“Without windows, without doors, the room is full of people.” Well, of course - cucumber. 99 out of 100 respondents in the vastness of Russia will answer this riddle without hesitation (one person who did not answer is most likely a very small child who does not yet know how to solve riddles or has not tried cucumbers due to age-related diet). And just as the word “lemon” fills your mouth with saliva, so when you mention a cucumber, a green, pimply, firm thing appears in your mind’s eye, and you remember the appetizing crunch and the fresh, incomparable spring-summer smell. They love it for this, and are ready to grow it, overcoming difficulties, even beyond the Arctic Circle, and come up with all sorts of tricks to preserve it for as long as possible.
Among the owners of land plots (large and small) it is almost impossible to find a person who is not interested in this culture. Even those who use their land only for recreation (lawn, flower garden, barbecue and other pleasures), as a rule, add a couple of beds to this list - for herbs and cucumbers.
In some regions, cucumber can be called a “city-forming crop” - the entire way of life revolves around it. Suzdal in the Vladimir region, Lukhovitsy in the Moscow region, Istobensk on the banks of the Vyatka River, Nezhin in Ukraine or Znojmo in the Czech Republic - each of these small cities claims to be the “Cucumber Capital of the World”. Their residents know a thousand and one secrets of a successful harvest. It cannot be any other way, because their well-being largely depends on this.
To confirm the importance of this crop, even monuments are erected to the cucumber. The Vyatichi were the first in such an undertaking - in 2003, in small Istobensk, they “grew” a 6-meter bronze cucumber. Next came a granite cellar, a barrel and a cucumber in Nizhyn. The Belarusians also decided to keep up - in 2007, a miraculous “cucumber” appeared in Shklov in a jacket with pockets. The general opinion is expressed by the inscription on a bronze barrel with a meter-long cucumber in Lukhovitsy: “To the cucumber-breadwinner from grateful Lukhovichi residents.”
And how many fans this “green gentleman” has! Well, of course it’s delicious, there are minimal calories, it interferes with the absorption of fats, it removes excess water from the body, and it’s also a treasure for the skin.
So what kind of “beast” is our cucumber?
A little botany
Everyone at one time or another went to school, studied many different disciplines, many of which seemed absolutely useless. But over time, it turns out that information, which at that time was still far from practical, can, over time, explain a lot and help avoid mistakes and troubles.
Cucumber is an annual herbaceous plant. Family - pumpkin, genus - cucumber. Species - common cucumber (Cucumis sativus).
Closest relatives: pumpkin, melon, zucchini, watermelon. From a botanical point of view, a cucumber should belong to... berries (the type of fruit is defined as pumpkin, or false berry), but, nevertheless, from a culinary point of view, a cucumber is usually perceived by us as a vegetable. The uniqueness of this berry vegetable lies in the fact that it is perhaps the only product that is eaten unripe. It is even believed that the name itself comes from the Greek “aoros” (“unripe”), which gradually transformed into “auguros” and in Rus' into “cucumber”.
Conquering the world
The beginning of the history of growing cucumbers is lost in the mists of time. The most daring researchers estimate the age of the cultivated cucumber from four to six thousand years. Where scientists agree is that its homeland is the tropical and subtropical regions of India and China. Currently, its wild relatives (Hardwick's cucumber) are blissful in the Indian jungles and decorate fences in villages with green garlands.
There is a legend connecting the appearance of the cucumber with the Indian Raja, who had 60 thousand children, which seems to correspond to the number of seeds in one fruit.
It was from India that the victorious march of this crop began to the east - to China, where the first greenhouses for year-round cultivation arose, and to the west - to Turkey, about which there is also a legend. The power-hungry and cruel Turkish Sultan Magomed II received ten amazing green fruits as a gift from the Indian Rajah. They were laid out on a precious platter, and only the seven closest courtiers were invited to admire them. And yet, one cucumber was missing! To find the criminal, a most meticulous search was carried out - all seven had their stomachs ripped open...
We find confirmation of the importance of cucumber in the life of ancient people in various literary and artistic sources. Its images were found on frescoes in Egyptian and Greek temples, Aristotle described the beneficial properties of cucumber in his writings, and the medicinal qualities of this culture were studied by Hippocrates. In ancient Rome, to please Emperor Tiberius, the court gardener grew cucumbers in boxes on wheels, thus providing the best conditions for the plants. It was then that the first pickling recipes appeared.
Most likely, it was the Romans who contributed to the further promotion of the product called “cucumber” throughout Europe. And now the hero of our story is already mentioned in the rations of armies, in the menus of kings and commoners.
It is quite difficult to establish the exact time of the appearance of cucumber in Rus'. It is mentioned in the “Detailed Description of the Travel of the Holstein Embassy to Muscovy and Persia” by the German traveler Oelschläger, written in the 30s of the 17th century, in which the author is surprised at the volume of cucumber cultivation by the “Muscovites”.
Peter I, who loved to do everything on a grand scale and with a scientific approach, issues a decree according to which cucumbers and melons begin to be grown in greenhouses in the Prosyany Royal Garden in Izmailovo.
And in the Suzdal archives, records from the 18th century were found of the clergyman of the Nativity Cathedral, Anania Fedorov: “In the city of Suzdal, due to the kindness of the earth and the pleasantness of the air, there was an abundance of onions, garlic, and especially cucumbers.” At the same time, other “cucumber capitals” were gradually formed: Murom, Klin, Nezhin. The breeding of local varieties begins, some of which have survived to this day, having undergone minor improvements.
The peculiarities of climatic conditions (you want it all year round, but you can only grow it in the summer) forced you to invent ways to reliably preserve your favorite vegetable throughout the year.
The preparation of cucumbers by pickling was known to the ancient Romans, but, for example, pickling cucumbers in pumpkin- an invention of Nizhny Novgorod residents.
Gradually, the cucumber became one of the most beloved and widespread vegetable crops in Rus', and its “overseas” origin began to be forgotten. Along the way, the accompanying “product” of pickled cucumbers, brine, became one of the most favorite products - the oldest, most faithful, primordially Russian drink, used... well, you know what for.
From greens to cucumbers
A novice gardener-cucumber grower may be confused: “Pickles, gherkins, greens... We only have cucumbers...” But that’s all there is - cucumbers, only in different “weight categories.” In principle, all unripe fruits, precisely those that are usually eaten, are called greens (they are green, unripe). Pickles are the youngest, 3-5 cm long, cucumbers. In general, “pickles” most often refer to any small vegetables pickled in vinegar and spices (from the English pickle - pickle, pickle), which are good as a seasoning for meat or fish. It's a little more complicated with the term "gherkins". Usually this French word hides small, strong (like the word itself) cucumbers, 5-9 cm long. They are also very good for canning. But sometimes this term is used to define universal varieties suitable for both pickling and salads.
