History of dumplings. Who invented the dumplings? Where did the dumplings (whose dish) come from

Any minced meat, meat, fish and vegetables, in any variations, carefully wrapped in the finest dough, for the national cuisines of several peoples is a traditional dish. Analogues of dumplings such as khinkali, sorcerers, manti, jiao ji have long been known for world cooking. So where did the dumplings come from? Whose dish? The history of this amazing and so loved product remains obscure and obscure. They have long recognized the dumplings of Russian and Siberian cuisine.

So who invented the dumplings? We have to admit that this dish originally has Chinese roots. Today in this kitchen with its history of five millennia there are analogues of almost every modern dish. The history of pel'menis takes us to a very distant past. But only here to challenge the fact that it is in Russia that this dish is the most popular, no one will take.

So dumplings - this is a Russian dish or not? The traditional idea of their history has evolved: in the Russian cuisine they were brought in by the peoples who once inhabited the Urals. The Russians appeared in these regions in the 14th-15th centuries. And only as an idea put forward the theory that the Komi, Permiaks, Siberian Tatars and other peoples in the European northeast of Russia dumplings emerged from China and other ancient states of Asia.

Pelmeni: history of origin

One thing is obvious, dumplings traveled to Russia through a difficult, even devious one. So who first invented this unusually tasty and such a common dish, native to different national cuisines, peoples and countries? And these are not ready to boast of especially many culinary inventions. So what will the story of the ravioli tell us?

The Platonic treatise titled "Feast" (385-380 BC) describes a dish that already painfully resembles pelmeni - pieces of meat wrapped in noodles. And the ancient Roman Petronius writes about him. And in the comedy of Aristophanes, a contemporary of Plato, it is said that the feast was known to be served with fried test bags filled with other products.

But historians-culinary experts agree that it was China that "pelmenized" Europe.

Russian history of dumplings

There are many versions of the appearance of pelmeni on Russian soil. First of all, it is worth recalling that until the 1820s-20s. There is no mention of pel'menis in any cookbook in Russia. Never even mention "Soldiers' Kitchen" of 1786 and. - the most popular cookbook by S. Drukovtsev

Someone explains this by saying that for too long dumplings in the Urals and Siberian cuisines were considered a regional dish, and all-Russian fame was only found in the XIX century.

And some argue that the cuisine of this Great Russian from the center of Russia was not particularly recognized.

Artifacts about dumplings

To many, the author of culinary articles of that time, Catherine Avdeeva, in 1837, wrote "dumplings" as a word that was used in Siberia. What in Russia they are called ears, which are made from pasta with chopped beef, also with mushrooms or fish, they are frozen and they turn into pebbles. In this form they are taken on the road, and it is worth putting them in boiling water, the dish is ready and very tasty.

If you turn to documents of an earlier time, it is worth getting acquainted with the magazine review of 1830 and. Folksy words of the inhabitants of the Orenburg province, where for the description of pelmeni the author has to compare them with Ukrainian vareniki. He says that dumplings (pellets or stoves) are like tasty boiled pies, "a sort of Little Russian dumplings, not with cheese but with beef", which are the favorite dish for Perm people.

The history of pel'menis tells that in 1817 this dish was still a real exotic. This is how his college adviser N. Semivsky described it: "Pelmeni, small with minced meat or stuffed pies, following the example of the Chinese cooked. They are good especially in winter, they need to be boiled in water. A very good road soup is made from dumplings. They are eaten cooked with red vinegar. "

Although there are other documents. "The painting of the royal dishes" (1610-1613 and.) Contains a reference to "mantu with mutton". And Karamzin mentions mantas in the stories about food, which was on the table of Tsar Fedor Ioannovich.

Four people that fight for dumplings

Disputes and disagreements over whether pelmeni - whose national dish, to this day have not subsided.

• Finno-Ugric peoples living in the Urals (Udmurts, Komi-Permyaks).

The most important proof that dumplings should be considered as their invention is the word "pel'yan" for them. It is translated as "ear-bread". Yes, and looks like a dumpling ear. It is perfectly kept in the winter in an ordinary sack, if left in the cold, in the cellar or in the passage. Yes, and boil pel'yani easy. And for the filling it was possible to take meat from sacrificial animals, for the benefit of rituals of animal sacrifice among the inhabitants of the Urals is enough.

• Chinese.

Although the word "pelmen" is Finno-Ugric, but this food is exclusively Chinese, and the festive New Year's Eve. Jiaots in China are prepared with a wide variety of fillings, which the Chinese consider edible. And their meat is not the most important thing. And in form, the jiaots are like a coin, they even have a hole in the middle, a real symbol of prosperity, a wish for health and wealth.

• Siberians.

These people rest assured that only in Siberia the most generous pelmeni are the native food of the Siberian. The finest layer of dough and filling, which is added finely crumbled ice - and here you have a huge amount of the product after the cattle is slaughtered or a successful hunt. And you can store all the time that frosts are kept.

