Why bird's milk?
Surely, each of you at least once in your life has tried such a wonderful delicacy as sweets or Bird's Milk cake. If you tried it in early childhood, then over time you might be surprised to find that birds do not give milk, this is the lot of cows, goats and similar animals, but not birds. What is the matter, why exactly “bird's milk”, what is the history of the origin of such a name?
The expression "bird's milk" has been known since antiquity. In the comedy of Aristophanes "Birds" the milk of birds is mentioned as the food of the gods, giving strength and health. There are references to other ancient authors, such as Strabo, Lucian and others. Bird's milk already in ancient times became a figure of speech and meant a rare, valuable thing. Ideas about bird's milk did not disappear even in the Middle Ages. In European fairy tales, capricious beauties sent their admirers for bird's milk, which, of course, they could not find, and, accordingly, they died somewhere along the way, getting lost. In the legends of other peoples, bird's milk gave the hero invulnerability from weapons and diseases. Yes, and in the Russian people there has long been a proverb: "The rich have everything, besides bird's milk." It was believed that since "bird's milk" is an incredibly rare thing, then only wealthy people can possess it (and even then it is unlikely), and they said about people of innumerable luxury that they also have "bird's milk".
For the first time candies with filling, reminiscent of the modern "Bird's Milk", appeared in 1936 at the Polish factory E. Wedel. The very name "Bird's milk" was invented by the Poles - why is it called "Bird's milk". Apparently, implying sophistication, luxury of their sweets. In the USSR, similar sweets began to be produced from the end of the 60s.
Sweets "Bird's milk" In 1978, the confectioner of the Moscow restaurant "Prague" Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik and his colleagues created a cake similar in composition to "bird's milk" sweets.
Cake pigeon's milk" The recipe for the cake was selected for six months, when they tried to use various ingredients, and selected the cooking temperature. In 1982, a patent was issued for the Bird's Milk cake and it was the only cake with a patent in the USSR.
Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik, inventor of the "Bird's Milk" cake As it turned out, bird's milk does exist, however, not in all birds. For example, pigeons, penguins (imperial), flamingos, goldfinches, crossbills feed their chicks for a short time. In a pigeon, for example, it stands out in the goiter. The milk of the above birds resembles liquid cottage cheese.
Guralnik does not hide the secret of making the "Bird's Milk" cake:
We pour whipped protein with agar-agar, then add butter and condensed milk, mix and cool to 80 degrees. Then pour this mass into a mold and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Then it is worth laying the layers correctly, because "Bird's milk" is a cake constructor. A layer of dough alternates with a layer of agar-agar, and so on again. The dessert is topped with chocolate.
Chocolate, by the way, also has its own secret, - says the author. - It must have a certain melting point of 38 degrees, otherwise it will "turn gray" in the refrigerator. And chocolate, in order for it to be tasty, must be kneaded properly. We have a special machine that constantly stirs chocolate.
However, now every confectionery has its own recipe for "Bird's Milk", somewhat different from the original. HELLO.RU decided to find out how "Bird's milk" is prepared in the Odessa cuisine restaurant "Babel". You can definitely repeat this recipe at home!
"Bird's milk" from the restaurant "Babel"Ingredients:
wheat flour 200 gr.
egg yolk 7 gr.
butter 275 gr
soda 1 tsp
sugar 350 gr.
condensed milk
lemon acid
chocolate 150 gr
cream 38 percent
egg white 7 pcs.
Cooking:
1. Beat room temperature butter with sugar, add yolks, soda and flour, beat everything with a mixer.
2. Bake the mass at a temperature of 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
3. For the cream, soak the gelatin in half a glass cold water. Add to water with swollen gelatin citric acid and sugar. Then beat the proteins until a stable foam.
4. Separately, beat the butter with condensed milk and gradually add to the mass with whipped proteins and gelatin solution. Don't stop whipping.
5. For the glaze, melt the chocolate and add a little butter. Melt everything over low heat and bring to a homogeneous mass.
6. Lay out the dessert in layers and pour over the chocolate.
Bon Appetit!
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History of the dish: "Bird's milk" cake
We continue to acquaint you with the history famous dishes, and our next "hero" is the Bird's Milk cake. Where did everyone's favorite in Soviet time goodies such unusual name? Why did you stand in line for a day for a dessert, and even now not every housewife manages to repeat the original recipe? You will learn all this and much more from our material.
Cake from tender dough from air biscuit layer was released in 1978 and became a real legend of the Prague restaurant. The prototype of "Bird's milk" was the Czechoslovak sweets "Ptase mlechko", which the minister once tasted during a business trip Food Industry THE USSR. Do something like this, but original recipe", - the minister commanded, after which numerous experiments began to search for ideal composition new domestic delicacy. Following the sweets, first prepared in the 60s, it was decided to "conjure" also over the cake. The merit of its creation belongs to the confectioner Vladimir Guralnik. The name of this man has entered the history of culinary arts forever, and it would seem that with such a rich past, he could now work in any of the most expensive confectioneries in Moscow. However, Guralnik remains faithful to Prague to this day - he works in the confectionery shop for the benefit of preserving long-term traditions and creating new culinary masterpieces.
