Fish in the Food System of the Komi (Zyryan)

Abstract

The fish diet variety in the Komi cuisine held a certain niche in the traditional food system, which is evidenced by the generalized name for food (cheriyon-yaion olny; literally, “to live with fish-meat”). Mythological relations between fish and the chthonic world manifest themselves saliently in the practice of organizing feasts in the course of life cycle rituals. The three elements of the vertical structure of the house, while it was under construction, would be referenced by the system of the three treats where the meal functioned as an illustration of constructing and dividing which represented the basic motifs of the creation myth.