A Soup for Seminarians

Vasily Perov was an important member of the Peredvizhniki group of Russian artists, known in English as The Wanderers or The Itinerants for the traveling exhibitions they organized throughout the countryside. In 1863 the group broke away from the Russian Academy of Arts in order to focus on paintings that had more relevance to the people. They wanted to democratize art by moving it out of the realm of elite museums, and their realistic portraits focus on the common man, on dramatic events in Russian history, and on the Russian landscape.

Like Dostoyevsky, the Wanderers, and Perov in particular, frequently portrayed poverty and human suffering, subjects that were anathema to high art. The dark palette of his iconic Last Journey (1865) underscores the desperation of a ragged family transporting a coffin to its final resting place.

Another favorite subject for Perov was the clergy. Here, however, he often indulged in mockery as he showed the banality and sometimes venality of their lives. A local priest staggers, drunk, in Perov’s Easter Procession in a Village (1861); in A Meal in a Monastery (1876) the clergymen are corpulent and ruddy from too much food and drink, oblivious to the destitute pilgrims begging for alms.

Today it is a little hard to imagine how radical Perov’s realism seemed in his day, as he defied the conventions of academic art. One lesser-known work of his — no doubt because it remained unfinished — is Receiving the Wanderer, from 1874. The wanderer’s dress identifies him as a seminarian.

Today the word “seminarian” denotes someone who aspires to the life of the spirit, but in mid-nineteenth-century Russia, many seminarians were involved in revolutionary activities. A lot of the youth who studied at seminaries had no inclination to serve the Church; for them it was merely a matter of expediency, a way to get a good general education, so they bristled at the many restrictions they encountered. Forbidden to read newspapers, or even much of the literature in the school libraries, they formed secret groups, which encouraged revolutionary inclinations.

Like many of Perov’s best canvases, Receiving the Wanderer expresses what in Russian is known as narodnost -- the character of the Russian people. The painting evinces a kind of reverence for a newly emerging Russia, for a “radiant future” that youth like this young wanderer will help bring about. It also celebrates peasant life. Perov makes no attempt to aestheticize the often-bleak existence of the peasantry. Rather, he glorifies its plainness, which serves to emphasize its righteousness.

The three figures appear here as a trinity, illuminated by a radiant light, recalling religious depictions of the Trinity seated at a table. As in those depictions, the repast is utterly simple. The bread in icons symbolizes Communion; here the brown bread is a symbol of Russianness, of the peasants’ connection to the earth. The wanderer appears hungry, fully concentrating on his soup. We can imagine that he is enjoying pokhlyobka, a hearty soup of mushrooms and barley that, like the bread, also tastes of the Russian earth. The jug no doubt holds fresh milk. The rustic wooden table has been covered with a linen towel to honor the guest.

This painting displays the best attributes of Russian peasant women. The young woman is classical in her beauty, the old woman world-weary but wise. This family is obviously not well to do, but, in a gesture of profound hospitality, they have offered the young man the best that they have. In casting his cynicism aside, Perov portrays this meal, and the impulse behind it, as sacred.

Mushroom and Barley Soup

Похлёбка

Peasants would have made this hearty soup with water, but today we can easily make a richer version with beef or chicken stock. To enjoy pokhlyobka in true rustic style, rub some black bread with cut raw garlic, or take a whole peeled garlic clove and dip it into salt before taking a bite. The soup will taste best if you use interesting mushrooms instead of the ubiquitous pre-packaged button mushrooms sold in grocery stores.

6 tablespoons butter, divided
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups beef or chicken stock
1 large potato, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
½ cup raw pearl barley
1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sour cream (optional)

In a stockpot, sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the butter until soft.

Pour in the stock, then add the potato, carrots, bay leaves, salt, pepper, dill and barley. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, until the barley is tender.

Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter for 3 minutes. When the soup is ready, stir in the mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

Serves 6 to 8.

Adapted from A Taste of Russia (Russian Life books)