Recovering lost and forgotten is not so simple. But, of course, with a great desire it is possible. So, in the Moscow region, in the city of Kolomna, it was possible not only to revive the technology of making apple candy, but also to create a unique museum of this sweets, famous in the 18-19 centuries.
Pastille for marquise Pompadour
Indeed, there is evidence that this favorite of Louis the Fifteenth was very fond of apple lozenges and wrote them out from Russia. However, in the 19th century, this Russian sweetness was well known in Western Europe.
However, the time of the invention of pastilles is hidden in the even more distant past, some sources attribute it to the 14th century. It was in Kolomna that the first pastille was prepared. Later, Belev and Rzhev were also famous for it.
Kolomenskaya marshmallow even in those days it was considered the most delicious, healthy and even exquisite.
Former sweet shop
The Pastila Museum in Kolomna (photo on the left) is located between the local Kremlin and the Church of St. Nicholas in Posad in an old building built in the early 19th century. Once upon a time there was a sweets shop for the merchants of the Surganovs. This place was widely known throughout the county and was very popular. So much so that even the writers Vladimir Gilyarovsky and Ivan Lazhechnikov mentioned him in their works. And the writer Boris Pilnyak, who lived nearby, dedicated his story “Kolomenskaya Marshmallow” to him.
The modern pastila museum in Kolomna is a very interesting place where you can plunge into the atmosphere of the 19th century, get acquainted with life and exhibits dedicated to the history of the production of the famous apple pastille.
What to see
The Museum of Kolomna Pastila is an extensive exposition dedicated to the traditions, history and technology of pastilles. Here you can see old hand-written recipes, “textbooks” on the production of pastila for confectioners, as well as a variety of advertising posters and packaging of the time.
Visitors are warmly welcomed by madam in dresses of the 18-19th century, which play the role of guides here. They will lead you through the halls, tell you a lot of new and interesting things that you certainly do not know yet. And at the end of the tour, guests will find a real pleasant surprise - a tasting of delicious pastille. So, for example, you can try the famous “Sobriety”, which is offered only by the Pastila Museum in Kolomna. Reviews of this sweet are the most enthusiastic. After all, as the inscription on the package says, it is "ot ot drunkenness and binge." This is probably tastier than pickle!
In addition, the museum presents many items of ancient life. For example, kitchen utensils, candy cans and vases for jam and sweets, irons, hardware, locks, bells and much more. The museum has a cozy and pleasant environment - carved tables and sideboards covered with lace starched tablecloths, creaky stools of the time, windows with carved shutters, a tiled stove, as well as dressers and other antique handmade furniture.
Also, the Pastila Museum in Kolomna offers visitors seasonal thematic excursions, which include tasting. One of these programs is the spring "Cupids". During the tour, visitors will hear heart-rending love stories and reinforce them with the “thematic” taste of pink-petal pompadour marshmallow.
Factory
The Kolomna pastille factory is the first museum in Russia where theatrical tours and pastel production are opened using the technologies created back in the 19th century. The factory is located in an old building of the once candy and pastil institution owned by the merchant Pyotr Chuprikov. This institution was founded in 1852 and was considered the best candy factory in Kolomenskoye Posad.
For more than half a century, “sweet” production in Kolomna flourished, and was widely known even outside the Russian Empire. However, revolutionary moods and changes in the state sadly affected all enterprises, and also did not pass over the Kolomna pastille factory. The enterprise was closed, the workers dismissed, and the art of cooking itself was lost. The famous taste of Kolomna pastila has sunk into oblivion.
Pastel production was revived only a century later, in 2009. Thus, drawings and plans of ancient technology were discovered, thanks to which they were able to recreate exactly the entire interior of the factory anew. Ancient pastillers were restored. For example, the Zemsh boil kettle and Reis washing drum. Old archival textbooks on the preparation of pastilles and hand-written recipes were lifted from the archives. And the sweet production after centuries of oblivion was launched again. And in 2011, when it had already been established, a pastila museum factory was opened.
