Today Russia ranks first in the production of seeds, and after all, once no one knew about their existence. On store shelves, there are unpeeled seeds, peeled, salted and not. So why is it that our people are so fond of clicking, nibbling and nibbling them? Tell Novate.ru.
1. Arrival in Russia
In Russia, sunflower did not grow. In 1898, the seeds of the plant were brought to the empire by Peter I after his Dutch trip. People instantly liked orange inflorescences, and they began to grow them as decorative flowers. It was not possible to establish when exactly the seeds began to husk. But we know where and how the first vegetable oil was squeezed out of sunflower.
Bokarev, a peasant from a village in the Voronezh province, was inspired by the idea of linseed and hemp oils, and decided to try orange blossoms. In 1829, he made the first sunflower oil in the Russian Empire using a homemade press. The new product made a gastronomic sensation, plus in production it was much cheaper than analogues. Four years later, the first oil mill was opened in the native village of Bokarev, Alekseevka. Now the Sloboda enterprise is located there, which to this day produces sunflower oil.
2. Sunflower - a symbol of Russia
"Flowers of the Sun" began to rapidly conquer the Russian expanses and even reached the Urals with Siberia. During the reign of Nicholas I, 40% of the land was allocated for the cultivation of crops for the sowing of Voronezh and Saratov. And at the end of the 19th century, sunflower oil finally won popular love.
Curiously, the homeland of the "flowers of the sun" is the United States. Only in the 19th century sunflower was not popular with Americans at all. Until in the 1870s, Russian emigrants brought orange flowers to Canada, and a decade later they began to sell sunflowers to the United States. That is why in certain countries of the world it is believed that the sunflower is the Russian national flower.
3. Peeling seeds is a bad habit
Initially, they began to gnaw seeds in the village. Moreover, the occupation became so popular that it spread to rural residents from the Caucasus to the Far East. The seeds appeared in the cities thanks to the development of railway communication. The villagers migrated and brought their favorite "delicacy" with them. Then the seeds began to husk in the cities. That's just until the October Revolution of 1917, this habit was considered uncultured and marginal.
4. Seeds are part of a new country
After the revolution, when "who was nobody, became everything," seeds began to husk everywhere. More precisely, everyone, except for the representatives of the aristocracy and the intelligentsia, who were driven to frenzy by this habit. It's amazing how seeds became an active participant in the development of a new country. Writers of that time mentioned this in their works. For example, Bunin in "Cursed Days" wrote about "conquerors" who spit seeds and curse. And the rule of Bulgakov's professor Preobrazhensky from "Heart of a Dog" about the prohibition of clicking seeds in the apartment is probably remembered by everyone. The husks in the front ones, on the sidewalks and carpets have become a symbol of the chaos that swept Russia at the dawn of a new era.
5. Restructuring and a new stage
When the situation in the USSR began to stabilize, the habit of peeling sunflower seeds became bad again. The villagers were sent to collective farms, and gradually there was less husk in the cities. It has even become fashionable to say that the pioneers do not gnaw seeds. This continued until the post-war period, when villagers again began to massively move to cities. Together with them, seeds appeared on the streets, but the intelligentsia remained adamant.
Fundamental changes took place in the perestroika 90s. Everyone remembers grandmothers who sold seeds and peanuts in cups, right? In those days, they became a stronghold of rallying. The request to pour out the seeds was heard as often as "Can't find a cigarette?" Since then, husking is no longer considered a marginal habit. A wide range of this product has appeared on store shelves, and today it is a confident competitor to chips, snacks and crackers.
Continuing the topic, we advise you to read, that was grown in Russia until tomatoes and potatoes appeared.