kisel' is a gelatinous dish prepared from starch or from cereals (oats, rye, wheat, hemp, peas).
Sour grain kisel' (in the sources: Russian kisel', white kisel', traditional kisel') is a gelatinous independent second dish prepared by fermenting a mixture of water with cereals or flour from oats, rye, wheat. Russian folk dish, from which the word "kisel'" originated. kisel' made of rye, oatmeal, wheat flour is eaten with full, milk, or butter. Pea kisel' (unleavened, without fermentation) is eaten with meat broth. Oatmeal, rye, wheat kisel' are put on sourdough and sourdough. Unlike berry and fruit kisel' on starch, which is a dessert or a drink, flour kisel' acts as an independent dish, which modern chefs refer to as first courses (in liquid state) or porridge (in a thickened form). Grain-based kisel' existed already 9,000 years ago in ancient Anatolia and Mesopotamia, and there is a mention of them in Sumerian and Akkadian texts. Soup based on oatmeal kisel' (zhur) is one of the characteristic national dishes of Polish and Belarusian cuisines.
Fruit and berry sweet kisel' (in some sources: "red kisel'"— is a sweet dessert kisel'-like or liquid third dish prepared from fresh and dried fruits and berries, fruit and berry juices, syrups, jam, milk with the addition of potato or corn starch, sugar or honey. kisel' is quick to prepare. Most kisel' is prepared with the addition of sugar. Usually potato starch is added to fruit and berry kisel', and corn starch is added to milk and almond kisel' [source not specified 495 days]. The rapid infusion of diluted starch into the boiling solution ensures the uniformity of the kisel'.
The kisel' is started to cook from ready-made dry concentrates or by mixing the components. Depending on the ratio of water and starch, there are kisel'-like, semi-liquid and liquid kisel'. Depending on the density, they are used as an independent dessert dish, as
The history of kisel'
Defense of Belgorod: kisel' from the well. Miniature of the Radzivil Chronicle
To obtain kisel' in ancient times, oat milk was fermented (it is obtained by mixing oat flour with water or by squeezing soaked cereals), which is why the word kisel' came about.
Oatmeal, rye, wheat kisel' are among the oldest Russian dishes. Kissels were an everyday dish, as well as a ceremonial one at commemorations, feasts. In hot form, oatmeal kisel' was often eaten with linseed or hemp oil, and the cooled and thickened (cf. dezhen) was cut with a knife and eaten with milk, jam or fried onions.
In the XVII century in Russia there were kiselniki or kiselschiki who produced kisel' in large quantities and traded it from barrels in bazaars, streets. In the XVI—XVIII centuries it was a common profession. Kiselniki usually settled in the same area (Kiselnaya Sloboda), hence the names such as Bolshoy, Maly and Nizhny Kiselny Lanes, as well as Kiselny dead End.
Kiselnik is a seller of oatmeal kisel'.
"Milk river and kisel' banks"
Dessert of thick sweet fruit and berry kisel'
Sweet fruit and berry kisel', which appeared later in the XIX century, when potatoes and cheap potato starch spread in Russia, inherited this name. The wider introduction of such jellies was facilitated by their simpler formulation and insignificant cooking time due to the lack of fermentation during cooking. In European countries, the word "kisel'" is borrowed from the Russian language. So, for example, ect. kissel, Latvian. īīselis, lit. kisielius, German. kissel - means oatmeal kisel'. Fruit and berry sweet kisel' based on starch do not have a common name in any Western European language (they are classified as fruit porridge, grounds, gravies, soules, fruit sauces, and so on).
Sour grain kisel' has entered Russian folklore and is mentioned in chronicles, fairy tales and proverbs. The story of how kisel saved the city is recorded in the oldest Russian chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years, compiled by Nestor: a famine began in the besieged city of the Pechenegs, but the residents, on the advice of the elder, cooked a kisel' of oats, wheat, bran and honey and invited several Pechenegs to see how things were going in the city. The Pechenegs tried the kisel', they liked it very much. After that, they took some billets for kisel', which they cooked in the camp for the princes, and, having had enough, lifted the siege.