In the old literature, we also came across the definition of “pecked” - a fruit that birds pecked. The thrifty owners found a use for it too.
A little more botany
The stem of a cucumber is creeping, rounded, faceted or rounded-faceted when cut, and can reach 2 meters or more in length. There is a main stem and lateral shoots, which in turn are divided into shoots of the first, second and subsequent orders. The length and degree of branching may vary among different varieties. They will also depend on growing conditions.
Cucumber is a vine-like plant. With the help of tendrils, which are modified lateral shoots, it can be attached to supports and assume a vertical position. At the same time, if the stem is allowed to spread on the ground, then from the axils of the leaves, like many vines, adventitious roots begin to form. Their total area can be almost 100 times the surface of the main root system.
Of course, this “modesty” had an objective reason: cold winters and a short summer season in Russia did not allow the cultivation of many vegetables, as in Western European countries, but the ingenuity of our people sometimes led to miracles, for example: in the Solovetsky Monastery, located above the Arctic Circle , the monks treated Emperor Peter I to watermelons they had grown. The famous director V.I., who visited the same monastery in 1874 Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote: “ Watermelons, melons, cucumbers and peaches grew here. Of course, all this is in greenhouses. The ovens were built with heat pipes under the soil on which fruit trees grew" And it is obvious that such an example of gardening and horticulture was not the only one.
So, let's talk about vegetables according to the chronology of their appearance, i.e. according to the approximate time of the beginning of their cultural breeding in Russia. It should be noted that many of the centuries cited in this article are quite arbitrary, because exact dates are given only by references to the use of these vegetables in ancient documents. And in general, if you believe our historians and agronomists, then in the beds of the medieval Russian peasant there were only three or four vegetables, and in the pre-Rurik era the Slavs ate only turnips and peas.
Turnip
Turnips can rightfully be called the “progenitor” of all vegetable crops grown in Rus'. Our people consider this vegetable to be “originally Russian.” Now no one can say when it appeared on the table, but it is assumed that during the period of the emergence of agriculture among the Slavic and Finno-Ugric tribes.
There were times when in Rus' a turnip harvest failure was equated to a natural disaster. And this is not surprising, because turnips grow quickly and almost everywhere, and from this vegetable one could easily prepare a full meal with the “first” and “second” courses, and even the “third”. They made soups and stews from turnips, cooked porridge, prepared kvass and butter, it was a filling for pies, they stuffed geese and ducks with it, they fermented turnips and salted them for the winter. Turnip juice, added with honey, was used for medicinal purposes. Probably, this would have continued to this day if Emperor Nicholas I (it was he, not Peter I) had not forced Russian peasants to grow and eat potatoes, which greatly spoiled their relationship with turnips.
The saying “Simpler than steamed turnips” has survived to this day, and it originated precisely in those ancient times when turnips, along with bread and cereals, were the main food product and were quite cheap.
Peas
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Many of us believe that peas are “the most Russian food”, with which other nationalities are not particularly familiar. There is some truth in this. Indeed, peas have been known in Rus' since time immemorial; they are cultivated from the 6th century. It is no coincidence that, emphasizing the remoteness of this or that event, they say: “This was when it happened, back under Tsar Gorokh!”
For a long time, Russian people have given preference to pea dishes among various dishes. From “Domostroy” - a national written monument of the 16th century, a kind of set of laws on the way of life of our ancestors - we learn about the existence of many pea dishes, the recipes of which are now lost. So, on fast days in Rus' they baked pies with peas, ate pea soup and pea noodles...
And yet peas came to us from overseas countries. It is generally accepted that the ancestor of all cultivated pea varieties grew in the Mediterranean region, as well as in India, Tibet and some other southern countries.
Peas began to be cultivated en masse as a field crop in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. After the large-grained pea variety was brought to us from France, it quickly became very popular. Peas even glorified an entire province - Yaroslavl. Local gardeners came up with their own way to dry pea “shovels” and for a long time supplied them abroad. They knew how to grow and cook the famous “green peas” in the villages of Ugodichi and Sulost, not far from Rostov the Great.
Cabbage
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On the territory of modern Russia, cabbage first appeared on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus - this was the period of Greco-Roman colonization in the 7th-5th centuries BC. Only in the 9th century did Slavic peoples begin to cultivate cabbage. Gradually the plant spread throughout the territory of Rus'.
In the Principality of Kiev, the first written mentions of cabbage date back to 1073, in Svyatoslav’s Izbornik. During this period, its seeds began to be imported for cultivation from European countries.
Cabbage was a good thing in Rus'. This cold-resistant and moisture-loving vegetable felt great on the territory of all Russian principalities. Its strong white heads of cabbage, which have an excellent taste, were grown in many peasant households. The nobility also revered cabbage. For example, the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavovich presented his friend, as an expensive and special gift, with a whole garden of cabbage, called “cabbage garden” in those days. Cabbage was consumed both fresh and boiled. But most of all in Rus', sauerkraut was valued for its ability to maintain “health-promoting” properties in the winter.
Cucumber
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There is no exact information about when the cucumber first appeared in Rus'. It is believed that he was known to us even before 9th century, most likely coming to us from Southeast Asia, and there the cucumber grew in the tropical and subtropical forests of Indochina, entwining trees like vines. According to other sources, cucumbers appeared only in the 15th century, and the first mention of cucumbers in the Muscovy state was made by the German ambassador Herberstein in 1528 in his notes on a trip to Muscovy.
Travelers from Western Europe were always surprised that cucumbers are grown in huge quantities in Rus' and that in cold northern Russia they grow even better than in Europe. This is also mentioned in the “Detailed Description of the Travel of the Holstein Embassy to Muscovy and Persia” by the German traveler Elschläger, written in the 30s of the 17th century.
Peter I, who loved to do everything on a grand scale and with a scientific approach, issues a decree according to which cucumbers and melons begin to be grown in greenhouses in the Prosyan Royal Garden in Izmailovo.
In the Suzdal archives, records from the 18th century of the keymaster of the Nativity Cathedral, Anania Fedorov, were found: “ In the city of Sujdal, due to the kindness of the earth and the pleasantness of the air, there is an abundance of onions, garlic, and especially cucumbers." At the same time, other “cucumber capitals” were gradually formed - Murom, Klin, Nezhin. The breeding of local varieties begins, some of which have survived to this day, having undergone minor improvements.
Beet
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Beetroot was first mentioned in written monuments of Ancient Rus' in X-XI centuries., in particular, in Svyatoslav’s Izbornik, and it came to us, like many other cultivated vegetables, from the Byzantine Empire. The ancestor of table beets, as well as sugar and fodder beets, is wild chard.
It is assumed that beets began their glorious journey across Rus' from the Principality of Kyiv. From here it penetrated the Novgorod and Moscow lands, Poland and Lithuania.
