Thursday was fish day in the USSR
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Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#2At first I wondered why bother. If there's a famine or a meat shortage, wouldn't people turn to other foods on their own? So it seemed unnecessary and superfluous.
But I suppose there's another possible reason. If you can't give people what they want (meat), give them something else (fish) and try to convince them they do want it. If you can actually pull that off, then maybe it makes you look better and/or makes them feel better.
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#3I wonder if they got the idea of devoting a day of the week to a specific food item from the long and continuing custom of their Nordic neighbours: "Consumption of pea soup in Sweden and Finland dates back to at least the 13th century, and is traditionally served on Thursdays." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea_soup
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#4At first I wondered why bother. If there's a famine or a meat shortage, wouldn't people turn to other foods on their own? So it seemed unnecessary and superfluous. But I suppose there's another possible reason. If you can't give people what they want (meat), give them something else (fish) and try to convince them they do want it. If you can actually pull that off, then maybe it makes you look better and/or makes the…
>If there's a famine or a meat shortage, wouldn't people turn to other foods on their own? So it seemed unnecessary and superfluous.
No, what will happen is some people will get meat for the week in their shop, and some will get none.
Imagine meat is like toilet roll, one day a family turns up late to get their food from the store and there is no meat left for them.
It's better to avoid situations like this by trying to convince households to eat more alternatives, than to leave some households with no meat at all or let meat queues start etc.
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#5[deleted]
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#6> Collectivization and aggressive food taxes on the peasantry had led to a pig breeding crisis, a reduction in livestock and, ultimately, mass famine in 1930-33.
Ah, the malicious incompetence of Soviet ideology is why they had "fish day."
I remember a joke from visiting Ukraine. "A sausage is the best fish."
They had a lot of wonderful sausages too...
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#7I wonder if they got the idea of devoting a day of the week to a specific food item from the long and continuing custom of their Nordic neighbours: "Consumption of pea soup in Sweden and Finland dates back to at least the 13th century, and is traditionally served on Thursdays." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea_soup
It was much more likely meant to mock the Christian tradition of eating fish (actually the point is, not eating meat, but then people naturally turned to fish) on Fridays (and for the hardcore ones also on Wednesdays).
This same Christian tradition has become a bit of a joke nowadays since fish is now more of a luxury and is more expensive and less accessible than meat, which is now super common and much cheaper.
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#8> until the death of Stalin, black and red caviar was very inexpensive and accessible. Actively farmed in the Caspian Sea, it was one of the country’s top exports.
What? Why would the death of Stalin impact the price and availability of caviar?
Maybe someone else knows the history here? Perhaps the elites, previously held in check by fear of Stalin, began hoarding for themselves and exporting for hard currency?
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#9it is still called fish day in many places in post soviet block
Re: Thursday was fish day in the USSR
#10I wonder if they got the idea of devoting a day of the week to a specific food item from the long and continuing custom of their Nordic neighbours: "Consumption of pea soup in Sweden and Finland dates back to at least the 13th century, and is traditionally served on Thursdays." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea_soup
It was much more likely meant to mock the Christian tradition of eating fish (actually the point is, not eating meat, but then people naturally turned to fish) on Fridays (and for the hardcore ones also on Wednesdays). This same Christian tradition has become a bit of a joke nowadays since fish is now more of a luxury and is more expensive and less accessible than meat, which is now super common and much cheaper.
What you're describing is the modern post-vatican II Catholic fasting tradition. If one follows specifically the Russian Orthodox fasting rules strictly, you'd be approximately vegan for half of the year (every wednesday and friday, as well as lent, apostle's fast, dormition fast, nativity fast, a few others sprinkled in, etc). On a conventional strict fast day (other than e.g. Clean Monday in lent where you eat nothing at all) you'd eat no meat, dairy, wine, or oil. Some of these fasting days (such as when a feast day happens to align on what would otherwise be a fast day) are loosened to be "fish days" when you are allowed to have fish (but not meat).
So maybe it was intended to mock the Christian tradition of eating fish ... but like... unless the Thursday was during Lent or another major fasting period, if you weren't a monk you could already eat Fish that day? It doesn't seem too much like the Discordian tradition of eating Hot Dogs on Friday, as an attempt to roll up as many possible religious taboos at once (Halal, Kosher, Catholicism, and Bougies who are grossed out by hotdogs)