Vol. 13 No. 1
March, 2007
Roots and branches

Food in South Russia in the early 1900's

Spring time to Mennonites living close to the land in Ukraine meant a welcome change in diet. Cows freshened, and gave rich milk. Cottage cheese Vereniki (pirogies), coffee with cream, cream gravy, clabbered milk and milk Mus appeared on the table along with eggs--chickens were finally laying. The first fruit of spring, rhubarb, pushed out of the ground.

Here are the menus for breakfast, lunch and supper. Fesper, the mid-afternoon break, had little variation, and consisted of white bread (bulki) or rye bread, and jam or syrup. Drinks were tea, coffee, and milk (fresh or clabbered).

Menu for one week of March, April and May (1)

Sunday Breakfast Rührei, brown bread, white coffee, Zwieback, jam
Lunch Boiled potatoes (skinned), cream gravy, brown bread, glass of milk
Supper Fried potatoes, brown bread, sweet milk Mus
Monday Breakfast Fried potatoes with egg, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Tjieltje with fried onion fat, brown bread, a cup of milk
Supper Boiled potatoes (skinned), gravy, one cup milk
Tuesday Breakfast Rührei, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Roll Kuchen, jam, one cup of milk
Supper Salad with egg, onion, potatoes, vinegar, dill pickles, clabbered milk
Wednesday Breakfast Fried potatoes with egg, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Cottage cheese Vereniki with cream sauce, a glass of milk
Supper Fried potatoes with egg, one glass of milk
Thursday Breakfast Fried onions, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Boiled potatoes (skinned), cream sauce, fried ham, brown bread, milk
Supper Salad with egg, onion, potatoes, vinegar, pepper, clabbered milk
Friday Breakfast Fried potatoes with egg, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Waffles [with] rhubarb sauce, clabbered milk
Supper Boiled barley soup, buttered brown bread
Saturday Breakfast Fried potatoes, brown bread, white coffee, Bulki, syrup
Lunch Beans with fried onions, brown bread, clabbered milk
Supper Rhubarb Platz, sweet tea with fruit sauce

The menu above reflects the diet in the early 1900's. By the 1930's, famine stalked the land and these foods became a distant memory.

1 From a manuscript by D. Peters, translated by John B. Toews, transcribed by Katherine Hooge. (see Roots and Branches, Vol. 12 N. 2 for more details.)