In the XIV century. Beets have already begun to be grown everywhere in Rus'. This is evidenced by numerous entries in the income and expenditure books of monasteries, shop books and other sources. And in the 16th-17th centuries, beets completely “Russified”; Russians considered them a local plant. Beet crops moved far to the north - even the residents of Kholmogory successfully cultivated it. During the same period, beets were divided into table beets and livestock feed. In the 18th century Fodder beet hybrids were created, from which they then began to grow sugar beets.
In Russia, the first sugar production from beets was organized by Count Bobrinsky, the illegitimate son of Empress Catherine II and Grigory Orlov. However, it developed rather slowly, and sugar was very expensive. Even at the beginning of the 19th century, it surpassed honey in cost. Therefore, sugar did not play a significant role in the diet of the common people of Russia for quite a long time, but was used rather as a delicacy.
Beetroot was actively used in Rus' for medicinal purposes, and one can talk endlessly about its beneficial health properties.
Bulb onions
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Onions became famous in Russia in the XII-XIII centuries. Presumably, onions came to Russia from the banks of the Danube along with trading people. The first centers of onion cultivation arose near trade centers. Gradually, they began to be created near other cities and villages with climatic conditions suitable for growing onions. Such centers of onion sowing began to be called “nests”. The entire local population was engaged in growing onions. From the seeds, onion sets were obtained, the next year a selection of onions and, finally, a mother onion. Over the centuries, local varieties of onions have been improved, the names of which were often given according to the settlements where they were created.
But we should not forget that in many places in Russia wild leeks (ramson) also grow, which our ancestors collected and prepared in the spring, probably long before the cultivation of onions.
Radish
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This is the second vegetable, the history of which has been lost in the mists of time, although according to some historians in Rus', black radish appeared in XIV century. Radish came to Russian soil from the Mediterranean countries and gradually became popular among all classes. This is also evidenced by the fact that radish, as an obligatory component, was used in the preparation of one of the most ancient and legendary Russian dishes - turi.
In the old days there was such a popular saying: “ Our clerk has seven variations: trikha radish, sliced radish, radish with kvass, radish with butter, radish in pieces, radish in cubes, and whole radish"(note: trikha - grated, lomtikha - cut into slices).
Radish was also used to prepare the oldest folk delicacy - mazyunya, which was prepared like this: they made radish flour, boiled it in white molasses until thickened, adding various spices. Here are references to delicious dishes from the manuscript “A Book for the Whole Year, What Dishes to Serve on the Table”: “Constantinople-style radish with honey”, “grated radish “on iron” with molasses”, “mazyunya”.
And in the old days, radish was popularly called a “repentant vegetable.” Why? The fact is that most radishes were eaten on “days of repentance”, i.e. during the seven-week Great Lent, the longest and most arduous of all church fasts. During Lent, weddings were not played, danced, meat and butter were not eaten, milk was not drunk - it was a sin, but eating vegetables was not prohibited. And since this fast falls in the spring, when the peasants no longer had fresh cabbage and turnips in their bins, since these vegetables could not be stored for long, radishes came first in the diet.
Carrot
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Carrots are one of the oldest vegetable plants; people have been eating them for more than 4 thousand years. Carrot varieties with reddish roots are native to the Mediterranean, while those with purple, white and yellow roots are native to India and Afghanistan.
In the 16th century, modern orange carrots appeared in Europe. It is believed that this variety was invented by Dutch breeders.
Meanwhile, the outstanding Russian scientist, popularizer of natural sciences N.F. Zolotnitsky argued that the Krivichi people of Ancient Rus' (VI-IX) already knew carrots: in those days there was a custom of bringing them as a gift to the deceased, putting them in a boat, which was then burned along with the deceased.
It is known for sure that carrots were popular in Rus' already in the Middle Ages. In “Domostroy” (XVI century) it is said: “ And in the fall they salt cabbage and put out beets, and store turnips and carrots.” As the monastery income and expenditure books testify, carrots were even supplied to the royal table: “Porridge of turnips or carrots in frying pans, or carrots steamed under garlic in vinegar.” And in the book of the Volokolamsk Monastery (1575-1576) it is noted: “Given to Ivan Ugrimov 4 hryvnia... for seedlings and for garden seeds, for onions, for cucumbers... and for carrots...».
According to foreigners who visited the Moscow state in those days, there were many carrot gardens around the capital. And among the people themselves at that time, carrot porridge and carrots steamed with garlic in vinegar were very popular.
In Russian herbalists, medicinal and economic manuals of the 16th–17th centuries, it was written that carrots have healing properties, in particular: carrot juice was used to treat heart and liver diseases, it was recommended as a remedy for coughs and jaundice.
In the 17th century, Russian carrot pies became mandatory at various folk celebrations. “Dolgikh pies with carrots” are mentioned in the “Consumable Book of the Patriarchal Order for Food Served to Patriarch Andrian and Persons of Various Rank.”
In the 19th century in Russia, varieties of folk carrot selection were known, for example: “Vorobevskaya” from the Moscow region, “Davydovskaya” from the Yaroslavl province, “Staratel” from near Nizhny Novgorod.
Bell pepper
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The primary center of origin of pepper is considered to be Mexico and Guatemala, where the greatest diversity of its wild forms is concentrated to date. All over the world this pepper is called “sweet” and only in Russia and the post-Soviet space – “Bulgarian”.
In Russia, the appearance of sweet peppers dates back to the beginning 16th century, brought it from Turkey or Iran. For the first time in Russian literature, it was mentioned only in 1616 in the manuscript “The Blessed Flower Garden or Herbalist.” Pepper became widespread in Russia only after a century and a half, but then it was called “Turkish”.
Pumpkin
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Today it is difficult to believe that six hundred years ago pumpkin did not grow at all in Russia and neighboring countries.
The real homeland of this vegetable is often called America, or more precisely, Mexico and Peru, and supposedly pumpkin seeds were brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus. But at the beginning of the 20th century, a Russian expedition led by scientist, geneticist and breeder Nikolai Vavilov found wild pumpkins in northern Africa, and everyone immediately started talking about the fact that the “black” continent is the homeland of pumpkins. Some scientists reject these versions, considering China or India to be the birthplace of the plant. Although it is also known that pumpkin was consumed in Pharaonic Egypt and in Ancient Rome, in the latter, Polinius the Elder and Petronius mentioned pumpkin in their works.
In Russia, this vegetable appeared only in XVI century, according to one opinion, Persian merchants brought it with goods. In Europe, pumpkins appeared everywhere a little later, in the 19th century, although back in 1584, French explorer Jacques Cartier reported that he had found “huge watermelons.” Pumpkin quickly became popular because... it did not require any special conditions, grew everywhere, and always gave a rich harvest. On holidays, almost every Russian hut served the so-called “fixed pumpkin.” They took a large fruit, cut off the top, stuffed it with minced meat with onions and spices, covered it with the top and baked it in the oven. After an hour and a half, a magnificent dish was obtained, the analogues of which are difficult to find in our history.
