It is very funny, it happens, to read publications condemning the "Soviet" serving of dishes (especially on festive tables).
No, on the one hand, I am, of course, happy with a huge number of people who have a fine artistic (and not only) taste. On the other hand, their lamentations over heavy crystal or painted porcelain dishes ("ah, Bohemian glass and priestly porcelain with simple" scoops "would not be appreciated because of its simplicity), over cupronickel cutlery ("a pitiful substitute for table silver"), over the layering of salads, over the desire to decorate everything, up to banal sandwiches that are chopped from vegetables with asterisks, then "lattices" and "waves" of mayonnaise ("well, still, the population did not know world trends"), sometimes they look funny.
To be honest, I am still, at times, frightened by the revelry of the imagination of many fellow citizens: how they decorate a dish, so decorate it. But... Such a reaction, more often than not, is caused not by a passion for decoration, but by "slanting" hands. IMHO - if you don't know how, it's better not to take on the decor. Or if there is no talent (here I have no talent, I admit, I never set myself up as an example).
Well, okay... Not about that, but about a funny nuance that condemners often forget.
Traditions of decorating dishes do not come from the "scoop", no way. The tradition of decorating the table and food goes back to ancient times. This (like so much else in cooking) has ritual roots, anthropologists claim. Unusual design of dishes is necessary in order to separate the "festive" meal from the everyday one and to demonstrate to the guests that the host has spent a lot of effort preparing to treat them. This is at the same time a demonstration of respect for the guests and the wealth of the hosts.
The only thing is that for a long time such "luxury" was inaccessible for the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the Russian Empire. Let's remember: about 85 percent lived outside the city, while their income was very, very low. Even in the handbook of every defender of the good old days, B. N. Mironov, "Welfare of the Population and Revolution in Imperial Russia", in the second edition, he was forced to adjust his calculations so that the lie about prosperity, and 80 percent of the population between the richest and poorest groups (labeled as 10 percent each) had an annual income of 110 rub. per capita of an independent person and below 70 rubles (i.e., below the prisoner's pay) per capita of the entire population. Proofs everyone can find: Mironov B. N. Population Welfare and Revolutions in Imperial Russia, 2nd Edition, pp. 604.
In the context of everyday and culinary traditions, this can be expressed as follows: for many, having at least some kind of food was already a joy, but when it comes to serving dishes, not every resident had his own plate. The tradition is to eat from a common bowl or pot, scooping in turn, no one will deny? For some reason, I'm not sure that this tradition appeared due to high income
But closer to the topic.
Around the thirties, began what historians now call the "bourgeoisization of the USSR." Gone are the cards system and revolutionary asceticism, society was allowed to CONSUME. This was largely facilitated by Anastas Mikoyan, who tried to accustom the population of the USSR to new products, new drinks.
This, by the way, was the time of grocery advertising.
And through this advertising, among other things, the goal was achieved to instill in citizens a new culture of consumption... Borrowed, by the way, from the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, previously inaccessible to the common man.
Inaccessibility before the revolution and availability after - this was the focus of special attention. Even when Mikoyan was setting up the production of champagne and wines. The advertisement explained that food is not only for satiety, but also for pleasure. Unobtrusively, not directly, through advertising, advice from sellers to buyers, buying meetings and exhibitions, a little later - through the illustrations of the book about "Delicious and Healthy Food", culinary rituals, previously related to other social classes.
Including decorating dishes.
And yes, it was an achievement. Because a person begins to care about the beauty of his food only when he feels psychological need for this, when it outgrows (intellectually) satisfaction only basic physical.
So there is no need to ridicule the "soviet customs". And critics should reflect on a very interesting topic: which is better, to sip cabbage soup from a common pot or see "terrible carrot stars"