EVERYDAY FOOD OF BURYATS IN THE LATE XIX-EARLY XX CENTURY*

The article provides a regional and zonal study of the everyday diet of Pre-Baikal, Prisayansk, Selenga and Aga Buryats at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, highlights the specifics of their diet. At the time under review, the forest-steppe zone (Predbaikalye, Selenga Valley) was the most cultivated, while the mountain-taiga (Prisayanye) and steppe (Aga steppe) zones were less cultivated. The amount of components in everyday food varied depending on the area of residence. The diet was also influenced by the transition of some Buryats to such economic activities as farming and gardening. A new trend was an increase in the share of grain and vegetable products in the food of different groups of Buryats, accompanied by a decrease in the consumption of wild plants; this was most noticeable in the pre-Baikal Buryats. However, the meat and dairy component of food in all Buryats was traditionally high.

Key words: life support culture, traditional food system, ethnography of Buryats.

Introduction

The Buryat food system was formed and evolved over several centuries. It inherited and developed the food traditions of the medieval peoples of the Baikal region, as a result of long-term interaction with the ethnic groups of Central Asia and Southern Siberia, it was enriched with elements of inoculature traditions and developed original features. With the entry of Buryat tribes and clans into Russia, the structure of their food gradually changed; the cuisine began to include traditionally Russian dishes.

The topic of nutrition of Buryats is reflected in the ethnographic literature. For example, I. E. Tugutov [1958], K. V. Vyatkina [1969], I. B. Batueva [1992] and other authors ' generalizing monographs on the Buryats offered descriptions of national dishes and characteristics of the national cuisine of the Buryats. Some aspects of this topic were covered in a number of articles. Meanwhile, a special study of everyday nutrition, which is the basis of the entire nutrition system of Buryats, has not yet been conducted.

This article offers a reconstruction of the daily diet of Buryats in the late XIX - early XX centuries. We do not consider such specific types of food as ritual and festive. The analysis of fish food that is included in the cuisine of certain ethnoterritorial groups of Buryats (Olkhon, Kudara, etc.), but is not typical for the diet of most Buryats, is also not included in this work.

The research was based on field materials collected by the author in the regions of the Republic of Buryatia in 2000-2006, as well as archival and literary data on some ethnic groups of Buryats (pre-Baikal, Prisayansky, Selenginsky, Aginsky).

The study is based on data on individual ethnic groups, since their territories are inhabited by a large number of ethnic groups.-

* The work was carried out within the framework of the project RNP 2.2.1.1 / 1822 "Development of the joint educational and scientific center of Novosibirsk State University and the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences as an integrated scientific and educational structure in the field of archeology, ethnography of Siberia and Oriental Studies" and project 1.5.09 (ZN-5-09) " Development of the integration mechanism fundamental research and educational activities in archeology, ethnography and Oriental studies within the framework of the UNC NSU and IAET SB RAS".

page 101
the research areas and natural areas that they have developed are noticeably different. Thanks to this approach, it becomes possible to identify regional and zonal features in the everyday diet of Buryats of the studied time, which makes our conclusions representative.

Predbaikalie is a territory with mostly hilly steppes, with a wetter climate and more fertile soil than Transbaikalia. The main river artery here is the Angara River (a tributary of the Yenisei), which carries its waters from the lake. Baikal. In the Pre-Baikal region, there were suitable conditions for developing an economy in which cattle breeding was combined with farming. Some exceptions were the economy of the Verkholensk Buryats, which was based not only on cattle breeding, but also on commercial hunting, as well as the Alat and some other Buryats, who combined cattle breeding with seasonal river and lake fishing. The economy of the Olkhon Buryats also differed in its specifics: due to the peculiarities of the natural and climatic conditions of Olkhon Island and the mainland zone adjacent to it from the north (infertile sandy and stony soil, a wide wind rose and light precipitation), it had a cattle-breeding and fishing orientation.

Eastern Prisayanye is a mountain-taiga region, where large and medium-height mountains, which form the basis of a mountainous country, are combined with inter-mountain depressions. The dense river network covering mountain and foothill valleys feeds three deep-flowing rivers originating in the spurs of the Eastern Prisayanye-the Irkut (Angara tributary), the Jidu (Selenga tributary) and the Oka. The natural landscape largely determined the specifics of the traditional economy of the Prisayansk Buryats, which had a cattle-breeding and hunting character.

