Poetics of the orthodox cooking
Authors:   Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Smolina Olha 
Published: February 2023

The topic of the relationship between food and religion in the aspect of cultural studies is not sufficiently represented in modern Food Studies. In Ukrainian cultural studies, this topic is relevant in the context of identifying the invariants of national culture, the formation of national identity, politics and practices of cultural memory, studying the features of the development of Christian Orthodox culture in modern conditions. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of Orthodox cooking from the point of view of its poetics. The phenomenon of "Orthodox cooking" is considered in the article as an ideal type, in synchronicity, which makes it possible to identify its invariant characteristics. By the poetics of culture (or certain elements of culture), the author of this article understands the imagery of a culture as a whole and / or its components, which is the result of human creativity in any forms. It has been established that the poetics of Orthodox cooking has its own classification of food, which differs from the concepts of modern dietetics. The basis for this classification is the opposition "Lenten food – Non-fasten food" (in Old Slavonic “postnaja eda – scoromnaja eda” which literally means "lean - fat"). The nutritional classification is based on formal signs (the number of calories), while the Orthodox approach is based on an ontological criterion. There are the same stages can be seen in the Orthodox ranking of products that are in the Book of Genesis, corresponding to the stages of the Creation of the World. We can say that the process of God's creation of the World went from simple to complex, to more significant, from impersonal to personal. The poetics of Orthodox cooking takes into account this stage, evaluating products, in fact, not by the amount of fat in them, but by their place on the Ladder of Creation. In this context, the concept of "non-fasten" (“scoromnaja eda”) in its relation to food can be used in its second meaning, as “immodest”, “obscene”, “carnal”. That is, it is much more decent for a person to eat (in fact, destroy, take life) creatures that stand on the lower steps of the Ladder of Being, and only at certain periods human person is allowed to encroach on more highly organized units. In fact, the opposition "Lenten food – Non-fasten food" can be presented as synonymous with the oppositions “permitted - partially permitted” or “everyday – festive”. Thus, the poetics of Orthodox cooking reflects the Orthodox picture of the world, the process and stages of World Creation. Requirements of fast do not fix specific products, but by their “ranks” or “classes”. The delicacy and refinement of taste preferences are not characteristic for the Orthodox cooking. The poetics of Orthodox cooking appears as a respect for the logos of all that exists, and the food acts as a moral category. The following main characteristics form the poetics of Orthodox cooking: a significant plant component, moderation, restraint, simplicity, accessibility, aesthetics, regional variability, sacredness, rhythm (weekly, annual). In fact, the poetics of Orthodox cooking asserts not the physicality of food, but its spirituality.