Once, when my sister and I were still young, my parents took us to the village on New Year's Eve. There we went with our uncle into the forest and saw that candies were hanging right on the bushes. We did not understand then that this was an uncle's joke, and for a long time we were sure that sweets grow in the forest.

And then it turned out that they are made at special confectionery factories.

We also learned that there was a time when such factories did not exist at all. It turned out that once people did not even know how to make sugar. And we felt very sorry for the ancient children, because we understood that you cannot produce delicious sweets without sugar.

But they explained to us that first candy appeared a long time ago, in the East. And, despite the lack of sugar, they were still sweet. Because they were made from dates and honey.

Learned how to make candy in ancient Russia, they were made from maple syrup and honey.

Sweets similar to modern ones, already with the use of sugar, began to be produced in the 16th century in Italy. But, oddly enough, they were sold only in pharmacies and were intended exclusively for adults, because they were considered a very strong drug. And this, of course, was unfair to the children.

Gradually, sweets with sugar began to be produced in other countries. Only there they were no longer sold in pharmacies, but in pastry shops, delighting both themselves and children.

One day Count Arakcheev arranged a reception in his palace and wished to treat the guest of honor, the emperor Paul I, such a rare delicacy in those days, like chocolates. And suddenly it turned out that the recently introduced dish with sweets turned out to be completely empty. The enraged count quietly left the dining room and interrogated the servants. It turned out that as soon as the dish appeared on the table, noble guests began to shove sweets into their pockets and purses. Even the emperor allowed himself to do so.

And this happened not only at the reception with Arakcheev. The fact is that factories for the production of sweets in Russia at that time it was not yet. But there were small pastry shops in which talented people worked, coming up with their own recipes for these sweets.

After the reception at Arakcheev's, an advertisement appeared over the entrance to one of the St. Petersburg confectionery shops: "Our sweets are so good that they are stolen even from the count's tables."

The first confectionery factory appeared in Russia only in the middle of the nineteenth century. Since then, noble guests have stopped stealing sweets.

In 1563, guests came to the Spanish Queen Elizabeth of Valois to wish her a happy birthday. They gave mainly jewelry. But a smile of joy appeared on her face only when she was presented with a box of Italian chocolates. Elizabeth's husband, Henry II, said:

Looks like honey, you liked sweets more than diamonds.

The queen replied:

They give me diamonds all the time, they are expensive, but you can buy them anywhere. And chocolates are so rare.

And she joked:

Plus, they are much tastier than diamonds.

But today all over the world, including in Russia, there are so many sweets sold that the Spanish queen would very much envy you guys.

Bon Appetit! Eat candy for health. Only, if you do not want to ruin your teeth, do not get too carried away with them.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Sweets don't get old, don't go out of fashion, don't get bored. Sweets are given to children and teachers, nurses and secretaries, mother-in-law and boss. Tantalizing little sources of endorphins to please and appease, thank and console. Where did the sweets come from in Russia, says "Stol"

500 year old lollipop

Candied fruits were the predecessors of sweets in Russia. In "Domostroy" they described the varieties of "Kiev jam" - candied in honey, and later in sugar, fruits and berries. In 1777, Empress Catherine II tasted the Little Russian food and even issued a special decree on the supply of dry jam to the imperial court. The order was regularly delivered by a special stagecoach. Either the northern fruits were so much inferior to the Ukrainian ones, or the Little Russians knew a special recipe for cooking, but until the 19th century, stagecoaches with dry jam were sent from Kiev to St. Petersburg every autumn.

A delicacy was prepared in small rooms equipped with ovens. The fruits were sliced, boiled, soaked in sugar syrup, then the syrup was allowed to drain and the jam was sprinkled with sugar. For the last stage, strong healthy courtyard girls were required. They held in their hands large trays, where dry jam was applied, sugar was poured - this had to be shaken for a long time and thoroughly for the sugar coating to become uniform and persistent. Then the candied fruits were sifted through sieves and dried in the sun. And then they put them in wooden boxes, shifting each layer with sheets of parchment.

