The word “kisel” is derived from “kisslyj”, which in the old Slavic languages meant as much as ‘sour’ or possibly ‘to become rotten’, ‘to ferment’ in the sense of ‘to spoil’. One put sourly turned with spoiled immediately. It was not until people learned to make “kiseli” from slightly fermenting grain and flour that the word developed into a synonym for a delicacy. The Russian words “kisslyj” and “kisel” occur in the meaning ‘dainty’ at the beginning in the Slavic area. From this it can be seen that just the old empire is the home of this food. This is also supported by the fact that the main cereals of Northwest Russia were oats and rye, and the oldest “kiseli” varieties were also made of oats and rye.

“Kiseli” today are jelly-like desserts – similar to red fruit jelly – thickened with potato starch. Their basic taste is preserved by fresh, cooked and dried fruits or berries, berry puree and milk, juices, tea, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuts, sometimes even butter or eggs.

Nowadays the “kiseli” are more of liquid consistency. Until the 19th century, however, “kiseli” were stiff like aspic and sour.

Only at the end of the last century, with the spread of potato starch, the sour “kiseli” were replaced by sweet ones, prepared from berries. The sweet ones first spread to the Baltic States, Poland and Belarus, and later to Russia.

Cranberry Kissel – Kisel Iz Kljukwy

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Related Recipes: