I always thought that monastic food was bread and water. But one day I found myself in the monastery refectory - and my opinion completely changed. I have never tasted more delicious lean dishes in my life. What's the secret? The monks of the Holy Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos always welcome pilgrims warmly. The law of hospitality is strictly observed here - first feed, then ask. However, no one will bother you with inquiries even after dinner: everyone, they believe, has his own way to the temple.

We were not at all surprised at the modestness of the meal: bread, buckwheat porridge seasoned with stewed vegetables, pea chowder with greens (which you can't even look at in worldly life and certainly won't covet), baked potatoes with sauerkraut, fresh cucumbers and kvass. There were also olives (by the way, as we were told, you can eat them with seeds) and dry red wine (on the bottom of a mug). But the taste of these dishes ... He amazed us!

The most appropriate word in this case is ‘unearthly’. I asked one of the monks about this. He silently lifted his eyes to heaven and quietly, without the slightest hint of edification and edification, replied: “It is important with what thoughts, not to mention words, a person begins to prepare food and the meal itself. Here is what is written about this in the ‘Kiev-Pechersk Paterik’: ‘It was given to one elder to see how the same food differed: those who blaspheme food ate impurities, those who praise - honey. You, when you eat or drink, glorify God, because the one who blasphemes harms himself.

The sauerkraut was filled with carrots, beets, and aromatic dill seeds. It was they who gave the usual for us, Russians, winter preparation an amazing taste. And, as the monks said, such cabbage is very useful for good stomach function. Over a pile of cabbage, laid out in simple aluminum bowls, towered a glistening, glossy soaked apple. Several of these apples must be placed in each tub when pickling cabbage. They also give it a special flavor.

Meat delicacies and pastries are not for the Athonite monks. In their opinion, gluttony is a dangerous trait that entails diseases of the body and various mental ailments. Fatty foods “grease the soul,” while sauces and canned foods “thin the body.” For the Athonite monks, eating is a spiritual process, somewhat a ritual act.

Prayer - during the preparation of a particular dish (in this case, it will certainly succeed), a short prayer before sitting down at the table, prayer after eating. And the very atmosphere of the spacious and light refectory, the walls and ceiling of which are painted with paintings on biblical subjects, turns a modest monastic dinner into a festive feast and a feast for the soul. “So a layman’s kitchen,” the monk told me, “should not be a place for family squabbles and political discussions, but only a refectory.”

Most recently, I happened to visit the Goritsky Resurrection Convent, which opened in 1999. Sisters Julia and Nadezhda obeyed in the monastery refectory. Young, each of them could hardly be given a little over twenty, but they managed the kitchen utensils confidently and without fuss. Novelties of technological progress, such as mixers and vegetable cutters, have bypassed these holy places.

The nuns do everything themselves: and the dough is kneaded in large vats by hand, and butter is knocked down with hand buttermilk. Yes, and the monastery meal is prepared not on gas in a cookware with a non-stick coating, but on a wood stove, in cast iron. That is why, the nuns say, it turns out more tasty, rich and aromatic.

I watched the younger Nadezhda shred cabbage, and admired: the strips were thin, thin, one to one, as if each were measured out. I salted it lightly, sprinkled it with vegetable oil, put a flower made from beads of thawed cranberries and dill sprigs on top - not a dish, but a picture, it's even a pity to eat, and put it aside with words; ‘Let the cabbage give juice, then you can put it on the table’.

I heard somewhere that monks should not furnish their meals nicely, so I asked Sister Nadezhda about this. 'Well, what are you, - she answered, - God cannot be against the beautiful, as long as it comes from a pure heart, does not become an end in itself and does not lead to bitterness if something does not work out. In general, I noticed, - she added, - that here I began to cook very well, although I had never learned it, and I had not yet accumulated a great everyday culinary wisdom. It's just that when there is peace in your soul and love for the world and those who live in it, everything you do turns out well. '

As she said this, she was butchering a herring to make a jellied herring, chopped with mushrooms. The nun soaked the dried porcini mushrooms in advance in cold water and now she was putting them on the fire. After they were cooked, she passed it through a meat grinder and mixed with finely chopped herring fillets. I added black pepper, chopped onion to the minced meat and ... started painting a new culinary still life.

She molded a herring from the minced meat, gently attached the head and tail, put small, parsley, small water lilies from boiled carrots around and poured everything with mushroom broth mixed with swollen gelatin. It turned out to be a lake with an appetizing fish inside.

“You can,” she said, seeing my enthusiastic gaze, “decorate your dish as you like. And it is not necessary to cook it using dried mushrooms. It's just that my sisters and I have collected so many of them over the summer and autumn ... And you, if there are no dried ones, take ordinary champignons. Although, in my opinion, no one grown in ‘captivity’ mushrooms can compare with forest ones.

Such a spirit comes from them! .. I must say that the dinner for which sister Nadezhda prepared her 'culinary masterpieces' was not festive, and of the guests there were only a few travelers like me, who were real it would be a stretch to call pilgrims. But here they accept everyone and do not ask how strong your faith is: since you have come, then your soul is asking.

In addition to aspic, Nadezhda prepared several more unusual mushroom dishes. For example, mushroom cheese, caviar and some unusually tasty cold appetizer. Dried mushrooms for her are soaked in water for an hour, and then boiled in salted water until tender. They, as the nuns said, can be replaced with fresh ones: champignons or oyster mushrooms.

In this case, it is enough to boil the mushrooms, chop finely, mix with chopped onions, add salt if necessary and pour over the sauce. It is prepared from grated horseradish, diluted with a small amount of strong bread kvass and mushroom broth. The dish is not spicy, but only with a slight horseradish flavor, which should not interrupt the taste of mushrooms.

Of the cold appetizers on the table, there was also boiled beets with a spicy sauce made from boiled egg yolks, grated horseradish and vegetable oil. This dish was familiar to me, but I tried boiled beans fried in oil for the first time - very tasty. The dish, as the sisters told me, cooks, though simple, but takes quite a long time.

First, the beans must be soaked in water for 6-10 hours, then boiled in salted water until tender, but so that they do not boil, put in a colander, dry slightly on fresh air and only then fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. A couple of minutes before being ready, add the sautéed onions to the cauldron, salt, season with spices to taste and remove from heat. Beans are served cold.

