From the history of the cake "BIRD'S MILK"
"BIRD'S MILK" is the first cake for which a patent was issued during the existence of the USSR.
The authors of the recipe, created in the early 1960s, are a group of confectioners consisting of the head of the confectionery shop of the Moscow restaurant "Prague" Vladimir GURALNIK, Margarita GOLOVOY and Nikolai PANFILOV.
“At first they made 30 pieces a day, then 60, then 600,” recalls Vladimir Guralnik.
This was sorely lacking for Muscovites and guests of the capital: in the 80s, such queues lined up behind the cake that they had to be deployed so that people would not block traffic between Kalinin Avenue (now Novy Arbat) and Arbat. Buyers stood for hours by appointment; the smaller queue consisted of the holders of coupons, which the restaurant sold to the “chosen ones” for 3 rubles. (The Bird's Milk cake itself cost 6 rubles 16 kopecks at that time).
Guralnik laughingly recalls how, at the exit from the Arbatskaya metro station, he was offered to buy a coupon for his own product.
The first experimental industrial batches of "bird's milk" have been produced since 1968 at the Rot-Front factory. But due to the complex technology, the batches were small, the recipe documentation was not approved by the Ministry of the Food Industry of the USSR.
The application for the invention was filed in September 1980, and in 1982 the inventors of the recipe were issued copyright certificate No. 925285, where the production method was registered.
“Bird's milk” has a special technology. A layer of dough is placed down, but not biscuit and not shortbread. It tastes like a cake. Then comes a layer of souffle - it is not made on gelatin, but on agar-agar - this is a jelly that is extracted from seaweed. By the way, it is also used for finishing fabrics. It took the authors more than six months to find this most cunning ingredient of "Bird's Milk". But it is this “exotic” additive (in those Soviet times in the USSR, a lot was exotic and scarce) makes the cake so tender and melts in your mouth. Agar-agar does not curdle at 117 degrees, which is ideal for making tender "Bird's Milk". From above, this whole work is doused with chocolate and decorated with cream.
The “Bird's Milk” cakes produced in different places have different designs:
With their joint development, Vladimir GURALNIK, Margarita GOLOVA and Nikolai PANFILOV entered the history of confectionery art: having looked at the new “Ptichye Moloko” sweets from the Krasny Oktyabr factory, they created the “Ptichye Moloko” cake, which is somewhat different in taste.
In the famous filling, instead of traditional gelatin, agar-agar, extracted from special algae, was used.
In 2006, Vladimir Guralnik became a nominee for the Public Recognition 2006 award and received an award in the Legend Man nomination.
In addition to the creation of the legendary “bird”, over 50 years of work, he developed and introduced into production 35 branded confectionery.
Many of them are now produced in all confectionery shops in Moscow.
Today, he shares his knowledge and rich work experience with young people. They have already trained 85 confectioners.
His "Prague" cake, inspired by the famous Viennese cake "Saher" ("Sacher"), was accepted into serial production and included in the "Collection of Confectionery Recipes for Catering".
About bird milk
Bird's milk is mentioned in myths and legends of many peoples of the world.
There were popular belief that fed their chicks with bird's milk birds of paradise. If a person tried it, then at once he became invulnerable to any weapon and any disease.
But birds are not mammals. They do not feed their chicks with milk. Therefore, the expression "bird's milk" began to mean something unprecedented, something that does not exist in reality, the impossible, the limit of desires.
Long ago, when women were fed up with their lovers, they demanded that they bring them bird's milk. Unfortunate lovers rushed into the desert and died there from thirst and loneliness, believing in illusions and mistaking fantasy for reality.
However, ornithologists have proven that bird "milk" does exist, but it does not look like cow's milk, but resembles liquid cottage cheese. Birds from their beaks feed their chicks with “milk” regurgitated from the stomach for a very short time - no more than a month. So bird “milk” (which is not milk at all) is a rarity in the feathered world.
It is no coincidence that this name, which characterizes abundance and well-being, was chosen for the most delicious, delicate and exquisite sweets and cakes with soufflé filling.
Loved by many. This is a combination of delicate soufflé and bitter chocolate, a win-win option - not too greasy and airy filling and chocolate that melts in your mouth. Great option for tea, coffee or as a compliment. Based on them, even a cake appeared, which immediately fell in love with the sweet tooth.
