[4] Following the Russian Revolution, the official ideology promoted communal food preparation and dining, to maximise use of labour and resources and to liberate women to work.

He travelled widely, bringing many innovations back to the USSR, including the manufacture of canned goods and the mass production of ice cream.

[5] Prior to its introduction, the staple cookbook of Russian cuisine had been Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives, which had been published in numerous editions in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia and remained in many households after the Revolution.

[1][5] Recipes range from the sumptuous (sturgeon in jelly, cold piglet with horseradish) to the everyday (cabbage stuffed with meat, bean soup).

[6] British chef Mary Berry modified one of the book's recipes, a variant of deviled eggs which included herring, on her 2017 BBC 2 cookery program Easter Feasts.