While Nadezhda conjured (although this word is not very suitable for a nun) over cold dishes, Julia cooked the first and second. The first course included monastic borscht with beans and kalya (soup cooked in cucumber brine) with fish. For the second - pilaf with vegetables and raisins, lean cabbage rolls, pumpkin baking - something like a pumpkin casserole with rice: pumpkin and rice for this dish are pre-boiled separately from each other, then mixed, whites and yolks, whipped separately, are also added to the minced meat and put everything in a greased form.

It turns out to be a cross between baked goods and the second course. For dessert, the sisters prepared a pie with apples and pies with poppy seeds and honey - makovniki. And although the dough was kneaded without the use of butter, it turned out to be fluffy, tender, and the filling ... Baking with poppy seeds is generally my weakness.

As you can see, the nuns ate their meals and treated the pilgrims without meat at all. But believe me, we didn't even notice it. On the days of fasting, the number of dishes on the table, as the nuns said, decreases, fish, eggs, and dairy products disappear. But at the same time, the meal does not become less tasty and, of course, remains the same satisfying.

Saying goodbye to the hospitable sisters, I asked if they had heard of Angel Curls jam? They say that this recipe was given to the abbess of one of the Spanish monasteries by the Virgin Mary on the night before Christmas. Pumpkin fibers (in which the seeds are hidden) are boiled in sugar syrup along with mashed hazelnuts. ‘No,’ said the nuns, ‘we didn’t, but we also make jam made from pumpkin fibers, which most housewives simply throw away. You just need to separate the fibers from the pulp and seeds, dry slightly (dry in the air).

Prepare sugar syrup, pour over the fibers, leave for a day, and then cook like our jams - five minutes: 3-4 times for five to seven minutes, (It is important after each cooking to completely cool the jam and only then put it on the fire again.) 'Try and you can cook monastery cuisine at home. Perhaps then the upcoming fast will not seem so insipid and difficult.

Located in the picturesque mountains covered with dense forests, the Shaolin Monastery is not only the cradle of Ch'an Buddhism, but also one of the centers of the development of Wushu in China. The beauty of nature, fresh air and peace, so necessary for meditation, active martial arts and medicine are excellent conditions for healthy way life of monks, conducting a search for methods of "nurturing life" and its extension.

1. Permanent stay in the Ch'an state

For one thousand four hundred years, starting from 495 AD, when the monastery was founded, its inhabitants strictly observed the norms of Chan Buddhism bequeathed to Damo: daily long-term meditation, "perfecting the heart and nurturing nature", striving for "emptiness" ... A person engaged in meditation strives for peace, plunging into a “state of calm”, he acquires “emptiness”, that is, gets rid of all extraneous thoughts, forgetting about everything around him and not feeling himself.

Extraneous thoughts, according to Chinese medicine, give rise to "seven feelings (emotions)": joy, anger, sadness, thoughtfulness, grief, fear, anxiety. Stormy emotions or, conversely, their complete suppression harm the "five dense organs", are the root cause of various diseases. Excessive anger is reflected in the liver, joy in the heart, sadness in the spleen, grief in the lungs, fear in the kidneys. So, meditation is the first secret of longevity of Shaolin monks.

2. Combining Orthodox Buddhism with martial arts training

It is well known that there are strict rules in monasteries, according to which one who takes monastic vows must be merciful, do good deeds, and must not raise a hand against a person. Therefore, monks are prohibited from practicing martial arts. Shaolin went the other way. From the first day of its foundation, tall and strong monks demonstrated their skills in the field of fist fighting, since the practice of life, development and spread of Buddhism required knowledge of martial arts, and only healthy and strong monks were able to keep their abode intact. This is the second secret to longevity.

3. Knowledge in the field of medicine

Martial arts training was accompanied by a large number of injuries. Therefore, the abbots of the monastery, willy-nilly, had to engage in medical practice, develop their own recipes and methods of treatment. Beginning with the Sui dynasties, the monastery began to send representatives to the mountains to famous healers to study the wisdom of medicine, especially wound healing. Their number has steadily increased. The monks-doctors began to engage in therapy and gradually formed a full-fledged hospital at the monastery. In order to improve the effectiveness of care for the victims, the rectors demanded that every wushu practitioner has the necessary medical knowledge in four areas: causes of illness, treatment, prevention and medicines... Possessing knowledge of medicine, the monks studied the issues of longevity, developed methods of extending life. Thus, the medical secrets received by the monks from their mentors contributed to the development of the principles of longevity. This is the third secret to the longevity of Shaolin monks.

SHAOLIN LIFE PROTECTION METHOD

Above, we focused on three features of the Shaolin method of life extension. However, this method has much in common with the methods of "nurturing life" of other schools and trends. The monk Xuan Gui, known for his research on the methods of "nurturing" and extending life, in his writings outlined the main directions of the Shaolin school, the essence of which boils down to the following:

• "Nurturing life" through meditation;
• sunbathing;
• hardening by cold, heat and wind;
• healing the spleen with proper nutrition;
• cold water baths;
• prolonging life with qigong;
• losing weight by walking;
• strengthening the body with "hard" exercises;
• prolongation of life with the help of the secrets of medicine;
• cleansing the body with massage;
• recovery with the help of wushu.

These areas are complex method"Nurturing" and prolonging life, absorbing the long practice of Shaolin, the invaluable experience of other schools, a method that has proven its effectiveness in the prevention of diseases and health promotion.

Nutrition principles

Main food

Traditional Chinese medicine has long recognized the close relationship between nutrition and human health. The Lingshu treatise says: “The overhead heater turns on, lets through the five cereal flavors. Qi is called something that gilds the skin, strengthens the body, nourishes the hair, irrigates, like fog and dew. With the intake of food, the body is filled with qi. Getting into the bones, it has a beneficial effect on them, makes them flexible. Saliva is a fluid that nourishes the brain and hydrates the skin. Qi enters the middle heater, combines with the liquid and turns red. It turns out blood. "

This excerpt from an ancient treatise testifies to the important role food plays in the functioning of the human body, which, getting into it, contribute to the formation of nutrients necessary for a person - qi, blood and saliva. These nutrients support a normal metabolism, circulating continuously, and ensure the vital functions of the body.

