The culture of wine making had a long and rich history in the Soviet Union, and its high profitability always ensured an incredible deal of governmental support. Due to the climate restrictions grapes suitable for wine-making grew in the Southern areas of the country: Crimea in the Ukraine, the valley of Ararat in Armenia, as well as the republics of Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

After the war there was a special development plan of getting the country to the top of the world wine leaders — which was a success. By 1969 the USSR was on the fourth place in Europe by the amount of wine produced (right after France, Italy and Spain). The vast territories of the country’s South allowed for almost 10% of the total amount of wine produced in the world around that time. This was the Golden Era of the Soviet viticulture: the assortment of wines went up to 700, with about 37 types of sparkling wines and 88 of cognac-type drinks. Many wines were of excellent, prize-winning quality.

Sadly, starting from the 1970s, the quality was to be sacrificed for quantity: the priority to grow was given to higher-yielding sorts of grapes and not the rare, more valuable ones. The production lines were gradually being switched to cheaper, stronger, more generic ranges of wines made from low in sugar but more enduring sorts of grape varieties. The Prohibition bylaw of 1985 aiming at eliminating the drinking problem was the last straw: the grapes and raisins were to be used for making juices, which led to a eventual skill shortage and overall industry recession.

Noetheless, we have found a few old commercial posters picturing the range of wines of 1950s. Despite the plain bottles, this is a neat collection of vintage posters for you to enjoy. Click on the picture to see it in detail. Let us know how you like it — we value your feedback. Thanks!

Starting from the right: Soviet Champagne, a trademark for many years and an iconic drink; table Georgian wine (batch 19, whatever that means for the Soviet winemakers); two bottles of whine port.

The Wines of the USSR. Unfortunately, year unknown.

Pinot Gris. 1955.

Aligote grape variety. 1954.

Madeira. Crimean wine, harvest of 1954.

Tokaj, Crimean winemaker Massandra, Ukraine.

Muscat. Was probably a dessert grape variety.

Red Muscat.

The Sun valley, vintage of 1954. No grape variety on the label.

Muscat Rose. A favourite wine of my babushka. 1953.

Port. 1954.

Bastardo, by Magarach wines — a winemaker still active. Possibly 1933.

The liquors Benedictine (left) and Chartreuse. Were very rare and almost impossible to buy –were probably sold in Moscow only.

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1. Soviet Union Administrative Division
2. The Book on Tasty and Healthy Foods: Una Dolce Vita, Soviet Style
3. Soviet Brands: The Scent Of Communism. Part 1 of 2

Here is a twee collection of paintings by various Russian artists picturing breakfast time in Russia of different periods, from 1918 throughout to late 1970s. It provides some insights into an everyday life of simple people and their meals on the go, before work, very low key and casual.

Still life: Morning. By Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, 1918. Just like anywhere else in the world, eggs are popular and the dog is hungry.

Just like many, Russians liked their eggs, bread and sausages — a hearty start of the day.  The brass item pictured is samovar — a metal water boiler which has been around for centuries. These samovars have always been popular as part of tea  making process — even nowadays you can find a moderninsed version of one in almost every house. It is also a popular wedding gift and a traditional Russian souvenir, as it symbolises hospitality and qulaity family time.

Apparently there is a concept of Russian Tea that exists in the West: strongly brewed black tea with a wheel of lemon and generous amounts of sugar. This sweet and sour concoction is indeed popular in Russia, however, nobody calls it “Russian tea”.  Just tea with lemon.

Tea party; by Popova. 1966.

A cup of coffee; by Elena Shumakova.Can’t go wrong with cheese and pastries!

In summer there were healthier alternatives available: freshly picked strawberries and cream in a jug would be enjoyed just like anywhere else in the world. Please note the fine lace of the tablecloth — very popular in Russia of all times.

Berries and Cream; by Elena Shumakova, 1983

Another country life illustration; please note a slighly different shape of the samovar. Also — bagels, extremely popular Russian wheat snack. Sugar cubes, a frequent substitute for regular sugar, which was hard to buy at times. A traditional tea glass, with an iron glass holder, an icon of those times and a well sought after collectable item now.

Still Life: Samovar; by Elena Shumakova.

On the terrace; by Zhukovsky.Neat!

Naturemort: five eyed fried eggs; by Osmerkin, 1950.

Another model of samovar and a more common breakfast altogether: eggs, butter, bread.

