In the territory where the Soviet Union once existed , they loved doctor sausage very much (and even now they enjoy eating it). She was appreciated both in the Baltic states, and in Kazakhstan, and in the poor post-war years, and in the prosperous seventies. But few consumers knew why the sausage is called "doctoral". Everyone is accustomed to this product name, although for some reason it threw foreigners into shock. If the “Tongue” or “Chicken” sausages were made from offal and poultry, one could only guess what is part of the “Doctor's” and “Children's”. The meaning of these names has been forgotten over time. And let's remember the history of the doctoral sausage. To do this, we will have to return to the thirties of the last century.
The more nutritious, the healthier
The village doctor often dealt with patients whose ailment was rooted in poor nutrition. After all, peasants ate meat only on holidays, and their daily diet consisted of cereals and lean soup. In order to cure anemia and ailments like it, the doctor ordered the patient to eat more fatty meat. Maybe this is the secret to why the doctor’s sausage is called the “doctor’s” sausage? In the prescription of the doctor? Partly yes. Doctor's sausage is very nutritious. And, indeed, doctors believed that it was good to eat with anemia or after prolonged fasting. But the doctor’s sausage is hardly fat. It is truly dietary. And not some doctor came up with it. The composition of the sausage was approved by the People’s Health Commissariat itself. Why did the Land of Soviets so need a special “medicinal” prescription?
Where did the name "doctor's sausage" come from
The thirties of the last century ... The NEP policy was canceled. Collectivization, combined with harvesting from the peasants, led to hunger. Huge masses of the population lacked food. Long starvation led to outbreaks of various diseases. Around the same time, the politician Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan visited the United States in the year nineteen thirty. During his visit, he also visited Chicago, where he personally witnessed how the American meat industry works. Returning to the USSR, Mikoyan, based on his experience, created the First Moscow Sausage Factory. This factory was later named after its creator. Nutritionists of the All-Russian Research Institute of Meat Industry have developed and submitted for approval to the People’s Commissariat of Health a recipe for a new sausage product. It, as stated in the documents, was intended specifically for "treating the nutrition of patients whose health was undermined by the Civil War and royal despotism." It is not difficult now to guess why the doctor's sausage received such a name. Even according to documents, she was a medicine prescribed by a doctor.
Doctor's sausage in accordance with GOST
Of course, the government was cunning about the causes of mass starvation of the population. But a cure quickly recovering strength was nevertheless found. The medical prescription was verified to the smallest detail. To prepare one hundred kilograms of doctor's sausage, you had to take 25 kg of veined beef meat (pulp of the highest grade, without connective tissue), 70 kg of pork (also first-class quality, low-fat, without fat), two liters of whole cow's milk and seventy-five chicken eggs. But from spices it was allowed to add only salt, sugar, a little cardamom and nutmeg. Why is doctoral sausage called "doctoral"? Yes, because it was prescribed to patients with a stomach ulcer, colitis and other ailments of the gastrointestinal tract. This nutritious product was truly dietary. He could rightfully be included in the diet of children. By the way, at the Moscow plant named after Mikoyan, where the first Doctor’s stick came off the assembly line, other no less popular brands of sausages were invented: Amateur, Braunschweig, Tea.
Gradual surrender of positions
The meat product recipe was approved by GOST, which was strictly adhered to until the seventy-fourth year. Why did you need to change the recipe during the "general welfare"? When the country moved from the construction of a bright future to the stage of developed socialism, it suddenly became clear that the number of livestock was not as large as we would like. In addition, pigs began to be fed with waste from the fishing industry, which caused the animal meat to get an unpleasant odor. Already GOST 1974 allows the use of starch and flour in the preparation of doctor's sausages. But this was only the beginning of the fall of the once high standard of quality. GOST 23670-79 permitted the use of melange, milk powder and pork skins instead of eggs. Soon taste enhancers, sodium nitrite, and antioxidants went into action. The baton was wrapped in cellophane. That is why gourmets began to ask in bewilderment: “And why is the doctor's sausage called“ doctor’s ”?
GOST and TU
At the beginning of the 2000s, a myriad of enterprises appeared, exploiting the brand’s popularity. They cooked their sausage in such a way that it was impossible to call it a dietary product. The current State Standard (2011) allows the use of flour, starch, sodium nitrite in the preparation of the product, and dry substitutes instead of natural eggs and milk. But there are manufacturers who offer the TU product. This abbreviation stands for "Technical Conditions". They have nothing to do with GOST and are developed by the enterprise itself. And it is no longer known why the doctor’s sausage is so called - because it contains smoke flavoring, antioxidants E 300-306, addictive monosodium glutamate, stabilizers and acidity regulators. It is unlikely that such a dubious cocktail of all sorts of E-supplements can be considered a dietary product.
Why sausage is called "doctoral"
We have already told the origin of the name of this product. The question should be posed differently: does she have the right to continue to be considered “medicinal” food? Folk art has already begun to make jokes about its dubious quality. For example, in one of them, very revealing, the question of why the doctor’s sausage is called “doctor’s sausage” is answered: because after eating it, you need to urgently contact the doctor.