Minced meat, which is wrapped in dough cakes, is made only from chopped meat, salt ... and ice. And no bulbs and garlic, as is customary in the European part of Russia. Only, yielding to modern taste, add pepper.

• The Mongols.

It was they, galloping on the cavalry all over Southern Siberia and the Urals, long without leaving China alone, tied together all these peoples and adopted the recipe. For nomadic pastoralists, they serve as an excellent semi-finished product, which in a long campaign serves as a real salvation. The Mongols will be very surprised if someone asks about the dumplings - whose national dish will begin to claim that it is not theirs.

So who is the author?

So, the question of who came up with dumplings is difficult to answer and simple. The idea to wrap meat in a dough is so obvious that anyone could come to mind: the Chinese in China, the Russians in Russia, the Greeks in Greece, the Mongols in Mongolia, and the Germans in Germany. By the way, the latter are convinced that the authors of the pelmeni are Protestant monks. In the besieged fortresses they allowed people to survive.

National Features

To cook ravioli today, it's enough to buy ready-made semi-finished products in a shop and cook at home, cook for a couple, fry. But the recipe for delicious ravioli should be in the arsenal of each hostess.

How to sculpt a dumplings

Rarely today there is a house where dumplings are molded as in the old days, almost festively and in a family way. When the head of the family in the meat grinder chops the mince, the hostess prepares the dough and then all the households in the mugs of dough, squeezed out where with spoons, where cups or glasses, put the stuffing. Pelmeshki folded and stapled. Sometimes the rolled dough is cut into even squares. So you do without scraps and save time.

By the way, for true craftsmen any carving is absolutely unacceptable. No one will convince them that only from the rolled out pieces of dough, for each pelmen, one can make real pel'menis. And the smaller they are, the more delicious.

It seems that this is the simplest dish. But for the entire period of popularity and popularity of pel'menis in Russia, many different recipes for their preparation have appeared. It has long been known that classic Siberian dumplings can also be prepared in different ways.

All the differences, first of all, in the filling: it can be beef with a small addition of fat or pork fatter and, of course, onions and crushed ice. So the filling does not stick when stamping to the hands, and the dumplings are kept juicy.

For pelmeni, the form remains very important. After all, it was she who once gave him the name. And what should it be? Any hostess will say that it is necessary to blind a pelmenka like a plump crescent and easily, without pulling too much, to connect the ends.

Siberian dumplings

To prepare a dough for them, only flour with water is taken. That's right, not a bit of salt. Pour flour on the slide, and almost icy water is poured into it. Stirred dough, easily lagging behind the hands. Now it should lie half an hour, covered with a wet towel.

Meat of three kinds is used: beef, pork (it is chosen with bacon), сохатина. And again without salt, without onions and other spices. Minced meat is minced.

But the refueling to pelmeni can be any: simple sour cream, melted butter, carrots, onions, garlic, etc.

Chinese dumplings

Mix the dough traditionally with flour and water. But the filling is chosen the most different: meat, vegetables, eggs with leeks, meat with vegetables. The most famous pelmeni in China is the "lotus on the water", refers to the most complex kind, fashioned manually with 13 holes, or "empress mother", stuffed with chicken and so small that they resemble pearls.

Ural dumplings

It is much more correct in this case, in fact, to talk about pelnyans. In Russia, mixed two words - "pel'ni" and "Perm" (Perm food) - and to this day have reached pelmeni, so beloved by many. And for those living in the Urals they for a long time were a ritual dish, a real symbol of the sacrifice of cattle. By the way, the dough of partridge or other game could be added to the dough.

Urals dumplings - a dish that is prepared as follows. Meat in the filling is formed in a strict proportion: beef - 45%, lamb - 35%, pork - 20%. Pepper and a large amount of onions were added to the stuffing. So, inside each pelmenka, a delicious broth accumulated. The forcemeat of course was prepared exclusively in a wooden trough with the help of a cut. Sami dumplings were cooked for a couple, it was not customary to cook in water or on broth.

When this recipe of delicious ravioli was adopted by the Tatars, their dish was exclusively made of mutton. It also occurred to the Russians that they mix beef with pork in equal parts.

How to cook dumplings

To cook dumplings, you need to take off the water, add salt to it, add the bay leaf and onions to it, and then throw the pelmenki yourself.

But it's much better if you have a meat broth cooked on a bone. If you do not cook in it, then just dip it into cooked dumplings. Their taste will be much better and richer.

About that, dumplings - a traditional Russian dish or not, you can argue for a long time. How many people - so many opinions. But the fact that dumplings for a Russian person is a real holiday is undeniable. If they mold with the family - this is a double holiday. Because such a product will certainly preserve the warmth of the hands and hearts that prepared them. He has a very special taste, in no way comparable with the semi-finished product from a nearby store.

Whichever people consider this dish to be their own, it will long save and cherish their own ancient recipes, create new ones, and the next generation will eat and praise such delicious ravioli. The story of origin was told to the reader in the article. And now, who has an appetite, go boil the dumplings!