"We here are snapping up buckwheat, while the Americans are snapping up weapons. Everyone is ready to fight for survival, and this scene is like a scene in a Hollywood movie." These are a passage that Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, wrote on his own Twitter not long ago. With the spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the local area, the Russian people have also begun to purchase a large number of daily necessities. Buckwheat is definitely at the top of the Russian hoard list. According to a survey by the All-Russia Polling Center, buckwheat is the first choice for 49 percent of Russians to stockpile, followed by canned food and sugar. Some Russians told the Global Times that rice is just an embellishment for them, but buckwheat is a necessity.
Buckwheat porridge
The main food of the Russians
Russians love buckwheat for a thousand reasons, but the most important thing to say is undoubtedly its unpretentious taste and versatile personality. Legend has it that more than a thousand years ago, when the first Byzantine monks came to Russia to spread Orthodoxy, they carried not only the Bible with them, but also the seeds of a magical grain. This grain taste is not only very delicious, but also nutritious, and immediately conquered the hearts of the Slavs. It's buckwheat. Since it was the Greeks who first cultivated buckwheat in Russia, the Russians also called buckwheat "Greek Shka".
Originally these buckwheat were grown inside the monastery. It was not until after the 16th century that it began to be truly widely promoted. In his Yasnaya-Pollyana school, the great writer Tolstoy once set aside a portion of the land for the children to grow crops to develop their labor skills, including potatoes, carrots and buckwheat.
The Russian buckwheat complex is everywhere. Whether it is a street snack bar or a luxury restaurant, you can see the figure of buckwheat. Russians use buckwheat to cook rice, boil porridge, toast, spread pancakes, and the famous Russian pancakes are made from buckwheat. In Russian cuisine, buckwheat rice is an important staple food, and there are many side dishes, such as chicken, beef or pork. Buckwheat and meat go very well together because buckwheat is a whole grain that promotes digestion, and with some protein fiber it can better supplement nutrition and, more importantly, it is cheaper.
Buckwheat is rich in magnesium and B vitamins, which help control blood sugar and also provide antioxidants. Russians not only feed on buckwheat, but also see it as a medicine. In Russian folk medicine, buckwheat is used to heal wounds, skin diseases, and cleanse the eyes. Modern Russian medicine believes that buckwheat is a low-calorie food that contains a large number of antioxidants (anti-aging substances) and fiber, rich in vitamins. Unbaked green buckwheat lowers blood sugar, lowers blood pressure and normalizes lipid metabolism. Buckwheat lowers cholesterol levels, speeds up metabolism, and, due to its high flavonoid content, acts as an antidepressant and helps fight cancer cells. In addition, Russians are also very fond of buckwheat honey.
Buckwheat cake
Russia's economic barometer
Russia is located in an alpine region, the latitude is high, the cold cycle time is long, crops such as wheat, rice, corn and other crops are not suitable for cultivation, and hardy buckwheat is very suitable for the climate here. Over time, Russians developed the habit of eating buckwheat. It is precisely because buckwheat is a necessity for Russians that it has been selected as an indispensable consumer product for Russians along with foods such as meat, eggs and milk. It is also known as the "barometer of the Russian economy". The slightest movement in the economic situation will immediately show up on buckwheat. The BBC once vividly stated that, just as the first thing people think of when they have a cold is to prepare paper towels, the first thing Russians do on the eve of every economic crisis is to hoard buckwheat.
In recent years, there have been many buckwheat crises in Russia, once in 2010, when the price of buckwheat soared across Russia due to a drought in Russia, resulting in a "buckwheat crisis", or a large number of imports from China, only to escape the disaster. Another occurred in 2014, when the Russian ruble depreciated sharply and buckwheat prices fluctuated.
It can be said that buckwheat is not only a basic necessity for Russians to live, but also an indicator of their happiness. If the cost of buckwheat falls, it means that everything in the local economy will remain stable and in good shape. However, if buckwheat prices suddenly rise, or disappear from the shelves, then this is considered a signal of crisis. Experts have even introduced concepts like the "buckwheat index."
"It is not the horses that pull the carriage, but the buckwheat"
There are many sayings about buckwheat in Russia, such as "it is not the horse that pulls the carriage, but the buckwheat", which means that the horse can pull the carriage, but the real source power is buckwheat. "Cabbage soup and buckwheat porridge are our food", which means that as long as we have these two things, it is enough. There are also "a person eats (buckwheat) porridge is not fragrant", "cook (buckwheat) porridge yourself, take care of it yourself" and so on.
In the face of the sudden epidemic, some Russian friends also said that the world is changing too fast, just like the supermarket shelves are still full of buckwheat today, and tomorrow a bag will be gone.
In addition, buckwheat is also the protagonist of the wedding pie, Russian wedding both men and women need to make wedding pie on the wedding day, the patterns made by the two sides are not the same, the pattern of the man's family is a villain, implying that the person is prosperous, and the pattern of the woman's family is a flower, representing loyalty.
Source: Global Times