bunnyjadwiga

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

In Ladogoa,

. . . the children swarmed after us, shouting and asking if we did not wish to buy the red berries they called maliny [raspberries], which grow in such profusion throughout Russia. The gave us a hatful for a kopek . . . (p. 48)

In Moscow,

Half an hour after our arrival, by way of welcome we recieved provisions from the Grand Prince's kitchen and cellar, namely eight sheep, 30 chickens, many wheat and rye loaves, and 22 kinds of drinks - wine, beer, mead and vodka - each one more delicious than the others. They were brought by 32 Russians who came in single files. We were daily supplied in the same manner with similar, but only half as many, provisions. Their custom is to provide a double ration on the day of an ambassador's arrival and on any day when he has an audience with the Tsar. (p. 58)

After their audience with the Tsar,

The Grand Prince's chamberlain, a stately prince magnificently attired, arrived shortly afterward on a beautifully bedecked horse. After him came many Russians who were to entertain the embassadors in the name of His Tsarist Majesty. Some of these people covered the table with a long white cloth and placed on it a silver saltcellar with fine salt, two silver vessels of vinegar, several large goblets, three gold cups and two silver ones-- each one and a half quartiers in diameter-- for mead, and a long knife and fork.

The Grand Prince's deputy sat at the head of the table and asked the ambassadors to sit beside him. Our hofjunkers waited on the table. The deputy ordered three large goblets, filled with Alicante wine, Rhine wine, and mead, to be placed before the ambassadors. He then ordred from His Tsarist Majesty's table 38 large dishes-- most of them silver, but not especially clean-- containing various stewed, roasted and baked foods. When the table became crowded, what had been brought earlier was taken away to make room.* When the last dish had been placed on the table, the prince rose, stood before the table, signaled the ambassadors to come before the table, and said: "Here is the food that His Tsarist Majesty has ordered, through me, to be given to the Grand Ambassadors of Holstein. May it please them." Then he took a large gold cup filled with a very sweet and delicious raspberry mead, and drank it before the ambassadors to His Tsarist Majesty's health. Following that, he handed the ambassadors and each of us a vessle of liquor, which we were supposed to drink in one draught. Because of the number of people around the prince, one of our group who was standing some distance from him was unable to secure a cup from his hand and asked that it be passed across the table. The prince would not permit that, however, and motioning our companion to come out from behind the table he said, "This table now symbolizes the table of the Russian Emperor. NO one dares to stand behind it; you must stand before it."

After the first toast followed one to . . . our most gracious Prince and Soveriegn, in these words, "May God preserve Prince Frederick in health for a long time, and grant that he and His Tsarist Majesty shall forever live in amity and friendship." Finally, a round was drunk to the health of the young prince, His Tsarist Majesty's heir. Then we sat down at the table and drank several more cups of cherry and blackberry mead . . . (p. 64-65)

After the signing of the treaty (December 12),

. . . we were informed once again that His Tsarist Majesty granted us food from his table . . .

An hour later the Grand Prince's food and drink arrived. The food consisted of 46 dishes: chiefly fish, boiled, roasted in oil, or baked, some vegetables and baked foods, but no meat, for it was a fast time which they annually keep before the Christmas holiday.(p.76-77)

In Kasimovgorod, the Tatar prince Res-Kichi, sent the German ambassadors

a gift of various victuals, including two sheep, small casks of mead and beer, vodka, some pieces of ice, sour milk, cream, and fresh butter prepared, so they said, by his mother's own hands. (p. 290)

In Nizhnii Novogorod,

Provisions were extremely cheap in Nizhnii: a young hen or 15 eggs cost one kopek; a sheep 12, 15 or 18th kopeks . . .
. . . [The voevoda] presented us at our departure, with 20 sides of bacon and other provisions for the journey. . . . the refreshments, which consisted of gingerbread, very strong vodka, and various kinds of mead . . . (p. 293-294)