The Gastronomic Culture of Late Soviet era (1964-1985): Discourses and Practices

The classic type of Soviet food culture was formed in the era of the late Soviet system, which, compared to previous periods of revolutions and wars, was a fairly stable time of life. The everyday life of the Soviet man was filled with various gastronomic practices. Classic "table" lunch of three courses-soup, mashed potatoes with cutlet and orange gravy, compote. Modeling dumplings as a family pastime. Share recipes with friends and work colleagues. Food queues. All this in our time is remembered by older people with a slight nostalgia. Many family photo albums of the late Soviet era store photos depicting a festive table. All the images are quite similar to each other. A book-shaped table in the center of the living room is crowded with plates and salad bowls, bottles of alcohol, and carafes of homemade compote. The assortment of the festive "menu" includes baked chicken, multi-layered salads in transparent salad bowls, jelly, cheese-sausage and vegetable cuts, a lot of homemade sunsets… Many features of the Soviet diet surprise us, in this deviation, the difference between the epochs can be traced. Since gastronomic culture is an important marker of social life, it captures the prevailing cultural ideas about taste and cultural norms. In our work, on the example of the analysis of changes in the gastronomic culture of 1964-1985, we demonstrate the changes that have occurred in the socio-cultural space of the Soviet Union. The study of gastronomic culture in the late Soviet era contributes to a better understanding of the social processes of that time and expands the possibilities of interpretation and a more meaningful understanding of the studied era.