Speaking about Russian food it is obligatory to mention this grains called in Russian grechka (гречка, buckwheat).
Grechka appeared on the Russian ploughed fields all through the ages. And though the Russian people considered it originally Russian and abroad it was called “Russian bread”, nevertheless its origin was not Russian.
There were many legends about the origin of grechka – one of them is that it was brought on the Russian land during Mongol-Tatar invasion.
However the real place of its birth is Himalayas. The Volga Bulgarians adopted the experience of the Himalaysians to grow and cook this cereals and began to grow grechka on their fields as well. Namely from them grechka appeared in the ancient Russia.
According to the opinion of the historians, the Slavs began to grow grechka in VII and it received its name during Kievskaya Rus because the cultivation of it was mostly the occupation of Greek monks living in the local monasteries (grechesky means Greek).
Till now we like grechka and eat it as porridge for the breakfast (with honey, some butter and even with milk) or as garnish to meat or fish. It's also so much to tell about useful properties of this grains!
