Ekaterina Avdeeva was called the last romantic of cooking. The writer's literary heritage includes books with recipes and tips for housewives, a detailed description of Siberia and well-known Russian fairy tales.
Biography
Catherine was born in Kursk in August 1788. According to her father, she bore the name Field. In addition to her, there were four more sons in the family - Nikolai, Eusebius, Xenophon and Peter. Nikolai and Xenophon will subsequently become famous Russian writer-journalists.
The Polevoy family belonged to the merchant class. Father Alexey was engaged in trade from early childhood. Mother Natalia Ivanovna Verkhovtseva was an orphan, brought up in the Znamensky Nunnery. In the early childhood of Catherine, the family moved to Irkutsk.
Ekaterina Alekseevna did not receive a full and systematic education. But this did not stop her from mastering the letter and writing so much that after the appearance of her younger brothers, she was able to teach this and them.
Among the Irkutsk secular society, the girl quickly gained fame as a well-educated and educated, but at the same time romantic person. Although Catherine was not afraid to express her opinion on the political situation, at that time few ladies allowed themselves to reflect on the situation in Europe.
Avdeeva Field in 1830 and 1863.
Personal life
With her future husband, Catherine met at the age of 14. A year later, she became the wife of Peter Petrovich Avdeev. The marriage was happy, although not for long. At first, Catherine and her husband lived in the house of the father-in-law, who in Irkutsk was a very respected man. Then we moved to our own house.
Young traveled a lot in Eastern Siberia, and Catherine never missed the opportunity to learn something new. Whenever possible, she questioned, found out the details of the event of interest, and necessarily recorded. Subsequently, these notes were very useful to her.
Having lived in agreement with her beloved husband for a little more than 10 years, Ekaterina Alekseevna was a widow. At 26, she was left alone with 5 children - Alexander, Andrey, Natalya, Innokenty and Peter were born in the marriage. In 1820, the Avdeevs left Irkutsk for Kursk and lived there for 10 years. When the children grew up, arranged their personal lives and went to different cities, Ekaterina Alekseevna changed her place of residence several times - she lived in Odessa, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities.
When the children ceased to need her constant attention, Ekaterina Avdeeva took up writing work. In her youth, she did not particularly believe that she could cope with this task, although younger brothers and other listeners always noted her magnificent syllable.
The first works of Ekaterina Avdeeva
The first published work was Notes and Comments on Siberia. The book, published in 1837, impressed readers immediately. It contained a lot of facts and information about then little-studied Russian territory. Interest in the book arose even in the West, later it was translated into English, German and Czech.
After the first book was published, Avdeeva received a proposal for cooperation from A. Kraevsky, the publisher of "Domestic Notes". Interestingly, Ekaterina Alekseevna herself was called the first Siberian writer.
Nikolay Polevoy, the younger brother of Ekaterina Avdeeva.
After such success, Avdeeva believed in her writing talent, and in 1842 a new book was published - Notes on the Old and New Russian Life. A note to her was written by her brother Nicholas. By the way, it was Nikolai who became the most famous of the Polevoy family, although he received education only under the guidance of his sister and mother.
Cookbooks
In the middle of the 19th century, books having an economic and culinary orientation began to be very popular in Russia. The Hand Book of a Russian Experienced Hostess, written by Avdeeva, has become one of the most fundamental. This was confirmed by the fact that during the life of the author, the book survived 8 reprints. Later, among the works of Avdeeva there will be "pocket" versions of recipes, works for owners and hostesses, various manuals. Ekaterina Avdeeva herself addressed her works to ordinary compatriots, and not to nobles and rich people.
One of the books by E. Avdeeva, published in 1842.
In one of her works, Ekaterina Alekseevna gives recipes for as many as 366 dinners - for a whole year! Moreover, they all consist of four dishes, there are festive and everyday options.
Conventional recipes or housekeeping instructions as presented by Ekaterina Avdeeva turned into a real work of art. Therefore, very often it was called the last romantic of cooking. However, now her works are undeservedly forgotten.
