Kalinnik, chak-chak, and taiga dessert: sweets and treats that bring visitors back to the Gastronomic Rows of the National Centre RUSSIA
Dishes reflecting the rich culinary legacy of various regions are featured in the space "Journey Across Russia. Food" at the National Centre RUSSIA. The gastronomic rows are divided into "South," "North," "West," and "East."
Here, guests can enjoy not only main courses but also a wide variety of desserts and drinks. The chef of the "South" and "West" zones, Rafail Yakupov, noted that baked quince with honey and nuts is especially popular among visitors. The "South" menu also includes Sochi-style baklava, chak-chak, a pie with dried apricots and prunes, lemon pie, "Pear Paradise" pancakes, and ice cream. The "West" offers cherry jelly, carrot cake, apple charlotte, berry sour cream cake, and honey cake.
"Among the 'South' and 'West' selections, we have a very tasty kissel made from sea buckthorn, raspberry, and cranberry — we make it ourselves," said Rafail Yakupov.
In the "North" space, visitors can try the well-known Siberian invention — "Taiga dessert," made from freshly frozen lingonberries, pine nuts, and condensed milk.
"We learned the recipe for the taiga dessert from chef and restaurateur Vladimir Burkovsky, a founder of Siberian cuisine. It’s a very interesting and explosive combination, yet made of the simplest ingredients. Freshly frozen lingonberries are sour and slightly bitter, enveloped by the flavor of warm creamy condensed milk, and complemented by delicate, aromatic pine nuts. Visitors come back for this contrast of flavors — more than once,” said sous-chef and pastry chef of the “North” zone in the “Journey Across Russia. Food” space, Kristina Burmistenko.
The dessert "Yablok Gordo" ("Apple Pride") was created by a mother of many children and one of the founders of the Udmurt oven cuisine chain "Perepechkin," Ira Votintseva from Izhevsk. It consists of baked apples with a curd cream, sponge cake, and a filling of chopped apples and lingonberries.
According to Svetlana Bokova, brand chef of the "East" zone, the most popular desserts in their space are kalinnik and honeysuckle in green chocolate with a currant leaf. Guests also enjoy the Far Eastern honey cake and berry sorbet made from wild lingonberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, sea buckthorn, and rosehip.
"Kalinnik originates from the Ryazan region, and the recipe was discovered during an expedition by local chef-entrepreneurs from the Ryazan Culinary Association. Local women still bake this pie with viburnum filling in a traditional Russian oven, wrapping it in cabbage leaves — an ancient method once used as parchment. The team of pastry chefs from the Ryazan-based Café Grafin, led by Dmitry Kirilin, refined the recipe and created a pastry that has become a tourist hallmark of the Ryazan region. The signature dessert bearing the logo of the National Centre RUSSIA — kalinnik made from sponge dough with viburnum — is now available in a variety of flavors featuring Russian wild and garden berries such as raspberry, black currant, and sea buckthorn," said Svetlana Bokova.
The Gastronomic Rows at the National Centre RUSSIA are open daily, except Mondays, from 10:00 to 21:00.
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