Russian fasting, 1630s

Again from The travels of Olearius in Seventeenth-Century Russia, p. 269-272):

The Russian Church prescribes an extremely severe mode of fasting, ( Read more... )

It appears that while the tradition of fasting had begun to fade in Protestant countries and even in Roman Catholic countries it had loosened by the 17th century, in Russia the traditions remained strong and somewhat severe, even if it they were broken.

more food gifts in 17th c. russia

Again from Olearius:

In general, mead, vodka, and gingerbread seem to have been gifts and diplomatic reception necessities.

In Laba (near Lake Ladoga), meeting with a pristav, "the refreshment the pristav served us consisted of gingerbread, vodka, and freshly preserved cherries." p. 47
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