Whenever there is a word of some strong personality, each and every one of us contemplate on what makes that man/woman tick. What exactly drives them forward, what gives them their good luck, and what makes them strong, while doing what their do best? During that contemplation we forget the main thing that allows them to do what they do, and it is their eating habits. No one really thinks about this, which is why we decided to tell you about eating habits of one of the most successful world leaders – Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

You already know that the life of this man is shrouded by mystery and not much info is available, but here and there we get some pieces of the Putin puzzle, sometime from the Russian media and, very rarely, from the man himself. Here is what we have gathered so far!

Everything must be poison proof!

Being a world leader of one of the greatest nations carries more than a few risks. Some of them are dealt logistically while other physically but there are those that include something called a food tester. Every great leader who was insecure about their own safety employed somebody to taste or test the food before they eat, in order to ensure their safeguard against assassination. Hitler did it, Roman emperors did it, and as much as we know it, even a president or two have done it. Now that Putin has insured that the food is OK, let see what he actually eats.

Breakfast

Putin begins his day quite leisurely, and his getting up is so late that the breakfast is served in noon. As far as breakfast menu we found out that it is usually a large omelette or a bowl of porridge, with quail eggs and a glass of fruit juice on the side.

Coffee and a workout

Just like anyone else, Putin enjoys his morning coffee that comes right after breakfast. There has been a time or two where he was caught in a coffee shop ordering one, just to show that he isn’t above a regular people.

After the coffee Putting has time reserved for workout that is usually a swimming marathon that lasts for a good two hours, after which he hits the gym and watches the world news.

Healthy diet

From this part things get a little tricky. Here is where the media info kicks in, and according to them (Russian Pravda) Putin enjoys healthy food that includes tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. He also likes fish, but his favourite meat is mutton, and most importantly, he avoids sweets. You will all agree that there are a lot of contradictions here but hey, it’s the way of the Russian media when it comes to their leader.

Morning steak

The contradictions continue here. According to Russia Today broadcast from 2015 we saw Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev enjoying some grilled steaks and tea after a hard workout in the gym.

If you have a hard time grasping the entire situation, don’t be, we were in the same spot and managed to learn to go with the flow.

Some kefir and fruit, and that is it

According to Putin himself, throughout the rest of the day he enjoys local cuisine when he’s traveling and will eat fruit and drink kefir (sort of fermented milk) whenever he can, but he also said the he tends not to eat anything in the afternoon at all. He sometimes skips dinner as well thanks to the busy schedule he has.

No alcohol

Russia (as a country) definitely has a drinking problem and it is obvious to anyone. If you remember even the first President of post-Soviet Russia, Boris Yeltsin, had a drinking problem which resulted in much embarrassment to him and his country. Putin on the other hand, has a strict no alcohol policy and as far as we could find out he does drink a little, but only at formal receptions.

Putin’s favourite haunts

Just like any other regular joe, Putin has his favourite restaurant, but (unlike the rest of us) it is in every corner of the country. The two specials are located in St. Petersburg, New Island, and one in Moscow is Tsarskaya Okhota. There is also Pivnushka which is a German beer hall and restaurant and it is also located in Moscow. Guess he really likes those German beers.

His comfort food – ice cream

According to Anya von Bremzen, the new age Russians really adore ice cream despite the fact that Russia has some notorious winters. Anya also stated that they eat ice cream in winter as well, despite the fact that parents forbade them.

According to what we found out, it seems that Putin also loves this cold sweet pleasure, and according to some lists of his favourite foods, the pistachio flavoured one is his favourite. Just how much he loves ice cream is shown by the fact that he has gifted it to Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping.

Putin is also lavish

The lavish side of Putin can be shown through the formal occasions he attended and the menus he enjoyed. During a lunch at Podvorye, a restaurant in St. Petersburg, he ate fish soup, followed by cold cuts, smoked sturgeon with lemon and butter, then a range of desserts after.

At a dinner with George W. bush in 2008, these two dined on venison filet with marinated mushrooms, veal tenderloin with baked potato, salmon and crab coulibiac and, finally, berry pie with ice cream. Last but not least was a dinner meeting between Putin and Dubya in 2006, where they dined a salad of tomatoes (with 50-year-old balsamic vinegar!), crawfish with gooseberry marmalade, oladi with caviar, whitefish, steak and strawberry ice cream.