Western Transbaikalia, as well as the region of the Lower Priononye (Eastern Transbaikalia), is mostly represented by steppe valleys lying between mountains of medium height. The hydrographic network of Transbaikalia includes the Selenga and its tributaries-Orkhon, Dzhida, Temnik, Chikoi, Khilok, Uda, and Onon with its tributaries (Aga, Ingoda). In this part of the Baikal region there are also large lakes, for example, Gusinoe. The sharply continental climate with arid spring and summer, and little snow in winter was not favorable for agriculture, so in a significant part of this territory, pastoral farming was successful.

Dairy products

Pre-Baikal Buryats

Pre-Baikal Buryats received dairy products mainly from cow's milk, but the poor often replaced it with goat's milk. The pre-Baikal people, like most Buryats, had horses, large and small cattle (sheep and goats), but only cows and goats were milked. Women were engaged in milking and preparing dairy food, which was determined by the traditional division of household activities among Buryats by gender. Among the pre-Baikal Buryats, cow and mare's milk was valued; eating goat's milk was considered a sign of poverty.

The consumption of whole milk was limited; it was given only to young children. It was included in the diet in boiled form as an additive to black tea or some other dishes. In the warm season, milk was not prepared for future use due to the impossibility of long-term storage. In winter, they made long-term reserves of milk, freezing it in special dishes. This method of storage was obviously borrowed from the Russians. However, most buryats from late autumn to late spring could not afford to have enough milk. This was explained both by small milk yields during this period, and by the lack of a tradition of freezing it. The Mongolian cow, which at the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century was the only breed of cattle common in the herd of all Buryats, belongs to the meat stock and gives relatively little milk.

Like other Buryats, the pre-Baikal Buryats, in order to meet the winter demand for dairy food, prepared curd curds, a curd mass of aars, melted butter and foams in the summer and early autumn. The foams were not dried, but simply frozen (Khangalov, 1958, p. 232). It should be noted that foams were considered a delicacy among the Buryats; they were also served to guests on a holiday. Both curd mass, and foams, and butter served as substrates for a number of other dishes. Arsa in its pure form was rarely consumed; most often it was included in the composition of liquid dishes.

The summer was the most plentiful in terms of availability of dairy products. At that time, the Buryats had fermented milk, curdled milk, cream, sour cream, butter, etc. on their tables. For the preparation of curdled milk (tarag), the pre-Baikal Buryats did not use sourdough; instead, bread crumbs were poured into dishes with boiled milk and silver objects were placed. This drink was drunk by adding milk or cream. Summer preparations were also associated with the production of different types of butter: less durable sagaan mohon "white butter", made from sour cream, and ghee, which retains its useful properties throughout the year. Oil was stored in tuesas made of birch bark, which is known as a natural disinfectant (Fig. 1). Pre-Baikal Buryats prepared hoi - mog, a dish consisting of a mixture of fermented buttermilk and milk. Im unlike other Buryats

page 102

Fig. 1. Birch bark curtains.

practically no technologies for the production of soft unleavened cheeses and kumiss were known.

Buryats actively mixed dairy products, achieving a variety of dishes. Under the influence of Russian cuisine, the pre-Baikal Buryats learned to make several varieties of cottage cheese (white, evaporated), which was seasoned with cream and sour cream. Dairy products were used as the main components of flour and grain dishes. From sour cream with the addition of flour, salamat was prepared. More rare were examples of mixing dairy products with wild herbs, roots, and meat products in one dish.

Along with such a traditional alcoholic drink as milk wine (arha), obtained from fermented cow's milk, tarasun - darkan (derived from the word daraha "crush") became popular in the XIX century; it was made from a liquid dough fermented on sourdough. Since the 1820s, the authorities applied harsh measures to those who were engaged in the production of this drink, since their activities contributed to the reduction of grain reserves in the province and undermined the state's vodka monopoly; according to the report of the attorney of the drinking buyout, peasants preferred to buy this potion from Buryats, rather than state vodka (Decrees of the Irkutsk Zemsky Court; Irkutsk Provincial Government and Taisha's correspondence with the Irkutsk Zemsky District Court on the issue of stopping korchem distilling (November 12, 1823-October 29, 1829). - NARB, f. 4, op. 2, d. 15, l. 3-3 vol.). At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. with permission to open drinking establishments in the Buryat departments, the pre-Baikal Buryats began to consume wheat vodka, which led to mass alcoholization and population extinction.

