Kissel or kisel ( et, kissell, fi, kiisseli, Livonian: ''kīsõl'', ltg, keiseļs, lv, ķīselis, lt, kisielius, pl, kisiel, rus, кисель, r=kiselʼ, uk, кисiль, , , ) is a cold-solidified dish with the consistency of a thick gel. If the kissel is made less thick, it can be drunk—this is common in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Grain kissel / etymology and history

Its name is derived from a Slavic word meaning "sour", after a similar old Slavic dish—a leavened flour porridge (or weak sourdough) which was made from grain—most commonly oats, but any grain, and even legumes like

peas The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

lentils The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest produ ...

could be used, though bean kissels usually were not leavened—and lacked the sweetness of the modern variants. Kissel is first mentioned in the old East Slavic Primary Chronicle where there is a story of how it saved the 10th-century Rus' city of Bilhorod, besieged by nomadic

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

in 997. When the food in the city became scarce and a hunger started, the inhabitants of the city followed an advice of an old man, who told them to make kissel from the remnants of grain, and a sweet drink from the last mead they could find. Then they filled a wooden container with the kissel, and another one with the mead drink, put those containers into the holes in the ground and made up two fake

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s over them. When the Pechenegian ambassadors came into the town, they saw how the inhabitants took the food from those "wells", and the Pechenegs even were allowed to taste the kissel and mead beverage. Impressed by that show and degustation, Pechenegs decided to lift the siege and to go away, having concluded that the

Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in ...

were mysteriously fed from the earth itself. File:Oats kissel 6.jpg, Sourdough kissel from oat flakes and rye bread File:Podlaski kisiel owsiany.jpg, "Podlaski oat kissel" entered on the Polish ''List of Traditional Products''

Fruit kissel

Fruit kissel is a viscous fruit dish, popular as a dessert and as a drink in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.''The Oxford Companion to Food'' (2014, ), page 446''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture'' (2013, ), page 73 It consists of the sweetened juice (or puree) of berries, like mors, but it is thickened with

cornstarch Corn starch, maize starch, or cornflour (British English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thicken sauces or so ...

potato starch Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain leucoplasts (starch grains). To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. T ...

or . Sometimes red wine or fresh or

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...

s are added. It is similar to the Danish ''

rødgrød Rødgrød (), rote Grütze (), or rode Grütt (), meaning "red groats", is a sweet fruit dish from Denmark and Northern Germany. The name of the dish in Danish features many of the elements that make Danish pronunciation difficult for non-native ...

'' and German ''

Rote Grütze Rote can refer to: People *Jason Butler Rote, American TV writer *Kyle Rote (1928–2002), American football player and father of: *Kyle Rote, Jr. (born 1950), American soccer player *Ryan Rote (born 1982), baseball pitcher *Tobin Rote (1928–200 ...

''. Swedish '' blåbärssoppa'' is a similarly prepared

bilberry Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...

dessert. Kissel can be served either hot or cold, also together with sweetened quark or cream. Kissel can also be served on pancakes or with ice cream. Nowadays most Polish households prepare fruit kissel from instant mixes instead of the traditional way. The most popular flavours are strawberry, gooseberry, and raspberry. In Russia, the most popular flavours are

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus '' Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species '' Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

, cherry, and redcurrant. Cranberry kissel ( lt, spanguolių kisielius) is a traditional meal on Kūčios ( Christmas Eve supper) in Lithuania. In Finland, kissel is often made of

bilberries Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus '' Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is ''Vaccinium myrti ...

(since those can often be found growing wild in the forests and are thus both easy to gather and free) as well as from prunes, apricots, strawberries, etc. The thickness can vary depending on how much potato flour is used: thin bilberry soup is most easily consumed by drinking while the thickest version is almost like jelly and is eaten with a spoon. Rhubarb can also be used, but it is often combined with strawberries to make it less tart. ''Kuningatarkiisseli'' ("Queen's kissel") is made with mixed berries and berry juices, usually at least bilberries and raspberries. Prune kiisseli (''luumukiisseli'') is traditionally eaten with

rice pudding Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and raisins. Variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener such ...

at Christmas. File:05166 Kissel, with bananas and grapes, Sanok 2011.jpg, Commercial strawberry flavour kissel from

File:RusSyrnikiKissel.JPG, Russian

syrniki Syrniki ( be, сырнікі; russian: сырники) or syrnyky (Ukrainian: сирники) are fried Eastern Slavic Tvorog pancakes. In Russia, they are also known as tvorozhniki (творо́жники). They are a part of Belarusian, Russ ...

with kissel File:Kusil 020.jpg, Ukrainian blackcurrant kissel as a drink

Vegetable kissel

Less common dessert made in the image of fruit kissel. Based on boiled or baked vegetables such as rhubarb, pumpkins, beetroot etc.

Milk kissel

( pl, budyń; fi, maitokiisseli) A similar dish to semolina pudding or

budino Budino is a sweet Italian dish, usually rich and creamy like a custard or pudding. Like the English word "pudding", "budino" originally referred to a type of medieval sausage. Budino is the Italian word for custard or pudding. It can be thickened w ...

. It is made from

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

and potato starch (Poland) or corn starch (Finland), and flavoured with sugar and

vanillin Vanillin is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a phenolic aldehyde. Its functional groups include aldehyde, hydroxyl, and ether. It is the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean. Synthetic vanillin is now u ...

(or

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

) or cocoa powder. Eaten as a dessert, alone or garnished with

fruit syrup Fruit syrups or fruit molasses are concentrated fruit juices used as sweeteners. Fruit syrups have been used in many cuisines: * in Arab cuisine, '' rub'', ''jallab''; * in Ancient Greek cuisine, '' epsima''; * in Greek cuisine, ''petimezi''; ...

s, fruit sauces,

fruit jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the metho ...

s, fresh or

, cookies, biscuits etc. Used, among others, as an ingredient in cake creams (i.e. for karpatka or napoleonka). Nowadays most Polish households prepare milk kissel from instant mixes instead of the traditional way. Pudding sprinkled with chocolate.JPG, Milk kissel sprinkled with chocolate Vanillepudding mit frischen Erdbeeren.JPG, Vanilla milk kissel with strawberries

Cultural references

Russian fairy tale A Russian fairy tale or folktale (russian: ска́зка; ''skazka''; "story"; plural russian: ска́зки , translit = skazki) is a fairy tale from Russia. Various sub-genres of ''skazka'' exist. A ''volshebnaya skazka'' �олше́бн ...

s, the land of marvels (similar to Cockaigne) is described as the land of "milk rivers and kissel banks". This expression became an idiom in Russian for prosperous life or "paradise on earth". Another phrase common in Russia and Poland, "the seventh water after kissel" (), is used to describe a distant relative.

References

External links

Recipes

Apple-Cranberry Kissel with Sweet Sour CreamBerry Kissel recipeHot Cranberry KisselSummer Berry Basil Kissel
{{Soups Polish desserts Polish drinks Lithuanian desserts Russian desserts Russian drinks Custard desserts Ukrainian cuisine Finnish cuisine Estonian cuisine Soviet cuisine Fruit dishes Lithuanian drinks Milk dishes Grain dishes