THE BOOK OF TASTY AND HEALTHY FOOD” IN THE SYSTEM OF FORMING NEW SOCIAL FOOD PRACTICES IN THE 1920-30S

Abstract

The aim of the research is to investigate the evolution of eating practices in the 1920s-1930s and to analyze the role of the Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, which was published in 1939, in the process. The author underlines that in a totalitarian state, even such routine practices as dietary habits fell under the scrutiny of the state. The methodological basis of the research is universal principles of historical reliability, objectivity, investigation, unprejudiced assessment, and comparative historical analysis. The research shows that in the 1920s, the major goal, which consisted in creating a public catering system aimed at relieving women’s domestic drudgery, was not fulfilled. House-communes and communal kitchens proved to be ineffective for the development of the Soviet economic system. The analysis shows that the publication of the Book of Tasty and Healthy Food in 1939 was aimed at promoting food products produced by the Soviet food industry, at encouraging people to cook food at home, and at urging people to work harder and to earn more. The analysis of personal archive materials of A. I. Mikoyan shows that the Book was designed to promote new food products which were available in the 1930s and were created with the use of American principles of food technology. The analysis of cooking recipes shows that the book embraced the idea of social stratification, for it contained simple and cheap recipes as well as complicated and intricate recipes available only to the Soviet elite.

Keywords

• public catering
• cookbooks
• food
• recipes
• social stratification
• standard of living
• totalitarian state