At a 19th-century St. Petersburg table, the meal unfolds in several stages. It begins with *zakuski* (small cold appetizers, black bread, fish, pickles) taken standing up, then comes *pervoe* (first course, always a hot soup), followed by *vtoroe* (second course, meat, fish or kasha). The meal lingers long around the samovar, where tea flows endlessly, accompanied by preserves and sweets — it was in this unceremonious hospitality that Borodin received his friends and students.

Two pillars of the Russian table: the sour fermented cabbage that perfumes soups and side dishes with a lively acidity, and the copper samovar that keeps tea hot for hours, the heart of Russian hospitality.