Peculiarities of food culture in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Vinokurova Marfa Aleksandrovna Senior Educator, Department of Socio-Cultural Service and Tourism, Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Peoples of the Northeast Region of the Russian Federation, Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University 677000, Russia, respublika Sakha (yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Kulakovskogo, 42, kab. 202b vinokurova.21@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The first studies of the components of everyday life were ethnographic and descriptive in nature, they focused on the external and material aspects of life or on the details of spiritual culture. This means that life in general and everyday life in particular is shaped by human consciousness. This is a personal world. Thus, everyday life is viewed as a subjective reflection of reality through the prism of consciousness, which is interpreted by people and contains significance for them as a whole actual world.

Culture consists of material and spiritual values, a person's real ideas about reality (patterns of behavior), generally accepted norms. Taking into account the fact that culture is a set of patterns of behavior in each individual case, it can be concluded that a person's daily actions are also part of culture. For example, G. P. Vyzhletsov defines culture as "the practical realization of universal and spiritual values in people's affairs and relationships" ^{[4, p. 152]}.

The main part

Food has been the main component of life among various peoples throughout all times. With the development of society, a complex system of values and concepts with institutions was created on the basis of biological needs. Thus, today we are dealing not with a simple phenomenon, but with a multicomponent and multilevel system, functionally, semantically and economically connected with many other cultural subsystems. In addition, there is a huge variety of culinary traditions in the world. These local culinary traditions are the heritage of peoples, a mechanism for the formation of their cultural identity. Food culture is considered one of the most resistant to changes in the spheres of life, but it is also changing. Its dynamics reflect changes in the culture as a whole, acting as their indicator.

The eating behavior assimilated by a person "with mother's milk", along with the performance of basic life-supporting functions, forms a symbol and tradition of the local community. The national cuisine with its component composition and technologies is presented as a subject of national pride and a marker of cultural identity.

The nature of the definition of the concept of "gastronomic culture" is widely understood. Its definition as a national cultural tradition, as an evaluative and comparative feature, as an indicator of the level of individual and social development, as a sign of normality in the field of nutrition and consumption, as a sign of complement to culture.

The concept of "food culture" is proposed as a terminological tool. In social and humanitarian knowledge, along with the categories "food", "gastronomy", the expression "gastronomic culture" is used, claiming to be a comprehensive study of this area. Undoubtedly, this is as close as possible to the concept of "food culture", but there are still differences between them.

In this case, the focus of gastronomic culture is on the processes of food consumption and distribution, which are carried out in accordance with culturally determined models. "Gastronomic culture is a system of rules, regulations and templates that define:

a) cooking methods (culinary culture);

b) a set of products accepted in this culture and their combinations;

c) the practice of food consumption (the culture of eating);  

d) reflection on the above phenomena and processes" ^{[7, p. 35]}.

In gastronomic culture, emphasis is placed on its various aspects: everyday practices, consumption processes, as well as the reflexive component. For us, not only these issues are equally important, but also any other aspects of life that are somehow related to the processes of human nutrition. Another statement is that these phenomena can be studied in cultural and historical dynamics (historical aspect) and in connection with other subsystems of culture (functional aspect).

The desire to balance various aspects of the phenomenon under study, on the one hand, and to include functional and dynamic perspectives of research, on the other, involves the search for another concept and the definition of its structure. Further modification of the concept of "gastronomic culture" may lead, firstly, to ignoring the long tradition of Russian ethnology and ethnoculturology, for which the concepts of "system" and "activity" were the initial categories and it was characteristic to begin the study of the food system with an analysis of its main production processes. Secondly, theoretical and methodological problems are also possible when studying technological aspects in their relationship with other aspects of the energy subsystem and during development.

In this regard, the concept of "food culture" was proposed. Food culture is defined as a method and results of material-technological, normative-communicative and value-semantic activity of people associated with the production, distribution and consumption of food ^{[6, p.152]}. This definition and approach are based on an activity-technological approach to the study of culture. In no case do we deny the heuristic potential of other categories, along with the expression "food culture" we can use the concept of "gastronomic culture" if we compare the processes of nutrition with the processes of primary food production in a specific part of the study, do not conduct a historical-genetic comparison and do not establish system-forming links.