Prisayansk Buryats

The dairy herd of the Sayan Buryats, mainly from Okin and Zakamensk, included Mongolian cows, as well as female sarlyks-Sayan yaks, hainikoi-hybrid offspring from yaks and Mongolian cows; some families also owned dairy mares and sheep. Cows predominated in the structure of the dairy herd, so products from the milk of animals of other species had a limited distribution. Milking cattle in the Prisayansk Buryats was a female occupation. For storing dairy products (sour cream, butter), specially processed insides of domestic animals were used. Prisayansk Buryats have developed the practice of mixing different types of milk when preparing food. So, koumiss (guunei airag) was made by adding fresh mare's milk to the old starter culture. Such sourdough, for example, the Zakamensk Buryats often prepared from fatty varieties of yak or sheep's milk. Unlike the pre-Baikal Buryats, they considered mare's and sheep's milk to be the most useful, cow's milk to be less useful, and goat's milk to be of little value. The scale of milk prestige in the Trans-Baikal Buryats was the same as in the Prisayansk Buryats; it was based on the traditional gradation of animals with the so-called hot and cold breaths. Domestic animals such as horses and sheep were thought to have "hot" breaths, while cattle such as goats and camels had "cold" breaths. This division also extended to wild animals: bears and wild boars were considered as creatures with "hot" breath, and elk, raisins, wild boar, roe deer and mountain goats - with "cold"breath.

In general, the set of dairy products of the Prisayansk Buryats was about the same as that of other Buryats, but there were some peculiarities in the preparation of dishes. For example, ghee, which was widely used in food, was prepared from sour foams that were boiled (Natsov, 1995, p. 24). The curd mass of aars-a semi-finished product that was extracted from barda (bozo) - a thick mass formed after distilling buttermilk into milk vodka-was used as an additive to liquid dishes. You can mention opoohomou aarsa "arsa with grain" - a soup made with aarsa. Prisayansk Buryats cooked such a soup with barley grains. Prisayansk Buryats made curd curds not only from cow's milk, but also from yak and sheep's milk, mixing boiling milk with fermented buttermilk. Curd curds were used in the preparation of zambaa porridge and zutaraan sai tea. The Buryats developed the production of home-made cheeses classified as soft unleavened cheeses (bi/slug). If the rest of the Prisayansk Buryats traditionally made cheeses from cow's milk, the Okin Buryats also used reindeer and yak

page 103
milk. The basis of Buryat butter production (airagai mohon) was the churning of liquid dairy products; Prisayansk Buryats made butter by whipping sour cream. Unlike the pre-Baikal Buryats, where tarasun became the main alcoholic drink due to farming, the Prisay Buryats, who were mostly semi-nomadic, continued to smoke milk wine and vodka made from fermented buttermilk. Since the end of the 19th century, they have consumed purchased vodka.

Selenga Buryats

The main dairy herd of Selenga buryats consisted of cows; the share of dairy mares and sheep was relatively low. Milking was done by women, very rarely by men.

The set of dairy products of Selenga, pre-Baikal and Prisayansk Buryats was approximately the same, the differences were manifested in the technology of cooking and especially in the use of ingredients. Speaking about the prestige of products, it can be noted that Selenga Buryats traditionally most valued foams from sheep's milk, which is significantly higher in fat content than cow's milk. Foams were prepared for long-term storage and used in cooking. Melting the foams over low heat, we obtained high-fat ghee, which was stored for a long time. The preparation of fresh ai-rag - fermented buttermilk-was very specific. If the majority of Buryats in a wooden tub with buttermilk was customary to pour sourdough (ehe) and keep the mixture closed for three or four days, periodically stirring it with a whorl, then the Selenga Buryats, along with this, had a different recipe for making airag - warmed sour milk without cream was added to the fermented milk drink remaining in the tub. boiled water. The Selenginskys, like other Trans-Baikal Buryats, churned butter from fermented milk and sour colostrum, or from sour cream, like the pre-Baikal Buryats. The curd-like mass of aars was used in the preparation of some everyday dishes: hoormo from steamed rye grains mixed with milk and aars; grain soup (made from wheat or rice) cooked on the basis of milk and aars; flour soup. Aarsa was cooked with locust bulbs and flour to make a thick porridge. Curd curds, a favorite dish of children, Selenga Buryats were prepared by boiling aars in milk, the resulting curd mass was freed from the remnants of liquid, squeezed out by hands, and dried in the sun. There were other ways to make such curds, for example, from sa-gaan-a residual product from the distillation of milk vodka. The tradition of making milk cookies (nabsha "leaf", seseg-ayruul "raw flower") can be traced only to the Selenga Buryats. They also have two varieties of huruud cheeses. The Selenga people obtained milk wine by distilling sour milk; this was their technology that differed from that known among the Prisayansk Buryats.

