Conference about the history of international gastronomy successfully ran in the Moscow Kremlin Museums

Participants of the conference
Participants of the conference
Display of the Publications of the Moscow Kremlin Museums
Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, Doctor of Historical Sciences Andrey Batalov.
Nina Pavlova with a report “Chinese Vessel Gāo Jiǎo Bēi from Archaeological Findings on the Territory of the Moscow Kremlin”
Tatyana Zhitkova with a report “Sovereign’s Bowls and Charkas from the Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums"
Nikolay Azovtsev with a report “Culture of Festive Tables Serving in Europe in the 15th-17th cc: Characteristic Features and Evolution”
Tatiana Muntyan with a report “ ’Small but Elegant Dinner’. Precious Russian Tableware of the 19th – early 20th сс from the Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums”
Yulia Bykova with a report “Precious Services of the Russian Imperial Table in the 18th c: Discussing Typology”
Irina Gorbatova with a report “Cabaret. History and Evolution”
Yulia Uvarova with a report “‘Dishes were Served with Two Changes…’. Aristocratic Table Feast in Russia: Traditions of Two Centuries. The 18th - early 20th cc”
Sergey Zverev with a report “Billable Tokens of Russian Restaurants, Cafes and Taverns of the 19th - early 20th cc. Features of Usage”

On 18-19 June 2025, the Cross Chamber of the Patriarch’s Palace hosted the conference “Dining in the History of Europe and Asia: Art, Traditions, Cultural Space”, timed to the current exhibition of the museum “Fine Dining: Stories of Food in Ancient China”.

The participants discussed the questions of international gastronomy from ancient to contemporary times, centuries-long history and cultural identity of dining, table etiquette and ways of cooking in different epochs. The themes of the conference were: “Five Cereals and Five Tastes: from Stewed Deer’s Tale to Fragrant Flowers of Osmanthus, or What the Last Chinese Emperors Ate in the Forbidden City”, “Dining in the Ancient Egypt Style”, “Ceremonial of Meals at the French Court of the 15th century: Facts, Hypotheses, Riddles”, “Cabaret. History and Evolution”, “Restaurant Dining in Russia: Image and Practice” and others.

Deputy Director for Scientific Work of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, Andrey Batalov addressed the guests with a welcoming speech.

“Having observed all conferences that the Moscow Kremlin Museums and other institutions have held in our city over the last 30-40 years, I have not found a single precedent of similar topics that would be subject to a separate conference. In this respect, our scientific meeting is unique. I won’t speak a lot since we have many reports to listen to - it is the first time that so many researchers from completely different institutions responded to the themes we have announced mainstream of our conference. The Chinese food tradition is a so-called foundation on which the building of our conference is erected, at the same time, you have already seen from the programme how various the subjects of the presented reports are,” noted Andrey Batalov.

Members of the staff of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, State Museum of the Oriental Art, Museum and Nature Reserve “Arkhangelskoe”, Central Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, Moscow State University named after Mikhail Lomonosov, Institute of Orientalism of the Russian Academy of Science, State Institute of Art History, National Association of Protocol Specialists, etc partook in the conference. 36 speeches were carried in total.

The first day of the conference ended with a guided tour around the exhibition “Fine Dining: Stories of Food in Ancient China”, exposed in the halls of the Assumption Belfry and the Patriarch’s Palace.