Later, using molasses, honey, and then sugar, our ancestors began to make the first real sweets at home - lollipops. Who and when came up with the idea of ​​making lollipops is unknown. Most likely, this invention has many authors. In 1489 in Russia there were already lollipops in the shape of a fish, a house, a squirrel and a Christmas tree. The famous cockerels appeared later, in the 70s of the 19th century.

Caramel cockerel

At the beginning of the century before last, even the richest and noblest ladies at receptions secretly hid a candy treat in a reticule. Not out of greed, but out of a thirst for knowledge. After all, each pastry chef prepared sweets according to his own recipe, which was a matter of honor to reveal.

At the ceremonial imperial banquets, dessert became a real attraction. From sugar, caramel, mastic, chocolate, marzipan and powdered sugar, court confectioners built complex figures: bowls, models of castles and famous architectural structures. Architect F.-B. Rastrelli painted Sugar Parterre in the 18th century, which was built for the royal feast. According to tradition, when the imperial family left the dining room, the guests present hurriedly took away the "royal gifts" from the table.

German psychologists have found out that romantic natures choose strawberry filling in sweets. Creative people prefer coconut, shy ones prefer nutty

The first confectionery industries in Russia appeared in the 18th century in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Large factories emerged only in the second half of the 19th century, and by 1913, 142 confectionery enterprises were registered in Russia. The most famous of them are still heard. The Georg Landrin partnership became the Leningrad State Caramel Factory named after Mikoyan ”,“ The Association of Apricots and Sons ”became“ Babaevskaya Factory ”,“ Einem ”-“ Red October ”,“ Siu and Co ”- the“ Bolshevik ”factory. But even at large enterprises, production was for a long time semi-handicraft. Cooking fired ovens, hand presses, open digesters with hand stirrers were used, products were also wrapped by hand. But at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the assortment of confectionery factories already consisted of almost all sweets known today.

Bonbonniere with surprise

The candy business developed. The marketing optimization was the invention of branded packaging. Few people know that the candy wrapper was invented by the famous Thomas Edison, the father of the telegraph, typewriter and light bulb. It was Edison who invented waxed paper, which became the first candy wrapper. In Russia, candy wrappers began to be used in the 80s of the 19th century.

At first, confectionery products were wrapped in plain paper. And also in drawers, caskets, porcelain boxes. A bonbonniere is a box for sweets and candies (bonboniere, from bonbon - candy). In confectionery stores, fragile chocolates were stacked in one row, sometimes in an additional wrapper, in flat cardboard boxes without decorations. The candies sold in bulk were most often placed in wooden or metal boxes in the form of a cube or chest.

Einem candy box

At the beginning of the 19th century, the first specialized packaging appeared with the name of the manufacturer's company. In addition to decorations and advertisements, information of an educational nature was often placed on it. To attract customers, confectionery packaging was made up of series or sets.

Since the 1880s, colorful tin packaging has come into fashion. Tins protected the goods from dampness and could subsequently be used by housewives to store food. Some confectionery factories had their own packaging workshops. For example, Abrikosov's factory had a workshop for the production of tin and cardboard boxes "under the direction of the painter Fyodor Shemyakin."

Sometimes, non-specialized containers were used. In the price list of Georges Bormann's company for 1912, there is an indication that Japanese lacquer boxes were used for the Sakai, Bungo and Miyaki chocolates.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what filling you will find "(Forrest Gump)

For significant dates and anniversaries, for example, for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, for the 100th anniversary of the war of 1812, sweets were produced in special packaging. Special packaging could be ordered in small batches for local celebrations - regimental or family celebrations, completion of the construction of a ship or presentation of the company at World and All-Russian trade and industrial exhibitions.

Borodino chocolate from Einem factory

Sometimes prizes and surprises were placed in the boxes. For example, for the anniversary of A.S. Pushkin, miniature books of his poems and fairy tales were published, which were put into candy boxes. Advertising postcards were also placed there: upon presentation of the entire series of postcards, the store or company presented the customer with a prize. Handicraft samples or recipes were also used as attachments.

By the early 20th century, candy wrappers and chocolate bars were being designed as carefully as theater posters. They contained riddles, sayings, ditties, horoscopes, wishes, even the multiplication table and the alphabet for schoolchildren. And it was impossible to surprise anyone with candy wrappers with fortune-telling. Mikhail Vrubel, Viktor Vasnetsov, Ivan Bilibin did not consider it shameful to become decorators of candy wrappers.

