Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich. Aphorisms and quotes from the novel "The Master and Margarita"

“Second freshness is nonsense! There is only one freshness - the first, and it is also the last. And if the sturgeon is of the second freshness, it means that it is rotten!” - Woland explained to the careless barman on the pages of the immortal novel “The Master and Margarita”. Expiration in public catering is a popular story, but in cooking there are products that, in order to have the best possible taste, must, as they say, ripen. What products are allowed to be “second fresh”?

Meat

If you think that ideal steaks are prepared from fresh meat, you are deeply mistaken.

Any steak meat becomes better if it is aged for some time before selling and cooking, the co-owner of the Steak@home butcher shop explained to LifePavel Potseluev. - Fresh beef is a brand that sellers skillfully use when communicating with potential buyers. There is a play on associations with fresh milk, with something very fresh. Fresh meat refers to the meat of an animal that has been slaughtered for two to four hours; therefore, it will no longer be possible to try it on the market. But you shouldn’t be upset: fresh meat has an insufficiently pronounced smell and taste. But a few days after slaughter, enzymes begin to work on muscle tissue, destroying it and making it more tender. Chicken needs two days, and pork and lamb need a week. Beef can be aged much longer - from 14 to 150 days. If you try a marbled steak from the best beef bull on the third day after slaughter, you will be disappointed. But the same piece will be much softer after 20 days.

According to a meat expert, there are two types of aging (aging) beef: dry and wet. Both processes require the creation and maintenance of certain conditions - there are even special chambers for aging.

Cheese

Parmesan without proper aging is not Parmesan, but simply “mesan”. The famous Italian Parmesan should ideally wait at least two years for its finest hour - it spends this time in a special storage facility. After the first year of aging, the cheesemaker checks the quality of each wheel of cheese. Those that, in the opinion of the master, were not successful (for example, the salts were unevenly distributed or the shape was disappointing) are taken out of storage, given the name Mezzano and sent for sale at a much lower price than their remaining ripening counterparts.

And since we’re talking about cheeses, it would be a shame not to remember such a delicacy as casu marzu, which literally translates from Italian as “rotten cheese.” The delicacy is a wheel of Pecorino Sardo cheese, which has to ripen in the open air. Of course, flies immediately become interested in the cheese, gradually the product begins to rot, and larvae hatch from the eggs laid by the flies. The larvae, in turn, eat the cheese, simultaneously seasoning it with the products of their vital activity. When the core of the head is gnawed out and the cheese is completely rotten, the dish can be considered ready to eat. Let us note that it is not so easy to buy kasa marzu, because the cheese is prohibited for sale according to medical recommendations. Nevertheless, there are not only private cheese factories that practice the preparation of “rotten cheese,” but also gourmets who are eager for such dubious tastings. Among them is the famous British chef Gordon Ramsay. He personally did not speak very flatteringly about the taste qualities of casu marzu, but we have to admit: in his homeland (Sardinia), cheese is loved and in demand - even children eat it at family dinners, and the appearance of the dish on the table is met with stormy applause.

Puer tea

Pu-erh is the only tea that can have antique value and still retain its healing properties. An antique is something that is over 50 years old, and I have such tea in my modest collection. He's incredible! - Vadim Shelkopryad, captain of the Guild of Tea Masters, told Life.

According to the expert, pu-erh goes through several cycles of maturation and its healing properties change over time. From one year to three years - this is a young, daring and immature tea, from three to seven years - it is balanced in its biochemical composition and excess “green” leaves it; when aged from seven to twelve years, the tea reaches its first maturity, from twelve to twenty years, finally matures completely.

When aged from twenty to fifty years, pu-erh slowly but surely goes to some incredible depth,” admits Vadim Shelkopryad. - Perhaps we can say that over time it turns from green tea to black. After processing, up to 13% moisture remains in it and gradually the enzymes do their job, transforming the biochemical composition of the tea.

Our interlocutor is sure that pu-erh is a real medicine:

I drink it every day. It clears the mind, improves vision, speeds up metabolism and can truly be considered a drink of health and longevity.