Potato
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Potatoes are the most “long-suffering vegetable” in Russia, since its rooting in our country lasted for several centuries and took place with noise and riots.
The very history of the appearance of potatoes in Russia dates back to the era of Peter I, who at the end 17th century sent a bag of tubers from Holland to the capital for distribution to the provinces for cultivation. But Peter I’s wonderful idea was not destined to come true during his lifetime. The fact is that the peasants, who were the first to be forced to plant potatoes, unknowingly began to collect not the “roots”, but the “tops”, i.e. tried to eat not potato tubers, but its berries, which are poisonous.
As history shows, Peter’s decrees on the widespread cultivation of “earth apples” caused riots that forced the tsar to abandon the complete “potatoization” of the country, thereby allowing the people to forget about potatoes for half a century.
Then Catherine II took over the potatoes. During her reign, the Senate issued a special decree in 1765 and issued “Instructions on the cultivation and consumption of earthen apples.” In the autumn of the same year, 464 poods and 33 pounds of potatoes were purchased and delivered from Ireland to St. Petersburg. The potatoes were placed in barrels and carefully covered with straw, and at the end of December they were sent along a sled road to Moscow to be distributed from here to the provinces. It was severely frosty. A convoy with potatoes arrived in Moscow and was solemnly greeted by the authorities. But it turned out that the potatoes were almost completely frozen on the way. Only five quadruples remained suitable for landing - about 135 kilograms. The following year, the preserved potatoes were planted in the Moscow apothecary garden, and the resulting harvest was sent to the provinces. Control over the implementation of this event was carried out by local governors. But the idea failed again - the people stubbornly refused to allow a foreign product onto their table.
In 1839, during the reign of Nicholas I, there was a severe shortage of food in the country, followed by famine. The government has taken decisive measures to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. As usual, “fortunately the people were driven with a club.” The Emperor ordered that potatoes be planted in all provinces.
In the Moscow province, state peasants were ordered to grow potatoes at the rate of 4 measures (105 l) per person, and they had to work for free. In the Krasnoyarsk province, those who did not want to plant potatoes were sent to hard labor to build the Bobruisk fortress. “Potato riots” broke out again in the country, which were brutally suppressed. However, since then potatoes have truly become the “second bread”.
And yet, the bad reputation of this plant remained in Russia for a long time. The Old Believers, of whom there were many in Russia, opposed planting and eating potatoes. They called it the “damn apple,” “the devil’s spit,” and “the fruit of harlots,” and their preachers forbade their fellow believers to grow and eat potatoes. The confrontation between the Old Believers was long and stubborn. Even in 1870, there were villages near Moscow where peasants did not plant potatoes in their fields.
Eggplant
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In Russia, eggplant is known since 17th century. It is believed that it was brought from Turkey and Persia by merchants, as well as Cossacks, who made frequent raids on these territories. The homeland of eggplant is India and Burma, where the wild form of this vegetable still grows.
Eggplants, being a heat-loving plant, have taken root well in the southern territories of Russia, where they received the name “little blue”. The local population appreciated their excellent taste. Eggplant began to be cultivated in large quantities, diversifying Russian cuisine, incl. "overseas" eggplant caviar.
Pomodoro (tomato)
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Tomato or tomato ( from Italian pomo d'oro - golden apple, the French remade it into tomate) - a native of the tropical regions of South and Central America.
Compared to other vegetable crops, tomato is a relatively new crop for Russia. Tomato cultivation began in the southern regions of the country in XVIII century. In Europe at that time, tomatoes were considered inedible, but in our country they were grown both as an ornamental and as a food crop.
Under Catherine II, who made many discoveries for Russia, the first information about tomatoes appears. The Empress wished to listen to a report “on strange fruits and unusual growths” in European fields. The Russian ambassador reported to her that “French tramps eat tomatoes from flower beds and do not seem to suffer from it.”
In the summer of 1780, the Russian ambassador to Italy sent a shipment of fruit to Empress Catherine II to St. Petersburg, which also included a large number of tomatoes. The palace really liked both the appearance and the taste of the strange fruit, and Catherine ordered tomatoes from Italy to be regularly delivered to her table. The Empress did not know that tomatoes called “love apples” had been successfully grown by her subjects on the outskirts of the empire for decades: in the Crimea, Astrakhan, Taurida and Georgia.
One of the first publications about tomato culture in Russia belongs to the founder of Russian agronomy, scientist and researcher A.T. Bolotov. In 1784, he wrote that in the middle zone “tomatoes are grown in many places, mainly indoors (in pots) and sometimes in gardens.”
Thus, in the 18th century, the tomato was more of a decorative “pot” crop, only the further development of gardening made the tomato completely edible: by the middle of the 19th century, the tomato culture began to spread throughout the gardens of Russia in the middle regions, and by the end of this century it spread widely in the northern regions .
Parsley
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It is believed that parsley comes from the Mediterranean countries. In the wild it grows among stones and rocks, and its scientific name is "petroselinum", i.e. "growing on the rocks" The ancient Greeks called it “stone celery” and valued it, not for its taste and healing properties, but for its beautiful appearance.
The root of the word, meaning stone, passed into the German name, and then the Poles came up with a diminutive name - “parsley”, borrowed by the Russian people.
Parsley acquired nutritional value only in the Middle Ages in France, when ordinary people, out of hunger, decided to include this plant in their menu. But when the fame of the excellent taste of dishes with parsley roots and leaves reached the aristocracy, broths, meat and soups with this plant appeared even on the richest tables.
Having spread throughout Europe as a table vegetable, parsley “reached” in this capacity in XVIII century and to Russia, where it appeared on the tables of aristocrats along with French cuisine. In the 19th century, parsley began to be grown everywhere as a vegetable plant.
In fact, in Rus' parsley was grown as a medicinal product with 11th century under the names "petrosilova grass", "variegated", "sverbiga". Its juice was used to treat wounds and inflammation caused by poisonous insect bites.
Salad (lettuce)
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India and Central Asia are recognized as the birthplace of lettuce. In Ancient Persia, China and Egypt, it was cultivated as a cultivated plant already in the fifth millennium BC.
The exact time when lettuce appeared in Europe is not known exactly, but it is certain that the Greeks adopted the lettuce culture from the Egyptians. In Ancient Greece, lettuce was used both as a vegetable and for medicinal purposes. During the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus, lettuce was not only consumed fresh, but also pickled with honey and vinegar or canned like green beans. The Arabs in Spain (VIII-IX centuries), in addition to head lettuce, also had summer endive (ed. - a type of lettuce). Lettuce was brought to Avignon, France, by a papal gardener in the 14th century. Forcing lettuce was first started by the gardener of King Louis XIV (around 1700), who served the lettuce to the king's table in January.