Do birds give milk?
Children sometimes ask themselves: "Why is Bird's Milk called that?". Do birds give milk at all? And adults know this for sure. The vast majority of birds, like reptiles and other amphibians, are not mammals but oviparous. And those that feed their chicks in a way similar to that of mammals do so with a viscous liquid for milk. completely different. So, we can say that bird's milk does not exist in nature, and even more so it is not in the composition of sweets.
But despite this obvious thing, not all adults know why "Bird's milk" is called that. And most likely they just don’t think about where such a strange and ridiculous name comes from.
Where does this name come from?
The fact is that the Poles borrowed such a name from the legends about the healing milk of birds of paradise, with which they allegedly feed their chicks. The milk of birds is also mentioned in the comedy of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristophanes "Birds". It is described as the highest delicacy, the food of the gods, which gives unheard of strength and health.
In ancient times, it was customary to ask fans to give amazing gifts. The more amazing the gift, the more chances for the heart of a young beauty. And if the girl didn’t like the guy at all, she asked him for bird’s milk, for sure knowing that this is just a legend, and he won’t get it, which means there will be a reason to refuse. Poor young men died in search of this magical milk, but no one found it.
This legend in one interpretation or another is found among many peoples. Since ancient times, there has even been a proverb among Russians: "The rich have everything, especially bird's milk."
Thanks to such a variety of fairy tales and legends, bird's milk has become synonymous with something special and rare. That's why "Bird's milk" is called so. To emphasize the divinity of the delicacy and compare it with the mythical milk of the birds of paradise.
Now, however, a small number of birds have been found that feed their chicks with something like milk. For example, flamingos and penguins. But the creators of sweets clearly didn’t have this in mind, and even at the time of the invention of sweets, and even more so, the birth of this legend, they could not know about this.
What are candies made of?
For the first time, such sweets began to be produced in 1936 in Poland, under the name Ptasie Mleczko, and there they were a resounding success. The famous Soviet factory "Rot Front" decided to repeat this success and in the 1960s began their production in the USSR. At the same time, they decided not to stand on ceremony with the name and translated it literally. That's why "Bird's milk" is called that.
The composition of the sweets is very simple - no super rare ingredients. This is a mixture of egg white, sugar, gelatin and butter, poured with chocolate. The ingredients are clearly not why "Bird's Milk" is called that. But despite the simple composition, it is not so easy to cook them, everything is important - the freshness of the products, the speed of kneading, and the cooling temperature.
Therefore, sweets were made in small batches, which quickly sold out. In Soviet times, shortages were commonplace, and these sweets were especially difficult to get. The Soviet people interpreted why "Bird's milk". They believed that this was due to their scarcity and unusualness at that time.
GOST was strictly observed, and those who ate them then say that the delicacy was much tastier than today. Now, unfortunately, many ingredients are being replaced by cheaper and synthetic ones. Not every factory makes them equally well, and some have changed the recipe so much that the taste is unrecognizable. Sweets "Bird's milk" from "Rot Front" to this day are read as a standard.
How did the cake come about?
Later, in the 1980s, the confectioners of the Praha restaurant, which was elite at that time, headed by Vladimir Guralnik, invented a biscuit cake, which was named the same. It was a cake stuffed with the most delicate soufflé and, like the legendary sweets, covered with chocolate. That's why the cake is called "Bird's Milk". Its uniqueness is also in the fact that no patent was ever issued for any other in the USSR, but this one was issued.
Now it is baked at home, as the recipe is not a secret. But due to the complexity of the technology, only the most skillful and experienced housewives get it.
"Bird's milk" - as the name suggests - was once a real scarcity and luxury. Today, everyone can afford this square confectionery miracle from the Soviet past. By the way, few people know that the candy of the same name was the first to be invented. The cake was not a success for the production masters right away.
