Russian tradition Kalach (food)

boris kustodiev. merchants s wife drinking tea, 1923. kalach in form of kettlebell depicted common in central , northern parts of russia.

in russian, kalach stands specific type of twisted white bread. in former times kalach meant kind of white bread, , before modern methods of grinding wheat came use, white bread classed type of fancy bread.

kalach looks circle, 1 part of thinner, , other thicker. traditional explanation thinner part used handle kalach eaten workers had no time wash hands. threw handle away or gave poor. hence russian saying go down handle (дойти до ручки, doyti ruchki) means reach lowest possible level, hit rock bottom. because desperate people ate handles had been thrown away.

cultural legacy

a man made kalaches called kalachnik (калачник), sandhi effect became kalashnik (калашник). such man s descendants got surname kalachnikov (Калачников) or kalashnikov (Калашников, [son] of kalach-maker ).