Fish

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By Elena Molokhovets

Published 1992

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Fish was a very important element in the Russian diet, mainly due to the many religious fasts, but also because the Russian rivers and lakes were so well stocked. This piscatory abundance, so well documented through the ages, has dropped off precipitously in the Soviet period. In the nineteenth century, most of the urban population in Moscow and Petersburg procured their fish in the winter from merchants who set up specially constructed vessels or shops on the frozen river. The French chef Alphonse Petit was among those who were impressed with the great variety and high quality of fish available for sale: “In St. Petersburg fish is sold from large barges that you find on the several different canals that cross the city. These fishmongers sell live fish, frozen fish (in the winter), salt fish, dried sturgeon marrow, isinglass, and caviar.”194 The river was obviously a busy place whatever the season, but especially in winter when some people even maintained their own fishing holes.