Cooking technology
The Kolomna pastille, famous in pre-revolutionary times, was made from applesauce, thoroughly beaten beforehand, with the addition of honey, granulated sugar, nuts and various berries. The museum organizers faced incredible difficulties when searching for old recipes for making pastille. For example, in the recipe of the 18-19th century, the main ingredient for the pastille was a certain “green stuff”. For a long time they could not understand what it was. But then it turned out that this is such a kind of apples, which today is nowhere left. Therefore, modern Kolomna pastille is made only from apples of the Antonovka variety.
The technology for making pastilles consisted of the following steps:
1. Apples were washed and all unnecessary cores were seized. This was done with the help of a special washing drum Reis.
2. The apple pulp was mashed in puree.
3. Mashed potatoes were prepared in a special apparatus - the Tsemsch cooking boiler. This action served to increase the volume of the finished mass.
4. The finished mashed potatoes were beaten into pastille dough and poured into molds.
5. The dough was dried in a Russian oven.
In this way, sweet Kolomna pastilles have been prepared for more than two hundred years.
Factory Life
Today, factory life is in full swing. It is always full of visitors and a fun atmosphere reigns, filled with the apple smell of marshmallows. Guests of the factory personally take part in the preparation of goodies. So, under the guidance of pastry chef Zakhar Evgrafovich and his assistant Vanya, visitors wash apples in the Reis apparatus, grate the fruit in mashed potatoes, boil it in a cauldron, beat it with special mixers - whorls - and dry it in a real Russian oven.
And while the guests are busy cooking, the hostess Lyubov Chuprikova sets up a table with a hot samovar and jam in the raspberry room, so that later the guests could enjoy freshly baked pastille of their own preparation in the company of the owner of the restaurant, Pyotr Chuprikov.
Museum garden
The pastille factory has a whole farm. Right behind the building is a huge garden where special Antonovka apples are grown. These fruits are sour and very hard, so much so that until March they cannot even be bitten. But these are exactly what is needed for making pastille. Next is a spacious fruit storage. The gardener of the factory Melentius takes care of the garden and the barn, who will be happy to share useful knowledge and skills in the field of growing and storing crops with visitors.
For example, did you know that apples are best stored in hay? That is so, despite the fact that the fruits are in the air, they do not rot and remain dry. You will learn about this and much more if you visit a factory with a wonderful garden.
What to take with you
The pastille factory and museum, as expected, carry branded stores. There you can buy a real Kolomna pastille. Everything is packed in beautiful old boxes - do not be ashamed to present or put on the table. Such a box of pastille to take away costs a lot - from 350 rubles. Of course, there are options in simpler packaging - from 150 rubles.
Tastes are very diverse: marshmallow marshmallow, honey, cranberry and others. The famous "Sobriety" will cost 500 rubles, and a cake from pastille - 600 rubles.
For true lovers, the museum offers the service "order pastilles". You can choose any taste and volume as you wish. Pickup and delivery are possible.
In addition to sweets, there is a gardening shop in the factory’s museum. There you can buy a replica of an old garden shovel and other useful tools and small things.
Today, you can buy the famous pastille only in the Kolomna museum. But the creators of the factory hope that soon they will be able to expand their production. So far, Kolomna’s plans.
Pastilles Museum: how to get there
There are three ways to get from Moscow to Kolomna.
1. The train.
From the Kazan station in Moscow, you are taking an electric train to the Kolomna station. The Express "Sputnik" will be faster - along the same route, or Express "C. Yesenin "to the stop" Golutvin ".
2. The bus.
To the will of exit from the Vykhino metro station there is a stop with which minibus No. 460 (Moscow-Kolomna) runs every half an hour.
3. The car.
Take the Moscow Ring Road onto Novoryazanskoye Shosse and drive along the M5 for about an hour (90 km). Focus on the sign "Chelyabinsk, Ryazan", and so you get to the city.
The Pastila Museum in Kolomna is located on Posadskaya Street 13. The factory is a little further (Polyanskaya, 4). It is more convenient to start the inspection from the museum, then move towards the factory, located three hundred meters from there.
The museum has a reservation system. Be sure to use it.
Entrance ticket for adults will cost 250 rubles, for children - 50 rubles cheaper.
All the necessary information about the factory, museum and famous pastille is on the official website (www. Kolomnapastila. Ru).