Does bird milk exist in nature? What is “Bird's milk” made from. What is pigeon milk

As a child, eating sweets on both cheeks called bird's milk, I really believed that his give birds, the father spoke pigeons, and the mother laughed and said - do not confuse the child. Growing up, I realized that these were fairy tales, and yet my father was right, bird's milk is pigeon's milk.

What is pigeon milk

Where does bird milk come from?

Birds feeding chicks with milk are pigeons. True, they feed their newly hatched chicks with a special cheesy mass, which produced in their goiter... It " children food"And is called bird or pigeon's milk. Pigeon milk is so nutritious that in the first two days of life, the baby becomes twice as heavy!

Grown pigeon chicks bird's or pigeon's 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 to those on the wing.

Wild pigeons living in Russia.

In the forests of the North Caucasus, a secretive and cautious wood pigeon, or vituten, nests. Turtle doves live in gardens and parks throughout Russia, as well as doves - the most numerous city dwellers among relatives with whom we are all familiar.

We continue to acquaint you with the history of famous dishes, and our next "hero" is the Bird's Milk cake. Where did everyone get such an unusual name for the delicacy so beloved in Soviet times? Why did they stand in line for a day for dessert, and not every housewife still manages to repeat the original recipe? You will learn all this and much more from our material.

A tender dough cake with an airy biscuit layer was released in 1978 and became a true legend of the Prague restaurant. The prototype of "Bird's Milk" was the Czechoslovak sweets "Ptasje Mlechko", which were once tasted by the Minister of Food Industry of the USSR during a business trip. "To do something similar, but according to the original recipe," the minister ordered, after which numerous experiments began to find the ideal composition of a 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 confectioner Vladimir Guralnik. The name of this man has forever gone down in the history of culinary, and, it would seem, with such a rich past, now he could work in any, the most expensive confectionery in Moscow. However, Guralnik remains loyal to "Prague" to this day - in the confectionery department he works for the sake of preserving long-term traditions and creating new culinary masterpieces.

Together with the team, we have been working on the recipe for "Bird's Milk" for over 6 months. I wanted the bottom to be from an unusual dough: not biscuit, not shortbread, not flaky. So was created the new kind dough is a butter-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, in contrast to gelatin, which curls up already at 100 degrees. The secret of our recipe is precisely in agar-agar - a more expensive and rich substitute for gelatin. They experimented for a long time: they added some ingredients, removed others, brought them to different temperatures - then the syrup turns out, then the viscous mass. Until they found the desired consistency, 6 months have passed,

Guralnik once told the newspaper "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 - the line of those wishing to treat themselves could fill half of the Old Arbat. What real successGuralnikov found out when at the metro he was secretly offered coupons for his creation.

The secret of this 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 milk is an unprecedented miracle. What does not really exist, what they fed their children birds of paradise... "A person who has everything can only dream of bird milk" - this expression again gained popularity in Europe of the XVIII century. And who did not want to have something fantastic and impossible during the years of deficit in the USSR!

According to one of the legends, once the girls, in order to get rid of annoying gentlemen, sent them to wander through the cities and villages in search of "bird milk". Those, of course, never came back.

Now to leave for "Bird's Milk" and not return is a story from the category of incredible. The delicacy is presented in almost all pastry shops in the country. True, the original cake according to Vladimir Guralnik's recipe 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.

Guralnik does not hide the secret of making the Bird's Milk cake:

We pour the 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 it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Then you should lay the layers correctly, because "Bird's milk" is a cake-constructor. The dough layer is alternated with an agar-agar layer, and so on again. The dessert is poured over with chocolate.

By the way, chocolate 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 also chocolate, in order for it to be tasty, must be properly kneaded. We have a special machine that continuously interferes with the chocolate.

However, now each confectionery has its own, somewhat different from the original recipe for "Bird's milk". HELLO.RU decided to find out how "Bird's milk" is prepared in the restaurant of Odessa cuisine "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%

egg white 7 pcs.

Preparation:

1. Beat butter at room temperature with sugar, add yolks, soda and flour, beat everything with a mixer.

2. Bake the mass at 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

3. For the cream, soak the gelatin in half a glass of cold water. Add citric acid and sugar to water with swollen gelatin. Then beat the whites until firm foam.

4. Separately beat the butter with condensed milk and gradually add to the mixture with whipped proteins and gelatin solution. Don't stop beating.

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 the dessert in layers and pour over the chocolate.

Enjoy your meal!

This dessert is surely adored by everyone who remembers the times of the Union. Fortunately, modern sweet tooths also have the opportunity to taste "Bird's Milk". Everything is perfect in this dessert: the most delicate soufflé, chocolate icing with an expressive taste, appetizing appearance, and in the case of the 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's milk"? Surely this question puzzled everyone at least once.

The first swallows

Many people know that the Poles were the pioneers. It was in Poland, at the E. Wedel factory, that these sweets were first produced back in 1936. The filling was similar in composition to marshmallows, but did not contain eggs.

Once Polish sweets "Bird's milk" were tasted by the minister light industry THE USSR. He liked them so much that the country's leadership set the task for the confectioners to develop an analogue.

The origins of the name

Answering the question of why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's milk", it is worth looking not even in 1936, but in even earlier times. In medieval European folklore, a very common plot in which an insidious beauty sends an unlucky boyfriend in search of bird milk. Drawing analogies, we can mention the Slavic image of a fern flower and the fabulous "then, I don't know what." Of course, the gentleman had to either return with nothing, or disappear, because there is no bird's milk in nature. In any case, in medieval Europe it certainly did not exist.

But there are even more ancient references. They will also help us understand why “Bird's milk” is called “bird's milk”. The ancient Greeks believed that birds of paradise fed their babies with milk. If a person happens to taste this delicacy, he will become invincible, strong and healthy, and will keep his youth for many years.

In Russia, there was a proverb that the rich man has everything except bird's milk. It was understood that some things (friendship, health, love) cannot be bought for 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. Not surprisingly, Polish confectioners gave their creation this tempting 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 milk", the Soviet people may have thought, but they were definitely not surprised. Apparently, the memory of generations worked: the dessert evoked persistent associations with an outlandish delicacy, fabulous delight, a holiday of taste.

The production technology and composition of "Bird's Milk" were kept secret by Polish producers. Therefore, their Soviet colleagues had to work hard to create something similar in taste. The most interesting thing in this story is that the name misled the 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, then 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 factory's specialists 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 was the first to launch a novelty. The recipe has been registered.

The second factory was Rot Front. And after a while, other confectionery enterprises in all parts of the country, including the famous "Red October", joined in the implementation of the plan.

Today Vladivostok "Bird's Milk" sweets are considered the best. In a three-hundred-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 has inspired chefs 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 airy biscuit.

The number of orders grew exponentially. If at the very beginning only visitors of the Moscow restaurant "Praga" could taste the delicacy, then after a few months the shop was also working for take-out.

It was difficult to frighten a Soviet person with a queue, and therefore the workers calmly lined up behind the secret cake, taking their places even before dark. Eyewitnesses of those times remember that the tail of the queue often turned to the neighboring Old Arbat. The recipe for the bird's milk cake has been officially approved. Violation of the recommended norms was prosecuted.

"Bird's milk" today

“Bird's Milk” sweets are still 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 packed in beautiful boxes.

No less popular are cakes, pastries, bird's milk soufflé, which today many hostesses have learned to cook on their own.

Loved by many. This is a combination of delicate soufflé and dark chocolate, a win-win option - not too fatty and airy filling and chocolate that melts in your mouth. Great for tea, coffee or as a compliment. On their basis, 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?" And 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 chicks in a way similar to that existing in mammals, make it a viscous liquid for milk completely different... So, we can say that bird 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 so called. And most likely they just do not think where such a strange and ridiculous name comes from.

Where does this name come from?

The fact is that the Poles borrowed this name from the legends about the healing milk of birds of paradise, with which they supposedly feed their chicks. Milk of birds is also mentioned in the comedy of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristophanes "Birds". It is described as the ultimate delicacy, food of the gods, which provides 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 there are in the heart of a young beauty. And if the girl didn't like the guy at all, she asked him for bird's milk, knowing for sure that this was just a legend, and he would not get it, which means there would be a reason to refuse. Poor young men died in search of this magic milk, but no one found it.

This legend, in one interpretation or another, is found among many peoples. Since ancient times, Russians even have a proverb: "The rich have everything, cut the bird's milk."

Thanks to such a variety of tales and legends, bird's milk has become synonymous with something special and rare. That's why Bird's Milk is called that. 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 the sweets clearly did not mean it, 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 had 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 literally. That's why "Bird's Milk" is called that way.

The composition of the sweets is very simple - no super rare ingredients. It is a mixture of egg white, sugar, gelatin and butter, drizzled with chocolate. Ingredients are clearly not why Bird's Milk is called that. But despite the simple composition, it is not so easy to prepare them, everything is important - the freshness of the products, and the speed of mixing, and the cooling temperature.

Therefore, candies were made in small batches, which were quickly sold out. In the days of the USSR, a shortage was a common thing, and these candies were especially difficult to get. This is how the Soviet people interpreted why it was "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 with cheaper and synthetic ones. Not every factory makes them equally well, and some have changed the recipe so much that the taste cannot be recognized. "Bird's Milk" sweets from "Rot Front" are still read by the standard.

How did the cake come about?

Later, in the 1980s, pastry chefs of the then elite restaurant "Prague", headed by Vladimir Guralnik, invented a biscuit cake, which was named the same. It was a cake filled with the most delicate soufflé and, like the legendary sweets, covered in chocolate. This is why the cake is called "Bird's Milk". Its uniqueness also lies in the fact that no other in the USSR was ever granted a patent, but this one was issued.

Now it is baked at home, as the recipe is not a secret. But due to the complexity in technology, it turns out only from the most skillful and experienced housewives.

There are ancient legends where 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. The Russian proverb says: "The rich have everything, cut the bird's milk." A similar turnover went back to Ancient Greece. So, in the comedy of Aristophanes "Birds" the chorus promises happiness in the form of milk "but 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 other confectionery product produced before. These sweets were prepared according to the recipe for marshmallows, only without the addition of eggs: sugar, gelatin, dextrose and flavorings were whipped to a "sponge" state. 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 pastry chef reasoned simply: “What else can 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 factory "Rot-Front" representatives of all confectionery industries in the country, and ordered the development of his own technology for the production of Czechoslovak sweets as soon as possible.
The first who managed to get as close as possible to the original recipe was 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 in the Soviet Union.


It was the Soviet sweets "Bird's Milk" from the "Red October" factory that became the basis for the recipe for the cake with the same name.
A whole team of famous confectioners of the capital worked on the creation of the most delicate dessert - 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 department of the restaurant "Prague" Vladimir Mikhailovich Guralnik


We experimented for six months using agar-agar instead of gelatin, a jelly-like product obtained from red and brown algae. The confectioners tried to make the soufflé solidify, but remain airy. After a persistent search for the perfect recipe, they finally managed to find that combination of ingredients that is still considered classic - the 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 Arbat. Buyers stood for hours by appointment; the smaller queue consisted of the owners of coupons, which the restaurant sold to the “elite” for 3 rubles. (The "Bird's milk" cake itself cost 6 rubles 16 kopecks then.)
The queue to the confectionery department of the restaurant "Prague"


The first experimental commercial batches of "bird's milk" were 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 USSR Ministry of Food Industry.
In September 1980, an application for an 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 of making the dessert was registered, which was an unprecedented precedent for that time. "Bird's Milk" became the first domestic cake, patented by the culinary experts 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 corresponded to the original recipe, fixed by the USSR GOST.








Cake "Bird's milk" from Soviet times to ours is considered business card Moscow. A delicate soufflé, a thick layer of dark chocolate and very thin cakes have made this miracle of culinary excellence a sought-after and desired delicacy. Childhood memories retained the warmth of the hearth and the delight over the sumptuous dessert.










In 2006, Vladimir Guralnik became a nominee for the 2006 Public Recognition award and received an award in the Legendary Man category.
In addition to creating the legendary "birdie", over 50 years of work, he has developed and introduced into production 35 branded confectionery products.
Many of them are now produced in all confectionery shops Moscow.