Quail eggs, ice cream & more: What Vladimir Putin loves to eat

Russian President Vladimir Putin is arriving in India for a two-day state visit on December 4-5. Trade and defence will be at the top of the agenda as the 73-year-old visits New Delhi and holds talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

There’s much mystery around Putin as his personal life mainly remains under wraps. A question that has fascinated many for years is: what does the Russian president prefer to eat? Do we know what his food habits are?

We take a look.

Quail eggs, ice cream

Russian President Putin likes to eat a healthy diet. Reports say he sticks to a daily schedule.

According to a 2014 profile of Putin by Newsweek’s Ben Judah, who spent years researching him for his book, Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell in and Out of Love with Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader loves a breakfast of quail eggs.

He wakes up late in the morning and takes his breakfast around noon.

“The President wakes late and eats shortly after noon. He begins with the simplest of breakfasts. There is always cottage cheese. His cooked portion is always substantial; omelette or occasionally porridge. He likes quails’ eggs. He drinks fruit juice. The food is forever fresh: baskets of his favourites dispatched regularly from the farmland estates of the Patriarch Kirill, Russia’s religious leader,” Judah wrote.

As per an article in Russia Beyond, Putin eats “porridge and tvorog (cottage cheese) with honey”. Moreover, he drinks raw quail eggs, along with a cocktail of beetroot and horseradish juice.

However, later, the Russian leader told reporters he likes to eat rice and buckwheat, but not oatmeal.

In March 2021, Russian state-owned news agency Tass reported that Putin enjoys “simple” food but ignores baked foods.

In meat, the leader of Russia is said to prefer salmon, sturgeon and lamb. The traditional staples he enjoys include borscht, shchi (a cabbage soup), pelmeni and a range of fresh salads. He is said to have a liking for flavours around tomatoes and lettuce, which indicates his healthy eating habits.

When it comes to dessert, Putin is “obsessed” with ice cream, with some reports saying he leans toward pistachio flavour. Witold Szablowski wrote in his book Russia from the Kitchen, which entails the country’s gastronomic history, that all the desserts that are presented to Putin, there is “at least one scoop of ice cream.”

The Russian president’s grandfather, Spiridon Putin, was a chef. Some reports say that he cooked for Lenin and Stalin; however, there is no such evidence.

When Putin is on a visit to a foreign country, his meals undergo layers of inspection, security checks and protocol clearances. Nothing reaches the president’s table unless approved by team. Such drastic measures are taken to safeguard his health and national security.

Likes swimming, but not smoking

The Russian leader spends about two hours in the morning swimming. Newsweek reported that Putin “enjoys this solitary time in the water”, where he gets “much of Russia’s thinking done”.

He reportedly goes to the gym, where he lifts weights while getting updated with the news.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Putin does not fancy smoking and his close circle does not include many smokers. “The president has never approved of smoking because he advocates a healthy lifestyle,” he was quoted as saying by Tass.

Putin has always maintained a macho and sporty image. Russia’s presidential press service has released photos of him hunting, fishing shirtless, playing hockey and flying on a motorised hang glider.

“As Putin reaches his 60th birthday, it’s very important for him to portray the image of vigour, youth, health, dynamism,” Clifford Gaddy, a Brookings Institution economist specialising in Russia, had told Politico back in 2014.

With inputs from agencies