Together with the team, we worked on the recipe for "Bird's Milk" for more than 6 months. Wish the bottom was out unusual test: not biscuit, not shortbread, not puff. That's how it was created the new kind test - whipped semi-finished product, it is somewhat similar to a cupcake. The filling had to be boiled for a long time: agar-agar has a melting point of about 120 degrees, unlike gelatin, which already coagulates at 100 degrees. The secret of our recipe is in agar-agar - a more expensive and rich substitute for gelatin. We experimented for a long time: some ingredients were added, others were removed, brought to different temperatures - either a syrup is obtained, or a viscous mass. Until they found the right consistency, just 6 months passed,
Once Guralnik told the edition "Evening Moscow". In the Soviet years, the "Bird's Milk" cake was a real "king of tables". For the original cake, sold only in the restaurant "Prague", people stood in line for several hours - a string of people wishing to treat themselves could fill half of the Old Arbat. What is real success, Guralnikov found out when he was furtively offered coupons for his own creation at the subway.
The secret of such success lay not only in the taste of the dessert, but also in its name - in its, so to speak, sacred sense. According to ancient mythology, bird's milk is an unseen miracle. Something that does not really exist, something that the birds of paradise fed their children with. "A man who has everything can only dream of bird's milk" - this expression gained popularity again in 18th century Europe. And who did not want to have something fantastic and impossible during the years of shortage in the USSR!
According to one of the legends, once the girls, in order to get rid of annoying gentlemen, sent them to wander around the cities and villages in search of "bird's milk". Back those, of course, did not return.
Now to leave for "Bird's milk" and not return is an incredible story. The delicacy is presented in almost all confectioneries of the country. Truth original cake According to the recipe of Vladimir Guralnik, it is exclusively sold only in 10 stores in Moscow. As he himself says, cakes are delivered there in special branded vans and the taste of this treat cannot be confused with anything.
For the first time, sweets with such a filling appeared in Poland in 1936, and they were produced at the E. Wedel factory.
They were made almost according to the same recipe as marshmallows, only without eggs. In 1960, similar sweets began to be produced at domestic factories. They made a splash, so the delicacy turned out to be unusual.
In 1978, the following significant tasty event took place - the confectioners of the Moscow restaurant "Prague", headed by Vladimir Guralnik, created the "Bird's Milk" cake according to a similar recipe. Of course, it was different from the candies of the same name, but it was just as good. It took more than 6 months to create the cake. Experimented with ingredients, volumes and temperatures. For example, gelatin was lured to agar-agar, a jelly-like product derived from red and brown algae. Exactly this exotic substance makes the cake so fluffy and airy. By the way, the Bird's Milk cake is the only one for which, during the existence of the USSR, a patent was issued.
The name "Bird's milk" was invented in Poland, where philosophers were revered Ancient Greece, in particular Aristophanes and his comedy "Birds", where happiness is promised in the form of milk "and not heifers, but birds."
There are also ancient legends where the birds of paradise fed their chicks with milk, and if a person is lucky enough to taste this milk, he will become invulnerable to any weapon and ailments. Perhaps it was this legend that formed the basis of the Russian proverb, which says: "The rich have everything, besides bird's milk."
And in European fairy tales, evil beauties sent their potential suitors for this same bird's milk. Naturally, the poor fellows had no chance to find this treasure, and they died in deserts or impenetrable forests.
The citizens of the Soviet Union had their own explanation, they believed that the cake or sweets were called "bird's milk" for delicate taste, price and scarcity, because milk in birds is a rarity.
Since childhood, I was interested in the question - why candies "bird's milk" are called bird's milk. Moreover, I loved these candies and still love them. Yes, I think any of us at least once tried them. And the "Bird's Milk" cake is generally crazy! Finally, it's time to find out why these delicacies are called so, where does the name come from!
History of candy
First, let me tell you a few facts from history. For the first time, the recipe for such sweets appeared in 1936 in Poland and they were called “Ptasya Mlechko” .. It resembles in almost everything classic marshmallow the only difference is that an egg is not added to Bird's Milk. In the Soviet Union, this recipe was first officially used at the Rot-Front factory in the 60s of the last century. The novelty immediately earned the love of consumers.
Somewhat later, in 1978, in the Prague restaurant, culinary specialists prepared the Bird's Milk cake. As the chef later admitted, they fought over the recipe for more than 6 months, trying to get something unusual. The secret of the masterpiece was agar-agar, which is a more expensive and rich substitute for gelatin. The cake immediately became famous and was a table decoration at banquets.
And even now, when people's tastes have already changed in many ways, the Bird's Milk cake still amazes with its taste and unusualness. Although connoisseurs say that before it was much tastier. But here, how to say - there are no comrades for the taste and color!
Where did the name "Bird's milk" come from?
Previously, it was always believed that, as such, bird's milk does not exist in nature. In ancient times, it was believed that birds of paradise feed their chicks with this milk. It was believed that anyone who tasted it would become invulnerable to diseases, weapons, etc. In fact, those whom they wanted to get rid of were sent for bird's milk. For example, beauties sent annoying boyfriends after him. Who is smarter - retreated, and more zealous perished in the endless search for such a product.
But the most interesting thing is that not so long ago, scientists confirmed that bird's milk exists! It is found in flamingos, pigeons, crossbills and some penguins. Birds feed their young with them. Here it should be noted that the usual cow or goat milk it bears little resemblance. Its texture is more like cottage cheese. To get such milk is a great rarity, and therefore its cost is prohibitive.
There are ancient legends where the birds of paradise fed their chicks with milk, and if a person is lucky enough to taste this milk, he will become invulnerable to any weapon and ailments.
The expression "bird's milk" in many nations means something desirable, unattainable. A Russian proverb says: "The rich have everything, like bird's milk." A similar turnover went back to ancient Greece. Thus, in Aristophanes' comedy The Birds, the choir promises happiness in the form of milk, "not heifers, but birds."
The culinary history of "Bird's Milk" began with sweets.
Back in 1936, Jan Wedel - the owner of the Polish confectionery factory E. Wedel - developed a recipe for amazing sweets, unlike any confectionery product produced before. These sweets were prepared according to the marshmallow recipe, only without the addition of eggs: sugar, gelatin, dextrose and flavorings were whipped to the state of a “sponge”. After that, sweets were formed from the sweet mass and glazed with chocolate. Contemporaries gave the dessert an unambiguous assessment: “He is divine!” and Jan Wedel, listening to these sincere delights, called his culinary creation "ptasie mleczko" ("bird's milk"). The confectioner reasoned simply: “What else could a person who has everything want? Indeed, only bird's milk. 
The domestic history of "Bird's Milk" began with a trip in 1967 by the Minister of the Food Industry of the USSR to Czechoslovakia, where at one of the receptions he was presented with sweets with original filling. Back in Soviet Union, the minister gathered at the Moscow Rot-Front factory representatives of all confectionery country, and ordered to develop their own technology for the manufacture of Czechoslovak sweets as soon as possible.
The first one to get as close as possible to original recipe, became confectioner Anna Chulkova, who at that time was the chief technologist of the Vladivostok confectionery factory. The technology for making new sweets, called "Bird's Milk", was transferred to other confectionery factories Soviet Union. 
It was the Soviet Ptichye Moloko sweets from the Krasny Oktyabr factory that became the basis for the cake recipe with the same name.
A whole team worked on the creation of the most delicate dessert. famous confectioners capitals - Vladimir Guralnik, who worked in the Moscow restaurant "Prague", Nikolai Panfilov and Margarita Golova.
A group of confectioners under the leadership of the head of the confectionery shop of the restaurant "Prague" Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik
We experimented for six months, using instead of gelatin agar-agar, a jelly-like product obtained from red and brown algae. Confectioners sought to ensure that the soufflé hardened, but remained airy. After a persistent search for the perfect recipe, we finally managed to find the combination of ingredients that is still considered a classic - a cake filling richly poured with chocolate, decorated on top, also with a chocolate little bird. 
Initially, the novelty could only be purchased at the Prague restaurant. “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. The delicacy was quickly tasted and it made a splash. Such queues lined up behind the cake that they had to be turned around so that people would not block traffic between Kalinin Avenue (now Novy Arbat) and the Arbat. Buyers stood for hours by appointment; the smaller queue was made up of 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 then.)
The queue in the confectionery department of the restaurant "Prague"
The first experimental industrial batches of "bird's milk" have been produced since 1968 at the Rot-Front factory. But because of sophisticated technology the batches were small, prescription documentation was not approved by the Ministry of Food Industry of the USSR.
In September 1980, an Application for Invention was filed, and in 1982, the developers of the recipe were issued a copyright certificate for the Bird's Milk cake, No. 925285, where the method for producing the dessert was registered, which became an unprecedented precedent for that time. "Bird's milk" became the first domestic cake patented by the chefs who invented it.
Since that time, the Bird's Milk cake has been produced in other cities of the country. The “Bird's Milk” cakes produced in different places had different designs, but they corresponded to the original recipe, recorded by GOST of the USSR. 
Cake "Bird's milk" from Soviet times to the present is considered the hallmark of Moscow. Delicate soufflé, thick layer dark chocolate and very thin cakes made this miracle of culinary skill a sought-after and desired delicacy. Childhood memories have preserved the warmth of the hearth and delight over a luxurious dessert. 
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 creating the legendary "bird", he has developed and introduced into production 35 branded confectionery products over 50 years of work.
Many of them are now produced in all confectionery shops in Moscow. 
