The Soviet, later Russian, New Year is a very unique phenomenon appeared as a symbiosis of our antique tradition of rich zast’olje (long Russian feasts with rich foods lasted for several days) & restrictions of the Soviet epoch when most people were deprived of any opportunity to celebrate anything in the proper Russian way. Lack of food, a permanent deficiency of something delicious usually appeared before New Year created special conditions when a rich long celebration became possible.
The Soviet New Year is far more than a good table, relatives & friends gathered together, caviar & Finish salami, (I’m sorry I’m not certain it has been the Finish at all but it was a trendy product for festive time), served. It is mentality that united modest believes & dreams of the whole Soviet country, its hopes for a better year & a better life. I suppose that there were even those who believed that the communism would finally begin since the New Year…Anyway, I’m out of political metamorphoses. 😊
We should take into consideration the stated above when we cook our complicated salads or any other dishes as one won’t be able to reconstruct the true environment of the Russian New Year without these philosophical preparations. As soon as main dishes from our festive menu are done, I will add them with the drinks & other additional appetizers to have the table completed.
Maria KethuProfumo
eternamenta 
Thank you for sharing your traditions, Dear Maria. Happy New Year to you.
All for you, my dear John. I hope that this culinary voyage will enrich your own menu as well. 🙂
One can only hope. 😁
😁😁😁
E’ sempre bello conoscere le tradizioni di altri popoli. Grazie Maria e buona serata ❤
Grazie, cara Fulvialuna. Spero che le ricette siano utili anche per te. 😊😊😊
Happy New Year, Maria! Thanks for sharing…
You are welcome, dear Bette! Thank you! 🙂
If I may ask Maria, why were people restricted from celebrating events in “the proper Russian way”? Was it due to shortages of consumer goods sometime in the past? South Africans love to celebrate with food and drinks, and any occasion is a good enough excuse for a party, but sadly, not everyone can afford to do this, due to unemployment and poverty.
That’s a very good question, dear Hester. I suppose that the Party considered that common people did not need a great variety of goods. So, goods appeared only before the New Year. It created such a particular environment. 🙂
Strange 🤔
😁😁😁😂 Not for the country that tried to build communism.
I always find history very interesting. Sometimes it is abundantly clear that the “good old days” were not always good for everyone.
So true, dear Hester. The history of the twentieth century is especially full of absurdities & contradictions of the kind. 🙂
So true
😊😊😊 Enjoy the Russian cuisine no matter the truth of history, dear Hester.
Well over here, traditional foods for Christmas, and new Year, are the obvious stuffed turkey, and tamales, both pre-Hispanic dishes, however a tradition I have kept from some years ago, from the soviets, is to watch the Soviet romantic comedy: The irony of fate. Однажды в новогоднюю ночь
It’s hilarious! 🤣
🎉🎉🎉 Oh, what an honour, dear Mr. Brigido! “The Irony of Fate” is a great masterpiece & indeed we re-watch it every 31st of December. I hope Omicron passes by you. Try to cook something I offer this year. I believe that you will discover unusual & delicious dishes. 😉😉😉
Do not worry I cook every day, even when I was married, of the three wives I had, only one was a sort of a decent cook, the rest did not know how to boil and egg!🤦♂️😒🤷♂️🤣
😮😮😮 I say! I will see what vegetarian dishes might be found in the Russian cuisine. As a rule, we are quite opposite due to climate. Substantial food is necessary here.
Do not worry, here we have plenty of fresh vegetables, and lots of fresh fruits.
As an anecdote; On my last job used to bring food I cooked to work, and share it with my fellow employees, and sometimes with customers.
Next door to us there was a very expensive restaurant managed by a couple, both great chefs, their food was pretty good, but people would tell me after trying my food, that it was better than theirs!
Some customers will even offer me money to open a restaurant, but of course they do not know what a though job its to work as a Chef, in my younger years I worked on the management side of fancy Hotels, with great restaurants, and learnt first hand what a terrible job being a Chef, or just working at a kitchen that is!
Cooking at home may be tiresome too, but a piece of cake, compared to work on a kitchen, a Chef job resembles more the work of a Sargent Major, training, and harassing new recruits!
I was a witness to that, and there’s nothing romantic, or nice about it, in fact it’s brutal.
I got great respect for mothers who cook daily meals for their families, like mine did. 💖
Luckily I only cook for myself, and sometimes my children when they visit me, they all love my food.😉😊
I have no doubt that your culinary talent is awesome, dear Mr. Brigido. Expensive restaurants of today have lost their true meaning. I’m glad your customers preferred your meals. 😀🎉🎉🎉
Well, in Mexico, we have even a pre-hispanic, Indigenous tradition of great cooking, and the Spanish brought along the European, and Moor cuisine, Spain, a mix of Old Roman Mediterranean food, with Middle Eastern, and North African roots, met in Mexico, with a hint of South Asian influences brought to Mexico by the “Galleon from Manila”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_galleon
So Mexican food grew rich by the many local ingredients, tomatoes, chilies, chocolate, vanilla, corn, avocado, etc. And those brought from all over the World, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Remember Christopher Columbus “Discovered” the American continent because he wanted to get a shorter route to Asia for the spices, instead he brought what he found on the Caribbean, and later the Spaniards flooded over the American Continent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas
So Mexico was a crossroads of civilizations on a Worldwide scale, add to the local ingenuity of the Mexican people, Mexican food it’s very rich on different foods, our food its so rich that it’s killing us!😒
Transition from a very active, and hard working jobs, as farming, mining and ranching to a more sedentary type, with motor transportation, and with such a heavy diet where our three meals are loaded with calories, produce a lot of obesity.😒
That’s the downside, the plus, of course, our food it’s delicious!😊