"Children of the Naughty" chocolate

After the 1917 revolution, candy wrappers lost their sophistication, but they acquired an agitational focus. Here on the wrapper of candy "Harvest" was the inscription "You took the harvest on time - you helped the Motherland a lot!" The cognitive factor also persisted. Having eaten the "Rhino" candy, the child could find out in which areas this animal lives, how long it lives and what it eats. Candies like "Admiral Nakhimov" were called to raise the patriotic spirit. Since then, the brands "Krasnaya Shapochka", iris "Kis-kis", and the famous "Cancer necks" have survived to this day.

Caramel "Red Army Star"

If every evening, leaving work, a girl finds a Little Red Riding Hood candy in her coat pocket, she becomes friendly with all the employees and completely stops taking sick leave.

Candy trailblazers

In 1848 an entrepreneur Georg Landrin opened on Peterhof highway in St. Petersburg a workshop for the production of lollipop caramel. In 1860, the production of the famous Montpensier began here. It was here that the prototype of today's candy bouquets appeared - caramel decorations. The technique of caramel decoration was considered the highest achievement of the art of confectionery. By the end of the 19th century, the confectioners of the Russian Empire could give odds to any foreign master: caramel flowers came out from them as jewelry beautiful and at the same time large-scale in Russian. Each caramel maker tried to come up with his own know-how.

The popularity of the products of the Georg Landrin Partnership in pre-revolutionary Russia was very high. Under Alexander III, the factory received the honorary title of "Supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty". It was a kind of quality mark. Sweets from "George Landrin" during the reign of Alexander III and Nicholas II were regularly served on the royal table during ceremonial dinners and holidays.

Caramel "Tsarskaya raspberry" from the Landrin factory

"I've never heard the words" just "and" candy "used in the same sentence!" (South Park)

The second St. Petersburg candy merchant was Grigory Nikolaevich Borman... He, too, was the supplier of the Imperial Court with "the right to depict the state emblem on its etiquette." At international exhibitions in the food category, Georges Bormand has consistently received "gold".

Daily production of Bormann produced up to 90 poods of chocolate. Only the best varieties of cocoa, vanilla and sugar were used. Bormann's products could do without advertising - there was such a scent around the factory on Angliysky Prospekt in St. Petersburg that it was impossible to walk past the brand store.

Georges Bormann's confectionery in St. Petersburg

The factory produced caramel, monpensier, lollipops, chocolates. A separate production facility was opened especially for the aristocracy for the daily production of fresh sweets. The assortment consisted of 200 items: "Alyonushka", "Ears", "Revered Heads", "Yaksha", "Tsukatiki", "Sampyuchay", "Zhmurka", "Georges", "Lobi-Tobi".

And the first chocolate egg with a surprise inside was made by Georges Bormann. A cross, a small church or an Orthodox cathedral was placed in the egg. Thematic series of chocolate were produced: "Geographic Atlas", "Collection of Beetles", "Peoples of Siberia", "Sport".

The firm "Georges Borman" became the pioneer of automatic trading in Russia. At the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Nadezhdinskaya Street, the firm "Georges Borman" exhibited the first of the automatic machines for the sale of chocolate bars. To obtain a chocolate bar, it was necessary to put a coin in the hole on the front wall and turn the handle located here, a slot opened at the bottom and a chocolate bar was pulled out. The machine was immediately dubbed the "House of the Brothers Grimm". As usual, everything went its own way in Russia. Then someone, instead of 15 kopecks, threw a two-kopeck one and then, having received neither chocolate nor change, weighed out a kick to the apparatus. Then some merchant thrust a three-ruble piece of paper into the slot, after which the unit stopped working altogether. I had to put a hefty fellow at the machine. And this ruined the very idea. Only on Nevsky prospect there were supposed to be about 40 such devices, but the idea was not implemented.

1917 destroyed the "Georges Bormand" empire, the factories were nationalized.

Two kilograms of milk toffee, poured into a desk drawer as bait, makes it easier to get ready in the morning and halves the way to the office.

