What sweets and wine did the Russian tsars love, and what are “daddies” for common people

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In Russia in the 18th-19th centuries, there were favorable conditions for the development of business. Anyone could open their own enterprise, be it a merchant, a foreigner or a former serf peasant. Thanks to resourcefulness, talent and passion for their work, some entrepreneurs of that time created large brands that are still popular not only at home, but also abroad. Since 1917, factories were transferred to state ownership and renamed in honor of the Bolsheviks. Some brands ceased to exist altogether after the revolution, but remained forever in the history of business as an example of ingenious marketing, innovation and skill.

Kolomenskaya marshmallow from Peter Chuprikov

Pastila was prepared already under Ivan the Terrible, and its recipe is even in Domostroy. It was advised to preserve the apple harvest for the winter in the form of a marshmallow. First, the fruits were simmered in the oven, then kneaded, laid in a thin layer on boards and left in the sun until completely dry. Thin strips were rolled into rolls and eaten as a dessert until the next harvest.

From the XIV century the vast territories of Kolomna were occupied by the royal and bishop's gardens. The city was called the center of Russian gardening, and the production of apple delicacies here became one of the main types of fishing. The pastila was prepared by local artisans of a special profession - "pastilles" and "pastilles". The airy loose marshmallow had a special composition - not molasses, but sugar was added to the applesauce, and whipped with egg whites. It was baked in a special earthenware dish, and in V. Dahl's dictionary there even appeared such a saying - “strong as a Kolomna pot”. There was a legend among foreign tourists that only Kolomna monks knew an amazing recipe, "how to make a cloud out of an apple."

In 1735, the first pastille factory was opened in Kolomna under the leadership of the merchant Shershavin, who glorified this product throughout the country. In 1775, Catherine the Great herself was treated to dessert during her arrival in Kolomna. And in 1796, the Tula landowner and writer Vasily Levshin described the procedure for making Kolomna pastila in his culinary dictionary.

In the middle of the 19th century, the airy delicacy was produced at the factories of the Kupriyanovs and Panins. In 1852, the “Candy and Pastille Establishment” of the merchant Pyotr Chuprikov appeared on the Kolomna Posad. This manufacturer's strawberry, nut and raspberry pastilles were sold throughout the country. In 1870, at the All-Russian Manufacturing Exhibition, Chuprikov's products were awarded an honorable mention. The unique technology was developed over the centuries, but was lost in an instant - during the revolution, the plant in Kolomna was closed. Today the Museum factory of pastilles operates within its walls.

Why the Tula gingerbread became the main gingerbread in Russia

There is an assumption that the gingerbread craft arose in Tula much earlier than the arms and samovar craft. Since ancient times, the delicacy was called "honey bread", and the first written mention of it is attested in the scribal book of 1685.

The famous "printed" gingerbreads were baked on gingerbread boards. The molds were made of birch and linden wood, dried, and then relief drawings, inscriptions and patterns were cut out on them. The dough was "imprinted" on the board and baked in the oven. The recipe was kept in the strictest confidence.

Not a single fair was complete without the sale of fragrant gingerbreads - printed, raw, with chocolate or fruit and berry filling. For common people, dry "daddy" without filling was baked.

In 1778, for the 75th anniversary of St. Petersburg, Tula craftsmen presented Catherine II with a three-meter rug weighing 30 kilograms with images of city sights.

In the 19th century, whole family gingerbread dynasties appeared. The most famous manufacturer was the merchant Vasily Grechikhin. At the Paris World's Fair in 1899 and 1900, he wowed audiences with a pavilion whose roof was entirely constructed from printed rugs.

During the revolution, the gingerbread craft nearly disappeared - shops closed, craftsmen left the country, and unique recipes were lost and forgotten. Production was started only in 1954, and in 1996, the Tula Gingerbread Museum was opened in the homeland of the legendary dessert.

Apricot chocolate for the royal court from the Penza serf

Caramel "Crow's Feet" and "Crayfish Necks", small surprise toys in chocolates and hares in foil - all this was invented by the genius businessman Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov. From the small shop of his grandfather, he created the largest confectionery factory in pre-revolutionary Russia, became the first candy magnate of Russian origin and was nicknamed "the gummy king."

Stepan Nikolaev is considered the founder of the future empire of chocolates. In 1804, the 64-year-old Penza serf received his freedom from a lady and moved to Moscow. There, together with his sons, he organized a small handicraft production for the manufacture of jam and marmalade. According to one of the legends, Stepan Nikolaev decided to take the name of Abrikosov, because it was from these fruits that he succeeded in the best sweets.

The sons of the talented craftsman could not continue his business, in 1841 all the property went into debts. Only in 1846 did Aleksey Ivanovich decide to continue his grandfather's work and restore the almost completely ruined family production, in which he was greatly helped by a former employer who provided a loan.