In Russia, the first mentions of lettuce come from 17th century, but the plant did not take root immediately. People became accustomed to its taste and regular use only at the beginning of the 19th century, and lettuce began to be grown everywhere.
Sorrel
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IN XVII century Little was known about sorrel in Russia. Many were surprised how foreigners eat this sour grass that grows like a weed. Thus, traveler Adam Olearius and part-time translator for a German diplomat in Rus' noted in his travel notes dated 1633 that “Muscovites laugh at how the Germans happily eat green weeds.”
They laughed and laughed... but then gradually they began to grow them in their own gardens and put them in soups. This is how green cabbage soup and botvinya with sorrel appeared; now these dishes are considered traditional dishes in Russian cuisine. By the way, the origin of the word “sorrel” in Russian comes from the word “schanoy”, that is, “characteristic of cabbage soup,” i.e. a necessary ingredient for green cabbage soup.
Meanwhile, since ancient times, sorrel has been used as a medicinal plant. In the 16th century healers considered it a remedy that could protect a person from the plague. In ancient Russian medical books they wrote: “Sorrel cools and extinguishes the fire in the stomach, and in the liver, and in the heart...”.
Rhubarb
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Rhubarb is a vegetable with the most unusual history, since it has been of national importance for Russia for more than two centuries.
Historically, rhubarb is native to Tibet, Northwestern China and Southern Siberia. Wild rhubarb has been known in Rus' since ancient times, but only as a medicinal plant, for which only the root was used. Over time, its trunk and leaves began to be used for culinary purposes.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Russian state began to actively “grow” into Siberia, spreading its trade ties all the way to Eastern Turkestan and Northern China. In 1653, the Chinese authorities officially allowed cross-border trade with Russia, and from that moment on, Chinese rhubarb, which had the most powerful medicinal properties, attracted the attention of Russian monarchs. By the middle of the 17th century, trade in rhubarb had become an exclusive royal monopoly, as did furs.
Having received rhubarb from China, the tsarist government immediately tried to export it to Europe. Information has been preserved about how in 1656 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich sent his steward Ivan Chemodanov as ambassador to Venice, who, in addition to political goals, also had two commercial goals - to sell a batch (ten forty) of sables and one hundred pounds of rhubarb from the Order of the Sovereign Great Treasury. However, then the steward was not able to sell the rhubarb; this happened later.
The state monopoly on the sale of rhubarb remained under Emperor Peter I. In 1716, by his decree, people were sent to Selenginsk, who with “care and diligence” delivered rhubarb roots with soil and its seeds to St. Petersburg. After the death of the emperor, by decree of the Supreme Privy Council in 1727, rhubarb was allowed “for free sale.” However, in 1731, during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, rhubarb was again returned exclusively to state jurisdiction, where it remained until 1782, when the government again allowed private trade in rhubarb.
The purchase of rhubarb from Chinese and other traders was initially carried out in Siberian cities, but since 1737 the Russian government began to send a special commissioner with an assistant from merchants directly to Kyakhta to purchase rhubarb ( ed. – The Kyakhtinsky trade is a large fair held in the village of Kyakhta, which is near the modern Russian-Mongolian border in Buryatia). The rhubarb trade was highly profitable, and the Russian Empire had a virtual monopoly in the rhubarb trade with Western European countries. In Moscow, English merchants bought it in bulk, but Venetian merchants were more profitable buyers for almost a century and a half. There was a period when rhubarb in Europe was called “Moscow”, “imperial” or simply “Russian”.
In 1860, after two “opium” wars of the British against the Qing Empire, Chinese ports became open to international trade, as a result Russia lost its monopoly on this crop and practically stopped exporting it.
Wild rhubarb, called “Siberian”, grew in Russia in the south of the Urals, Altai and Sayan Mountains, but it did not have as many medicinal powers as Chinese rhubarb, so it was only used as food by local residents. In the 19th century, it began to be planted in the Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg, and later rhubarb appeared in the gardens of ordinary people, who used it to prepare salads, sweet jams and syrups.
Afterword
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The introductory part of this article stated that “if you believe our historians and agronomists, then ... before Rurik, the Slavs ate only turnips and peas.” Indeed, it’s somehow strange, was the dinner table of the Polyans, Drevlyans, Krivichi and other peoples really so poor? Of course not - these peoples were surrounded by rich forests, in which an abundance of edible wild plants grew - berries, mushrooms, herbs, roots, nuts, etc. Russian cuisine among our ancestors, due to the climate, was based on seasonality - the products that were provided were used for food nature itself. In winter, the diet included meat products and what was prepared in the summer and autumn for the winter.
In this article it is impossible not to mention the traditional Russian garden weeds - nettle and quinoa, which have more than once helped our people out in difficult times. The fact is that quinoa has the ability to satisfy hunger, since it contains a large amount of protein, and nettles contain many different vitamins and microelements, therefore, when there was a crop failure and there were not enough food supplies for the spring, the peasants were forced to collect these plants, which grew first after the snow melted. Of course, quinoa was not eaten because of a good life, but nettle was included in the diet even in well-fed times - they made excellent soup from it and salted it for the winter.
Further, there are reasons to doubt the dates of the appearance of some vegetables in Rus'. Yes, there were no potatoes and tomatoes in pre-Rurik Rus', which, indeed, arrived in Europe from Central and South America, but those vegetables that grew and cultivated in India and China could well have ended up on the table of our ancestors back “in the time of the Tsar Peas." We know the journey of the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin to India in the 15th century from a literary source, but was such a journey unique? Surely not. Russian merchants had previously, at the risk of their lives, tried to “infiltrate” wherever they could. They tried to carry goods that were marketable, not heavy, and not perishable—and there was no better way to meet these requirements than plant seeds. And these seeds often reached Rus' earlier than Western Europe, since Portuguese merchants, who were the first to establish maritime trade between the West and the East, began to regularly sail to India only in the 16th century.
And lastly, have you noticed how many vegetables our people consider “originally Russian”? Of course, this is not so, all of these vegetables are also consumed by other peoples, but no one can boast of such quality and variety of methods for pickling cucumbers and cabbage. In what other country are green tomatoes salted? And what about soups that cannot be made without “natively Russian” vegetables - cabbage soup, borscht, solyanka or rassolnik? Probably, the reason for this attitude of Russian cuisine towards vegetables lies in our people.
By the way: Historically, it so happened that the people divided food plants into fruits and vegetables not because of the biological characteristics of the products, but because of their taste, namely: fruits included all the sweet fruits of plants, and vegetables included those fruits and plants that began to be consumed with salt. Therefore, vegetables are part of the main dish or salad, and fruits are usually served as dessert.
