Russian Food Since 1800: Empire at Table - Professor Catriona Kelly

In her illustrated talk Professor Catriona Kelly will explore the hugely important role which food has had in Russia and other themes she covers in her recently published book, Russian Food Since 1800: Empire at Table. She will show, for example, how an expectation of 'feeding' is embedded in attitudes to the State as provider, and that rationing systems have traditionally replicated and even enforced social hierarchies. Professor Kelly will also discuss how Russian food has always been intimately connected with family and friends, and was an important source of delight throughout the Soviet period, when official culinary provision and practices ostensibly sought to promote nutrition above all, and when food was often short. She will also describe the various shifts in diet and cuisine over the last three centuries, including the ways in which old traditions such as pickling and jam-making sit alongside dishes like Uzbek plov, Ukrainian borscht and Georgian shashlik on the Russian dining-table.