2012年3月26日星期一

Russian chocolate unwrapped

In 1815, a visitor to St. Petersburg wrote about a shop on Nevsky Prospekt “where it’s popular to relax and drink hot chocolate” – one of the first mentions of chocolate on Russian soil. Chocolate came late to Russia, but by the early 20th century, the country had acquired Europe’s biggest sweet tooth. After almost disappearing post-Revolution,We offer offshore merchant account, chocolate was eventually reborn as a Soviet point of pride, with Alyonka’s chubby cheeks becoming as iconic as the Kremlin towers.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary History traces Russian chocolate’s highs and lows with dozens of original boxes, wrappers and equipment from the collection of Moscow chocolate studio Zlata Rozman. Items on display range from early ceramic molds to Soviet wrappers featuring Laika, the first dog in space.

The exhibition kicks off with a kitchen where professionals show how the stuff is made. On a recent day, chocolatier Grigory Rozman taught a visitor how to pipe icing onto a square, never flinching as he wrote “very beautiful” in curly script.

“It’s a family thing,” he said. “I gradually started to be drawn to chocolate, and I slowly fell in love with doing it.”

Visitors mold their own figures and sample treats like crystallized orange dipped in chocolate fondue. True chocoholics can sign up for a longer class at the exhibition’s School of Chocolate, held every Monday evening.

Chocolate first found fans among the ancient Mayans,This page contains information about molds, who drank it during religious ceremonies. After Cortes brought it to Europe in the 16th century, it became a fashionable beverage at French and English courts. Visitors can taste four drinks based on these early recipes, including a Mayan brew containing cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and vanilla.

The invention of a Dutch cocoa butter press in 1828 enabled the production of the first chocolate bars. The exhibition displays 19thcentury chocolate molds from Germany, Belgium and Italy made of metal, glass and wood, as well as the first molds from Russia, which were ceramic.Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings,

Historians debate when chocolate first arrived in Russia. But by the mid-19th century, it had become a country-wide craze. In 1826, the Leonov merchants founded the first Russian chocolate factory.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking Technologies. Soon after, dozens of new factories were competing for the title of “supplier of the court of his Imperial Majesty.” Museum visitors see dozens of elaborate wrappers and boxes from factories including Einem, George Borman and the Yeliseyev brothers.

By the early 20th century, “Russia was the leader in all types of chocolate in all of Europe,” said organizer Yevgeny Trostentsov.

Russian factories pioneered the use of inventive marketing techniques, such as packages that doubled as jewelry boxes, wrappers that turned into puzzle pieces and the original Kinder Surprise (a chocolate egg with a toy inside).

The fervor for collectible packaging reached a fever pitch in 1913 during celebrations of the Romanov dynasty’s 300th anniversary. Companies released countless designs bearing portraits of the imperial family. One box features an image of Nicholas II that was scratched out during the Soviet era.

“It was safer to keep that way,” Trostentsov said.

Russian chocolate companies met mixed fates after the Revolution. Some fled, while others were destroyed.Full-service custom manufacturer of precision plastic injection mould, Those that remained were nationalized in 1922. The Leonov factory became Rot Front; Einem became Krasny Oktyabr; Abrikosov and Sons, founded by a serf known for his apricot fillings, was renamed after a local committee chairman, Babayev.

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