Meanwhile, botanists think differently: they include all flowering plants that reproduce with the help of seeds found in their fruits as fruits, and other edible plants as vegetables, for example: leafy plants (lettuce and spinach), root vegetables (carrots, turnips and radishes). ), stems (ginger and celery) and flower buds (broccoli and cauliflower).
Thus, biologically, fruits include beans, corn, sweet peppers, peas, eggplants, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes, since they are all flowering plants, inside their fruits there are seeds with which they reproduce.
It is curious that potatoes give us both fruits and vegetables at the same time, but only vegetables, i.e. We eat the tubers, but we throw away the berries because they are poisonous.
The article was prepared using materials
taken from open sources
Does the homeland of the cucumber affect its care? Undoubtedly. But over a long period of time, the fruit has acquired multi-species richness. This means that suitable varieties have appeared in each area.
From the history of the cucumber
The Turkish Sultan named Mohammed II was cruel and greedy. One day he issued an order to cut open the bellies of the courtiers. He wanted to know who dared to eat the unusual gift sent to him - a cucumber.
Cucumbers have become famous as a vegetable plant for a long time - more than six thousand years have passed since then. Its historical homeland is western India. And its fruit is a berry. What else interesting is known about cucumber?
- In India, a wild representative entwines tree trunks in the forest;
- They cover areas of fences in villages;
- His image was found on frescoes during excavations in Ancient Egypt, and also in Greek temples;
- In China, as well as in Japan, the fertility of the cucumber allows the berry to be harvested three times a year. First, cucumbers are grown using boxes and roofs, after which they are planted on fertilized soil in the garden. Huge fruits hang from the trellises when ripe - their length is up to 1.5 m. In Europe, a variety of Chinese cucumbers was chosen for growing in greenhouse conditions;
- There are cucumber records in the Guinness Book. The 1.83 meter long cucumber was grown in Hungary. A cucumber fruit weighing more than 6 kg was obtained indoors.
In Russia, this vegetable quickly became popular. The manual on agriculture distributed during the 18th century states that it took root better in Russia than in Europe. It is believed that the vegetable was known in the country until the 9th century. Under Peter the Great, the homeland of cucumbers was transferred to greenhouses - a special farm created for their cultivation.
In any Russian family, at any time of the year, guests will probably be offered some kind of cucumber dish - vinaigrette, salad, hot potatoes with salted or pickled cucumbers... And although it is difficult to imagine a Slavic table without cucumbers, especially lightly salted and pickled ones, this strange berry has no origin at all not Slavic.
INDIAN HOMELAND.
Together with zucchini, pumpkin and squash, cucumbers belong to the pumpkin family. Their homeland is Northwestern India. There, to this day, cucumbers grow wild in the forest, twining around trees like vines (Hardwick's cucumber). The fruits of wild cucumber are small and inedible due to the content of bitter substances - cucurbitacins. Fences in villages are also woven with cucumbers.
A question immediately arises. Who then came up with the idea to domesticate them?
I understand when they try to domesticate an edible plant (corn, potatoes, etc.). But what is the point of domesticating the inedible? Is it really for the flowers? Well, common sense says that all cultivated plants have wild ancestors.
The question is that I understand the motives of the person who began to sow and fertilize potatoes, pumpkins or wheat.
But why did man start sowing cucumbers? After all, he couldn’t be sure in advance that the domesticated fruit would be edible?
I will also note that cucumber has no calories, is not particularly tasty, and does not last long (except in pickling, but before learning how to pickle, it had to be domesticated.
How did its domestication happen?
The first information about cucumbers was found in ancient Indian manuscripts, which are more than 6 thousand years old. Thickets of wild cucumbers are still found in India. Long cucumber vines entwine trees like vines, sometimes creating impassable jungle. Tendrils emerge from the leaf axils, with the help of which the plant clings to trees and rises to great heights in search of light and “living space”. Wild cucumbers are capable of climbing to a height of up to 20 m. Such giant cucumber plants are found in Afghanistan and Nepal.
Residents of India widely use wild cucumber plants to create hedges. They are planted densely along lattice wooden or bamboo fences. As they grow, cucumbers provide good protection from the sun—they create dense shade. Thus, cucumbers turn out to be three times useful: they serve as a hedge, bear fruit and provide life-giving coolness, in which it is good to hide from the tropical heat and sun.
From India, the cucumber traveled to Ancient Egypt. How he got there is not specified.
Then to Greece, Rome.
Cucumbers are among the everyday vegetables that are most often found on tomb images, along with lettuce and onions, and of varieties that are no longer cultivated in Egypt (97.15). Cucumber leaves, seeds and flowers have been found in tombs dating back to the 12th Dynasty. Since the Middle Kingdom, cucumbers have often appeared in images.
Images 1-3 (97.171) give a comparison of the shape of cucumbers common in Egypt today. Figures 4-7 show ancient tomb images of cucumbers with dark stripes on the green surface or grooves, reminiscent of the Nezhin cucumber variety (97.171). A pomegranate is depicted on top of the basket with food, and two cucumbers are symmetrically located on the sides (image 8) (97.171). Image 22 shows a sacrificial table with cucumbers lying next to its legs (97.171). 9, 10, 11 images represent cucumbers with visible seeds (97.171), 12, 13, 14 - a variety of cucumbers with an expansion in the middle of the fruit (97.171). 18-20 resemble the best modern variety (131.II.68). However, it is difficult to judge from the images; perhaps this is an image of other vegetables or bread.
The presence of different forms of cucumbers indicates that there were many names for them. There are currently six different names for cucumbers in Egypt (97.16). In ancient times, presumably, it was no less. However, we don’t know much about cucumbers from the texts. Cucumber and watermelon had the same name, they were mixed. The widespread distribution of cucumbers in ancient Egypt is evidenced by “The Tale of the Castaway,” which speaks of cucumbers even on a desert island (22.96). Cucumbers were usually planted on the shore of a pond, in beds among the sand (97.13). They were carried in baskets, as in image 21 (79.20), on their heads, or in a pack on the backs of donkeys."
The ancient Egyptians and Greeks knew cucumbers as a cultivated plant.
In Ancient Greece, doctors attributed antipyretic effects to cucumbers. And among the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius, not a single lunch was complete without cucumbers. It is a known fact that the cruel and greedy Turkish Sultan Mohammed II once ordered the bellies of seven of his courtiers to be opened to find out who ate one of the cucumbers sent to him as a gift, which were then very rare. In the 1st century AD, cucumbers began to be grown in China and Japan. Local farmers to this day grow cucumbers in accordance with a long tradition. First, seedlings grow in boxes on the roofs, and then they are planted densely in well-manured small gardens and tied to rings. Clinging to the supports with their tendrils, the plants rise upward. And cucumbers 1.5 meters long hang from the trellises.
Cucumbers have long been a favorite vegetable plant in Russia. History says that under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, tens of thousands of cucumbers were grown annually in gardens near Moscow for palace needs.
And in the extensive Russian manual of the 18th century on agriculture, “Florin's economy, consisting of ten thousand,” it was said that since cucumbers grow better in Russia than in other European countries, there is no need to describe them much. “Since in Russia... cucumbers grow better than other European places, there is no need to describe a lot about them here.”
When the cucumber first appeared in Russia, it is impossible to say for sure. It is believed that it was known to the Russians even before the 9th century. The first literary mention of cucumbers in the Muscovite state was made by the German ambassador Herberstein in 1528. Somewhat later, in the 30s of the 17th century, the German traveler Adam Olearius (Elschläger) gave a commendable review of Russian cucumbers in his “Detailed description of the trip of the Holstein embassy to Muscovy and Persia.” Peter the Great, by his highest command, issued a decree on the creation of a special farm for growing cucumbers. This was in the 17th century, but on the tables of ordinary Russian people, cucumber was no longer an exotic product. Travelers from Western Europe noted that cucumbers are grown in incredible quantities in Rus' and could not understand why they grow better here than in Europe.
Pickled cucumbers are especially good in winter. Nizhyn cucumbers pickled in pumpkin have long been famous. Young cucumbers with thin skin, dense pulp and no voids are good for salting.
Among the ancient Russian culinary delights, black ukha is famous - a soup where meat was boiled in cucumber brine with spices and roots. Cucumber pickle is also included in another traditional Russian product - gingerbread. By the 10th century, turnips, cabbage, radishes, peas, and cucumbers were already common in Rus'. They were eaten raw, steamed, boiled, baked, salted, and pickled.
This vegetable can easily be considered one of the most beloved in Russia. When the cucumber first appeared in our country is difficult to determine. During excavations in Veliky Novgorod, archaeologists found the shells of three seeds in a cultural layer dating back to the 9th century.
The Russian people have always considered cucumbers their national food. In 2003, in the village of Istobinsk, Orichevsky district, Russia’s first bronze monument in honor of the pickled cucumber, 6 meters high, was erected. Today, three monuments to the favorite Russian snack “grow” on the territory of Russia.
Many cities and provinces in Rus' were famous for salted and lightly salted cucumbers, but Suzdal and the villages of Kholynya and Podnovye in the Novgorod region stood out.
According to legend, Suzdal cucumbers were ordered for the royal table. Now a themed holiday has appeared in Suzdal - Cucumber Day, where guests from different countries come to taste fresh, lightly salted and pickled cucumbers - a symbol of ancient Suzdal.
There are references to the healing properties of cucumbers in Russian herbal books, as well as in the ancient 17th century medical book “Cool Wind City”. Traditional healers recommended drinking a decoction of cucumbers instead of water, and the pulp of fresh cucumbers was used as an effective diuretic, choleretic and laxative. In folk medicine, an infusion and decoction of autumn leaves (tops) was recommended for bleeding of various origins. They are used externally for burns, and also as a cosmetic for acne, rashes and some skin diseases. Fresh cucumbers are included in cosmetic face masks that whiten the skin and make it more elastic. Cosmetologists recommend wiping oily skin with alcohol-based cucumber tincture.
Where did the word “cucumber” come from?
IKSHVAKU (Ikshvaku) - “cucumber”, the proper name of the ancient (relative to the time of the Mahabharata narrative) rajah, about whom many legends are composed. “Cucumber”, “son of the Sun”, the name of various kings, in particular Manu’s son Vivasvat, the first king of Ayodhya (solar dynasty). He apparently received this name for the large number of his offspring.
In Sanskrit, its ancient name is homonymous to the name of a certain Indian prince, who, according to legend, had sixty thousand children (although this is more likely not a homonymy, but a figurative meaning: a clear allusion to the numerous grains in a cucumber, which much later was transformed into a Russian proverb: “Without windows, without doors , the upper room is full of people.” The Persians, and according to other sources, the Armenians, modified the Sanskrit name, which began to sound like “anguriya”. Among the Slavs, it turned into the word “agurok” - from this word comes not only the Russian “cucumber”, but also the German Gurke. In other European languages, the name for cucumber is derived either from the Latin cucumis (in English the word sounds like cucumber) or from the Greek sicyos.
In the "Historical and Etymological Dictionary of the Modern Russian Language" P.Ya. Chernykh's 1994 edition says: "CUCUMBER. In dialects it is found with another suf.: Psk. ogurok. In Russian, the word "cucumber" has been known (with suf. -ets) since the 16th century. The form "cucumber(s), from which could to be formed the word "cucumber", is not attested anywhere. The origin of the word is not entirely clear."
The common cucumber, or Cucumber (lat. Cucumis sativus) is an annual herbaceous plant, a species of the genus Cucumber (Cucumis) of the Pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae), a vegetable crop.
Fresh cucumbers, whose benefits are obvious, help remove excess fluid from the body - due to this they are used as a diuretic and an effective product against edema.
Cucumber is a plant that appeared on our earth a very long time ago. It is known 6000 years before our time.
As soon as we say the word “India”, we remember all sorts of exotic things associated in our minds with this “land of wonders”: amazing architecture, slender girls in saris, snake-flexible movements of dancers, stunning poses yogis, trained cobras, mongooses, herds of elephants...
Meanwhile, we meet the Indian miracle in our native land, in the most everyday circumstances: in the gardens, in the kitchen, in “Fruit and Vegetables” stores, where we buy eggplants - huge garden berries, which Odessa residents affectionately call “little blue”, and cucumbers Both of these vegetables come from India, two Indian guests, always welcome, although they caused a lot of trouble for our gardeners.
The cucumber became widespread in Europe only in the 16th century, when the cucumber bed in front of the house became a symbol of family well-being. But in general, cucumber is one of the most ancient vegetables; it was known to people four thousand years ago.
An image of a cucumber whip adorned the walls of Egyptian temples, and remains of the fruit were found in tombs.
In ancient Rome, Emperor Tiberius was a fan of cucumbers. The emperor was in a good mood if he was served fresh cucumbers at dinner. Trying to provide the best conditions for any of the emperor’s vegetables, the gardener came up with a “vegetable garden on wheels.” The boxes with seedlings were installed on wheels, which turned according to the sun, which added to the number of sunny hours for the seedlings.
Botanists classify the cucumber as a member of the pumpkin family. People suffering from kidney and liver diseases turn to the cucumber and its relatives - watermelon, pumpkin, melon - for help. The venerable pumpkin family has provided many services to people. The melon meant so much in the households of the Uzbek, Tajik, and Turkmen that it was called “a gift from heaven,” and the cracks on its bark were “sacred writings” inscribed by Allah himself. The wild watermelon became famous for the fact that in its homeland, Africa, in the Kalahari Desert, where there is not a single river, it gave its juice to everyone who was thirsty: man, antelope, lion, elephant, and mouse.
