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Kasha: the Russian porridge

Thursday 5, December 2013, 12:00 am Red

If you haven’t tried kasha yet, you haven’t tasted an important part of Russia. We’re talking about a dish more than thousand years old, so you’d better take it seriously. Do you want to know more about it? Kasha (which we can translate in English as “porridge”) can be made from many different cereals, especially from oats, buckwheat, barley, wheat or rye. In other words, "kasha" is not a cereal in particular: the way we prepare it is why its called "kasha".

  Kasha
Raw kasha, ready to be used

There are many ways to prepare it, but the basic recipe is very simple: take the cereal, boil it with milk or water, add sugar… And that’s it. From this basic recipes, we can move into more sophisticated ones with berries, butter, onion, mushrooms and anything you have around. As long you as you like it, everything is allowed. Kasha is healthy, cheap and quick to prepare. Everyone eats it, the rich and the poor. For example, kasha made from barley was one the favourite dishes of Emperor Peter the Great. Nowadays people eat it mostly for breakfast but in the past it was more than just food.

In old Russia, kasha was a ritual food, used in different ceremonies while in India, it was prepared as an offering for the gods to protect livestock. In the Roman Empire, this dish was also offered to the gods but, in that case, to protect children when they were born. Until one hundred years ago people in Russia would have kasha instead of bread (like for example rice in China). Kasha has been through a lot and it’s still an important part in Russian cuisine. And it's also an important part of Russian culture and language: we're going to see now some sayings and expressions that have kasha playing the main role.

Dish of kasha
Dish of kasha, ready to eat

A proof of how important Kasha is for Russians is in the saying "Щи да каша - пища наша" (Cabbage soup and kasha is our nourishment). When it’s difficult to work with someone, you can say "С ним кашу не сваришь" (You can’t prepare kasha with him). And if you have a friend who is not very strong, you can say that "Мало каши ел" (He ate too little kasha). And if someone has a mess in his head, for example before an exam, you can say that "У него каша в голове" (He has kasha in his head).

There are many more sayings, but before you find out more about them, go and prepare yourself some nice, good and healthy kasha!

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