Tushonka ( rus, ''тушёнка'', p=tʊˈʂonkə, from ''тушение'', ' braising') is a canned

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

especially popular in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and other countries of the former

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

. It has become a

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

for different kinds of canned stewed meat, not all of which correspond to the strict

GOST GOST () refers to a set of international technical standards maintained by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (EASC), a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of the Commonwealth of I ...

standards. Tushonka can be used and preserved in extreme situations, and therefore is a part of military food supplies in the CIS. For the people of the Soviet Union, tushonka was a part of

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

food supplies; at some extreme periods of time it could be bought only with food stamps.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 ..." Unlike many

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

canned meat products, tushonka has separate pieces, chunks of meat. It is mixed with lard and jelly. This makes it closer to

holodets Aspic () or meat jelly is a savoury gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as ''aspic gelée'' or '' ...

than

hash Hash, hashes, hash mark, or hashing may refer to: Substances * Hash (food), a coarse mixture of ingredients, often based on minced meat * Hash (stew), a pork and onion-based gravy found in South Carolina * Hash, a nickname for hashish, a canna ...

, bully beef, or

spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...

. Products sold only under the name ''тушёнка'' "tushonka" are commonly cheaper versions full of jelly and maybe using

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat. Some cultures strong ...

. 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

Simple modern Russian recipes for tushonka include a variation of makarony po-flotski ("navy-style pasta"). It consists of

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

and any type of tushonka, mixed in 1:1 ratio. Another common method of serving tushonka involves pairing chilled tushonka with hot boiled potatoes, green onions, and rye bread. This meal is often accompanied by

kvass Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and sweet-sour taste. Kvass originates from northeastern Europe, where grain production was considered insufficient for beer to become a daily drink. The first wr ...

or mineral water. In Azerbaijan, tushonka is either eaten as fried with potatoes or with eggs, or both.

References

External links

*
History of Tushonka
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425233409/http://www.pf-argo.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=4&Itemid=31 , date=2012-04-25
Tushonka: Cultivating Soviet Postwar Taste
Meat dishes Russian cuisine Soviet cuisine Canned meat Military food Military of the Soviet Union

Dishes with tushonka

See also

References

External links