Photo from the book of confectioner Alexander Seleznev "Soviet cakes and pastries" (EKSMO)
The name "Bird's milk" often misled us in childhood and was presented as the main ingredient. Later, of course, it turned out that bird's milk is a non-existent thing. Even the ancient Greek authors Aristophanes, Lucian and Strabo used "bird's milk" in their works as a symbol of great rarity. The milk of birds is also sung in old Slavic fairy tales. Ancient legends tell about birds of paradise that fed their chicks with milk. If a person drinks this milk, he will be able to resist all diseases and enemies. Beautiful princesses turned out to be especially enterprising, who sent bored gentlemen in search of bird's milk.
candy period
The history of dessert began in Poland. Jan Wedel, the owner of the E.Wedel confectionery factory, having returned from a trip to France under great impression, asked himself the question: “What can a person who has everything want? Except bird's milk. And so the legendary name appeared (in Polish - ptasie mleczko).
True, the recipe for the first Ptasye Mlechko sweets was somewhat unusual. In 1936, E.Wedel began to produce them filled with marshmallows glazed with chocolate. Marshmallows are candies that taste like marshmallows, but without eggs and applesauce. Marshmallows contain sugar or corn syrup, gelatin, dextrose, and flavorings. All this is whipped to the state of a “sponge” and formed into small pieces.
State order
In Russia, Ptichye Moloko sweets appeared ... by order of the government. Sweets similar to the “bird milk” were also produced in Czechoslovakia, where our minister of the food industry arrived in 1967. A member of the government appreciated the work of confectionery art and took a small batch with him on the way back. Returning to the USSR, he gathered the leading confectioners at the Rot Front factory and, having treated them to a delicacy, ordered them to invent the same, relying only on their taste buds. After the same minister ordered all factories to learn how to make such sweets, from that moment their mass production began.
Anna Chulkova, a confectioner from Vladivostok, also attended courses that taught the secrets of the production of Bird's Milk. Returning to her native factory, Anna decided to refine the recipe, experimenting with the main recipe, additives, production process. She also came up with the idea of mechanizing the manual cutting method, which significantly accelerated the production of sweets (instead of the planned six tons, the factory received 12). Later, the Vladivostok "bird" was officially recognized as the best in the Union, which the locals were very proud of. They carried sweets as a local attraction as a gift to their loved ones, and Anna Chulkova was made an honorary resident of the city.
Now there are many different candies "Bird's milk". Vladivostok are now called Ptichye Moloko Primorskoye, while Rot Front has merged with Krasny Oktyabr and Babaevsky and simply produces Ptichye Moloko - without any clarifications. There are also quite tasty analogues with similar names - for example, "Bird's Sweetness". Modern sweets "Ptichye Moloko" are chocolate-covered soufflés based on milk (condensed or dairy products), sometimes flavorings (amaretto, almonds, rum ...), as well as agar-agar are added.
tricky jelly
About one of the main "bird" components - agar-agar (sometimes they write just agar or even - E406) - many have never heard of it at all. Nevertheless, agar-agar is used in confectionery quite often - it is because of it that a delicate, but dense texture is obtained not only for bird's milk filling, but also for marshmallows, marmalade, soufflé.
Agar-agar means "jelly" in Malay. It is similar to gelatin in properties, however, it is more expensive. In addition, the structure of products “captured” by agar is more plastic; it is more often used to create the most delicate air layers with bubbles. Agar usually looks like a white or yellowish powder.
Agar-agar is produced from marine red and brown algae that grow in the Pacific Ocean and the White Sea. It is completely natural and “suitable” for vegetarians, since, unlike gelatin, which is made from animal connective tissues, it contains only vegetable raw materials.
Stuffing: high technology
The next step in the development of the "bird" theme is the famous cake. It was also invented here, in the Prague restaurant, in 1978. Moreover, the "Bird's Milk" cake made a splash. Monstrous queues lined up behind him, they even had to “turn” onto Stary Arbat so that the “tail” from the government highway (Novy Arbat, then Kalininsky Prospekt) was not visible. A little later, for the first time in our country, a patent was issued for the cake.
The famous cake was invented by the confectionery duet - Margarita Golova and Nikolai Panfilov, under the guidance of the head of the confectionery shop of the restaurant Vladimir Guralnik. By the way, it is precisely Guralnik that we owe the appearance of many Soviet desserts - for example, the no less famous Prague cake.
Initially, they tried to make a cake according to the same recipe as sweets, the production technology of which at that time had already been debugged. However, what is good in sweets, on large layers for a cake, looked more like marshmallow - there was no necessary lightness and tenderness. The recipe needed to be revised. Guralnik spent six months with assistants in the "culinary laboratory" before the recipe was brought to perfection. A large role in the filling, in addition to agar and condensed milk, is played by egg whites and butter.
For the test, an unusual recipe was invented that distinguishes it from the sand and biscuit familiar to us. The cake for the “Bird” was more like a soft cupcake, which went well with the delicate filling. There are two thin "flat cakes" in the cake - one at the very bottom, then the filling, one more in the middle and soufflé again on top. The quality of chocolate is also important, which must be at a certain temperature (38 ° C).
By the way, initially the cake was called modestly - “soufflé”. And only then the "real" Bird's Milk cake could be distinguished by the firebird on the box. The recipe was not kept secret, moreover, it was decided to transfer it to the Mosrestorantrest plant, which is about 30 large enterprises. Nowadays, finding the “same” cake is difficult, but possible. We must carefully look at the packaging (focus on the image of the "bird of paradise"), the composition of the product and - try.
home option
What our mothers didn’t come up with in order to “perform” the famous cake at home. To achieve tenderness and airiness of the soufflé, semolina was even added to it! So, in the semolina version, the recipe then became for many housewives the home version of Bird's Milk. But now there is no need to invent something - after all, all the ingredients can be bought in the store, if not agar-agar, then gelatin - for sure.
Cake "Bird's Milk" (from Alexander Seleznev's book "Soviet Cakes and Pastries")
Ingredients. Dough: 140 g flour, 105 g sugar, 105 g butter, 75 g eggs (1.5 pieces), 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar. Cream soufflé: 308 g of sugar, 4 g of agar-agar or 20 g of gelatin, 200 g of butter, 95 g of condensed milk, 60 g of protein (2 pieces), 3 g of vanilla sugar, 2 g of citric acid. Chocolate glaze: 100 g chocolate, 10 g vegetable oil.
Cooking. Dough. Beat butter with sugar. Dilute vanilla sugar in the egg. Mix everything and beat for 15-20 minutes. Pour in the pre-sifted flour and knead the dough. Make two balls of dough and roll them into two thin cakes. Preheat the oven to 220ºС. Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven. Put one of the layers in a round shape with a diameter of 22 cm.
Cream soufflé. Beat butter with condensed milk. Soak agar-agar in water for half an hour. Add sugar to it. Boil for 5 minutes, up to a temperature of 110ºС. Add vanilla sugar and citric acid to the proteins, beat. Introduce agar-agar in a thin stream. Beat gently until the cream cools down to 50ºС.
Then add the oil-condensed mass, mix and immediately put the cream on the dough in the form. Cover with the second part of the dough. Place the cream on top again. Remove to cool in refrigerator.
Frosting. Melt chocolate, mix with butter. Pour mixture over cake.
Note. If gelatin is used instead of agar-agar, it should also be soaked for half an hour in cold water and melted in a water bath without boiling. Then add to the whipped and cooled to 50ºС protein-sugar mass.
This dessert is surely adored by everyone who remembers the times of the Union. Fortunately, today's sweet tooth has the opportunity to taste "Bird's milk". Everything is perfect in this dessert: the most delicate soufflé, chocolate icing with an expressive taste, appetizing look, and in the case of a cake, also a soft biscuit. The name itself is associated not just with a treat, for many it is a symbol of the era.
But why is "Bird's milk" called "bird"? Surely this question at least once puzzled everyone.
The first swallows
Many people know that the Poles were the pioneers. It was in Poland, at the E. Wedel factory, back in 1936, that these sweets were first produced. The filling was similar in composition to marshmallows, but did not contain eggs.
Once the Minister of Light Industry of the USSR tried the Polish sweets "Ptichye Moloko". He liked them so much that the country's leadership set the task for confectioners to develop an analogue.
Origins of the name
When answering the question of why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's milk", it is worth looking even not at 1936, but at even earlier times. In medieval European folklore, a plot is very common in which an insidious beauty sends an unlucky boyfriend in search of bird's milk. Drawing analogies, we can mention the Slavic image of a fern flower and the fabulous “I don’t know what”. Of course, the cavalier had to either return with nothing, or disappear, because there is no bird's milk in nature. In any case, in medieval Europe he certainly wasn't.