Alcohol

Everyone knows: the longer cognac or whiskey is aged, the better it is - the taste and aroma of young drinks are significantly inferior in organoleptic properties. The aging in this case is so important that information about it is indicated in large print on the label. The most expensive cognac in the world, for example, is also the most expensive alcohol - we are talking about Henri IV, a bottle of which costs about two million dollars. The aging of this precious drink exceeds one hundred years.

It's the same story with whiskey - one of the most expensive lots in history is a bottle of Dalmore 64 Trinitas (about $160 thousand). The drink is a blend of several varieties, some of which have been aged for more than 140 years.

As for wine, the widespread opinion that it only gets better with age is not always true,” Alexander Militsky, editor-in-chief and publisher of the portal “Grozdi.ru. All about wine,” told Life. - Oenologists say that wine is a living organism, and, like any organism, each wine has its own lifespan. Sherries, Madeiras and ports are practically immortal. So, in September 2015, Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi, while in the Crimean Massandra, tasted a bottle of the Sherry de la Frontera drink from the 1775 vintage. Despite such a respectable age, the drink turned out to be excellent and has clearly improved in quality over the past couple of hundred years.

But dry wine, the expert admits, cannot boast of immortality.

As the bottle matures, it first develops, becoming finer and deeper in taste and aroma, then reaches its peak, after which it moves downward and begins to gradually die. Sooner or later, there will be vinegar with unpleasant shades in the bottle. Only one wine will reach this stage in just ten years, while another will develop and become better in a century. Predicting the aging potential of a particular wine is not easy, and usually only experienced tasters can do it.

However, Militsky notes, all of the above applies only to those bottles that were stored in the right conditions: in a horizontal position, so that the cork is wet and does not dry out; in the dark so that the wine is not destroyed by sunlight; and at a temperature of 12 to 14 degrees - at which the drink develops well, but does not suffer from destructive chemical reactions.

If you bought a bottle and placed it vertically behind a glass door in a sunlit sideboard, you can be sure that when you open it literally in a couple of years, you are unlikely to be satisfied with the contents. Improper storage conditions can kill even the most immortal of all possible sherry.

Vegetables, fruits and other products

Frankly speaking, once you start sorting through products that reveal their taste only after the stage of “first freshness” is left behind, you can go far and end up listing almost half of the contents of our refrigerators. Sauerkraut, kefir, beer - all these products are good only after the raw materials from which they are made have passed the stage of “ideal” freshness, acquiring the next, improved serial number - “second freshness”.

Sturgeon second freshness

Sturgeon second freshness
From the novel (chapter 18 “Unlucky Visitors”) “The Master and Margarita” (1940) by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891 - 1940), the words of the bartender Andrei Fokich Sokov, who makes excuses to Woland, who reprimands him for the spoiled sturgeon, which was given to a “foreign magician” I had a chance to try it at the buffet.
“The sturgeon was sent back fresh,” said the barman.
Darling, this is nonsense!
What nonsense?
The second freshness is nonsense! There is only one freshness - the first, and it is also the last. And if the sturgeon is second freshness, then this means that it is rotten!”
Ironically: something of “second freshness” is definitely stale, outdated, irrelevant, etc.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.

See what “Sturgeon of the second freshness” is in other dictionaries:

- (1891 1940), Russian writer. In the novel “The White Guard” (1925-27), the plays “Days of the Turbins” (post. 1926), “Running” (1926-28, post. 1957) he showed the tragic collisions of the Civil War, the collapse of the White movement, the dramatic fate of the Russian emigration.... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

MASTER AND MARGARITA- Roman M.A. Bulgakov. Bulgakov worked on the novel “The Master and Margarita” from 1928 to 1940. The novel was first published in 1966 in the magazine “Moscow” (with cuts), and as a separate edition only in 1991. The narrative in the novel is constructed in two... ... Linguistic and regional dictionary

- (in zoology) see Pisces. R. (as a food product) is used as food not only for humans, but also for some domestic animals; Thus, dried chum salmon is stored all year round as food by Siberian foreigners for their dogs. As the cheapest... ...