Some of the Selenga Buryats (Sartuls) were forbidden to mix milk in black pudding as a sacred product, as well as add milk and sour cream to meat soup.

Agin Buryats

This group of Buryats kept a dairy herd of cows, mares and sheep. Among the Agin Buryats, milking cattle was the responsibility of women. Agin residents have the same methods of storing dairy products as Selenga Buryats. The main raw material for the production of dairy products was cow's milk. Other types of milk were either mixed with it or used independently. For example, curdled milk was made from sheep's milk in early summer. The Agin Buryats have a special feature in the preparation of yogurt: in addition to boiled milk, they used whole milk.

In everyday food, thin urman foams were used freshly prepared. For festive meals, thick khushoodeken foams were made, which were kept for a day in a cauldron with boiled milk, giving them time to harden, and only then removed; as a result, the foams did not lose their taste and shape for a long time. The Aginskys, like other Buryats, melted ghee from foams. Fermented buttermilk was obtained by mixing buttermilk and varenets to a homogeneous state. In the cuisine of the Agin Buryats, the curd mass of aars was a semi-finished product that was added to various dishes. Hoimog-a dish made from stirred aars in milk, seasoned with sour cream. Aarsu was used as a soup additive, and also cooked with sarana. Khurkhan curd cakes with ground bird cherry, hawthorn or wild apple should be considered as a variety of curd curds. Common in the distillation of milk wine in Aginsky and Prisayansky Buryats is the use of fermented buttermilk airag as a raw material.

Meat food

Pre-Baikal Buryats

Pre-Baikal Buryats used to eat meat from domestic animals (horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, etc.).-

page 104
birds (chickens, ducks), as well as many wild ones. The slaughterers of livestock were men (heads of families or invited people with experience in slaughtering animals), and women were engaged in cleaning the entrails of slaughtered cattle and preparing boiled offal and meat on the bone. In the meat diet of these Buryats, horse meat occupied a leading place, while mutton and beef occupied a more modest place (beef that had a commercial value was usually sold to the Russian population). Goat meat was rarely used for food, as it was considered the food of the poor. Pork, chicken and duckling meat were used only after the transition of most of the pre-Baikal Buryats to a sedentary lifestyle and agriculture. Of course, the Buryats ' breeding of pigs and poultry was the result of cultural borrowing of the Russian experience. Among meat dishes, dried horse meat (khataamal) and noodle soup, as well as so-called named (honorary) pieces of boiled lamb, were considered prestigious. The pre-Baikal Buryats had original recipes for cooking some boiled sausages, for example, kharma-a stomach filled with minced meat, interior fat, blood and finely chopped green onions.

For sacrifices and ritual meals, domestic animals (horses, cows, sheep, goats) were selected according to certain characteristics (age, coat color). The rules of cutting, cooking, distributing sacrificial meat, and handling the bones of the slain animal for shamanic rituals were strictly observed.

The pre-Baikal Buryats did not perceive the bans on the use of horse meat established by the Orthodox Church as mandatory. Their consumption of horse meat, despite the universal Christianization in the XIX century, did not decrease at all, no matter how much Orthodox priests and missionaries would like it.

In the warm season, the meat supply was stored in artificial glaciers, which were located in the annex to the yurt or in a separate small building with closing doors in the estate.

Prisayansk Buryats

Natural conditions determined the specifics of economic activities of the majority of Prisayansk Buryats (mountain and pasture cattle breeding, taiga hunting), which could not but affect meat consumption. Meat of cattle (yaks, hainaks, cows), horses, sheep, as well as wild animals (squirrels, hares, wild boars, roe deer, raisins, moose, bears, capercaillies, grouse) was used for food. Depending on the area of residence, the cuisine of Prisayansk Buryats was dominated by meat of various domestic animals: in Zakamne-horse meat, in Tunka - beef, in Gornaya Oka - generally cattle meat. Horse meat was most appreciated, and mutton was less appreciated, but not beef. Men were engaged in slaughtering and skinning meat, women cooked fresh meat (meat, blood and stuffed sausages). Such dishes as fried brisket and liver kebab were prepared only by men. In the religious rites of the Sayan Buryats (Buddhist and Shamanic), boiled meat on the bone was a sacrificial food. It had to be unsalted and undercooked. In the cold season, the meat was stored wrapped in a skin. During the summer period, the meat of large animals (horses and cattle) was not consumed much due to the inability to ensure the storage of large stocks. It was replaced with the meat of sheep or musk deer, mountain goat or roe deer. Mutton, fried in fat, was stored in birch bark bags, washed and dried bovine bladder, mutton stomach. Sometimes the meat was placed in leather bags, which were hung in a dark and cool room. It should be emphasized that the Buryats of different regions had similar methods of processing raw meat into semi-finished products (smoking, roasting and drying). In some of the Prisayansk (Tunka) Buryats, as in the pre-Baikal Buryats, meat storage in artificial glaciers has become widespread.