Digestion of food is carried out mainly by the stomach and spleen. Therefore, the ancients said: "The spleen is the basis of postnatal life, the source that generates qi and blood."

A doctor-monk of the Ming Beng Yue era, combining the principles of traditional Chinese medicine with his own experience, he created his own original approach to the issue of "nurturing life", brought out the daily diet of monks and food during illness.

Beng Yue wrote, “The food is based on five grains, vegetables and fruits. Medicinal herbs should be taken with food throughout the year. Meals should be orderly. Eating at the same time will allow you to live for a hundred years. "

He believed that food should be regular, varied, food should be fresh, that food should be taken at a certain time and in certain quantities, that one should not consume large amounts of fluids, overeat or undereat.

There are strict rules in Shaolin according to which food is eaten three times a day. Every monk is obliged to strictly follow these rules.

It is forbidden to eat anything after the third meal. Breakfast at the monastery starts at six in the morning and includes two cups of liquid porridge. Lunch is at half past eleven and consists of a steamed pampushka or flatbread and liquid soup in unlimited quantities, at six in the evening - dinner, including one or one and a half cups of mixed hodgepodge with noodles. Breakfast should not be hearty, at lunch you need to fill up properly, and a little less at dinner. The food should be varied. Monks are forbidden to eat meat and drink wine. Violators are punished with burning sticks and expelled from the monastery.

Meal Schedule

BREAKFAST
Time: 6 hours.
Main food: porridge made from chumiza or corn with the addition of sweet potatoes or potatoes.
Amount: 2 - 2.5 cups (100g rice or flour).

DINNER
Time: 11 hours.
Main food: Tortillas made from a mixture of wheat and corn flour stuffed with dates or persimmons.
Quantity: 1 flatbread (250 g), plus white radish, doufu (bean curd), golden bean noodles.

DINNER
Time: 6 pm. Main food: bean flour noodles.
Amount: 1 - 1.5 cups seasonally added: alfalfa, celery, Chinese cabbage, etc.

Tea diet

Shaolin monks regularly drink medicinal tea, brewing it from herbs, depending on the weather conditions associated with the changing seasons. Drinking this tea helps to improve the health of the stomach, lift the "spirit" and prolong life.

Spring tea : 30 g of field mint, 30 g of rhizomes of reeds, 10 g of licorice, 30 g of Lourera gentian, boil with boiling water and drink instead of tea 4 - 5 times a day, one glass, daily brewing a new portion. This infusion has anti-infectious and detoxifying effects, a good prophylactic agent against skin diseases, such as furunculosis.

Summer tea : 18 g of large-flowered platycodone, 10 g of licorice, 30 g of Japanese honeysuckle, boil with boiling water and drink instead of tea. This infusion has a detoxifying effect, relieves fever, is good for the throat, and is a good prophylactic against influenza. In summer, you can also drink in small quantities the juice of fresh golden beans, obtained by squeezing the grains brewed with boiling water and crushed with added sugar.

Autumn tea : 20 g of hanging forcibia, 10 g of bamboo leaves, 10 g of licorice, 3 g of dandelion, 10 g of foxglove root, boil with boiling water and drink instead of tea. This infusion promotes the formation of saliva, has detoxification, antipyretic, diuretic and carminative properties.

Winter tea : 3 g raw ginger, 3 dates, 30 g black tea leaves, boil 3 onion stalks and drink instead of tea. This broth helps to improve the functions of the intestines and spleen.

Longevity tea for any season: 30 g of multiflorous mountaineer, 30 g of Chinese chamomile, 35 g of hawthorn, 250 g of thick honey. Cook the first four ingredients in a clay pot for 40 minutes, drain the broth, squeeze the juice from the resulting solid mass. Pour water into a pot, transfer the pomace and boil, drain the broth. Repeat the procedure 3 times. Drain all broths together (you should get 500 ml). Add honey and stir until smooth. Place the resulting product in a porcelain vessel and seal tightly. Consume daily after meals 1 tablespoon diluted in half a glass of boiled water. This drink can be consumed all year round... It helps replenish qi, nourish the blood, and improve the functions of the stomach and spleen.

Wild plants in the diet of monks

• Daylily lemon yellow, or dandelion. It is harvested in the spring when it blooms. Dig up whole, wash and cut into small pieces. Then add salt and knead slightly. It can be added to other dishes. Daylily helps to eliminate heat and has a detoxifying effect. As the monks say, eating this plant for one month relieves sores on the skin and furunculosis for a whole year.
• Shepherd's bag. In spring, this plant covers large areas around the monastery. Fresh young leaves are eaten. They can be added directly to noodle soup, or they can be eaten by boiling water, with the addition of salt, vinegar and a small amount of sesame oil. Shepherd's purse is very nutritious and tastes good. It promotes blood replenishment and spleen health. With prolonged use, it eliminates the yellowness of the face, relieves thinness, weakness in the limbs, dizziness and blurred eyes.
• Field mint. It grows in abundance near the monastery, filling the air with a pleasant aroma. Monks in the spring and summer collect its stems with leaves, wash, cut into pieces, salt and lightly knead. The use of mint helps to improve vision, enlightenment in the head, and eliminate fever.
• Purslane ... Purslane is harvested in summer and autumn. It is dug out entirely, washed and poured over with boiling water. Eat with salt and oil. It is also used for making pancakes with flour and donuts. Purslane strengthens the stomach, normalizes bowel function, it is recommended for indigestion and dysentery.
• Wormwood. Young wormwood shoots are harvested in early spring, washed, mixed with salt and flour and cooked on a steam grill. Wormwood helps to eliminate heat.
• Willow. In early spring, young willow shoots are harvested, boiled in boiling water, removed and eaten, adding salt and oil. Young willow shoots can also be mixed with flour and steamed.
• Japanese thigh. Young thistle leaves are harvested, washed and eaten raw with salt and butter, or boiled in noodle soup. Thistle has a hemostatic effect.
• Chinese yam. This plant helps to "replenish" the kidneys, stops bleeding, strengthens the spleen and lungs. The monks collect it in late autumn and eat it boiled.
• Tarot. It is dug up in early spring and late autumn and boiled with white radish. Taro helps to "replenish" the kidneys and blood.
• Hawthorn. Hawthorn fruits are harvested at the end of autumn, washed, boiled and mashed from them. Hawthorn puree tastes sour, is rich in vitamins, strengthens the stomach and improves digestion.
• Chestnut. Monks collect and eat boiled chestnuts in the fall. They taste sweet, strengthen the stomach and replenish the spleen.
• Gingo. This plant normalizes respiration, strengthens the lungs and kidneys. It is collected 3 - 5 pieces per day, peeled and boiled with crushed sugar. Both fruits and broth are used for food.

