Kvass

Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based drink with a cloudy look and a sweet and sour taste, containing little or no alcohol, originally from northeastern Europe. It is one of the most established drinks in Slavic and Baltic culture, and it also serves as the base of cold summer soups such as okroshka.

History

The exact origin of kvass is not documented. It seems to have arisen in a part of northeastern Europe where grain production was too limited for beer to become an everyday drink, so rye bread and malt were used to make a homemade alternative. It is not known for certain whether it was invented by the Slavs or by another people of the region, although some Polish sources credit the Slavs. It has been known among the early Slavs since the 10th century and is often linked to Kievan Rus'.

The first written mention appears in the Primary Chronicle, which describes how, at the celebration of Vladimir the Great's baptism in 988, kvass, mead and food were handed out to the people of Kiev. For centuries it was a daily household task. In the second half of the 19th century, industrialisation, the growth of cities and large projects such as the Trans-Siberian Railway, which had to feed many people over long periods, encouraged its commercial sale. It was sold from barrels on the streets, and more than 150 varieties were recorded, including apple, pear, mint, lemon, chicory, raspberry and cherry. As commercial supply grew, home production gradually declined.

The first scientific studies of its production were carried out in Kiev in the 1890s, and in the 1960s chemists in Moscow developed large-scale industrial manufacture. Today industrial kvass is usually made from a wort concentrate, diluted with water and sugar, pasteurised and bottled in plastic containers of one to three litres, with a shelf life of four to six weeks. Its alcohol content is usually between 0.5 and 1 per cent by weight, and rarely exceeds 1.5 per cent.

Kvass spread to neighbouring countries and beyond. In Lithuania it is known as gira, and the first written records date from the 16th century. In Poland it may have appeared as early as the 10th century and became popular among peasants in the east before reaching the szlachta, the nobility, who valued it for its supposed health benefits. In Latvia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the local industry faced fierce competition from Coca-Cola and responded with marketing campaigns and lower prices. It was also made in Sweden, probably only in areas where rye bread was the standard bread, and it reached Xinjiang in China, where it became a signature drink. In 1900 the Russian merchant Ivan Churin founded a company in Harbin that sold kvass, and in the United Kingdom it has been sold since the arrival of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe after the 2004 enlargement of the European Union.

Culture

In Russia and Ukraine kvass is part of the everyday street scene: in summer it is sold at kiosks and street stalls, often poured from large barrels or sold in bottles. Its uses go well beyond drinking. In Russian cooking it forms the base of cold summer soups such as okroshka, botvinya and tyurya, which combine vegetables, boiled egg, cucumber and radish with, depending on the recipe, meat or fish. In Ukraine there are non-bread versions, such as beetroot kvass, which can be drunk or used as an ingredient in other dishes, most famously borscht, and a pear and apple kvass made from dried fruit, once popular at banquets.

There are three main types: traditional bread kvass, white kvass, which resembles beer in colour and flavour, and dark kvass, which is stronger because it uses more roasted grain and darker bread. Beetroot kvass uses neither bread nor grain and is far less widely distributed than bread kvass. In Lithuania, gira is made from very varied ingredients, including black bread, rye or barley malt, apples, berries, caraway or juniper, depending on the region. In Poland, villagers in places such as Zaława once made kvass on every farm, and today traditional and artisan versions sit alongside industrial bottles, sometimes sweetened with honey.

The drink has left its mark on language. In Russian, the expression roughly meaning to live hand to mouth or scrape by refers to the thrifty habit of poor peasants who made kvass from stale bread. The term kvass patriotism, recorded in an 1823 letter by the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky, means unqualified praise of everything one's own. Poland has several proverbs and an old folk song of harvest workers in which the drink quenches thirst during hard labour. In Zaława, a custom called wulkan, or volcano, involves shaking a bottle of kvass vigorously before handing it to someone, so that it sprays out when opened; it is a familiar prank at regional festivities.

Today kvass has regained ground in Russia against cola drinks, promoted as a national alternative, and in Poland it has enjoyed a revival since the early 21st century, linked to interest in natural products and tradition. It is sold in supermarkets and grocery stores, in both industrial and artisan versions, as well as in concentrates for home preparation.

Trivia