The best pre-revolutionary confectionery factory in Moscow is considered to be the A.I. Aprikosov and Sons ”, founded in 1874.

Chocolate "Spanish" from the Apricot factory

The grandfather of the future manufacturer, the serf peasant Stepan Nikolayev, having received his freedom, in 1804 created a small workshop in Moscow, in which members of his family worked. They made jams, marmalades, but they made apricot marshmallows especially well. It was for her that the grandfather was nicknamed Abrikosov, and even recorded under this name during the census in 1814. His son improved the workshop. But only his grandson, Alexei Mikhailovich, turned the family business into the most significant confectionery factory in Russia. In 1873, he installed a 12 horsepower steam engine in a factory. After that, the workshop became the largest Moscow mechanized confectionery enterprise.

The Abrikosov grandson was a marketing genius. His ads were everywhere - in newspapers and magazines, on signs in shop windows and on the facades of houses. He issued special price lists, something like modern advertising brochures, invested branded calendars in purchases, and held charity events. The boxes and candy wrappers of Abrikosov sweets were so colorful that they became collectible.

Abrikosov produced a series of inserts and labels dedicated to artists and scientists. Children's series were accompanied by postcards, paper toys, mosaics. It was Abrikosov who invented the chocolate bunnies and Santa Clauses wrapped in foil.

When the Abrikosovs had brand stores, they began to conduct promotions right at the point of sale. For example, a city newspaper published the news that only blondes work as saleswomen in one store of the Apricots, and only brunettes in another. The audience immediately rushed to check the news. Of course, few people left without shopping. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Aleksey Ivanovich Abrikosov was considered the “chocolate king of Russia”. And after the revolution, his enterprise turned into the "Factory named after worker Babaev".

The world's largest marzipan and chocolate candy weighed 1.85 tons. It was made in Daimen, the Netherlands, from 11 to 13 May 1990.

The Fellowship of Apricots and Sons competed with the Fellowship of Einem, founded by Ferdinand Theodor von Einem, a German filed in 1867. Einem produced caramel, candy, chocolate, cocoa drinks, marshmallow, cookies, gingerbread, biscuits. After opening a branch in Crimea, Einem had chocolate-glazed fruits and marmalade in his assortment.

Einem paid special attention to sonorous names and stylish packaging. "Empire", "Mignon", chocolate "Boyarsky", "Golden Label" - boxes with sweets were finished with silk, velvet, leather. The company's advertisements were placed on theatrical programs, on sets of postcards enclosed in boxes of sweets. For the factory, his own composer wrote music, along with caramel or chocolate, the buyer received free notes of "Chocolate Waltz", "Waltz of Montpasier", or "Cupcake Gallop".

Montpassier of the Landrin factory

Collectors have preserved sets of futuristic postcards "Moscow of the Future", on the reverse side of which "T-in Einem" is printed in tiny letters.

After the revolution, the production of Theodor von Einem, founded two steps from the Moscow Kremlin, turned into the Red October factory. And now only a small museum will remain of it - the territory will be built up with elite houses and shopping and entertainment centers.

The most unearthly candy is Chupa Chups. In 1995, Russian cosmonauts asked to deliver the chupas to orbit. And c UPdecided it was safe. Video of astronauts with lollipops has become the most effective advertising for the companyChupa Chups

Another major chocolate manufacturer is the Frenchman Adolphe Sioux... In 1853, he opened a confectionery business in Moscow, which for half a century determined the taste of the Russian consumer of sweets. The factory produced sweets, marmalade, marshmallows, cakes, dragees, ice cream, gingerbread cookies, and preserves. There were sweets in the assortment that were specially prepared for the morning - they were prescribed to be eaten only fresh. By 1900, the A. Siu & Co ”had a chain of branded stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Warsaw. The confectionery shops supplied coffee, cocoa and various sweets to Russia and Ukraine. Through the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, goods went to Persia and China. It is Adolph Siu who is the author of the famous Jubilee cookies. The factory released it for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.