Vitamins and longevity

Foods used by Shaolin monks for food, from the point of view of modern dietetics, can be divided into cereals, roots, legumes and nuts, fruits and vegetables.

Cereals are one of the main foods that humans constantly eat. They are rich in carbohydrates, which contribute to the body's production of heat energy, as well as protein. Cereals are eaten in mixed form or together with legumes, which allows them to complement each other and to some extent compensate for the lack of amino acids in them. The amount of protein in cereals is approximately the same; they are an important source for the human body. Cereals also contain a large amount of vitamins, calcium, iron, coarse fiber.

Root crops supply the human body with heat energy, contain many vitamins and minerals.

Legumes and nuts are high in protein and fat, especially soy. Their protein content is higher than in vegetables and grains. They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatides, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

Vegetables and fruits are rich in trace elements necessary for the human body. Leafy vegetables, for example, are high in B vitamins and carotene, as well as calcium, iron and inorganic salts. In addition, the moisture and fiber contained in them contribute to digestion (see table).

Shaolin monks eat a variety of cereals, mainly roughly processed, as well as products from beans, vegetables and nuts. They set their diet depending on the season and their own condition, which allows them to receive a complete set nutrients that go well with each other. This is the main way to maintain health and longevity. It is especially important that the monks abstain from meat.

DeYen / magazine "Qigong and Sport", No. 2 1995 /

Despite the fact that in modern Old Believer calendars there are precise indications regarding fasting and fast days of the year, the true Old Russian traditions of eating and fasting are still little known. Today we will talk about how we fasted in the monasteries of the Russian Church before the Church schism, and on the basis of ancient documents we will reconstruct the now forgotten monastery dishes.

Small Household Charter

The nutritional instructions of the modern Old Believer calendars of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, the Russian Old Orthodox Church, the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church relate to the use of certain types of products during the church year. Attention is focused mainly on five parameters of the meal:

food is meager;
food with fish;
food with butter;
food without oil(meaning without vegetable oil);
xerophagy(these days, this means uncooked food, fresh vegetables or fruits).

All of these indications are believed to be taken from " Small domestic charter»- a book compiled in the 19th century and became a kind of collection of statutory prescriptions concerning fasting, meals and cell prayer. And although there is an opinion that the "Small Domestic Rule" unites a certain amount of pre-schismatic church tradition, including the customs of ancient Russian monasteries and parish churches, in fact, its instructions go back mainly to one book - the Typikon ("Church Eye"), published in 1641 under Patriarch Joseph and, according to legend, associated with the ancient charter of the Jerusalem monastery. It should be noted that the New Believer charter in terms of fasting does not differ in any way from the Old Believer. They are completely identical, since they have the same primary source.

Pea brat

However, neither in "Small home statutes”, And even more so in the modern Old Believer calendars it is impossible to find information directly related to the food tradition of pre-split Russia. What did ordinary people eat in Russia on holidays and fasting, what did the clergy eat, and what did the boyars eat? What dishes were served in the numerous monasteries? Almost nothing is known about this, and studies and documents that speak about it are scarcely available. Small remarks, occasionally published in popular historical literature, provide very modest information on this topic and are mainly limited to general words about the piety of ancient Russia. Oddly enough, foreigners are usually quoted in such cases. Thus, speaking about the diet of Great Lent, one usually recalls the writings of the archdeacon Pavel Aleppsky visiting from Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch, at the invitation of Patriarch Nikon, Moscow in 1654-1656:

“During this post, we endured great torment with him, imitating them (the Russians - ed.) Against their will, especially in food: we did not find any other food, except for a smear, similar to boiled peas and beans, because in this post, in general, absolutely do not eat oil. For this reason, we experienced indescribable anguish. "

Also, information sometimes slips that in northern monasteries, like Solovetsky, “dry fish” (dried fish) was allowed during Lent, because there was absolutely no bread in those places, and the monks were forced to eat fish. However, in the absence of widely known and published historical documents, information about "sushi", like any other fish used in Great and Dormition fasts, is criticized by some zealots. According to such authors, the Studian Rite, which really allowed the repeated use of fish during Great Lent (not only on the Annunciation, but also on the day of 40 martyrs, the acquisition of the head of St. John the Baptist, St. Alexis, the man of God, the righteous Lazarus and some others) has not been used in Russia for a long time. They note that even centuries before the church schism, the ban on fish in monastic establishments fully corresponded to the requirements of modern church calendars, and in Great Lent, the main dish was really the pea brat, mentioned by Paul of Aleppo.

Secrets of monastic everyday life

Unfortunately, it so happened that there is no complete research work dedicated to the daily meal in ancient Russia, both monastic and parish, in different strata, different classes of the population. In order to compile such a study, you need to study dozens, if not hundreds of documents. To a greater extent, documents of monasteries have survived to this day. These are various kinds of inventories, everyday life and charters. It takes years to study all the surviving ones, so let's try to see what lies on the surface. On the website of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the section "The main collection of the library of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra", we find the "Obikhodnik" of 1645. It contains not only liturgical instructions, but also food instructions. We find there an indication of the food regulations for the first Saturday of Great Lent:

« For the brethren, boiled with butter, and rubbed dry in a sour brew, not fish. And we will drink the wine that has been established for the glory of God, even if two cups each come. Likewise, in the evening, two bowls. For the evening cabbage soup and dry peas with a lot of butter mixed».

