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Snacking cognac with lemon: a Russian tradition. Why eating cognac with lemon is a bad taste. Is it possible to eat cognac with lemon

Cognac etiquette has centuries-old traditions, however, we note that the ideas of Europeans are somewhat different from ours. What is the combination of cognac and lemon - mauvais ton or a tandem that is pleasant to taste?

There is a well-founded opinion that citrus completely clogs the subtle notes of high-end alcohol. Perhaps, but after all, who tried to drink cognac and eat it with lemon (and who didn’t!), They note that in this way the taste of strong alcohol softens, it is easier to use it.

The tradition of eating French cognac and brandy produced in the native empire is attributed to Tsar Nicholas II. Allegedly, it was he who introduced such a combination into fashion. After all, since the autocrat likes it so much, then the subjects should follow the example.

According to legend, elite French cognac was brought to the king (and what else can be brought to the court). But it seemed to him too strong and sharp, so he bit it with the first thing that came to hand - a slice of lemon. And he liked it so much that he introduced his close associates to such use. Then it "went to the people" and turned into a tradition.

Reference. French vintage and collection cognacs are for the most part really sharper than brandies produced on the territory of the former Russian empire.

We don’t want to debunk this myth, but we can’t help but note that hussars also ate cognac with lemon. Maybe not so massively, but this is a historical fact.

And thanks to Nicholas II, who lived in the post-hussar era and revered this combination, it was elevated to the Russian tradition. Although it is possible that he himself did not aspire to this.

Recipes

You can compose anything with lemon, because citrus is combined with so many products. Learn how to use cognac with lemon correctly, tasty and satisfying.

Snack "Nikolaska"

Another legend is connected with this snack. Allegedly, before the revolution, the aristocracy had a tradition of drinking early in the morning, even at breakfast. But the Empress did not like it very much. Therefore, Nicholas II, in order not to anger his wife, ordered to put a teapot with brandy near him. The color is one with tea!

The imperial couple sat at a decent distance from each other, Alexandra Fedorovna could not smell what her hubby yearned for. And the king, with an air of importance, drank cognac from a cup and ate it with a slice of lemon, sprinkled with sugar and chocolate chips.

Whether it’s true or fiction, people call this appetizer Nikolashka, in memory of the Tsar.

The recipe is simple: cut a lemon into thin rings and sprinkle half with sugar, and the other half with coffee, cinnamon or grated chocolate. For some reason, mixing ingredients is not allowed.


"Hussar sandwich"

When you think of the hussars, you immediately remember the war with Napoleon. The hussars were of noble blood, cognac was highly respected and they were well acquainted with the etiquette of its use. But still there was a war, deliveries were so-so. And often bottles of dubious quality fell into the hands of soldiers.

The best appetizer for cognac is cheese, you can’t argue. And in order to kill the sharp, and even unpleasant taste of front-line brandy, the hussars came up with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bputting a slice of lemon between two thin slices of cheese. And so the "Hussar Sandwich" was born.

Cognac with lemon juice

In bars you can find such a cocktail:

  • 50 ml brandy;
  • juice from half a lemon (20-30 grams);
  • 10 ml of sugar syrup;
  • ice in a glass.

First, mix the liquid ingredients, then dip the ice cubes into the glass.

Lemon with cognac and honey

In this way, you can not only keep warm, but also cure the onset of a cold. Proven in practice. If you are cold, wet your feet in an ice puddle, and when you come home you feel a tickle in the nasopharynx and other symptoms of a cold, do this: pour dry mustard into a bowl, add hot water and steam your feet, taking with you a kettle of boiling water for pouring.

Have a family member make you this cocktail at this time. If there is no one, do it yourself and drink in small sips while soaring your legs:

  1. Pour 50 ml of cognac into a stainless steel glass and put it in hot water so that it warms up to a warm state (no higher than 60 ° C).
  2. Squeeze 20 ml of lemon juice into it.
  3. Add a spoonful of liquid honey. If there is only candied, reheat in the microwave or in a water bath.
  4. Mix and drink slowly.
  5. After you have steamed your feet, put on warm socks - and under the covers.