Chocolate "Caricature"

Sioux opened a confectionery and a coffee shop on Kuznetsky Most, which were decorated in the Art Nouveau style based on scenes ordered in Paris and executed by the best Russian craftsmen, and the interior of the corporate retail store on Arbat was decorated in the rococo style of the Louis XV era. In 1918 the production was nationalized and renamed into the Bolshevik factory. Since 1994 she has been a member of the Danone group.

The Soviet factory "RotFront" grew out of "Trading House Leonovs" founded in 1826. In addition to chocolate and marmalade, this enterprise specialized in caramel, produced 5 varieties of these candies: large caramel, small caramel, lollipops, monpensier, "satin pads". Many modern caramels are still produced according to the Leonovs' recipe.

Now factories "Red October", "Babaevsky" and "RotFront" have been merged into the holding "United Confectioners".

Editor's Choice

The history of mankind's love for sweets began about three millennia ago. The first confectionery products appeared in Ancient Egypt. Prototypes of modern sweets were made from boiled honey with the addition of dates. It was customary to throw sweets into the crowd during the ceremonial trips of the pharaohs.
The recipes for the first sweets were not very diverse; the inhabitants of Ancient Greece and the countries of the Middle East enjoyed such confectionery products. At that time, people did not know how to produce sugar, the basis of all sweets is honey with the addition of dried apricots, nuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and spices.

The first candies appeared in Europe

At the dawn of our era, brown sugar made from cane was imported into Europe from India. Subsequently, the sweet product was replaced by a cheaper American analogue, which led to the rapid development of the production of confectionery products in the countries of the Old World.
Sweets in a more familiar form for us appeared in Italy in the 16th century. Confectioners of this European country melted lump sugar over a fire, mixed the resulting mass with fruit and berry syrups and poured into various forms. The precursors of modern caramel in medieval Italy were sold only in Italy, as sweets were believed to have medicinal properties. Interestingly, initially only adults could buy this tasty medicine.

The first chocolates appeared in ... Europe!

The first chocolate dessert, which is a mixture of grated nuts, candied honey, cocoa lumps, filled with melted sugar, was made by the Duke of Plessis ─ Praline. This is in 1671 in Belgium, where the nobleman served as the French ambassador. There were still 186 years before the advent of real chocolates.
Belgian pharmacist John Neuhaus worked on an invention for a cough in 1857. Quite by accident, he managed to get a product that is today called "chocolates." Since 1912, the son of a pharmacist introduced them to the mass market. The real excitement began after the pharmacist's wife came up with the idea of ​​wrapping sweets in golden wrappers.
The candy owes its name to all the same pharmacists. The Latin word confectum was used as a term by medieval pharmacists. In ancient times, this was the name of processed fruits prepared for further use for medicinal purposes.

The history of sweets covers the geography of the entire globe. The word "candy" itself is translated from Latin as "prepared potion". The first confectioners appeared in Ancient Egypt, where noble citizens were always distinguished by their love of culinary delights: since sugar was not yet known then, they cooked sweets from honey and dates; in the East, sweets were made from almonds and figs. In ancient Rome, the recipe for sweets made from nuts, poppy seeds, honey and sesame was kept in the strictest confidence, and in Ancient Russia, sweets were made from maple syrup, molasses and honey.

French chronicles tell how sweets played the role of state importance at the court. In 1715, the Chancellor won the favor of the French king Louis XV, presenting him in gratitude for his speech from the throne in parliament ... a huge dish of sweets! However, what else could win the heart of the monarch, who was then only five years old ?!

In general, this sweet delicacy has been popular throughout the ages among all segments of the population. True, for a long time it was absolutely inaccessible to ordinary people and was the privilege of the rich and noble class.

The most unfairly blamed chocolates are chocolates. In the 16th century, in Europe, during the craze for chocolate, special magical and medicinal properties were attributed to it. Naturally, expectations were not met, and then they began to consider him the source of literally all troubles. Here is a letter from a young lady to a friend: "I advise you not to eat chocolate anymore. My friend ate it during pregnancy and gave birth to a completely black child."

At the beginning of the 19th century, even the richest and noblest Russian ladies, being at receptions, tried to secretly hide sweets in the radishes. The explanation for such obscene behavior was simple: there were no confectionery factories in Russia, and each pastry chef prepared sweets for each dinner party according to his own recipe, which was kept in the strictest confidence.

