What were meals like for the average Russian peasant prior to the Soviet era?
What are meals like for today’s average Russian family? In short, I would say that bread, potatoes, pirogi, kasha, cabbage, onions, mushrooms, berries, etc. were always, with little variation, an important part of the Russian diet. Home-made pickled vegetables and preserves played an important role as well. Meat was important, but practically limited. Russian women are very creative and successful at making a variety of meals from the same ingredients. For more about Russian food, I recommend reading the book Recipes for Russia by Alison K. Smith. It is a very interesting account of the history of real food.