It is used as food not only for humans, but also for some domestic animals; Thus, dried chum salmon is stored all year round as food by Siberian foreigners for their dogs. As the cheapest animal product, R. is primarily food... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

In this article we will analyze another catchphrase that this book is so rich in - " Sturgeon second freshness".
The action takes place in 18 chapter of the book entitled "Unlucky Visitors". The barman from Variety arrives at apartment No. 50 to resolve his pressing issues.
However, as soon as he introduced himself to his fellow artist, he didn’t even let him finish.
The artist indignantly, in a raised voice, began to talk about how he had recently passed near the display case in the buffet, where he saw green cheese.
Woland winced and continued, my dear, there is no green cheese, it only comes in white.
And your tea, the artist continues, is slop, not tea. I saw how an unkempt girl poured unboiled water into the samovar. And I still can’t forget the sturgeon.

The bartender begins to make excuses, saying that it’s not his fault, that The sturgeon was delivered already second freshness.
To which Woland reasonably notes that it doesn’t happen sturgeon second freshness, but it only happens first.

Sturgeon second freshness- this is rotten sturgeon.

Winged expressions from the novel "The Master and Margarita"

In fact, this is the only worthy work, no offense to the author. The rest of Bulgakov’s works only inspire melancholy and irritation. The fact is that he described mostly topical subjects. Now the motives of the citizens of those years are not entirely clear to us.

Advice on how to avoid accidentally eating “second-fresh sturgeon”

) () () 13 () ()
Biography of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov >>

Quotes from Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita", 1929-1940

“I,” the bartender spoke bitterly, “am the manager of the buffet of the Variety Theater... (Andrey Fokich Sokov, bartender at Variety)
Artist (Woland) He stretched out his hand, on the fingers of which stones sparkled, as if blocking the barman’s mouth, and spoke with great fervor:
- No no no! Not another word! Under no circumstances and never! I won’t take anything in your mouth in your buffet! I, most respected one, passed by your stand yesterday and still can’t forget either the sturgeon or the feta cheese. My precious one! Cheese cheese is not green, someone deceived you. She's supposed to be white. Yes, and what about tea? After all, this is slop! I saw with my own eyes how some unkempt girl poured raw water from a bucket into your huge samovar, while the tea continued to be poured. No, my dear, that’s impossible!
“I’m sorry,” Andrei Fokich, stunned by this sudden attack, spoke up, “I have nothing to do with this matter, and sturgeon has nothing to do with it.”
- That is, it has nothing to do with it if it is spoiled!
“The sturgeon was sent back fresh,” said the barman.
- Darling, this is nonsense!
- What nonsense?
- The second freshness is nonsense! There is only one freshness - the first, and it is also the last. And if the sturgeon is second freshness, then this means that it is rotten! [...] My darling! Fresh, fresh and fresh, that should be the motto of every bartender.

I like to sit low - it’s not so dangerous to fall from low. (Woland)

What country's wine do you prefer at this time of day?

Something evil lurks in men who avoid wine, games, the company of lovely women, and table conversation. Such people are either seriously ill or secretly hate those around them. True, exceptions are possible. Among the people who sat down with me at the banquet table, I sometimes came across amazing scoundrels! (Woland to Variety bartender Andrei Fokich)

