A Russian Spice Chest

A detailed picture of the contents of a Russian spice chest is contained in the Domostroi, a Russian household management manual written in Muscovy between 1550 and 1600. It mentions the following spices and favourings:

saffron (22 mentions)
pepper (10)
garlic (9)
poppy seeds (8)
hops (7) - as flavouring for fermented drinks; they were also strewn like confetti on newly-weds
cloves (5)
nutmeg (4)
ginger (4)
"herbs" [not further specified] (4)
hemp seed (3) - used mainly as a source of oil, but hemp seed cakes are also mentioned
lemons (3) - these seem to have been preserved in salt or brine, and probably came from Astrakhan
horseradish (2)
frankincense and incense (2) - for burning near icons and as church offering
cinnamon (1)
mace (1)
dill (1) - added to consecrated wine

[this list is drawn from Carol Johnston Pouncey, ed. and trans., The Domostroi: Rules for Russian Households in the Time of Ivan the Terrible (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994.]

Some further information, for various eras, can be drawn from references in R.E.F. Smith and David Christian, Bread and Salt: A social and economic history of food and drink in Russia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).

Hemp and flax seed were used, from early times, both directly and as a source of oil. [p. 7] Hemp seed was a common component of food alllowances in the 16th century. [p. 21]
Garlic and onions were described as prevalent by visitors in the early 17th century [p. 9]
Lemons, preserved in salt, were imported. Lemon rinds were a snack in the early 17th century. [p. 9]
Imported spices (such as pepper, ginger, cloves, saffron, and coriander) became commoner in the 16th and 17th centuries. [p. 9]
Hops (khmel')were used to flavour beer from the 11th century onwards. [p. 75] They grew wild in northern Russia; from the 13th century on hops were a regular item of trade in Novgorod and Pskov. [p. 78]
In 1667 a Polish embassy in Moscow was provided the following spices by the tsar: loaf sugar, cinnamon, saffron, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, ginger, pepper, anise, and caraway. The spices totalled 381 pounds (including 18 pounds of saffron alone). [p. 120]

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