Along with dishes typical of the cuisine of other Buryats, the Prisay Buryats prepared dishes whose recipes were known only to them. From liquid dishes, you can call meat soup with mountain man viviparous (meheertay shulen), which was often seasoned with a pinch of dried juniper (arsa). Meat soup with grain and mountaineer (khushhe) was also specific. The Prisayansk Buryats had a special way of making black pudding from thick ba-

2. Buuza-large meat dumplings, steamed.

page 105
early intestines (golga). In some of these Buryats, especially those who were engaged in hunting, the recipe for some dishes provided for replacing the meat of domestic animals with game. In particular, for such a dish as posy (buuza) (Fig. 2), minced meat was prepared from wild animal meat.

Selenga Buryats

The forest-steppe zone of Western Transbaikalia allowed the Selenga Buryats to raise large herds of livestock-cows, horses, sheep, goats, whose meat formed the basis of their diet. As noted by I. A. Rukavishnikov, beef and mutton were most often consumed by them as food [1923, p. 9]. Some of the Selenga Buryats, who were engaged in hunting, together with their domestic meat consumed meat of wild animals-squirrels, hares, wild goats, elk, raisins, bears, as well as wild birds-geese, ducks, grouse, bustards. Selenga Buryats slaughtered and butchered animals in the same way as other Buryats.

In winter, mutton and goat meat were stored in wooden tubs covered with snow, or in cellar-glaciers in the same tubs placed in niches cut in the ice.

Selenga Buryats treated religious (Buddhist) prohibitions on the use of horse meat differently from the pre-Baikal ones. The influence of Buddhist ideology on their self-consciousness was much stronger than that of Orthodoxy on the pre-Baikal Buryats. In Buddhist rituals, only mutton was allowed to be used, and the former shamanic tradition of sacrificing horses in the study period by the pre-Baikal Buryats was finally outlived. It is interesting that horse meat lost its status as an honorary product in everyday nutrition and was consumed exclusively by the poor [Smolev, 1898 (1900), p.24]. Due to the religious ban, the consumption of pork was not widespread.

N. A. Bestuzhev, describing the taste preferences of the Selenga Buryats, made a curious conclusion: "In the opinion of the Buryats, what is delicious, what is fat, what smell and taste was not" [1991, p. 15]. Here we were talking about game, but the Buryats were very fond of fatty meat of domestic animals.

Blood and meat sausage ereelzhe, stuffed with minced meat and clotted blood , is a dish common only among Selenga Buryats. In some groups of Buryats, it was customary to salt beef and horse meat; such corned beef was called dabkalkan myakhan. A. A. Popov noted a similar technology of preserving meat in the Selenga Buryats (A. A. Popov, A brief report on research works in the summer of 1929 - Khvrik of the BSC SB RAS, f. 17, d. 443, p. 3). For the preparation of corned beef, the pulp was used, which was cut into large pieces and laid in layers in tuesks or tubs, each layer covered with salt. Before cooking the soup, a piece of corned beef was soaked in cold water to remove the salt from it.

Agin Buryats

The Agin Buryat herd consisted of horses, cows, sheep, goats, and camels, but horses and sheep predominated: it was advantageous to keep them in the steppe landscape. Unlike the Selengin Buryats, the Agin Buryats, although they were adherents of Buddhism, traditionally preferred horse meat in their food. They especially valued the underbelly and nape of the neck horse fat. Mutton was also valued; it was included in the guest's meal. Most of the Agin Buryats did not eat camel meat and goat meat; only the poor included these meat products in the autumn-winter diet.

The meat of the winter slaughter was preserved by wrapping the decapitated and cleaned carcass in a skin removed from the slaughtered animal or (like other Buryats) placing it in a barrel or in another wooden container, which was buried in the snow behind the yurt, put in a cold barn.