The most romantic candies are those with strawberry filling. This is the opinion of German psychologists. By the way, it is believed that taste preferences directly depend on the character of a person: decisive people, for example, prefer cherry filling, shy ones prefer nutty ones, and creative people prefer coconut filling.

The most famous sweets are pralines. Pralines were invented in 1663 and prepared especially for the French ambassador to Germany. Pralines still hold the record for sales in Germany and Switzerland.

According to many experts, the best chocolates today are made in France and Switzerland.

The candy story is one of the many stories that unites us with the whole world. And really, can love for sweets be something special and only constitute someone's particular national pride?

The Museum of Russian Dessert in Zvenigorod near Moscow is just a storehouse of knowledge and artifacts of Russian "sweet" cuisine. Which, as it turns out, is full of interesting episodes and unknown pages.

However, there are secrets in the museum itself. The main one is the upcoming exhibition "Confectionary Shop". Sounds strange? Just the current word "candy" is derived from the Latin "sonfectum"- a prepared drug. Back in dictionariesXviiicentury this word was masculine. And even on boxesXIXcentury you can read "Lady's Confection". In the first place was the meaning "candy is a medicine made from boiled fruits or herbs." And only then - sweetness.

In today's dictionaries, a candy is a sugar-based product prepared with the addition of various types of raw materials, flavors and aromatic additives. Sweets accompany us throughout life. For many, they are the "hormone" of happiness and joy. Eat it and your soul will feel better. And all the troubles will recede away.

In general, the candy has a history that is much longer than we can imagine. Its past covers the geography of the entire world. They say that the first candy is three thousand years old. She was born in Ancient Egypt and was a simple ball rolled from finely chopped dates, honey and nuts. In the ancient East, sweets were made from figs, almonds, honey and the same nuts. In ancient Rome, they were rolled in poppy seeds, sesame seeds. And the predecessors of Russian sweets are most likely today's candied fruits. VXviicentury this word came to us from the German language - "candied fruit". And so it remained with us for many centuries. Prior to this, a similar product was called "Kiev dry jam". These are pieces of fruit repeatedly boiled in sugar syrup, almost to amber transparency. The first mentions of him refer toXIVcentury. The chronicles tell how the Lithuanian prince Jagiello was brought to the wedding table with this "dry" jam. Subsequently, Ekaterina was a fan of this delicacy.II... Even a special decree was issued so that in the fall they would deliver it to St. Petersburg and serve it to the tsar's table. Dignitaries and confidants followed the example of the autocrat. So there were stagecoaches and carts with this sweet from Kiev.

The first mention of the familiar candy to us dates back to 1489. For more than 500 years, this product is made of molasses, honey, pleases our children and adults. Our great-great ... great-grandmothers added ginger root there, which resulted in a spicy taste. When they learned to make lollipops is not known for certain. The idea is so simple that, most likely, it was born more than once and in many cities. Then she forgot and came again. At first it was not even "cockerels", but "houses", "squirrels", "bears". The syrup with molasses was poured into a special form, a long splinter was inserted from the side, it froze there. Then the form was "parted" and we got the same lollipop, familiar to us.

For a long time, sweets would have been a piece commodity if not for sugar. The first mentions of him also refer toXIIIcentury. It was brought in as a spice and sold at a high price. And not everyone could afford it. In Russia, for example, drinking tea with sugar with a bite has become a generally available habit only withXviiicentury. That old sugar was naturally made from cane. PeterIalso tried to curb foreign adversaries and ordered to make sugar in Russia. In 1718, he even established a sugar chamber. However, then sugar was made here from imported sugar cane. Beets began to be used as a raw material much later. And the first truly domestic sugar factories appear at the beginningXIX century. It was then that numerous confectionery workshops were opened in Russia, and then massive "industrial" production of sweets.

