Why is doctor's sausage called "doctoral": features, composition and interesting facts

On the territory where the Soviet Union once existed, they were very fond of the doctor's sausage (and now they are happy to eat it). It was appreciated in the Baltic States, Kazakhstan, the poor post-war years, and the prosperous seventies. But few consumers knew why the sausage is called "doctor's". All are accustomed to such a name of the product, although for some reason it has plunged foreigners into shock. If the "Language" or "Chicken" sausages were made from by-products and poultry, it remained only to guess what is included in the "Doctor" and "Children's". The meaning of these names over time was forgotten. And let's remember the history of the doctor's sausage. For this we will have to return in the thirties of the last century.

The more nutritious, the healthier

The village doctor often dealt with patients whose illness was rooted in poor nutrition. After all, peasants ate meat only on holidays, and their daily ration consisted of porridges and lean cabbage soup. To cure anemia and similar illnesses, the doctor ordered the patient to consume more fatty meat. Maybe this is the secret of why the doctor's sausage is called "doctor's"? In the prescription of the healer? Partly yes. Doctor's sausage is very nutritious. And, indeed, the doctors thought that it was good to eat with anemia or after a long starvation. But the doctor's sausage can hardly be called greasy. It is truly dietary. And it was not a doctor who came up with it. The composition of the sausage was approved by the People's Commissariat of Health. Why did the Country of Soviets so needed a special "medicinal" prescription?

Where did the name "doctor's sausage" come from

The thirties of the last century ... The policy of the NEP was abolished. Collectivization in conjunction with the removal of the harvest from the peasants led to a famine. Huge masses of the population lacked food. Prolonged fasting led to outbreaks of various diseases. Approximately at the same time, the politician Anastas Mikoyan visited the United States in 1919. During his visit, he also visited Chicago, where he personally saw how the American meat industry works. Returning to the USSR, Mikoyan, based on his experience, created the First Moscow Sausage Factory. This factory was later named after its creator. Dietitians of the All-Union Research Institute of the Meat Industry have developed and submitted for approval to the People's Commissariat of Health a recipe for a new sausage product. It, as it was said in the documents, was intended specifically for "the treating nutrition of patients whose health was undermined by the Civil War and the tsarist despotism". It is not difficult now to guess why the doctor's sausage got such a name. Even according to the documents, it was a medicine prescribed by a doctor.

Doctor's sausage according to GOST

The authorities, of course, disdained the reasons for the mass starvation of the population. But the medicine, quickly restoring strength, was still found. The medical prescription was verified to the smallest detail. To cook one hundred kilograms of doctor's sausage, it was necessary to take 25 kg of veined beef meat (high-grade pulp, without connective tissues), 70 kg of pork (also of first-class quality, low-fat, without fat), two liters of whole cow milk and seventy-five chicken eggs. But from spices it was allowed to add only salt, sugar, a little cardamom and nutmeg. Why is doctor's sausage called "doctor's"? Yes, because she was prescribed a sick stomach ulcer, colitis and other ailments of the gastrointestinal tract. This nutritious product was really dietary. He could rightfully be included in the children's diet. By the way, at the Moscow plant named after Mikoyan, where the first stick of the "Doctor's" came off the assembly line in 1936, other equally popular sausage brands were invented: "Amateur", "Braunschweig", "Tea".

Gradual delivery of positions

The recipe for the meat product was approved by GOST, which was strictly adhered to until the seventy-fourth year. Why did you need to change the formula during the "general prosperity"? When the country from the construction of a bright future passed to the stage of developed socialism, it suddenly became clear that the livestock population was not as large as we would like. In addition, the pigs began to feed the waste of the fishing industry, causing the animal meat to acquire an unpleasant smell. GOST 1974 already allows the use of starch and flour in the preparation of doctor's sausage. But this was only the beginning of the fall of the once high quality standard. GOST 23670-79 allowed instead of eggs to use mélange, dried milk and pork skins. Soon, flavor enhancers, sodium nitrite and antioxidants were introduced. The loaf was wrapped in cellophane. That's why the gourmets began to ask in bewilderment: "And why is the doctor's sausage called" doctor's "?"

GOST and TU

At the beginning of the two thousandth there appeared a myriad of enterprises exploiting the brand's popularity. They cooked their sausage so that it could not be called a dietary product. The current State Standard (2011) permits the use of flour, starch, sodium nitrite in the preparation of the product, and dry substitutes instead of natural eggs and milk. But there are manufacturers who offer the product TU. This abbreviation stands for "Technical Conditions". They have nothing to do with GOST and are developed by the enterprise itself. And it is already unknown why the doctor's sausage is so called - because it contains a smoke flavor, antioxidants E 300-306, addictive sodium glutamate, stabilizers and acidity regulators. It is unlikely that such a questionable cocktail of all E-supplements can be considered a dietary product.

Why sausage is called "doctoral"

We have already told the origin of the name of this product. The question should be put differently: but does it have the right to continue to be considered a "curative" food? On its questionable quality, folk art has already begun to compose anecdotes. For example, in one of them, very revealing, when asked why the doctor's sausage is called "doctor's", the answer is given: because after eating it, you need to urgently contact the doctor.