We are in a small town in the Moscow region of Russia: Kolomna. For centuries they have found a way to enhance apple puree, a sweet, a treasure used as a gift for emperors and the most illustrious guests. A story that begins at the end of the Rurik dynasty, in the era called the Turbid Period, before the Romanov dynasty arrived in Russian history. Ivan The Terrible, false children, Catherine the Great and of course a princess locked up in the Kremlin tower. Let’s go and discover Kolomna’s pastilà.
The Kolomna Pastilà Museum
We interviewed Natalia, the director of the Kolomna Pastilà museum . A project born in 2009 linked to Slow Food Russia which aims to rediscover historical recipes by looking for them in documents, kept in the libraries of the Russian Federation, using the symbolic ingredient of the city of Kolomna, the apple.
As with all successful ideas, the concept of Pastilà is very simple: apple, sugar and egg white. Kolomna has always been a very famous place for apples, in the Middle Ages they were used as a real asset of refuge, like gold or silver. It is not possible to grow successfully in all of Russia, in this region, there are ideal conditions for apple trees. Given the huge production, its inhabitants looked for a way to preserve the puree and discovered that, by simply adding egg white and sugar, they could create a dessert that could be used all year round. The apple thus became the most precious element in the area and whoever owned an orchard could become rich.
Dostoevskij also decided to buy land not far from the city, in the territory of Zarajsk. A dacha (country house) with an orchard and a forest where you can meditate and write. There are many famous people who decided to stay in this area with a mild climate, by Russian standards of course, at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka rivers. This allowed both to trade with the whole empire and to control the goods in transit to Moscow and Kolomna became an important military, commercial and religious center.
The legend of Marina Mnishek’s treasure
At the end of the Rurik dynasty, which ended with the bloodthirsty Ivan IV the Terrible , there was a period of upheaval throughout the empire, struggles between families for the conquest of the Tsar’s throne. We are in the 16th century and the Polish noblewoman Marina Mnishek is one of the protagonists of this century. Upon the death of Ivan IV there were a series of false sons who attempted to seize power and thus become Tsar. These characters claimed to be Dimitri, one of Ivan IV’s probably murdered sons. Marina Mnishek became the wife of the First False Dimitri, but she had to escape after his murder and married the Second False Dimitri, she really wanted to become Tsarina of Russia. This project also failed and she was imprisoned in the tower of the Kolomna Kremlin, where she died. The legend says that in the outskirts of the city his treasure was buried, still hidden today and that his soul lives in the black crows that noisily fly around the tower from where only his spirit managed to escape.
We believe that the inhabitants of Kolomna found the treasure. It is unique, precious, and can be shared with others without affecting its value. It’s called Pastilà!
Let’s find out in the interview all the secrets of this unique recipe.
the article in Italian here: https://www.lordinario.it/vi-sveliamo-il-tesoro-di-kolomna-la-pastila