By 1879, Aleksey Ivanovich opened a new factory and created the partnership "AI Abrikosov and Sons". In 1899, after numerous victories at exhibitions, he was awarded the status of "Supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty."

The assortment included more than 750 thousand types of products: fruit candy, Duck Noses sweets, Ancient Greek and Zoological chocolate, Lilliput and Tsarsky marmalade, curly pies, cakes and cookies.

The main products are jams, preserves, purees, compotes, glazed berries, fruits and nuts. Exotic delicacies were especially popular - slices of watermelon, lemons, tangerines and oranges in chocolate. Sweets were packed in tin and glass jars, packed in velvet bags and wooden boxes. The chocolate packaging was a real piece of art. The manufacturer invited the Vasnetsov brothers, Ivan Bilibin, Valentin Serov and other professional artists to his workshop. The artel of 30 people was headed by the then famous painter F. Shemyakin.

Alexey Abrikosov is rightfully considered the innovator and genius marketer of his time. It was he who came up with the idea of putting cards with cognitive information, puzzles and other surprises into chocolates. The wrappers were printed with riddles, sayings, the alphabet and the multiplication table. Chocolate balls, pine cones and Easter eggs were made from thin chocolate, and a small toy was placed inside. This idea was later used by American manufacturers to create "kinder surprises".

Before the new year 1880, an announcement appeared in the newspapers that only brunettes work in one store of the Abrikosovs, and only blondes in the other. Muscovites began to visit the shops en masse to check if this is really so, at the same time buying sweets for the holiday. Such original advertising methods Abrikosov used constantly.

In 1918 the factory became the property of the state, and in 1922 it was renamed in honor of the Bolshevik Pyotr Babaev, who had nothing to do with the confectionery business.

"Parisian" Vologda oil

Vologda butter is a product with a recognizable taste and aroma, which is obtained from the freshest first grade cream, processed under the influence of high temperature. The trade mark appeared thanks to the brother of the painter V. V. Vereshchagin to Nikolai. In 1880, he founded a butter factory in the Vologda region, which after eight years was competing in terms of output with the recognized leaders from the Baltic states and Finland.

It all began in 1870, when at the Paris exhibition Nikolai Vasilyevich tasted delicious butter with an unusual nutty flavor and decided that such an original product could be produced in his homeland. Special Norman herbs, which were not in Vologda, gave the oil an unusual taste and aroma. In search of unique taste characteristics, Vereshchagin conducted many experiments and studies. After numerous failures, it was decided to boil water for washing the raw materials, and at the same time it was decided to boil the cream as well. When we whipped up the butter and tasted it, we felt that inimitable nutty taste. This is how the famous Vologda oil appeared.

Vereshchagin himself called his oil Parisian, and in Europe it was known as Petersburg oil, since supplies abroad were carried out only from the Northern capital.

The increased volume of exports from the Vologda province prompted the Danish firm Merck-Pallisen, operating in St. Petersburg, to open its representative office in Vologda. From there they brought oil for Copenhagen, Hamburg and London.

In the future, Vereshchagin's unique recipe was used by manufacturers from Europe. But the "Parisian" butter acquired its traditional taste only from the milk that was obtained in the natural conditions of the Vologda region.

In 1911, the first Russian institute for training personnel in the field of butter production was opened, which was later renamed into the Vologda Dairy Academy named after N. V. Vereshchagin.

Favorite wines of emperors from Massandra village

In the 30s of the XIX century, Count Mikhail Vorontsov began to produce wine in the Crimean village of Massandra. He brought the vine from Europe and planted it on his estates in the Crimea. Soon the first winery was opened there, the products of which were highly appreciated by Nikolai I. Under Vorontsov, in some guidebooks for Massandra, the status of "the side of the best Crimean wines" was fixed. Strong and thick liquor drinks were especially popular: Muscats, Pinot Gris and Massandra Port.

In 1889, the estate was bought by the Appanage Department, which ruled over the tsarist lands in the Crimea. Prince Lev Golitsyn was appointed the chief winemaker of the Massandra estate of the Romanovs. Later he would be called the father of Russian winemaking, since it was with him that the Russian brand received international recognition. In 1894, the plant began to build the Main Massandra cellar - this year is still put on all bottles as the date of foundation. The construction was entrusted to the civil engineer A. I. Dietrich.

For 5 years of Golitsyn's work as chief winemaker, French wine brands were completely ousted from the Russian market. Massandra's drinks received the highest awards at international exhibitions, were regularly supplied to Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities. In 1920, the plant was nationalized, at that time more than 100,000 bottles of different years were stored in the wine cellar.

But it's curious to know what was the fashion in ancient Rome 100 BC?