Author : Вильям Васильевич Похлебкин
Publisher : Verso
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 24,33 MB
Release : 1992-12-17
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 9780860913597
With formidable scholarship and considerable dry wit, William Pokhlebkin, one of Russia's best-known historians sets out on the detective trail. His aim: to reveal the strange truth about his country's most famous tipple. The result is a triumph of historical deduction.
Author : Mark Lawrence Schrad
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 514 pages
File Size : 15,66 MB
Release : 2014-02-05
Category : History
ISBN : 0199389470
Russia is famous for its vodka, and its culture of extreme intoxication. But just as vodka is central to the lives of many Russians, it is also central to understanding Russian history and politics. In Vodka Politics, Mark Lawrence Schrad argues that debilitating societal alcoholism is not hard-wired into Russians' genetic code, but rather their autocratic political system, which has long wielded vodka as a tool of statecraft. Through a series of historical investigations stretching from Ivan the Terrible through Vladimir Putin, Vodka Politics presents the secret history of the Russian state itself-a history that is drenched in liquor. Scrutinizing (rather than dismissing) the role of alcohol in Russian politics yields a more nuanced understanding of Russian history itself: from palace intrigues under the tsars to the drunken antics of Soviet and post-Soviet leadership, vodka is there in abundance. Beyond vivid anecdotes, Schrad scours original documents and archival evidence to answer provocative historical questions. How have Russia's rulers used alcohol to solidify their autocratic rule? What role did alcohol play in tsarist coups? Was Nicholas II's ill-fated prohibition a catalyst for the Bolshevik Revolution? Could the Soviet Union have become a world power without liquor? How did vodka politics contribute to the collapse of both communism and public health in the 1990s? How can the Kremlin overcome vodka's hurdles to produce greater social well-being, prosperity, and democracy into the future? Viewing Russian history through the bottom of the vodka bottle helps us to understand why the "liquor question" remains important to Russian high politics even today-almost a century after the issue had been put to bed in most every other modern state. Indeed, recognizing and confronting vodka's devastating political legacies may be the greatest political challenge for this generation of Russia's leadership, as well as the next.
Author : Patricia Herlihy
Publisher : Reaktion Books
Page : 167 pages
File Size : 39,28 MB
Release : 2012-05-15
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 1861899548
Vodka is the most versatile of spirits. While people in Eastern Europe and the Baltic often drink it neat, swallowing it in one gulp, others use it in cocktails and mixed drinks—bloody marys, screwdrivers, white russians, and Jell-O shots—or mix it with tonic water or ginger beer to create a refreshing drink. Vodka manufacturers even infuse it with flavors ranging from lemon and strawberry to chocolate, bubble gum, and bacon. Created by distilling fermented grains, potatoes, beets, or other vegetables, this colorless, tasteless, and odorless liquor has been enjoyed by both the rich and the poor throughout its existence, but it has also endured many obstacles along its way to global popularity. In this book, Patricia Herlihy takes us for a ride through vodka’s history, from its mysterious origins in a Slavic country in the fourteenth century to its current transatlantic reign over Europe and North America. She reveals how it continued to flourish despite hurdles like American Prohibition and being banned in Russia on the eve of World War I. On its way to global domination, vodka became ingrained in Eastern European culture, especially in Russia, where standards in vodka production were first set. Illustrated with photographs, paintings, and graphic art, Vodka will catch the eye of any reader intrigued by how “potato juice” became an international industry.
Author : Victorino Matus
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 29,31 MB
Release : 2014-07-01
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 1493012630
It began as poisonous rotgut in Medieval Russia—Ivan the Terrible liked it, Peter the Great loved it—but this grain alcohol “without distinctive character, aroma, taste, or color” has become our uncontested king of spirits. Over a th
Author : BrittanyJacques
Publisher : Indiana University Press
Page : 197 pages
File Size : 16,28 MB
Release : 2021-05-25
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 1684351316
Do you know your Moscow Mule from your White Russian? Your Stoli from your Belvedere? Micron filtering from charcoal filtering? No matter how you take your vodka, it is time to embrace your inner vodka snob. How to Be a Vodka Snob is the perfect read for drinking novices as well as connoisseurs, beginning with vodka's humble history as a medicinal liquor and accompanying it on its rise to stardom with high-end vodka appreciators and mixologists. Pairing fascinating stories, tidbits, and recipes with a step-by-step guide to becoming a vodka snob, Brittany Jacques offers a beginner's guide to proper glassware, equipment needed for the home bar, and the all-important vodka lingo. Ever wanted to order a filthy martini, stirred, extra wet? How to Be a Vodka Snob is the perfect book for you. How to be a Vodka Snob features more than 50 recipes with everything from James Bond's favorite Martini to Dwight's Beets Over Rocks from The Office, as well as accompanying nibbles and side dishes. With Brittany Jacques as your guide, your journey to becoming a vodka snob starts here.