What conclusions can be drawn from this? Sushi (dried fish), as you can see, was used not only in the regions of the far north, where "there is absolutely no bread", but also, as we see, in the central monastery of the Russian state. The indication "dry, not fish" clearly means that in other places (which are not indicated) it was allowed fresh fish, and the instruction was made to avoid mistakes in preparing the Trinity-Sergius Lavra according to the monastery charter. Unfortunately, the popular before the split "sushi" (dried fish) is not mentioned at all in church calendars today, although you can buy it in most Russian grocery stores. You can also pay attention to the substantial number of bowls of wine used in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

In the "Obikhodnik" of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery there are not many indications of an everyday nature. But there are other "Obikhodniki", with more detailed description household charters. One of them belongs to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

This document is well known and was even published by the Indrik publishing house in 2002. This "Obikhodnik" provides a detailed list of almost every day of Great Lent, as well as other days of the church year. Skipping divine service instructions, let's look at the refectory regulations of this famous monastery concerning the second week of Great Lent.

On Monday: In those days, the brethren eat bratsky bread, rocket, kvass in bowls, in bowls in large water, cabbage crumbled with horseradish, oatmeal, turnip, or mushrooms or milk mushrooms under garlic. And on which days the brethren are dry-eating, then there is no serving and a bowl of kvass.

Tuesday: Brothers yasti in a table for a pair of bratsky bread, crackers, borscht soup with juice, kvass from a smaller cellar in large bowls, peas or porridge is juicy. If on this Tuesday or on which other days of Great Lent the Acquisition of the head of Ivan the Forerunner, or the 40 martyr, or new saints: Euthymius of Novgorod, Demetrius of Prilutskago, Alexei Metropolitan, Macarius Kolyazinsky, Metropolitan Jonah, then eat bread in large bowls of egg , shti, lips in mies in juice or cabbage greta with butter, grated peas with butter, caviar or korowai, soaked porridge or pea noodles with pepper, serving cheetzu.

On Wednesday: Dry-eating yasti: bratskie bread, ratka, kvass in bowls, large bowls of water, cabbage with horseradish, oatmeal, turnip or mushrooms or milk mushrooms with garlic.

On Thursday: Yasti in a table for a loaf of bratsky bread, borscht soup, crackers, bratskoy kvass, peas or juicy porridge.

On the heels: Yasti is dry-eating: bratsky breads, kvass in large bowls, in large bowls of water, cabbage with horseradish, oatmeal, turnips or mushrooms in garlic.

On Saturday: They serve as a cathedral for Tsar Ivan, for his burial for the brethren, food: white bread, a bowl of counterfeit kvass, shti with pepper, tavranchug sturgeon or porridge with salmon, grated peas with butter, caviar or korovai, pies, but if korovai, otherwise there are no pies ... They make food for people. In supper, bratskaya bread, shti, kvass in large bowls from a smaller cellar, according to the rate of kvass.

In the 2nd week of fasting: Yasti white bread, shti, egg kvass in a bowl, lips in juice or gheta cabbage with butter, grated peas with butter, caviar or korowai, Gorokhov's porridge or lopdock with pepper. The same days in the supper, bratsky bread, shti, in a bowl of barley kvass in large bowls, in the stavtsekh kvass.

What's interestnigwe seeabout the pre-schismatic monastery life, in terms of modern clichés?

Firstly Although the Kirillov Monastery belongs to the northern monasteries, there was bread at the meal of the monks. And there was no shortage of it. On holidays, instead of rye, white bread or pies were served, the filling of which depended on the charter of the day.

Secondly... The monastic meal was very varied, not only on fast days, but even on the strictest fast. In the harsh days of "dry eating", a sufficient choice of dishes was offered: "bratskie bread, roretta, kvass in large bowls, water in large bowls, cabbage with horseradish, oatmeal, turnip or mushrooms or milk mushrooms under garlic." This, by the way, partly refutes the story of Archdeacon Pavel Allepsky about the extreme severity and intolerance of Russian fasting.

On holidays, fast days in the Cyril Monastery there was the following painting of dishes. The first dish consisted of ear soup (soup), cabbage soup or cabbage soup, cabbage soup with pepper, cabbage soup with pepper and eggs; tavranchuga (soup): fish and turnip. Second course: porridge, peas, pea flour noodles, mushrooms: salted, dried, in their own juice. A special article was a variety of fresh, dried, salted, dried fish, the quality of which was incomparably higher than the modern one; black and red caviar, rolls, pies with various fillings: berry, vegetable, mushroom and fish; pancakes, milk, cheese, etc.

In addition, according to the decisions of the Stoglav Council, in some cases, other indulgences were allowed in monasteries:

Yes, in great and honest monasteries, princes and boyars and commanding people, great and weak, or in old age, cut their hair, and give the great couples and patrimonial villages according to their souls and their parents in an eternal commemoration, and for those for weakness and old age, laws should not be put on refectory walking and eating in cells; Quiet them according to reason with food and drink, about such keep kvass sweet, and stale, and acidic - whoever demands what, and the food is the same, or they have their own peace, or a message from their parents and that they should not be tortured.

Thirdly. Important role kvass played at the monastery meal... It was served on almost all fast days, not to mention the sooner days. Even on Great Saturday, after the setting of the sun, the brethren would give counterfeit kvass at a rate and on a bun (bun) "for strength for the sake of bodily, and not love for the sake of self-indulgence." Everyday kvass is called ordinary, fraternal. As the researcher T.I.Shablova writes, fraternal kvass probably means the simplest and most inexpensive oat and rye kvass. Festive kvass were of 4 varieties: honey (honey, honey), counterfeit (barley mixed in half with honey), barley (yak, wheat) and polian (probably barley mixed with oat or rye). Kvass was served in bowls or staves (a glass-type vessel) with a volume of about 150 grams. Today kvass and mead have practically disappeared from church life, they have become secular drinks.

Fourth... In the middle of the weeks of Great Lent, on revered holidays, caviar was delivered. In the charter of the Kirillov Monastery, such holidays were: "the heads of Ivan the Baptist, or 40 martyrs, or new saints: Euthymius of Novgorod, Demetrius Prilutskago, Metropolitan Alexei, Makarii Kolyazinsky, Metropolitan Jonah." Also, caviar was supplied on Palm Sunday along with fish. The rudiments of this ancient tradition can be observed in individual Old Believer parishes, where it is allowed to cook fish on patronal holidays "if the abbot blesses".

