Tushonka (Russian: тушёнка, IPA: [tʊˈʂonkə], from тушение, 'braising') is a canned stewed meat especially popular in Russia and other countries of the former Eastern Bloc.[1][2] It has become a common name for different kinds of canned stewed meat, not all of which correspond to the strict GOST standards.[3]
 Stewed beef, GOST 5284-84 | |
| Type | Stew |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Russia |
Tushonka can be used and preserved in extreme situations, and therefore is a part of military food supplies in the CIS.[4] For the people of the Soviet Union, tushonka was a part of military and tourist food supplies; at some extreme periods of time it could be bought only with food stamps.[5]
Unlike many Western canned meat products, tushonka has separate pieces, chunks of meat. It is mixed with lard and jelly. This makes it closer to holodets than hash, bully beef, or spam.
Literal тушёнка label is common for cheaper types,[clarify] full of jelly and maybe using offal instead of meat. High quality tushonka can be found as cans of govyadina ("beef") or svinina ("pork"). The same goes to average tushonka, where the ratio between meat and lard+jelly is close to 50:50.
Dishes with tushonka
editSimple modern Russian recipes for tushonka include a variation of makarony po-flotski ("navy-style pasta"). It consists of pasta and any type of tushonka, mixed in 1:1 ratio.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Glenn Randall Mack, Asele Surina Food Culture In Russia And Central Asia 2005 - Page 84 "Stemming from the word tushit' (to braise or stew), tushonka is the canned beef ration found in hiking knapsacks and bachelor pads."
- ^ Smith, J.L. (2014). Works in Progress: Plans and Realities on Soviet Farms, 1930-1963. Yale Agrarian Studies Series. Yale University Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-300-21031-6. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
- ^ Life magazine 22 Feb 1943 - Page 65 Vol. 14, n° 8 "Many new and different kinds of canned meats — stepped up 120 per cent — more than double — over total canned meat production a year ago. A new creation called "Tushonka" (pieces of pork cooked and canned) is now becoming familiar ..."
- ^ Rottman, Gordon L.; Gerrard, Howard (2007). Soviet rifleman, 1941-45. Oxford ; New York: Osprey Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-1846031274.
Much of the field ration was bread, canned meats, and fresh and preserved vegetables. Dried peas were issued in packaged blocks. Black rye bread was baked in regimental bakeries. Tinned meats included tushonka (stewed pork or beef) ...
- ^ Grover J. Sims -Meat and meat animals in World War II 1951 - Page 80 "The CCC also bought beef Tushonka for lend-lease shipment to Russia. Purchases, however, did not begin until 1944. Contracts let in that year totaled 34 million pounds; in 1945 purchases were slightly less. Beef Tushonka is prepared in the ..."
External links
edit- (in Russian) History of Tushonka Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Tushonka: Cultivating Soviet Postwar Taste