It doesn’t matter if it makes you sleepy or wants to watch a movie, but lie down and sweat. By morning, from a cold, if it is not running, there will be no trace left. Yes, and with the “played out” condition will improve.

Carefully. It is absolutely impossible to soar legs at a temperature!


More Lemon Snacks

And here are some interpretations of the already mentioned recipes.

"Black caviar, red caviar"

In continuation of "Nikolashka" - slices of lemon, on which red caviar is laid on one side, and black caviar on the other.

And since lemon and fish are a great duet, you can dream up with salmon or other fish by putting a thin piece on a lemon slice.

"Hussars rule"

In the modern version, the "Hussar sandwich" can be like this:

  • Slice the lemon into slices and arrange separately on a flat dish.
  • Grate cheese on a coarse grater.
  • Lay a slide of cheese on each lemon slice.

"Salty Slice"

To lemon, you can offer not only sugar, honey and sweet spices, but also salt and pepper. Try a "sprinkle" of salt and pepper - get a new experience.

"Transfer" meat

For meatloaf, ham, dry sausage, etc. Lemon is also good. Slice the meat thinly and arrange horizontally on a plate or platter. Top each slice with a thin slice of lemon.

Weight loss with cognac with lemon

Lemon helps in the fight against excess weight - a well-known fact. But that you can lose weight with the help of it and cognac seems incredible to many, because cognac, like other alcohol, is high in calories - about 240 kcal per 100 ml.

But for a diet, it does not need to be consumed in liters. The diet attributes 100 ml of cognac and 1 lemon per day.

  1. Drink lemon water in the morning before meals.
  2. Eat in moderation, limiting yourself to sweet, starchy and fatty foods.
  3. Eat lean protein foods like chicken, beef, etc. 4 hours before bed.
  4. After dinner for an hour, gradually, sip, drink 100 ml of cognac. Eat each sip with a slice of lemon. Eat the whole fruit, including the skin, within an hour.

Attention. The diet should not exceed two weeks!

You can resort to it only if you have no problems with alcoholism and health.

As soon as they do not call the Russian tradition of the simultaneous use of lemon and cognac: both blasphemous, and barbaric, and unpleasant. But their opinion is not so important to us. We do not teach them how to eat vodka. As they say: they have their own national traditions, we have our own.


So knowledge of etiquette does not harm, but it will not work to always apply its prescriptions. Therefore, we hope that the above snacks with lemon for cognac will definitely come in handy for you. And you, in turn, share them with your friends on social networks.

When making snacks, you should always remember that it should only complement the taste of cognac, and not interrupt it. Moreover, one appetizer is suitable for cognac from one grape variety, and completely different for another.

Most often, the following ingredients are added to snacks:

  • nuts;
  • seafood;
  • fruit.

If they are correctly combined with lemon, then you can get a dish that can not only complement, but also more fully reveal the taste of cognac.

If there is no time to cut fruit and grate cheese with nuts, then you can do it easier:

  • lemon cut into thin slices;
  • mix coffee, cinnamon and sugar (sometimes replaced with salt);
  • some recipes suggest grinding them until smooth;
  • Sprinkle lemon with seasoning mixture and serve.

The most common name for this recipe is Nikolashka.

Weight loss with cognac with lemon

Before revealing the whole secret, it should be noted that excessive drinking leads to alcoholism. By itself, it is not terrible. But, the diseases and changes in the body caused by it are simply catastrophic!

Lemon for weight loss really works. And many women have already proven the viability of this method. It is based on the diuretic effect that lemon has. That is, this is not quite an ordinary weight loss, thanks to this method, the body dries up and gets rid of excess water. Athletes call this procedure “drying”. The main thing is not to forget to drink plenty of water. Juices, teas, coffees and any other drinks will not work. So, while we are losing weight, we drink only water, and as much as possible.