Cooked tarkhi sausage stuffed with spatula meat, brains, liver and wild onions belongs to the category of meat dishes that were found only among Khori Buryats. Homemade smoking of lamb brisket and rectum over the smoke of an open hearth was common. An echo of the ancient food technology can be considered the methods of baking tarbagan carcass used by the Agin Buryats before the revolution. In the cuisine of Khori Buryats, there is also such a dish as khushuur-fried manti in the form of a pear, which is unknown to other Buryats. Like the Prisayansk and Kyakhta (Selenga) Buryats, the Khori prepared roasted mutton (xyypahan myakhan, susa), which was a product of long-term storage.

Plant-based food

Pre-Baikal Buryats

The Pre-Baikal region is a region where in the early Middle Ages the Kurykans were engaged in plow farming, sowing millet, wheat, barley and hemp (Dashibalov, 1995, p.140). The pre-Baikal Buryats, considered the heirs of this ancient culture, retained their agricultural skills until the arrival of the Russians. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in their pi system-

page 106
a special place was occupied by bread and grain crops. In the XIX century. the population of the Pre-Baikal territory cultivated millet, wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, and oats. Wheat and, accordingly, dishes prepared from it were especially valued. In everyday cuisine, other types of cereals were used. Barley and oats were sown mainly to feed livestock.

Bread and grain products were present in the diet of pre-Baikal Buryats throughout the entire calendar year. The kitchen included some dishes (soups, porridges) made from semi-finished products-calcined or crushed grain. Porridges to some extent served as substitutes for baked flour products (bread, tortillas). Flour was made from wheat or rye. Only rye flour was used in the preparation of salamat (fried porridge). Toasted flour was a component of zutaraan tea. Unleavened tortillas were baked from flour on ashes; from the Russians, the technologies of oven baking kovrig (from rye flour), kalach (from wheat flour), shaneg (from yeast dough) were learned. Rolled dough was used to make noodles for meat soup.

One of the traditional occupations of the pre-Baikal Buryats was gathering; various wild plants made it possible to fill the need for plant food. During the short Siberian summer, Buryat women and children harvested edible plant roots, fruits, and berries for the winter. The Buryats ate plants that grew mainly in the steppe zone. Wild field onions and wild garlic, finely chopped, were eaten raw; they were also dried for use as a soup dressing in winter and, according to the experience of the Russians, salted in tubs. When preparing various dishes, red lily bulbs (sarana) and goose cinquefoil were used; they were boiled or stewed with various dairy products.

In the taiga, pre-Baikal Buryats collected strawberries, black currants, bird cherry, lingonberries, etc. These berries and fruits were eaten raw, often in combination with dairy products, or dried as a reserve. From the Russians, they learned how to make jam from some berries.

Vegetable growing in some of the pre-Baikal Buryats received some development in the first third of the XIX century. Thus, the reports of the Verkholenskaya Steppe Duma mention the harvest of potatoes, beets, cabbage, turnips, radishes and carrots (Vedomosti on crops and harvests of bread, garden crops, the amount of land sown with winter bread, products produced in the department, calculations of the first threshing of grain, the number of livestock. - NARB, f. 4, op. 1, d. 92). Of course, gardening should be associated with the baptized Buryats, who learned this from the Russians. Not all groups of pre - Baikal Buryats cultivated vegetables in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main vegetable, the second bread for the Buryats, was potatoes; it was mainly grown on the ridges. Potatoes were baked, boiled, cabbage was salted, other vegetables were eaten fresh, or added to the soup.

Prisayansk Buryats

In Prisayanye, the main agricultural zone was the Tunka Valley, and the lowlands of Zakamna were considered a favorable area for such economic activity. The Tunka Buryats began farming only in the 19th century, while most of them continued to engage in semi-nomadic cattle breeding. Tunkinskys, like the pre-Baikal Buryats, sowed wheat, rye and barley. Wheat was especially valued, but rye was the most accessible and most widely used food in the cuisine of the Prisayansk Buryats. Barley served mainly as fodder for horses. The consumption of grain and grain products among the Prisayansk Buryats depended on whether they were engaged in agriculture or not, whether the grain reserves of the economic stores of the department were sufficient, whether it was possible to make a natural exchange of cattle products for grain among Russian peasants or baptized Buryats.

The grain was used to make hushhe soup. Flour was usually fried - the so-called aagkan was obtained, on the basis of which zambaa porridge was cooked (Fig. 3). Wheat flour was used to make noodles for soup. Wheat and barley flour were used for baking "zolyanok" tortillas. Recipes for making shanegs and bread came from Russian cuisine. The adoption of Buddhism by the majority of Prisayansk Buryats was reflected in the local cuisine - their festive dish was unleavened booea cookies, small boortsog pancakes. Salamat was prepared like the pre-Baikal Buryats, but for a variety of tastes, they added crushed mountaineer roots.