Yesterday you deigned to do tricks... (Variety bartender Andrei Fokich to Voland)
- I? - the magician exclaimed in amazement, - have mercy. Somehow it doesn’t even suit me!
“It’s my fault,” said the taken aback barman, “to give a session of black magic... [...] If you please see, among other things, pieces of paper flew from the ceiling,” the barman lowered his voice and looked around in embarrassment, “well, they all grabbed them.” And then a young man comes into my buffet, gives me a chervonets, I give him eight and a half in change... Then another. [...] Third fourth. I fight back everything. And today I started checking the cash register, and lo and behold, instead of money there was cut paper. The buffet was fined for one hundred and nine rubles.
- Oh no no no! - exclaimed the artist, - did they really think that these were real pieces of paper? I don't think they did it consciously.
The barman looked around somehow wryly and sadly, but said nothing.
- Are they scammers? - the magician asked the guest anxiously, - are there really scammers among Muscovites?
In response, the barman smiled so bitterly that all doubts disappeared: yes, there are scammers among Muscovites.
- It's low! - Woland was indignant, - you are a poor man... after all, you are a poor man?
The barman pulled his head into his shoulders, so that it became clear that he was a poor man.
- How much savings do you have?
The question was asked in a sympathetic tone, but still such a question cannot but be considered indelicate. The barman hesitated.
“Two hundred and forty-nine thousand rubles in five savings banks,” a cracked voice responded from the next room, “and two hundred gold tens under the floor of the house.”
The barman seemed attached to his stool.
“Well, of course, this is not the amount,” Woland said condescendingly to his guest, “although, by the way, you don’t really need it either.” When will you die?
At this point the barman became indignant.
“This is not known to anyone and does not concern anyone,” he answered.
“Well, yes, it’s unknown,” the same trashy voice was heard from the office, “just think, Newton’s binomial!” He will die nine months later, in February next year, from liver cancer in the clinic of the First Moscow State University, in the fourth ward.
The barman turned yellow-faced.
“Nine months,” Woland counted thoughtfully, “two hundred and forty-nine thousand... Does that come out to twenty-seven thousand a month?” It’s not enough, but it’s enough for a modest life. And dozens more.
“It won’t be possible to sell dozens,” the same voice chimed in, chilling the bartender’s heart, “after Andrei Fokich’s death, the house will be immediately demolished and dozens will be sent to the state bank.”
“Yes, I wouldn’t advise you to go to the clinic,” the artist continued, “what’s the point of dying in a ward under the groans and wheezing of hopeless patients.” Isn't it better to throw a feast for these twenty-seven thousand and, having taken poison, move (to another world) to the sound of strings, surrounded by intoxicated beauties and dashing friends?

Russian Israelis pay less attention to reading information labels on food products than native Israelis. There is even information about this special study staff of the University of Haifa and Mina Tsemakh.

But even those of us who are not interested in proteins, fats, carbohydrates, etc., pay attention to the date, which is necessarily present on the packaging. Sometimes it's just a date, sometimes with words in Hebrew and/or English. Words, as a rule, are not read. And why? Isn’t it clear that before this date the product is fresh, but after it... And by the way, what after?

In fact, dating can relate to such different parameters as the safety of the product, the preservation of its quality and the possibility of sale. The parameters, although related to each other, are not identical. That is why there are three terms.

The table shows their Russian names and interpretations according to the current Russian GOST R 51074-2003, as well as English and Hebrew terms for these datings.

For products marked expiration date, no second freshness is allowed. If it's expired, throw it away. Otherwise, the manufacturer is not responsible for the consequences. " And if the sturgeon is second freshness, then this means that it is rotten!»

But if it's overdue shelf life product, then you don’t have to throw it away, but you need to be prepared for the fact that its consumer properties (smell, structure) will deteriorate without posing a threat to health. Expiration of the shelf life does not mean that the product is not suitable for its intended use. This period is indicated in cases where a second freshness of the product is acceptable.

The sell-by date is set for food products taking into account a certain reasonable period of storage of products at home, that is, the second freshness will come at home, and not in the store. This information is intended for the seller.

This seems to be all that a consumer needs to know in order to consciously read the date on the label, not be poisoned by expired food, and not throw away something that is still suitable. But this is in theory. But in practice everything is much more complicated.

Firstly, many products are dated only by numbers without explanatory text.

Secondly, requirements for label text can vary greatly from country to country. Hence, importers/exporters have different understandings of what the date refers to. So translators are arguing about how to translate best before on food labels - shelf life or expiration date? ( Discussion of translators into Russian).

In Israel the situation is no better. The most common Hebrew phrase “last date for use”, which should only indicate the expiration date (2.11 according to GOST), in English sounds like the expiration date, the shelf life, and even the sell-by date. Conversely, the Hebrew phrase "sales deadline" is duplicated by the English Exp. Date - “expiration date”.

What to do? Think! If it is not clear what the specified period refers to, then it is logical to assume that for perishable products this will be the expiration date, and for non-perishable products it will be the shelf life. What to do if you don’t know whether a product is perishable or not? Look at the conditions in which it is in the store: if it is on refrigerated shelves, then it has an expiration date, and if it is just on the shelves, then it has a shelf life. (This is only true for good stores).

And do not forget that the indicated periods are valid subject to storage conditions, especially temperature.