One of the regions of the Russian Federation characterized by a unique nature and culture that influences the gastronomic culture is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Local food companies that specialize in the national Yakut cuisine. Today, work is underway in the republic to popularize the national cuisine. There are 673 catering establishments representing Yakut, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Slavic, Mexican, Oriental, German, Caucasian and other cuisines. Popular restaurants with Yakut national cuisine: "Tygyn Darkhan", "Muus Haya", "Mahtal", "Chochur Muran" and the ethnographic complex "Atlas Manor".

Yakut national cuisine is often called multinational, because not only the Russian Yakut ethnos live in this northern region, but also Evenks, Evenk, Yukaghirs, Nenets, Dolgans, Chukchi and many other peoples. Their culinary customs are similar: all residents of Yakutia use a limited set of products and perform one serious and honorable task - to warm the eater. That's why the main thing here is calories. Although the Yakut cuisine has not yet been studied well enough, the national cuisine of Yakutia itself is very peculiar and unlike, but the basis of nutrition is milk, meat and fish. Dairy products occupy a special place in the food culture of the Yakut ethnic groups. From dairy products Yakuts prepare a drink koumiss, cottage cheese, sorat, sour cream, etc. From meat products they use: beef, horse meat, pork, venison – mostly in its natural form. The main methods of heat treatment of meat are cooking and roasting. Yakuts also eat a lot of dishes from fresh or frozen fish. Stroganina is one of the northern delicacies. Harsh climatic conditions have determined the habit of dense side dishes, for example, from cereals and pasta. If meat products are popular, then vegetables and fruits are not in particular demand, since climatic conditions do not allow them to be grown in winter, and those brought from outside the republic often spoil on the road. Milk tea is served from drinks on the table, cranberry juice is served in summer.

Freezing and drying are the main methods of cooking, which is dictated by harsh climatic and natural conditions. The widespread use of offal determines the specifics of the national cuisine. When cutting up a deer or horse, the stomach, kidneys and liver are not thrown away, and even more so blood is not poured out. All the insides are eaten, they are pickled, salted or made sausage.

To identify possible gastronomic brands of Yakutia, a sociological survey was conducted. Interest in the survey was shown by 204 residents of Yakutsk, whose age ranged from 15 to 70 years. The social status of the respondents – schoolchildren, students, employees of state institutions, employees of the catering system, entrepreneurs of various fields of activity, pensioners.

As a result of the study, the following results were obtained:

Table 1. Age group

Table 2. Respondents' level of education

 Table 3. The average income of the respondents was approximately 50 thousand rubles.

 Table 4. The choice of public catering by price category

 Table 5. What kind of cuisine do you prefer

 Table 6. What do you prefer from fish products

 Table 7. What do you prefer from meat products

 Table 8. From dairy products what do you prefer

 Table 9. What do you consider a Yakut delicacy

 Table 10. The prospect of the development of gastronomic culture in Yakutia

 The results of the study show that the Yakut national cuisine is unique and always arouses great interest among guests coming to our region. The cuisine of peoples is a deep treasury of culture that preserves cultural heritage. In this repository, the Yakut cuisine sparkles like a large diamond – original and unique, inextricably linked with the centuries-old lifestyle of the Yakut people, natural and geographical factors of the territory and traditions of the national food culture. The majority of respondents consider fish products as their branded products: stroganina, indigirka, crucian carp, foal, beef and venison are found in meat products, as well as dairy products made from: koumiss, quarce, byrpah, salamat, butter and sour cream. Among the Yakut dishes, the participants attributed hart, black pudding and offal soup to the Yakut brands.

The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) really has great potential in the field of gastronomic culture. It is necessary to create your own gastronomic brands that would become a strong "magnet" for tourists. The creation of the brand will attract attention not only to the variety of products, but also to the republic as a whole.

Conclusions

Food culture is a multidimensional phenomenon. All the richness and diversity of the food culture of Yakutia cannot be conveyed by the content of one article. The specifics and development of national nutrition and other cultural subsystems are determined by many factors, including natural-geographical, religious; socio-economic structure, features of interethnic and intercultural exchanges; material and socio-technical level of development of society and others.

"National cuisine is a specific cultural form, on the one hand, preserving the features of the traditional way of cooking and eating food, on the other – meeting the requirements of a new cultural era" ^{[8, p.143]}. Thus, the national cuisine of each country has regional differences and its own unique dishes and cooking technologies, so it also has the potential for the development of food brands. There are many unique dishes and products in Yakutia that no one knows about.