Fig. 3. Aagahan-toasted flour.

page 107
Wild plants occupied a prominent place in the plant food of the Prisayansk Buryats. The roots of the viviparous throat (maheer) were collected by destroying mouse burrows. Flour was made from the roots, which was added to the porridge of zambaa, salamat, and meat dishes. Boiled buckwheat grains (uurgene) were eaten with butter. The roots of goose cinquefoil were seasoned with soup with dried meat. Like the pre-Baikal Buryats, the Prisayansk Buryats used lily bulbs (locusts) for food: they were eaten raw, with milk, and foams. Mountain and field onions, wild garlic served as seasonings for meat dishes-soups, sausages. Buryats began to use wild garlic for food under the influence of Russians in the late XIX - early XX centuries; previously, they avoided using this wild plant because of the strong smell. In dried and salted form, all these greens were prepared for future use.

The rich nature of Prisayanya made it possible to make the necessary supply of berries and fruits for the winter. Prisayansk Buryats collected strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries, bird cherry, sea buckthorn. Strawberries, blueberries, and lingonberries were eaten fresh, seasoned with cream or milk, and also dried for the winter. Bird cherry was ground with melted butter and dried in the form of small briquettes. Later, ground bird cherry was added to shang, cooked with locust bulbs. The kernels of pine nuts were harvested by destroying the chipmunks ' storerooms; after being peeled and ground, they were made into a fragrant and satisfying dressing for tea.

Vegetables (potatoes, cabbage, beets, carrots) were grown in small quantities by baptized Tunka Buryats in vegetable gardens; the majority of Prisayansk Buryats practically did not include these in their diet.

Selenga Buryats

In the 19th century, the Selenga Buryats moved from nomadic cattle breeding to its semi-nomadic form, and some of them began to lead a sedentary lifestyle. From grain crops they cultivated rye, wheat, barley and oats. The scale of socially valuable products of the Selenga Buryats was the same as that of the above-mentioned Buryats. Their range of grain products also had no special features. The Buryats-pastoralists consumed few grain products in comparison with dairy and meat products; they met their need for bread through natural exchange with Russians (old-timers and Old Believers) or baptized Buryats. Even in the first third of the twentieth century, many Selenga Buryats bought ready-made bread from Russian peasants. Nevertheless, some of these buryats, having built Dutch ovens in their homes, have mastered the technology of baking mats, shanegs and cheesecakes.

The peeled grains of rye and wheat were roasted or pounded with sour cream and butter, and in this form they were used for food. Steamed rye grains were added to milk and aarsa. Rye grain was cooked with meat. Along with rye, they ate millet porridge. Zambaa porridge was made from barley or wheat flour. Wheat or rye flour was added to zutaraan tea. On the basis of flour, soup was cooked, salamat was prepared. Unleavened dough was used to make tortillas and noodles for meat soup. Among the Selengin Buryats, as well as among the Prisayansk Buryats, boobo and boorsog cookies became widespread.

The food of the Selenga Buryats included wild plants of the steppe zone-field onions, wild garlic, lily (locust), as well as mountain taiga zone of the Selenga valley-mountain onions, wild garlic, sorrel. From sarana bulbs with the addition of curd curds and sugar, tibkentei ayruul was cooked. Sarana was also prepared with meat and milk froths. The mentioned greens as a component were present in meat dishes-soups, sausages, poses.

The considered group of Buryats ate almost the same wild berries and fruits as most other Buryats - black currants, lingonberries, blueberries, sea buckthorn, blueberries, strawberries, bird cherry, hawthorn. Unlike the Prisayansk Buryats, the Selenga Buryats were not prejudiced against blueberries; they were harvested along with other berries. For long-term storage, the collected berries were dried. Sea buckthorn after the first frost was collected by branches and ate ice cream. Like the Prisayans, the Selenga Buryats harvested a small amount of pine nuts, which were treated to children.

The first people who started gardening were baptized Buryats. In the first third of the XIX century. they began to grow some vegetable crops-potatoes, carrots, radishes, cabbage (The case of the harvest of various kinds of bread, garden vegetables and the delivered seed. - NARB, f. 2, op. 1, d. 105). Selenga Buryats, as a rule, did not have vegetable gardens in the first third of the XX century. From vegetables, they bought only potatoes, and the volume of purchases was directly dependent on the grain harvest: in case of crop failure, the Buryats met the need for bread at the expense of potatoes (Popov A. A. Brief report on research works in the summer of 1929 - Khvrik BNC SB RAS, f. 17, d.443, l. 3).