Fifth. On all Saturdays of Great Lent (except for Great Saturday, which, in fact, does not apply to the four-month period), fish was supplied to the St. Cyril Monastery. Instructions about fish are also found in the charter of Palm Sunday:

Food for the brethren: white bread, frying pans with ear or shti with pepper, fake kvass, two fish, pancakes with honey, bowls similar. On the same day, in supper, bratskaya bread, shti, as yak kvass in large bowls, two fish, topping.

The fish table was timed, as a rule, for funeral feeds: 1 and 2 Saturdays - according to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, 3 and 5 - according to Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (son of John IV and Anastasia Romanovna), and the 4th - according to Hegumen Christopher (3- th abbot of the monastery, disciple of St. Cyril). In addition, on the 1st Sunday of Great Lent, there was healthy food for the king, also with fish. In total, according to Kirillov's charter, fish was supplied 8 times during Great Lent.

Tavranchuk. Recipe

One of the most interesting and mysterious dishes mentioned in the "Obikhodnik" of the Kirillov Monastery is called "tavranchuk". Soviet historian V.V. Pokhlebkin(1923-2000) tells about this dish this way:

“There are both meat and fish tavranchuks, because the meaning of this dish is not in its nutritional composition, but in the method of preparation. It is more correct to call it taganchuk - that which is prepared in tagan, that is, in a ceramic, earthenware pan-bowl, in a crucible. Tavranchuks were cooked in pots, in a Russian oven, with long-term simmering. The liquid medium was minimal: for fish, a little water, sometimes half a glass of milk, onions, roots - parsley, dill; for meat - a glass of kvass, onions, pickles and the same herbs. Different fish were chosen: pike perch, pike, perch, carp; meat - mostly lamb brisket.

The pot was placed in the oven, and as soon as it warmed up (after a few minutes), it was poured on top with beaten eggs (for fish tavranchuk) or, in addition, they tied the throat of the pot with a rag, which was covered with dough. Then the tavranchuk sealed in this way was placed in a heated oven for several hours to simmer. The elimination of the Russian oven, first in the cities, and then in the countryside, led to the disappearance of tavranchuk as a dish, because in other conditions, in a different way, this dish did not turn out tasty».

In the "Obikhodnik" of the Kirillov Monastery, tavranchuk is mentioned quite often. But what is interesting, it was prepared for Saturday meals of Great Lent as one of the options for a fish dish: “ tavranchug sturgeon or porridge with salmon". By the monastery tavranchuk, one should understand the fish tavranchuk, without meat, sour cream and other products that can be used only on short days. Here are the main ingredients of tavranchuk, a dish very popular in the 17th century monastery diet.

It is better to wash and soak salted milk mushrooms before cooking, because a sufficient amount is already available in pickled cucumbers. Also, parsley root, celery root, black pepper, currant or bay leaves, onions are used as ingredients - depending on desire and taste.

All this is cut into cubes.

The prepared products are stacked in layers in a pot or cauldron, and then placed in a Russian oven, as an option, in an oven at a temperature of 170 degrees and languishing for several hours. Some recipes suggest adding additional water or kvass. Others advise simmering in their own juice, adding vegetable oil.

There are many tavranchuk recipes on the network with the indicated proportions of products, which, however, differ significantly from each other and not all of them are equally good. Much depends on the amount of liquid, temperature and simmering time in the oven. However, with the proper skill, experience and, most importantly, desire, you can try a real monastery dish that our ancestors ate in the 15th-17th centuries.

11.03.2014 Through the labor of the brethren of the monastery 27 056

Great Lent continues. Over the next 40 days, the Orthodox should not only refrain from food of animal origin and moderate entertainment, but also work on themselves, trying to cleanse their souls of all filth.

The spiritual component of Great Lent is put in the first place in monasteries - the cult of food does not exist there. Perhaps that is why monks often call the Lenten period auspicious, and the laity - difficult.

AND main difficulty- gastronomic. On pasta, cereals and vegetables, excluding fish (except for several days of church holidays, they also do not eat it), it is really not easy for many to hold out for almost two months ...

“Every day we get about 600 liters of milk and 600 - 700 eggs,” says Vladimir. - In non-fasting times, most of these products immediately go to the table - we send them to the Central Estate, to hermitages, make cottage cheese, sour cream, and cook cheese. During Lent, the picture changes: we send milk, cottage cheese, sour cream and eggs, as usual, only to the local kindergarten, school and military unit stationed on Valaam, and also donate to those in need local residents... Everything else goes to storage and processing - the preparation of cheese.

We start making cottage cheese and sour cream for the needs of the monastery two weeks before Easter.

The monastery has potato, beetroot, carrot fields, orchards, and its own fish farm. In addition, in summer and autumn, with the help of pilgrims who come to Valaam to work hard, we actively harvest forest gifts - mushrooms and berries. The monastery buys cereals and flour, and the squid allowed during the fast (they are neither fish nor meat), too. Such a variety of foods can be used to make many delicious, healthy foods. Meat in the monastery is not eaten at all - neither on fast days, nor on fast days. It is replaced by fish: in non-fasting times, fish soup, broth for vegetable soups is prepared from it, fried, steamed, boiled, smoked. But smoked fish is served only on holidays ...

In the first three days of Great Lent, according to the statute, dry eating is prescribed. Later, vegetable oil is used on all days except Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In order to somehow diversify the lean menu, we add squid dishes - soup, salad, gravy, or simply fry it to vegetable dishes, cereals and everyone's favorite potato pancakes (instead of an egg). But, before you can cook anything from squid meat, it must be properly processed.

I take the carcasses that are slightly thawed, but with ice, pour boiling water for half a minute, and drain. I repeat this procedure twice, and then rinse the carcasses under running cold water. Then I boil the water, add some salt and cook the squid for about two minutes. Now he is ready to make, for example, soup from it: I put potatoes, sautéed carrots with onions, salt, spices in a saucepan and, five minutes before the end, chopped squid. In the most last minute add chopped herbs and just a little bit of garlic for flavor.