One of the best results was shown by the famous Russian tennis player and simply beautiful Anna Kournikova. Thanks to the use of "cognac-lemon" remedy and special protein nutrition, she reduced her waist by 4 centimeters in the first week. The second week “took” another 2 centimeters with it. After that, the process of losing weight stopped. The same is noted by all others who have used this diet.

How to lose weight with lemon

Lemon itself is an excellent diuretic. But they need to be used correctly. That is, you do not have to eat one lemon each morning at breakfast instead of regular food. Such actions can only lead you to a gastroenterologist, but not to the desired harmony.

In the morning we make ourselves a simple cocktail. Dilute lemon juice in warm water and drink 15-20 minutes before meals. Thus, you will not only provide your body with a shock dose of vitamin C, but also start digestion.

Completely exclude the following drinks from your diet:

  • coffee;
  • juices containing preservatives and carcinogens (all store-bought juices);
  • Pepsi, Cola, Fanta and other "soda" from the store.

Instead, we only drink water. You can pre-purify it, boil it, distill it, but it is important to use ordinary H 2 O. You need to drink at least 2 liters per day. At first, it will be quite difficult to do this, but when the body realizes that it constantly lacks moisture, you will miss 2 liters per day.

Eat vegetables and fruits. This is not a direct necessity, but in conjunction with lemon “drying”, fruits and vegetables can significantly improve the effect. In addition, they will help improve the functioning of all organs due to the high content of micronutrients. Well, a nice bonus - they have quite a lot of water, which your body needs anyway.


Don't eat too many sweets! The increased content of glucose in the body leads to rapid fatigue. And unprocessed "sweet" trace elements are deposited by the body "for later" in the form of fats. And we are trying to get rid of them, so it is better to moderate your consumption of sweets a little while drying. All that he needs, the body will take from the fruits that you will eat 5 times a day.

Our diet is alcoholic. So if you're not sure you can handle 2 weeks of daily drinking. It is better to look at other lemon diets. The whole reason is that, as you know, a habit is formed in 2 weeks. A considerable number of daredevils who decided on a cognac-lemon diet, after its completion, could not quit alcohol and continued to drink it daily. And this is a diagnosis - alcoholism.

The role of cognac in the diet

Cognac in tandem with our diet also plays an important role. It fills the body with tannins, which act both on individual parts of the body and on the whole of it in general. Separate effects are observed in:

  1. Cardiovascular system. The walls of blood vessels become stronger, and the muscles of the heart tighten.
  2. Gastrointestinal tract. The walls of the intestines and stomach become more elastic. The stomach is cured of minor defects and wounds. The secretion of gastric juice becomes more productive.


In general, cognac, thanks to the tannins stored in it, as it were, “preserves” the body. That is, it slows down the aging of all organs in general. In this case, cognac with lemon for weight loss performs a number of both wellness procedures and a set of weight loss actions.

Conclusion

Cognac and lemon is a very effective weight loss program that also heals the body. And very pleasant, I must admit. Therefore, if you are sure that after completing the diet, you can quit alcohol, then forward to weight loss and a beautiful body.

When foreigners find out about this, especially the French, they become indignant. They do not understand how lemon, which is able to interrupt the brightest taste, is combined with the subtle nuances of exquisite cognac. They forget that domestic grape brandy is of much lower quality than French cognacs. To kill a bright alcohol aftertaste is the task of any citrus, in particular lemon.

Cognac "for breakfast"

At the beginning of the 20th century, aristocrats, including courtiers, first of all, how to wake up, liked to get a charge of vivacity with a glass of cognac. Emperor Nicholas II had the same habit. His wife Alexandra Fedorovna expressed extreme dissatisfaction with such a "breakfast" of her husband and the emperor was forced to resort to ingenious disguise.