Author : Linda Himelstein
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 39,84 MB
Release : 2010-11-30
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0060855916
Born in a Russian village in 1831, Pyotr Smirnov relied on vodka to turn a life of scarcity and anonymity into one of immense wealth and international recognition. Starting from the back rooms and side streets of nineteeth-century Moscow, Smirnov exploited brilliant grassroots marketing strategies to popularize his products and ensconce his brand in the thirsts and imaginations of drinkers around the world. His vodka would be gulped in the taverns of Russia and Europe, be praised with accolades at world fairs, and become a staple on the tables of tsars. But his improbable ascent would be halted by the chaos of the Bolshevik Revolution, and only a bizarre set of coincidences—including an incredible prison escape by one of Smirnov’s sons in 1919—would prevent Smirnov’s legacy from fading into obscurity. Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global events, The King of Vodka is much more than a biography of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. It is a work of sweeping narrative history on an epic scale.
Author : Tony Abou-Ganim
Publisher : Agate Publishing
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 41,98 MB
Release : 2013-01-21
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 1572847123
Over the course of the past two decades, Tony Abou-Ganim has earned his reputation as one of the leaders of the craft cocktail movement. Through his work with food and hospitality legends like Mario Batali, Steve Wynn, and Harry Denton, Abou-Ganim has earned his reputation as "the Modern Mixologist," someone bringing the traditional art of mixology into the 21st century for the benefit of new generations. On the heels of the success of The Modern Mixologist: Contemporary Classic Cocktails, Tony Abou-Ganim has written Vodka Distilled as a companion piece focusing entirely on this clear spirit. It is a comprehensive look at the vodka marketplace, geared toward those working in the profession as well as the giant audience of vodka drinkers. This one-of-a-kind resource establishs a new standard in defining and understanding the world's most consumed spirit. Vodka Distilled appeal to both enthusiasts and aficionados by explaining how traditional-style vodkas—those produced in Eastern Europe—differ in character from those made in the West, and how different raw materials and distillation and filtration methods contribute to these variations in character. By breaking down the characteristics of each highlighted vodka, Abou-Ganim helps readers better understand, appreciate, and enjoy this noble spirit.
Author : Stanley Marianski
Publisher : Bookmagic LLC
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 23,10 MB
Release : 2012-09
Category : Cooking
ISBN : 0983697345
Home Production of Vodkas, Infusion and Liqueurs is another first of its kind book from Stanley and Adam Marianski. This is not just a collection of recipes, but a set of rules that govern the process of making vodka and other alcoholic beverages. A quote from the book: "From the start, we decided not to write another recipe book. A collection of recipes does not make a person proficient in a new skill. You have to know the How and Why of making spirits; you have to know the rules that govern the process. First of all you have to realize that alcohol is just a tool, albeit a very important one. Once you understand how to manipulate the properties of alcohol, the rest will fall into place." To get the reader started, a collection of 103 detailed recipes are included, which can be studied and used as a reference. By carefully reading this book you will discover that producing new spirits is almost like cooking, one needs to first know the basics and then let the imagination run wild. Everything falls into place and making new drinks becomes routine. After practicing the technique of creating drinks a couple of times, the spirits will consistently be of high quality, become crystal clear and look beautiful. The process can become an art form.
Author : Nicholas Faith
Publisher : Trafalgar Square Publishing
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,3 MB
Release : 1997
Category : Vodka
ISBN : 9781853752346
Faith and Wisniewski issue a guide to the frozen spirit of the north, containing chapters on the history of vodka, how it is made, how it is marketed, how to cook with it and a full list of brands, this is a comprehensive guide to vodka.
Author : David Christian
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 462 pages
File Size : 40,93 MB
Release : 1990-07-26
Category :
ISBN : 0191590762
This is a study of the social, economic, and political role of Vodka in nineteenth-century Russia. Since the `Green Serpent' first appeared in sixteenth-century Muscovy, it has played a vital part in Russian life. Vodka became an essential part of Russian working-class celebrations: personal, religious, and commercial. Trade in Vodka redistributed wealth upwards through Russian society over several centuries. Indeed, Russia's status as a great power was underpinned by it: by the nineteenth century, it generated one-third of government revenue - enough to cover most of the costs of the vast army. The dependence on Vodka of both people and state has endured into the Gorbachev era. But despite Vodka's key role in Russian history, and the complex network of corruption associated with it, the subject has been ignored by most historians until now. This study concentrates on an important transitional era in the history of Vodka: the early nineteenth century. During this period, Vodka taxes played the role that salt taxes had played in the ancien r--eacute--;gime in France. The abolition of the tax farm in 1863 should be seen as one of the most important of the `Great Reforms' of the 1860s, an era which, in many ways, parallels the glasnost of the 1980s.