Morning Tea and Flowers; by Grabar; 1939.

To finish off, a few paintings which do not exactly picture breakfast times, but still appear very Russian and full of ambience.

February; by A. Laktionov, 1956.

Alcohol-inspired paintings tend to have lots of zest for life, too.

Still life: a Teapot on the Table; by P. Konchalovsky. 1946.

Still life, name and year unknown, by Elena Shumakova.

Country Life (name of paper), by Bobrov. 1983.

Related posts:

1. Russian Ice Cream In Winter — Bring It On!
2. The Book on Tasty and Healthy Foods: Una Dolce Vita, Soviet Style
3. Queues

The every day Soviet life was far from luxurious, however, the government had its ways of making people believe that life was good and constantly getting better. An interesting means of achieving it was a notable culinary book published in the USSR – The Book On Tasty and Healthy Foods. This book, a few inches thick, turned out to be more than a collection of recipes – it is considered to be an encyclopaedia of the Soviet epoch, an insight into the ordinary life of the Soviets.

The most famous image behind the Russian food, caviar was literally impossible to buy (let alone exorbitantly expensive!)

Originally it was created as a way to deliver information on the culture of dining, the values of home cooked meals and good eating habits. Written by prominent chefs and dieticians of the time, the book was approved by the minister of health and then by Stalin himself (the first edition dating 1939). Everything that went into it was carefully chosen and selected. Apart from the recipes, it contained information on how to plan a weekly menu for a family, what is healthy eating, how to serve the tables nicely, as well as basic principles of  food handling and kitchen hygiene.

Dairy products: most likely, this is the whole range of dairy foods available in the USSR. Milk, cream, plain youghurt, eggs, cheese, canned coffee cream and skim milk. That was it.

Nowadays this style of cuisine would be called fusion, as it contained recipes from all over the Union: borscht was followed by lamb pilaf with the Soviet style black forest gateau for the dessert. Usually the recipes were simple and would not demand fancy ingredients or time/labour investments. The food shortages were still on and the book could only stretch as far. A few easy meat recipes, a sauce or two, simple salads – surprisingly, “meat and three veggies” recipes were universal across the globe.

Meat and three veggies Soviet Style. Yum.

The images in the book were not considered to be an advertising material – they were merely a way to form the demand for the foods produced by the food factories – as everything, it was planned in the Soviet economy.

Unappetisingly looking preserves: green capsicums, meat in cabbage parcels, eggplant chutney.

Interestingly, in some later edition, fish was a recommended dietary element at least once a week – that was dictated by the shortages of meat: the protein levels had to stay up in order to keep the nation nourished and thus maintain the medical costs at bay.

Dinner on the stove: tinned beef garnished with green peas. No, it was not called spam.

Cooking was not considered to be art or indulgence; rather, it had a technological focus — typical for the Soviet era of industrialisation. Here a very important point was made about who would do the cooking: the traditional, western-style family, where the man is the breadwinner and the woman is the pretty homemaker would go against the Soviet ideology, in which women were equal partners and comrades. Therefore the image of a wife was being shifted from a stove towards the factory production line, and a husband would eat something simple, something cooked for the entire family in the weekend, for instance.

Extended family hand-making meat dumplings — later to be frozen.

Noteworthy, until the 1980s, the book contained no actual photographs — only drawings. However, it does not justify the sad-looking foods pictured in it. Some of it looks just inedible.

Green peas soup with croutons, wheat porrige well-buttered and jelly for dessert, anyone?

Desserts are always nice, though. Timeless, too.

Chocolate cake, served with tea.

Because restaurants were scarce and the whole concept of dining out was simply non-existent, dinner parties played a very important part in every person’s life. Labour Day on the May, 1st; Victory Day on May, 9th; November 7th (the Revolution Day) and New Year’s Eve were to be celebrated in style and in abundance — regardless of the food supplies.

Soviet alcohol selection: sparkling wine, white wine from Georgia, white port, Georgian port.

Such dinners required a lot of leg work as hunting for the necessary ingredients was required and queuing for as long as hours was unavoidable. However, the outcomes were remembered for long and treasured with all hearts. Family time together, what could be nicer, really.

Circa 1970s. At a table.

Related posts:

1. Catwalk Models With No Underwear On. Haute Couture Soviet Style.
2. Best of Winter 2009–2010
3. Breakfast Time in Paintings by Russian Artists