It is easy to make a salad from squid by mixing cooled and chopped meat and boiled rice in equal proportions. I also cut fresh cucumber, herbs into the salad, put olives and season with vegetable oil.

A delicious and nutritious dish - stuffed squid: I fry the carrots and onions, add herbs, rice or mashed potatoes, mix everything and stuff the carcass. It is better to stab the wide part with a toothpick so that the filling does not come out. I do not completely use the sautéed carrots with onions for the filling - I leave it a little, put it in a saucepan, put the stuffed squid there, add spices and cook for five to seven minutes. Sprinkle with herbs before serving.

You can also cook zrazy with mushrooms. To do this, crush boiled, well drained potatoes (mashed potatoes should turn out to be dry), add about a tablespoon of semolina, flour to it and let the mixture cool slightly. Fry mushrooms with onions (thawed or soaked, if dried), add herbs and also wait until the mixture cools. Then small cakes are molded from mashed potatoes, and in the middle of each a small depression is made into which the mushroom mince is placed. It needs to be completely covered with the edges of the cake - you get something like a potato cutlet, only with a filling. The cutlet should be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan on both sides.

We usually drink tea with honey, jam or mousse - this is useful. The mousse is prepared very simply: defrost the berries, pass through a blender and add a little sugar. For dessert, you can bake a sweet gingerbread: take about 150 g of water, 100 g of honey, 100 g of sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to taste and heat to a temperature of 75 degrees. On this basis, adding flour and vegetable oil, knead the dough to a consistency similar to that of a pancake. Heat the oven to 180 degrees, cover a baking sheet with parchment, put the mass on it and bake for 40 minutes. It turns out very tasty.

To spring the immune system in people it usually weakens, so during the fast we make sure that there are always dried fruits, honey, and nuts on the table.

Victoria Morozova,

20099 21

I I always thought that monastic food was bread and water. But one day I found myself in the monastery refectory - and my opinion completely changed. I have never tasted more delicious lean dishes in my life. What's the secret?

The monks of the Holy Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos always welcome pilgrims warmly. The law of hospitality is strictly observed here - first feed, then ask. However, no one will bother you with inquiries even after dinner: everyone, they believe, has his own way to the temple.
We were not at all surprised at the modestness of the meal: bread, buckwheat porridge seasoned with stewed vegetables, pea chowder with greens (which you can't even look at in worldly life and certainly won't covet), baked potatoes with sauerkraut, fresh cucumbers and kvass. There were also olives (by the way, as we were told, you can eat them with seeds) and dry red wine (on the bottom of a mug). But the taste of these dishes ... It amazed us! The most appropriate word in this case is "unearthly". I asked one of the monks about this. He silently raised his eyes to heaven and quietly, without the slightest hint of admonition and edification, replied: “It is important with what thoughts, not to mention words, a person starts preparing food and the meal itself. Pechersk Patericon ":" It was given to one elder to see how the same food was different: those who blaspheme food ate impurities, those who praise - honey. But you, when you eat or drink, glorify God, because he who blasphemes harms himself. "
The sauerkraut was filled with carrots, beets, and aromatic dill seeds. It was they who gave the usual for us, Russians, winter preparation an amazing taste. And, as the monks said, such cabbage is very useful for good stomach function. Over a pile of cabbage, laid out in simple aluminum bowls, towered a glistening, glossy soaked apple. Several of these apples must be placed in each tub when pickling cabbage. They also give it a special flavor.

Meat delicacies and pastries are not for the Athonite monks. In their opinion, gluttony is a dangerous trait that entails diseases of the body and various mental ailments. Fatty foods "grease the soul," while sauces and canned foods "thin the body." For the Athonite monks, eating is a spiritual process, somewhat a ritual act. Prayer - during the preparation of a particular dish (in this case, it will certainly succeed), a short prayer before sitting down at the table, prayer after eating. And the very atmosphere of the spacious and light refectory, the walls and ceiling of which are painted with paintings on biblical subjects, turns a modest monastic dinner into a festive feast and a feast for the soul. “Likewise, a layman’s kitchen,” the monk told me, “should not be a place for family squabbles and political discussions, but only one refectory.”

