A.M. GORKY INSTITUTE OF WORLD LITERATURE
Issues
“Cuisine Introduced into Literature!”: The Culinary Recipes of “Ekonom” Magazine in the 1840s
- DOI:
- EDN:
- УДК / UDK: 821.161.1.0
- Publication Type: Research Article
- Received: 19.03.2026
- Approved after reviewing: 12.05.2026
- Date of publication: 25.06.2026
- Issue:
no. 2 (40), 2026
- Abstract:
The article analyzes the “Cuisine” section of the magazine Ekonom, edited by Faddei Bulgarin (1841–1844). The author examines the revolutionary changes in French culinary literature during the first third of the nineteenth century, transforming it into an independent literary field. The article traces the development of culinary literature in Russia from the late eighteenth century, with particular attention paid to publications of the 1840s, primarily those appearing in the periodical press. The chronological sequence of such publications is established, and the distinctive features of their authors’ literary styles are identified. Particular attention is paid to the role of Bulgarin as the initiator and author of the “Cuisine” column. It is argued that he shaped the content of the column independently, brought a degree of originality to it, and published his own recipes alongside those of others. His interest in gastronomy was comprehensive: he not only published his own and others’ articles in periodicals, but also acted as a gastronomic critic. His appreciation of refined cuisine was combined with practical culinary skills, which he demonstrated to the readers. The culinary texts published in the Ekonom merit further study as valuable sources for the history of everyday life and as a significant element of the Russian literary process.
- Keywords: Thaddeus Bulgarin (Tadeusz Bułharyn), Ekonom magazine, Russian periodical press, 19th century, history of journalism, culinary recipes, gastrosophy, gastronomy.
- For citation:
Lougovtsova, S.L. “‘Cuisine Introduced into Literature!’: The Culinary Recipes of Ekonom Magazine in the 1840s.” Literaturnyi fakt, no. 2 (40), 2026, pp. 148–169. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2026-40-148-169
- References:
- Denisenko, A. “Doktor Puf, ili Kulinarnye izyski kniazia Odoevskogo” [“Doctor Puff, or the Culinary Delights of Prince Odoevsky”], Odoevskii, V.F. Kukhnia: Lektsii gospodina Pufa, doktora entsiklopedii i drugikh nauk o kukhonnom iskusstve [The Kitchen: Lectures of Mr. Puff, Doctor of Encyclopaedia and Other Culinary Sciences], text prep. and introd. by S.A. Denisenko, comm. by I.I. Lazerson. St. Petersburg, Ivan Limbakh Publ., 2007, pp. 5–26. (In Russ.)
- Zadvornyi, L. Frantsuzskaia kukhnia v Rossii i russkoi literature [French Cuisine in Russia and Russian Literature]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2023. 280 p. (In Russ.)
- Lavrent’eva, V. Povsednevnaia zhizn’ dvorianstva pushkinskoi pory: etiket [Everyday Life of the Nobility in Pushkin’s Era: Etiquette]. Moscow, Molodaia gvardiia Publ., 2007. 662 p. (In Russ.)
- Mil’china, “Grimo de La Ren’er i ego gastronomicheskaia utopiia” [“Grimod de La Reynière and His Gastronomic Utopia”]. Grimo de La Ren’er. Al’manakh gurmanov [Almanach des Gourmands], trans., introd., and notes by V.A. Mil’china, 3rd ed. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2025, pp. 5–54. (In Russ.)
- Pervushina, V. Za stolom s Pushkinym. Chem ugoshchali velikogo poeta. Liubimye bliuda, vospetye v stikhakh, vysmeiannye v pis’makh i epigrammakh. Russkaia kukhnia pervoi poloviny XIX veka [At the Table with Pushkin. What the Great Poet Was Treated To. Favorite Dishes Praised in Verse, Mocked in Letters and Epigrams. Russian Cuisine of the First Half of the 19th Century]. Moscow, Tsentrpoligraf Publ., 2022. 350 p. (In Russ.)
- Reitblat, I. [“Vstupitel’naia zametka k republikatsii esse Bulgarina ‘Obed’”] [“Introductory Note to the Reprint of Bulgarin’s Essay ‘Dinner’”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, no. 21, 1996, pp. 245–246. (In Russ.)
- Reitblat, I. “Anekdotist i letopisets slukhov” [“Anecdotist and Chronicler of Rumors”]. Burnashev, V.P. Vospominaniia peterburgskogo starozhila [Memoirs of a St. Petersburg Old Resident], vol. 1, Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2022, pp. 5–21. (In Russ.)
- Stepanishcheva, “‘Russkaia opytnaia khoziaika’: avtorskoe amplua i knigi Ekateriny Avdeevoi” [“‘The Experienced Russian Housewife’: the Authorial Persona and the Books of Ekaterina Avdeeva”]. Acta Slavica Estonica XIX. Trudy po russkoi i slavianskoi filologii. Literaturovedenie XIII [Acta Slavica Estonica 19th Works on Russian and Slavic Philology. Literary Studies 13], ed. by L. Kiseleva. Tartu, University of Tartu Publ., 2024, pp. 71–87. (In Russ.)
- Fofanov, “Kulinarnoye iskusstvo i ego dukh. Prolegomeny gastrosophii” [“Culinary Art and Its Spirit. Prolegomena to Gastrosophy”]. Rumor, Karl Friedrich von. Dukh kulinarnogo iskusstva [The Spirit of Culinary Art], trans. from German. Moscow, Ad Marginem Press Publ., 2026, pp. 292–327. (In Russ.)
- Shashkova, V. “Otechestvennaia dorevoliutsionnaia periodika industrii gostepriimstva” [“Pre-Revolutionary Russian Periodicals of the Hospitality Industry”]. Uchenye zapiski Novgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni Iaroslava Mudrogo, no. 1 (60), 2026, pp. 58–72. (In Russ.)
- Aron, Jean-Paul. The Art of Eating in France: Manners and Menus in the Nineteenth Century. New York, Harper & Row Publ., 1975. 249 p. (In English)
- Dumanowski, Jarosław. “Dyktatura gwiazdek. Historia przewodnika Michelin.” Głos Uczelni, no. 9–10, 2025, pp. 66–70. (In Polish)
- Smith, Alison Cabbage and Caviar: A History of Food in Russia. London, Reaktion Books Publ., 2021. 352 p. (In English)
- Smith, Alison “National Cuisine and Nationalist Politics: V.F. Odoevskii and ‘Doctor Puf’, 1844–1845.” Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, vol. 10, no. 2, 2009, pp. 239–260. (In English)
- Toomre, “Introduction.” Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets’ A Gift to Young Housewives. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1992, pp. 3–89. (In English)
