Recipes for Russia

At the height of its imperial power, Russia suffered a gastronomical identity crisis. Smith traces the quest for a national cuisine in the activities of agricultural societies seeking changes in farming, in the scientific or pseudoscientific texts of doctors and ethnographers, in writings about cooking, and in a multitude of cookbooks. This study shows how the authority to control food production devolved from the state and landowners to women, in particular, housewives.

Alison K. Smith is Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto.