#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Even at the dawn of its youth, during the difficult war years, Norilsk solemnly celebrated the main holiday. In the canteens, despite the shortage of food, they tried to prepare special holiday dishes, and even held confectionery exhibitions with cakes and cookies. In those years there was a lot of fish, but there were almost no vegetables, especially tomatoes or cucumbers – instead, soaked dried potatoes were added to salads. There was very little butter – it was placed on a dish in tiny portions – 20 grams – and beautifully decorated.
Later, starting in the 1950s, Norilsk celebrated the New Year in real restaurants. For example, the main restaurant of the city, Taimyr, hosted up to 400 people in two halls. The leaders of the trade department, Norilsksnab, the construction department, the chief mechanic department, the heads of factories and mines, the combine and city top leaders rested at banquets. They booked tables at the New Year’s banquet in November.
For the largest banquet of the year, restaurants developed a special menu. A set of cold appetizers: smoked and stuffed fish, sugudai, meat jelly, salted milk mushrooms, four types of sausages. The salads included the obligatory Olivier salad, fresh cabbage salad, and Zapolyarny cod liver salad. After the chimes, the waitresses brought two types of hot food to choose from. Towards the end – fruit and iced coffee with ice cream. The entire banquet, including alcohol on the table (vodka, cognac, champagne and wine), cost about 12 rubles per person – quite expensive at that time. The most expensive New Year’s dishes were eggs stuffed with red caviar and a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes, brought by plane for the holiday.
On New Year’s Eve, Norilsk restaurants also offered an entertainment program. The restaurant orchestra prepared a festive medley, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden came. Waitresses were allowed to serve tables not in everyday uniform, but in elegant evening dresses, sometimes even in carnival costumes. On New Year’s Eve, Norilsk restaurants were open until five in the morning, and not until 12 at night, as usual.
At the large New Year’s banquet, maximum restaurant staff worked. First, due to the large number of guests, and second, they could serve a second site in parallel. For example, the Taimyr staff also worked at the banquet at the Palace of Culture. However, the waiters willingly spent the festive night at work, because those banquets were the most fruitful for the staff; there was a lot of things left on the tables – salads, fruit, unfinished bottles of alcohol. Klondike! However, by the end of the 1990s, when the Soviet deficit gave way to post-perestroika famine, guests no longer left anything behind: people came with bags and containers and took the left food home. However, the New Year always remained the New Year – one common holiday for everyone. And by the end of New Year’s Eve, the entire restaurant, including the staff, was already celebrating with one motley group.
Children’s parties were held separately. The From 2 to 5 cafe accepted orders in advance: three thousand children celebrated the New Year there. The New Year tree delighted the children of metallurgists, builders, and miners for several days. The matinees were organized by trade union committees. On the festively set tables there were ruddy apples, sweets, and marshmallows. There was also a salad of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. And the children’s favorite cutlet Chicken Ryaba with mashed potatoes. And the Iceberg ice cream cafe, which opened in November 1984, specially prepared a Sparkling cocktail for the New Year. New types of ice cream also appeared – with butter cream, with chocolate, Sputnik, ice cream on biscuit.
In the History Spot photo project’s previous publication, we told about how the Norilsk press described New Year celebrations.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