But there are even more ancient references. They will also help us figure out why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's milk". The ancient Greeks believed that the birds of paradise nursed their babies with milk. If a person happens to try this delicacy, he will become invincible, strong and healthy, and will retain his youth for many years.
In Russia, there was a proverb saying that the rich man has everything except bird's milk. It was understood that some things (friendship, health, love) cannot be bought with money, no matter how rich a person is.
As you can see, in many cultures there were legends that birds can give milk. And everywhere it was associated with unearthly pleasure, blessings, treasure. No wonder Polish confectioners gave their creation this alluring name.
Since 1967, the production of sweets began in the USSR. It was decided to keep the unusual name. By that time, it had already gained fame and popular love. Why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's", the Soviet people may have wondered, but they were definitely not surprised. Apparently, the memory of generations worked: the dessert evoked persistent associations with an outlandish delicacy, a fabulous pleasure, a feast of taste.
The Polish manufacturers kept the manufacturing technology and composition of "Bird's Milk" a secret. Therefore, their Soviet colleagues had to work hard to create something similar to taste. The most interesting thing about this story is that the name misled Soviet technologists: they were sure that it was due to the presence of eggs in the candy filling. In fact, eggs have nothing to do with the name. But if they were not in Polish sweets, today they are present in many desserts of the same name.
Unique Component
But the confectioners did not set the task of completely repeating the recipe. On the contrary, they went their own way. The specialists of the factory in Vladivostok used not only their professionalism, but also the wealth of their native land. Instead of gelatin, it was decided to use agar-agar, extracted from Far Eastern algae. It was this factory that first launched the production of new items. The recipe has been registered.
The second factory was Rot Front. And after some time, other confectionery enterprises in all parts of the country, including the famous Red October, joined the implementation of the plan.
Today Vladivostok sweets "Ptichye Moloko" are considered the best. In a 300-gram box, the buyer will find sweets with three different flavors (chocolate, lemon and cream), which can be stored for no more than 15 days. They still contain useful agar-agar.
Legendary cake from the restaurant "Prague"
The success of the sweets inspired culinary specialists as well. Vladimir Guralnik forever inscribed his name in the history of sweets, because it was he who developed the recipe for the Bird's Milk cake in the early 80s. Conjuring over the ingredients, the master initially decided that he would also use agar-agar. The composition also included egg whites, powdered sugar, water. And the basis was an air biscuit.
The number of orders grew exponentially. If at the very beginning only visitors to the Moscow restaurant "Prague" could taste the delicacy, then after a few months the shop also worked for takeaway.
It was difficult to scare a Soviet person with a queue, and therefore the workers calmly lined up behind a secret cake, taking their places before dark. Eyewitnesses of those times recall that the tail of the queue often turned to the neighboring Stary Arbat. The recipe for the "Bird's Milk" cake has been officially approved. Violation of the recommended norms was prosecuted by law.
"Bird's milk" today
Sweets "Bird's milk" are produced today. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, not all manufacturers adhere to the original Far Eastern recipe. Expensive agar-agar is often replaced with gelatin; preservatives are used to extend the shelf life. But there is a plus in this: the price of some types of "Bird's milk" is very low. You can find both loose sweets and packaged in beautiful boxes.
No less popular are cakes, pastries, soufflé "Bird's Milk", which today many hostesses have learned to cook on their own.
As a child, gobbling up on both cheeks a candy called bird's milk I really thought that birds give, the father said doves, and the mother laughed and said - do not confuse the child. Growing up, I realized that these are fairy tales, and yet my father was right, bird's milk is pigeon's milk.
What is pigeon milk
Where does bird's milk come from?
The birds that feed their chicks are pigeons. True, they feed their newly hatched chicks with a special curd mass, which produced in their goiter. This is " baby food” and is called bird or pigeon milk. Pigeon milk is so nutritious that in the first two days of life, the baby becomes twice as heavy!
To grown up chicks of a dove bird or pigeon milk after a week, it becomes theoretically unnecessary, they feed on plant seeds, although very often you can see how parents feed pigeon milk even on the wing.
Wild pigeons living in Russia.
In forests North Caucasus a secretive and cautious wood dove, or vitiuten, nests. Turtle doves live in gardens and parks throughout Russia, as well as rock pigeons - the most numerous city dwellers among relatives with whom we are all well acquainted.
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