Under the guise of tea, cognac was imperceptibly poured into a teapot, then poured into a cup and drank in small sips, like hot tea. And the most common addition to tea is lemon. Therefore, the emperor began to eat his “tea” with lemon and sugar, which did not arouse any suspicions from his wife.

To support domestic products

Nicholas II wanted the whole world to know that Russia is capable of producing goods that can compete with overseas counterparts. So, at one secular reception, to which the French ambassador was invited, a glass of Shustov brandy was brought to the emperor. The emperor saw this cognac for the first time, from which he apparently concluded that the drink did not shine with quality. After drinking a glass of cognac, Nikolai quickly ate it with a lemon and grimaced, referring to the astringency of the latter. Then he praised Shustov and, in front of the French ambassador, ordered that cognac of this brand be regularly supplied to the court of his imperial majesty.

Tribute to nobility

Nicholas II could not stand cognac and was forced to drink it only because it was considered the most noble of men's drinks. Cognac was served exclusively at the highest social events, and drinking other strong drinks was considered bad manners. In order not to experience embarrassment, the emperor ordered to serve cognac with lemon sprinkled with sugar and a cup of coffee. If his expression changed, he could always refer to the lemon.

For the sake of truth, it is worth noting that today none of the versions presented has been confirmed for certain.

In addition

Here are some folk snacks created to commemorate the unusual taste of the last Russian emperor.

Snack "Nikolaska"


Necessary:

  • lemon - 1 pc.;
  • powdered sugar - 5-100 gr.;
  • ground coffee - 50 gr.;

Recipe:
The lemon is cut into thin slices or slices. Powdered sugar is mixed with coffee (2/1). Lemon slices are sprinkled with the resulting mixture and served on a saucer with a glass of cognac.
Fans with fantasy replace coffee with small chocolate chips in this recipe, and sugar is replaced with melted honey. Snack "Nikolashka" is also served with vodka.


Snack "Hussar sandwich"

A slice of lemon is placed between slices of salted cheese.

And still…

Lemon should be eaten only with inexpensive grape brandy of obviously low quality in order to interrupt its sharp alcohol taste. Good cognac for this, just offended by you.

Do you know that biting cognac with lemon is somehow not very common among true connoisseurs of this drink? This is easy to understand, since citrus will easily overpower almost any smell. What can we say about the exquisite taste range of cognac. No, of course we're not talking about cheap artisanal swill. Lemon won't help either! But where did this tradition come from?

It is believed that the custom of eating cognac with lemon was introduced by Emperor Nicholas II. And at least there are three main versions of how it happened:

1. Cognac in the morning

In those days, court aristocrats liked to treat themselves to alcohol immediately after waking up, the emperor was among them. The wife of Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna, did not like such a “breakfast”, because of this, the emperor had to disguise himself.
He quietly poured cognac into the teapot, then with an air of importance poured it into a glass. Cognac and tea do not differ in color, it only remained to solve the problem with a snack. In order not to arouse the suspicion of his wife, the autocrat ate his “tea” with lemon sprinkled with sugar.

2. Support for the domestic manufacturer.

Nicholas II tried to prove to the world that in the Russian Empire they could produce goods that were not inferior in quality to their overseas counterparts. During a secular reception, which was attended by the French ambassador, the manufacturer Shustov presented the emperor with a large glass of cognac of his own production.
Realizing that the brandy in front of him was of low quality, Nikolai asked for a slice of lemon. After drinking a glass and biting into a lemon, the monarch frowned, but explained this by the tart taste of lemon. Then he smiled, praised Shustov's cognac and ordered that this wonderful drink be delivered to the imperial court.

3. Nobility above all.

According to another version, Nicholas II hated cognac, but it was this drink that was considered the most noble for men and was served at all secular receptions. Drinking anything else was considered bad manners.
In order not to look stupid, the emperor ordered that a glass be brought to him along with a slice of lemon sprinkled with sugar and coffee. He attributed the change in facial expression to the lemon, not the cognac.

As you understand, these are just versions, and we are hardly destined to find out how it really was!))