Russians take great care of nutrition. A person's food must be abundant, tasty and nourishing. Though public restaurants and bars numerous, especially in big cities, the Russians would prefer home-made food. Naturally, the major daily responsibility for cooking lies upon the woman. Nobody pays attention whether she likes it or not; the cooking is her moral obligation.

Russian women prefer natural products to feed their families with. This is what you would find in a typical Russian family rations:

Dairy products. They take one of the top positions in the list of products Russians cannot do without. As a rule they use fresh dairy products, i.e. they are to be eaten within three days. Therefore these products do not contain any preservatives, so called "live" products. They are milk (fat content may vary from 1.5 to 3.5 per cent), fermented dairy products (kefir, ryazhenka, varenets, curdled milk, bifidok, etc.), cottage cheese products (cottage cheese, sweet cottage cheese paste, etc.), sour cream, yogurts. The consumption level of butter and cheese is also very high.

Porridge and cereals. These are real Russian dishes that date back to ancient times. That is why breakfast menu in many families includes cereals: rice, semolina, millet, fine-barley, buckwheat, pumpkin, etc. Porridge is a necessary component of the diet of the women who take care of their good looks.

Vegetables. Is there a russian woman who wouldn't cook a dozen of potato dishes. And beets, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, black radishes, turnips, cabbage, marrows, aubergines? They are all included in the Russian diet, and very often they are grown at private garden plots (dachas). That means that they don't need to be tested for nitrates. russian women, provided with creative imagination in cooking, can make very healthy and delicious dishes of these vegetables.

Meat. It is practically impossible to survive a severe Russian winter without meat, which is, first of all, a powerful source of energy. The idea of using concentrated dry broth cubes instead of fresh-made natural meat broth for cooking a soup will seem absurd to any russian woman. The daily menu of most Russian families necessarily includes a meat or a sausage dish, though recently the number of women retraining from eating meat products has increased. They are not vegetarians in full sense, more likely, they follow one of the theories that meat promotes early aging of feminine organism.

Fish. It doesn't play a significant role in the Russian diet as meat. Still at least once a week a fish dish makes one of the courses.

Baking. Pies, patties, rolls, tarts, buns, cakes - the russian woman is proficient in cooking them all. What can be found in the stores of a russian woman of any age living in a small town or in the city? A sack of flour and a sack of sugar. She herself prepares the dough and bakes. Can you think of anything more delicious than a fresh-baked home-made bun?

Tea. Famous Russian tea ceremony is not just mere words. If the hostess of the house doesn't offer tea to her guest she will be considered inhospitable. The tea should be accompanied by cookies, buns, sweets, jam, honey. This is what we mean by Russian tea. And if you are invited to tea on weekend or a holiday, you will be treated to pastries and cakes baked for the occasion.

Speaking about general tendencies in a Russian woman's attitude to nutrition and cooking we should bear in mind that women in Russia differ from one another, as women everywhere in the world, in their habits, ways and affections. Some are fond of cooking and are culinary geniuses, others feel like criminals serving a life sentence of cooking. Still others would be happy to devote some time to cooking but can't allot any. One person is a culinary connoisseur, the other - is utterly unsusceptible to what she eats. One person adhere to some specific diet, the other will eat anything in any combinations.