khleb

English

Etymology

From Russian хле́б (xléb). Doublet of chleb and loaf.

Noun

khleb (uncountable)

1. (rare) (A type of) Russian bread.
   • 1949 July, Naum Jasny, “Pre-Revolution Income and Production”, in The Socialized Agriculture of the USSR: Plans and Performance (Grain Economics Series; 5), Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, section “Incomes”, page 183:

     They [peasants] ate it [grain] in the form of khleb (baked bread) and kasha (a stiff porridge), and drank it in the form of kvas (a slightly fermented beverage made in the home from baked bread—the beer of the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians) and vodka.

   • 1972, Russian Literature Triquarterly, volume 4, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis Publishers, page 427:

     A novel from the Finnish, We, Karelians, starts out interestingly, because of the local color, but quickly degenerates into a stock revolutionary tale of Karelian nationalists who don’t understand which side their khleb is buttered on.

   • 1986, Xiao Hong, translated by Howard Goldblatt, “Black Khleb and White Salt”, in Market Street: A Chinese Woman in Harbin, Seattle, Wash.; London: University of Washington Press, →ISBN, pages 35–36:

     He tried to act like someone from a honeymoon scene in the movies, offering me the khleb and salt first, then waiting until I took a bite before returning the bread to his own mouth. […] For many, many days the difference between life and death was black khleb and white salt.

   • 1997, Summary of World Broadcasts: Asia, Pacific, numbers 2895–2906, Reading: British Broadcasting Corporation, →ISSN, page 23, column 2:

     At that time, a dozen loaves of khleb only cost a few roubles, and it was a favourite with foreign students.

   • 2000, Tarisa Ann M. Matsumoto, “Zoltan’s Food”, in Shadowgraph and Zoltan’s Food‎^[1], Ames, Ia.: Iowa State University, →DOI, →OCLC, section “The Trinity Begins”, page 65:

     […] Zoltan and Stas watch she buys a loaf of black khleb Russian khleb now two loaves of khleb […]

   • 2013, Lawrence Winkler, “Back in the USSR”, in The Final Cartwheel, →ISBN, page 149:

     I migrated to the dining car for smoked sturgeon and chleb.

   • 2020, Candice Song, “Harbin Food — Cheer Up Your Taste Buds on a Harbin Tour”, in China Highlights‎^[2], Guilin, Guangxi, archived from the original on 2020-11-11:

     The following dishes are very common and popular in Harbin: […] of course the Russian cuisine and snacks, like dalieba (or khleb, a kind of Russian bread) and hongchang (Harbin smoked red sausages), due to the city's history with Russian immigrants. […] Khleb is a kind of Russian bread. […] Khleb is convenient for carrying and storage. […] You can make a sandwich with the khleb and hongchang for an exotic flavor. […] With traditional Russian techniques (fermentation of khleb), it [Qiulin Gevas] produces a healthy kvass drink (a malted bread low-alcohol beverage) with an excellent taste and rich nutrition.

Related terms

• dalieba