Agin Buryats

In the 19th century, the Agin Buryats, who were fully engaged in nomadic or semi-nomadic cattle breeding, were forced to purchase grain products (grain, flour, bread) among the Russian population of Eastern Transbaikalia (peasants, Cossacks) by way of in-kind exchange or for money at fairs organized annually. As U.-Ts .. Ongodov points out, a large family of 10 people. enough for the winter 6 pounds of spring grain and the same amount of flour (He-

page 108
years of U.S.S.R. An approximate fairy tale about the Buryats and Tungus, Mongols, 1892-Khvrik BSC SB RAS, f. 1, op. 1, d. 16, l. 30). Interestingly, Agin residents had the same scale of prestige of grain crops as other Buryats: wheat was most valued, and barley was least valued. At the same time, the considered group of Buryats ate mainly products obtained from rye. Among the bread and grain products, the Agin people, like other Buryat pastoralists who did not cultivate grain crops, especially distinguished baked bread; it was considered a delicacy and was served with tea in small pieces. Therefore, it is no coincidence that wheat bread, along with other flour products (takhil balin), dairy and meat dishes, fell into the category of "white" (sacred) food. Next in importance was bread in breadcrumbs and ice cream. In the absence of bread, it was replaced in the diet by grain. The daily food of the Agin Buryats included steamed grain of spring rye or wheat, grain soup with meat. Toasted flour was seasoned with aarsa and zaturaan tea. Shanakan talkhan flour porridge was cooked on water and fat.

The diet of Agin buryats was almost completely devoid of vegetables (with the exception of potatoes). The need for plant food was met by wild plants. We used locust bulbs, roots of wild buckwheat, krovokhlebka, licorice, gorlet, rhubarb, sorrel, and wild onion stalks. They also collected wild fruits and berries-apples, peaches, hawthorn, wild rose, bird cherry, strawberries, lingonberries, and blueberries.

Conclusions

Everyday food of the Buryats of the late XIX-early XX centuries was based on products that were primarily produced by cattle breeding (meat, milk); they were supplemented by products of agriculture, hunting, fishing, gardening and gathering. The use of these components ultimately determined the ethnic specifics of the Buryat diet. The structure of their daily diet was dominated by food containing mainly proteins and fats. The ratio of ingredients in it varied depending on the natural environment in which the Buryats lived, and the time of year. We emphasize that the quality of food and its sufficiency were determined by the social status and prosperity of the family. In the everyday food of the Buryats, there are traces of borrowing dishes from Russian folk and Buddhist monastic cuisine (from the Trans-Baikal Buryats) cuisine, which is explained by the active penetration of Russian culture and Buddhism into their environment.

List of literature

Batueva I. B. Buryats at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries-Ulan-Ude: East-Siberian State Institute of Culture: Society. - scientific center "Siberia", 1992. - 74 p.

Bestuzhev N. A. Goose Lake: articles, essay. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Publishing House, 1991, 112 p.

Vyatkina K. V. Ocherki kul'tury i byta Buryat [Essays on Buryat culture and everyday life], Nauka Publ., 1969, 218 p.

Dashibalov B. B. Archaeological sites of Kurykan and Khori. Ulan-Ude: BSC SB RAS, 1995, 191 p. (in Russian)

Natsov G. D. Materialy po istorii i kul'tury buryat [Materials on the history and culture of the Buryats]. Ulan-Ude: BSC SB RAS, 1995. - Part 1. - 156 p.

Rukavishnikov I. A. Essays on the economic life of Buryats in the Selenga Dauria. - Irkutsk: [B. I.], 1923. - 39 p.

Smolev Ya. S. Three Tabangut families of Selengin Buryats: An ethnographic essay // Tr. Troitsko-Kyakht. otd-I Priamur. otd. Imp. Russian geographical region. - 1898 (1900). - Vol. 1. - Issue 3. - pp. 79-135.

Tugutov I. E. Materialnaya kul'tura buryat [Material culture of the Buryats]. - Ulan-Ude: Buryat, complex, nauch. -research. in-t, 1958. - 215 p.

Khangalov M. N. Sobranie sochineniy [Collected works]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Publishing House, 1958, vol. 1, 551 p.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 15.06.07.

page 109

Permanent link to this publication: