Image: Министерство пищевой промышленности СССР · Public domain
Kniga o Vkusnoi i Zdorovoi Pishche
- Year
- 1939
- Era
- 20th century
- Origin
- USSR · Europe
- Language
- Russian
- Category
- Eastern European
Kniga o Vkusnoi i Zdorovoi Pishche, commonly rendered as The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, originated as a state-sponsored domestic manual under the patronage of Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet commissar overseeing the food industry. The 1939 first edition established a template for Soviet home cookery that fused regional cuisines with the products of newly industrialised canneries and dairies. Subsequent printings, particularly the lavishly illustrated early 1950s editions, are prized; post-1962 reissues quietly excised Stalin-era references and dishes, making the textual evolution a notable document of shifting ideology.
Cooking from this book
Stolichny Salad
Signature dishOften called the Capital Salad, this dressed mixture of poultry, potatoes, eggs, pickles and peas under a blanket of mayonnaise became one of the defining images of the Soviet festive table promoted through Mikoyan's volume. Conceived as a respectable heir to pre-revolutionary Olivier, it embodied the book's mission to give working households an affordable taste of refinement, and its presence on banquet pages helped fix it in the national memory for generations to come.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