In the sands of the Karakum desert there are melons, where the modern table arborus grows - the only cultivated plant that can do without watering. Water, extracted deep underground by the roots, along a long lash-stem, as if through a water pipe, is supplied to the fruits, where it is stored as an emergency supply.
Melon and cucumber follow the same custom of storing water. That is why their fruits are so juicy.
Well, why do they need mustaches? The cucumber seems to throw a green lasso: every four minutes its tendril describes a circle. This is a proven technique for a vine whose weak stem cannot stand on its own.
At the beginning of the last century in America, in the state of Florida, the swamps surrounding Lake Okechote were drained. The first of the scientists to find himself on the shore of the previously inaccessible lake was the botanist Small. On land where no human had ever set foot, Small expected to find a lot of interesting things. And I was not mistaken. It was as if he had been transported into the distant past, having discovered an “antediluvian” plant that belonged in a museum: a wild pumpkin was climbing up the tree trunk, clinging to the bark with its tendrils.
Having become a cultivated plant, the pumpkin became jelly. Its fruits, weighing 60 kilograms or more, are considered the largest in the world. You can't climb a tree with such a load. If earlier the tendrils helped the pumpkin during a steep climb, now they pin the stem to the ground so that it does not get blown away by the wind. Both melon and watermelon became creepers. But the cucumber has not yet lost the right to be called a steeplejack. But now he climbs on the wire, which, to save space in the greenhouse, was pulled by a man.
Greenhouse, greenhouse... You can’t erase these words from the biography of a cucumber. The Russian climate turned out to be too harsh for the Indian guest. How much invention, resourcefulness, patience and labor was needed to make a tropical plant one of the most common and beloved vegetables by our people. For many years, cucumber occupied second place in our country after cabbage, only recently has tomato competed with it.
The varieties created by the people as our inheritance also speak about the love for cucumber. Here is Klinsky, who is willing to put up with insufficient lighting, the first greenhouse cucumber in Russia; here and the ground ones - rain-proof, resistant to dampness; Vyaznikovsky, which is not suitable for salting, but in the summer it will more than pay for the bed allocated to it, especially if you follow the rule: collect more often - you will collect more. Here is Nezhinsky - dark green, old, best for salting. Here is the oldest popular variety, Muromsky, early ripening, light green, with clear stripes. His homeland is the village of Bolshoye Okulovo, not far from Murom, on the banks of the Oka. In this village, gray-haired grandmothers, freckled girls, grandfathers, and boys, everyone from young to old grew Murom cucumber for seeds.
The cucumber village of Bolshoye Okulovo is no exception. Onion, pea, and cabbage villages were also known. In the Yaroslavl province alone there were five to ten five such specialized villages.
More than a hundred years ago, near Moscow, in Klin, the first large greenhouses in Russia intended for cucumbers appeared. A man built a house for a vegetable - brick, with large windows, with a real stove.
One day, thanks to this stove, a discovery was made. More precisely, thanks to the stoker’s negligence. When he was the last to leave, he backed up his view, not noticing the firebrand buried in the ash. In the morning the air in the greenhouse was blue from fumes. But the fumes turned out to be useful. There are two types of flowers on cucumber vines: male pollinating and female fruiting. Carbon monoxide, having paralyzed the respiration of the plant, caused an influx of unspent nutrients to the fruiting organs. An unprecedented number of female fruit-bearing flowers appeared on the “burnt” bushes.
If in the old days Klin craftsmen did not have enough knowledge to explain the effect of carbon monoxide on the harvest, then by their nature they were genuine experimenters: vigilant, smart, courageous. They began to deliberately “smoke” cucumbers, leaving unburnt birch or aspen (but not pine) logs in the oven. And they achieved increased yield.
However, the house that a man built for a cucumber could not become a house of eternal summer if the sun did not shine in it. A kerosene lamp could not replace the sun. In November, the Klin greenhouses were warm like summer, but dark like winter. No plant can live without light. In the darkest winter months, the Klin greenhouses were locked. The man who conquered the frost was forced to retreat before the winter darkness.
But this was only a temporary retreat. When the city received electric current at its disposal, the sun shone in the cucumber’s house: electric lamps were so powerful that they were able to replace sunlight for greenhouse plants.
In our time, the Indian guest received registration both in the northern regions and in the Arctic. The winterers of Dikson Island have their own greenhouse cucumbers. Science alone, without the help of technology, without workers in glass and electric lamp factories, could not solve this problem.
And now, chemistry has come to the rescue of those who grow cucumber seedlings in the open air. Now, if it was broadcast on the radio that frosts are expected, it is not unusual to see a cucumber bed covered with plastic film in your garden plot.
Well, when do you need to cover thousands of cucumber bushes? Then whole rolls of plastic film are taken out into the field. Sometimes it is pulled onto the frame, sometimes air is blown under it. The result is an inflatable greenhouse, a tunnel without a single nail, whose transparent walls let in sunlight.
There are probably no people in the world who do not like or at least do not eat cucumbers - fresh or lightly salted, pickled or pickled. Fresh, strong, juicy are especially good; they increase appetite, improve the body’s absorption of nutrients, and reduce the acidity of gastric juice.
In one of Oscar Wilde's comedies you can hear about CUCUMBER SANDWICHES - a favorite English treat. The basis of such a sandwich is a thin, buttered slice of bread with the crusts cut off. You can take white, black, toasted or fresh bread, as you like, and put slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, hard-boiled eggs, green lettuce leaves and always a sprig of dill or parsley on it. On the sandwich there can be a heaped teaspoon of meat salad, a piece of flask
- It is best to pickle cucumbers with “pimples” - with an uneven surface.
- Before salting cucumbers, pour boiling water over them, then they will retain their bright green color even when salted.
- Cucumbers pickled in an open container will not become moldy if chopped horseradish is placed on top.
- Many people love the smell of garlic in salad. To do this, add a crust of rye bread rubbed with garlic to the salad. Then the crust is removed, but a barely perceptible subtle smell remains.
Cucumber cosmetologist
- Cucumbers are not only tasty. They have been used in cosmetics since ancient times as a means of cleansing, refreshing and whitening the skin. Try wiping your face with a slice of cucumber or a piece of its skin - you will immediately feel pleasant freshness.
- Do you want to make a cucumber mask that moisturizes and whitens your skin? Grate a fresh cucumber or chop it very finely, put this mixture on gauze and apply to your face and neck. After 15 minutes, wash your face and lubricate your skin with cream.
- If the first wrinkles appear on your forehead, a daily massage with a piece of fresh or pickled cucumber is useful - move it from left to right in a circular motion. The juice, when absorbed, moisturizes the skin, and after drying it creates a kind of mask. After 30 minutes, you can wash off this mask.
- Fresh cucumber with peel, eaten without salt, has a positive effect on the metabolism in the body and therefore has a healing effect on skin prone to pimples and blackheads.