i62 BORISOGLEBSK 



The comparative immunity enjoyed by ancient people in 

 Russia, appears to me to be due to the greater cleanliness 

 of their skins, and to a larger consumption of vegetable food. 

 The chief feature of a Russian's midday meal is an enormous 

 bowl, usually of cabbage or beetroot soup, often fortified 

 with other vegetables, such as onions, leeks and carrots. 

 It is the custom to have in each portion of soup, a piece 

 of meat from a quarter to half a pound in weight when 

 uncooked which has been boiled in it, and which is more 

 or less consumed, according to the hunger of the diner. 

 This portion and a liberal supply of black (rye) bread 

 completes the repast of the ordinary Russian man or woman. 

 The well-to-do classes like a preliminary appetiser in the 

 form of a zakooska (German, Imbiss or VorschmaK), which 

 usually consists of an initial glass or two of vodka, and 

 picks at various kinds of hors tfozuvres, such as hareng 

 marind a la Hollandaise, slices of tongue, ham and tinned 

 dainties. Then come soup, meat, sweets, coffee and different 

 sorts of wine. The soup, as I have already indicated, is 

 wholesome and tasty. Despite the fact that German cookery 

 has largely influenced that of Russia, it has happily left the 

 soup untainted, and consequently 1 had not the horror while 

 in that country, of seeing in front of me the brot suppe of 

 Schwabenland or the aal suppe of Hamburg. I remember 

 with disgust the bread (half -chewed crusts) soup which I 



had to eat when I was at school centuries acm at Stuttearclt 



t> t~> 



but filthy as it was, it was better than the eel soup fortified 

 with plums and sugar which I have had thrust under my 

 nose in North Germany. Provincial Russians in the matter 

 of using cold milk with coffee show a want of s avoir vivre ; 

 but there are a few exceptions, as I found when I had the 

 pleasure of dining with General Akhwerdof and Colonel 

 Globa at Borisoglebsk. The cold milk dodge with coffee 

 is also an Africander failing from which I suffered when 