They say back in the beginningXIX centuries in cities and towns at receptions, lunches and dinners, it was considered completely disgraceful if some rich and luxuriously dressed lady pulled a piece of candy from the table and hid it in a reticule. This "obscene" behavior was simply explained: the candy was a rare, tempting product. So the society forgave such wrongdoings.
Naturally, the confectionery of the Imperial Court was an example of quality. Here they really made unique and "piece" products. Actually, in all aristocratic houses, after a dinner party, a dessert table was laid.
It was called "sugar parterre". Even the architect Rastrelli was involved in the design of such "tables", which in their essence were whole pyramids and sugar shelves. Fancy vases, castles, bouquets - all this architecture of "small forms" were created according to his sketches. They were all made from chocolate, marzipan, mastic, caramel.

It must be admitted that domestic masters have achieved amazing skill in the production of caramel flowers. Whole cascades of these sweets descended from the very top almost to the floor. There were trees decorated with marzipan fruits. Real luxury. But, after all, she will not be lost! That is why it was customary after the reception to disassemble all of it for "royal gifts". In the budget of the imperial court since the time of AlexanderI there was a corresponding article on these gifts.

Count Sollogub recalled how as a child he was waiting for his grandmother from these balls. As the huge carriage approached the entrance, the grandmother, tired of the ball, got out of it. Ahead of her, a servant was climbing the stairs, carrying two huge dishes filled with marzipans, sugar croutons, gingerbread cookies, cakes, sweets. And all because after the ball, grandmother, without hesitation, with the help of neighbors, filled these dishes from the common table and took them home. Shakos, pockets, handbags - everything was full of these gifts. And then everyone in the manor house - from the kids to the cook - got sweets.

Mass production of sweets used sugar syrup with the addition of chocolate, eggs, milk, fruits. They appeared in Europe earlier. In 1659, French confectioner David Shelley opened his factory in Paris and began to make products very similar to modern sweets.

Another person who contributed to the candy industry was ... Thomas Edison. A talented engineer, it seems, has not bypassed any of the many branches of science and industry. Confectioners owe him the invention of waxed paper, which is still used for candy wrappers.

Nougat, marzipans, cake and chocolates - only four types of sweets were produced in our company at the beginningXIX century. But already from the middle of the century, lollipops have been appearing. The Landrin factory became the discoverer of this era. The official version says that the factory was founded in 1848 by entrepreneur Georg (Georges) Landrin. It was then that he opened his workshop for the production of candy caramel on the Peterhof highway. Later, the workshop began to produce chocolate and biscuits.

However, there is also an alternative history. In the book "Moscow and Muscovites" Vladimir Gilyarovsky gives information about the origin of the word "landrin", which the famous Moscow baker Filippov told him:

“- At least take the candy called“ Landrin ”... Who is Landrin? What is monpensier? Before that, our Frenchmen learned to make these monpenciers, they only sold them wrapped in pieces of paper in all pastry shops ... And here over there Landrin ... It’s also a word from overseas, which is necessary for trade, but it turned out to be very simple.

The artisan Fedya worked at the confectionery shop of Grigory Efimovich Eliseev. Every morning, he used to bring him a tray of monpensier, - he made it in a special way, - half white and red, motley, except for him no one knew how to do this, and in papers. After the name day, or something, out of a hangover, he jumped up to carry the goods to Eliseev.
He sees that the covered tray is ready. Grabbed and runs so as not to be late. Brings. Eliseev untied the tray and shouted at him:
- What have you brought? What?..
Fedya saw that he had forgotten to wrap the candy in pieces of paper, grabbed the tray and ran. Tired, he sat down on a curbstone near the women's gymnasium ... Schoolgirls were running, one, the other-
- How much candy?
He does not understand-
- Will you take two kopecks? Give me your heels.
Bustling one dime ... Behind it another ... He takes the money and realized that it was profitable. Then a lot of them ran out, sold out a tray and say:
- You come to the yard tomorrow, by 12 o'clock, by recess ... What is your name?
- Fedor, by the name of Landrin-
I counted the profits - it is more profitable than selling to Eliseev, and gold pieces of paper are in profits. The next day he brought me to the gymnasium again.
- Landrin has come!
He began to trade first by peddling, then in places, and there he opened a factory. These sweets began to be called "landrin" - the word seemed French ... landrine and landrine! And he himself is a Novgorod peasant and got his surname from the Landra river, on which his village stands. "