Most recently, I happened to visit the Goritsky Resurrection Convent, which opened in 1999. Sisters Julia and Nadezhda obeyed in the monastery refectory. Young, each of them could hardly be given a little over twenty, but they managed the kitchen utensils confidently and without fuss. Novelties of technological progress, such as mixers and vegetable cutters, have bypassed these holy places. The nuns do everything themselves: they knead the dough in large vats with their hands, and knock the butter with hand buttermilk. Yes, and the monastery meal is prepared not on gas in a cookware with a non-stick coating, but on a wood stove, in cast iron. That is why, the nuns say, it turns out more tasty, rich and aromatic.
I watched the younger Nadezhda shred cabbage, and admired: the strips were thin, thin, one to one, as if each were measured out. I salted it lightly, sprinkled it with vegetable oil, put a flower from beads of thawed cranberries and dill sprigs on top - not a dish, but a picture, it's even a pity to eat, and put it aside with words; "Let the cabbage give juice, then you can put it on the table."
I heard somewhere that monks should not furnish their meals nicely, so I asked Sister Nadezhda about this. “Well, what are you,” she replied, “God cannot be against the beautiful, as long as it comes from a pure heart, does not become an end in itself and does not lead to bitterness if something doesn’t work out. I noticed at all,” she added, “ that I began to cook very well here, although I had never learned it, and I have not yet accumulated great everyday culinary wisdom. It's just that when peace and love for the world and those who live in it are in your soul, everything you do turns out well. "
As she said this, she was butchering a herring to make a jellied herring, chopped with mushrooms. The nun had soaked the dried porcini mushrooms in cold water beforehand and now put them on the fire. After they were cooked, she passed it through a meat grinder and mixed with finely chopped herring fillets. I added black pepper, chopped onion to the minced meat and ... began to paint a new culinary still life. She molded a herring from the prepared minced meat, carefully attached the head and tail, put small sprigs of dill, parsley, small water lilies from boiled carrots around and poured everything with mushroom broth mixed with swollen gelatin. It turned out to be a lake with an appetizing fish inside. “You can,” she said, seeing my enthusiastic gaze, “decorate your dish as you like. And it is not necessary to cook it using dried mushrooms. It's just that my sisters and I have collected so many of them over the summer and autumn ... And you, if there are no dried ones, take ordinary champignons. Although, in my opinion, none of the mushrooms grown in "captivity" can be compared with forest ones. Such a spirit comes from them! .. I must say that the dinner for which sister Nadezhda was preparing her "culinary masterpieces" was not festive, and of the guests there were only a few travelers like me, who were real - it would be a stretch to call pilgrims. But here they accept everyone and do not ask how strong your faith is: since you have come, then your soul is asking.
In addition to aspic, Nadezhda prepared several more unusual mushroom dishes. For example, mushroom cheese, caviar and some unusually tasty cold appetizer. Dried mushrooms for her are soaked in water for an hour, and then boiled in salted water until tender. They, as the nuns said, can be replaced with fresh ones: champignons or oyster mushrooms. In this case, it is enough to boil the mushrooms, chop finely, mix with chopped onions, add salt if necessary and pour over the sauce. It is prepared from grated horseradish, diluted with a small amount of strong bread kvass and mushroom broth. The dish is not spicy, but only with a slight horseradish flavor, which should not interrupt the taste of mushrooms.
Of the cold appetizers on the table, there was also boiled beets with a spicy sauce made from boiled egg yolks, grated horseradish and vegetable oil. This dish was familiar to me, but I tried boiled beans fried in oil for the first time - very tasty. The dish, as the sisters told me, cooks, though simple, but takes quite a long time. The beans must first be soaked in water for 6-10 hours, then boiled in salted water until tender, but so as not to boil, put in a colander, slightly dry in the fresh air and only then fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. A couple of minutes before being ready, add the sautéed onions to the cauldron, salt, season with spices to taste and remove from heat. Beans are served cold.
While Nadezhda conjured (although this word is not very suitable for a nun) over cold dishes, Julia cooked the first and second. The first course included monastic borscht with beans and kalya (soup cooked in cucumber brine) with fish. For the second - pilaf with vegetables and raisins, lean cabbage rolls, pumpkin baking - something like a pumpkin casserole with rice: pumpkin and rice for this dish are pre-boiled separately from each other, then mixed, whites and yolks, whipped separately, are also added to the minced meat and put everything in a greased form. It turns out to be a cross between baked goods and the second course. For dessert, the sisters prepared a pie with apples and pies with poppy seeds and honey - makovniki. And although the dough was kneaded without the use of butter, it turned out to be fluffy, tender, and the filling ... Baking with poppy seeds is generally my weakness.
As you can see, the nuns ate their meals and treated the pilgrims without meat at all. But believe me, we didn't even notice it. On the days of fasting, the number of dishes on the table, as the nuns said, decreases, fish, eggs, and dairy products disappear. But at the same time, the meal does not become less tasty and, of course, remains the same satisfying.
Saying goodbye to the hospitable sisters, I asked: have they heard of the Angel's Curls jam? They say that this recipe was given to the abbess of one of the Spanish monasteries by the Virgin Mary on the night before Christmas. Pumpkin fibers (in which the seeds are hidden) are boiled in sugar syrup along with mashed hazelnuts. “No,” said the nuns, “you haven’t heard, but we also make jam made of pumpkin fibers, which most housewives simply throw away. You just need to separate the fibers from the pulp and seeds, dry them slightly (air dry). Prepare sugar syrup, pour over the fibers. , insist for a day, and then cook like our preserves - five minutes: 3-4 times for five to seven minutes, (It is important after each cooking to completely cool the jam and only then put it on the fire again.) ... Perhaps then the upcoming fast will not seem so insipid and difficult.

Mushroom cheese

Wash the mushrooms, cover completely with water, salt and cook until tender for 20 minutes. Drain the water, discard the mushrooms in a colander, mince, add oil and mix with cheese. Put the resulting mass on clean cheesecloth, roll up in the form of a ball and put under a press for an hour. Transfer the cheesecake to a platter, cut into slices, sprinkle with herbs and serve.

Kalya with fish

Wash the fish, cut in portions, add water (2 liters), add roots, bay leaves, pepper, salt and cook for 15 minutes. Put the salmon pieces in a separate dish, strain the broth, add sauerkraut and cook for 5-7 minutes. Finely chop the onion, put in a frying pan and sauté in oil for 3 minutes. Add the diced cucumbers and cook for another 5 minutes, add flour, stir and lightly fry. Put the prepared dressing in the soup, bring to a boil, add fish, cucumber pickle and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with a slice of lemon in each plate and sprinkle with herbs.

Cabbage rolls with mushrooms

Wash the rice, pour over one and a half glasses of water and cook until half cooked (about 10 minutes). Wash the mushrooms, chop, fry in oil (1 tablespoon) for 10 minutes. Chop the onion and sauté in oil (1 tablespoon) until golden brown, combine with mushrooms and rice, salt, pepper and stir. Disassemble the cabbage into leaves, blanch in boiling water for 3-4 minutes and discard in a colander. Put a tablespoon of the filling on each sheet and roll the cabbage roll. Put stuffed cabbage in a greased (1 tbsp. Spoon) refractory form, sprinkle with oil on top (1 tbsp. Spoon) and simmer over low heat under a lid for 15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with herbs.

Makovnik

Knead the dough: dilute sugar in warm water, add yeast, flour (1 tbsp. Spoon), mix and put in a tough place. When the dough rises (15 minutes), add salt, vegetable oil (2 tablespoons), the rest of the flour and knead the dough. Knead until it sticks to your hands. Place the dough in a saucepan, cover and let rise (45 minutes). Put the poppy in a gauze bag and rinse. Melt honey in a water bath. Add washed poppy seeds, stir and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Cool down. Roll out the dough thinly, put the poppy filling over the entire surface, roll it into a roll and put on a greased baking sheet (1 tablespoon), grease with the remaining oil on top and put in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes.

Vladimir Suprumenko