There is evidence of involuntary vegetarian diets since the beginning of Kievan Rus’, and many peasants still subsist today with meat only on rare occasions.
To examine food in Russian history and culture, the earliest written records come from the Primary Chronicle. The Primary Chronicle is the major source of information about the Rus’ and the East Slavic multicultural inhabitants, from the middle of the 9th century through the early 16th century. Unfortunately, food and diet are mentioned in the Primary Chronicle only in extreme cases such as famine, warfare, feasts, and holidays. There was undoubtedly a daily struggle for survival among the masses at times. The term kisel’, interpreted as a kind of porridge similar to oatmeal and also referred to as kasha after cooked, is mentioned along with syta, a honey mixture diluted with water. These dishes are still common today among the common folk and peasantry. Klieb, or bread, is mentioned the most frequently in the Chronicle, occurring sixteen times (Lunt in Food in Russian History and Culture, 22) The term Ovoshche, meaning fruit is mentioned, although no fruit or vegetable is named specifically. Miasa and ryba (meat and fish) are also written about the Chronicle, generally mentioned in reference to the royal court banquets or as booty from war. Finally, several drinks are referred to including wines, beers, and kvas’, a popular fermented drink among the common people.
The rural peasant diet has always been very simple in contrast with the royalty and the elite society. Throughout history, certain foods have been consistent staples to the peasant diet, mainly bread and grain products. Peasant women commonly make bread using sourdough leavened with yeast, kvas, or beer lees (Matossian in FRHC, 12). It is baked in the pech’, or stove, the central and most important appliance in the peasant household. The stove is not only used to prepare food, but also to heat the house, as a drier for fruits, vegetables, and clothes, and to ventilate the house if equipped with a chimney. The family sleeps around the stove, usually located in a corner of the hut, with the elderly and children closest to the heat.
Other common cereal and grain dishes include kasha, thin pancakes called blini, and pirogi, tarts stuffed with cabbages, potatoes, cheese, berries, and occasionally meat or fish. However, it was not common for poorer peasants to eat this variety everyday. Bread and kasha were prepared the most frequently . Most peasants toiled in order to eat, many surviving at times on whatever they found or received from begging.
Vegetables are next in importance in the peasant diet, followed by fruit, then dairy products and eggs. Cabbage is very popular, eaten fresh or in the form of sauerkraut during the winter months. Several soups include cabbage, such as shchi and the more popular borshch, which also included beets, onions and sometimes tomatoes. Many peasants eat from their gardens, where they grow several vegetables such as cucumbers, peas, tomatoes, carrots, onions, horseradish, and others. Gathering from the forest is also common, where mushrooms, berries and nuts can be found. Mushrooms are often used as a substitute for meat among the peasantry. Vegetable oils are also important for added calories. Potatoes became a part of the daily peasant diet during the nineteenth century. While fruits may not be as common as vegetables in some areas, they are eaten whenever available. All food that can be dried, frozen, smoked, or salted is prepared for winter use. Milk and milk products such as cream, cottage cheese, and other cheeses are eaten when available, as well as eggs. Kvas, tea, and vodka are among the most popular beverages.
Finally, the amount of meat in the Russian peasant diet is minimal. Most peasants associate meat with holidays and special occasions. However this is not to say that the poor Russian peasants should be compared to true “vegetarians” by choice, like Tolstoy and the elite vegetarian trend. In the villages, food is viewed primarily as an element of subsistence, with little or no choice when it comes to variety. The peasantry can be labeled de facto vegetarian, eating meat whenever they could afford to and when they were not fasting, which happened to be on rare occasions.
Another critical factor in the Russian diet over the years is the religious practice of fasting. Strict religious fasting only added to the vegetarianism among the peasantry. Abstaining from certain types of food for certain periods of time for religious purposes was standard among the masses in late Imperial Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church introduced these practices to the peasants, and the regulations were followed very closely. There are varying degrees of severity according to the church calendar, but most fasting requires abstinence from animal products and oils. The total number of fasting days in the Russian Orthodox calendar equals about 180 when added up. The Russian peasants took these sacred regulations very seriously, eating only bread, fruits, and vegetables on these days. This eliminated even the possibility of meat from their diet for roughly half of the year. Thus religious fasting, in combination with the socioeconomic conditions in the rural villages, has made meat a scarce part of the Russian peasant diet throughout history.