The history of chocolates. This sweet word "candy" Where did the first candy in the world

The history of sweets covers the geography of the entire globe. The word "candy" itself is translated from Latin as "cooked potion". The first confectioners appeared in ancient Egypt, where noble citizens have always been distinguished by their love for culinary delights: since sugar was not yet known at that time, 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 seeds was kept in the strictest confidence, and in Ancient Russia, sweets were made from maple syrup, molasses and honey.

The French chronicles tell of how sweets played a role of national importance at court. In 1715, the chancellor won the favor of the French king Louis XV, presenting him in gratitude for the throne speech delivered 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 accused sweets are chocolates. In the 16th century, in Europe, during the craze for chocolate, special magical and healing properties were attributed to it. Naturally, the expectations were not justified, 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 to no longer eat chocolate. 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 discreetly hide sweets in redicules. Such obscene behavior was explained simply: in Russia there were no confectionery factories, and each confectioner prepared sweets for each dinner party according to his own recipe, which was kept in the strictest confidence.

The most romantic sweets are those with strawberry filling. This is what German psychologists think. 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 people prefer nut filling, 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 sales record in Germany and Switzerland.

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

17.08.2015 09.07.2019

Chocolates have become a favorite treat for many people regardless of their gender or age. They are a symbol of a carefree childhood. Candy is often used as a gift to relatives, friends and colleagues. They surprisingly always improve mood: I ate a candy, and everything in life gets better as if by itself.

Historical facts

When telling the story of chocolates, it is worth starting from the moment chocolate was created. The sweet was brought to Europe from America in the 16th century by the Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortes, who was the first to appreciate it. This happened during the landing of Cortes ashore. On the American continent, native peoples actively used in their life (especially religious) a certain drink that they prepared from cocoa beans. According to their beliefs, this drink had various healing properties.

For a long time chocolate was known only at the Spanish court, but in the 17th century its fame spread to other European states of that time. France has been particularly successful in this area. The popularity of sweets grew so quickly that even the church turned its eyes to it. There was a controversy about chocolate, but by pure chance, chocolate products were not banned, since Pope Pius V did not like them. Chocolate seemed too bitter to him, and he decided that such a "muck" could not corrupt a person. Since that time, sweet products began to gain more and more popularity.

The first chocolate sweets appeared only in the middle of the 19th century. They were created by the Brussels pharmacist John Neuhaus in 1857. It all happened quite by accident: during the invention of cough medicine, he managed to create what as a result is called chocolates. They went on sale through the son of a pharmacist in 1912. But the packaging for sweets was developed by his wife - these were gold-colored wrappers familiar to everyone. After that, the sweets went like hot cakes.

Excursion to the chocolate factory

The process of making chocolate is very complicated. The sweetness is made from cocoa beans, the fruits of the chocolate tree, which grows mainly in South America, southern North America and West Africa. There are several varieties of cocoa beans. They differ in price and quality.

Cocoa beans are harvested and sent for fermentation. They are then sorted and sent to factories where they are roasted and ground. The subsequent palatability of chocolate depends on the size of the crushed fruits. In other words, it turns out grated cocoa, which contains cocoa butter.

Then the cocoa liquor is heated to the desired temperature and pressurized. As a result of the procedure, 2 products are obtained: cocoa butter and cake, from which cocoa powder is obtained. After that, the chocolate mass goes through the stage of conching, that is, thorough kneading at high temperatures. The process takes either a few hours or a few days. High temperatures remove excess moisture and bitterness from chocolate.

Any sweet tooth is interested in the question of how chocolates are made. It is after this stage that the production of chocolate sweets begins. The resulting and already frozen chocolate is sent to special bunker machines, where, under the influence of temperature, the mass begins to melt. At this time, the process of creating the filling for the future candy is actively going on in the neighboring workshop.

At the next stage, the molds with cells for sweets are heated. Melted chocolate is poured into warmed molds so that the cell is filled only by a third. The filled form is sent to a special cabinet where it is cooled and the chocolate hardens. After that, a certain filling is added to the cells and covered with a chocolate film.

And only after such a procedure, the surface of the future candy is completely filled with chocolate. The remains of the sweet mass are removed with a special knife, and the sweets are sent to the cooling cabinet for the second time. Finished chocolate products are sent for packaging.

In modern factories, all processes for the production of chocolate products are fully automated. People exercise only control over all actions.

Making sweets at home

You can also make these delicious treats at home. This is not at all difficult to do. As a rule, the manufacture will require either chocolate or cocoa powder.

Do-it-yourself recipes for delicious sweets are affordable even for a non-professional confectioner. You can come up with original recipes yourself and always have your own personal branded chocolate on hand.

Experts identify two of the easiest ways to make sweets at home. For the first recipe you will need:

• 65 g butter;
• 8 art. l. Sahara;
• 6 art. l. milk;
• 6 art. l. cocoa powder;
• 1.5 tsp wheat flour.

For the filling: walnuts, raisins and fruits to taste. The molds are either purchased or removed from the candy box. In the process of cooking, it is necessary to mix cocoa powder with sugar, heat the milk (do not bring to a boil). Pour the mixture into milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for several minutes, until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

Then add flour and boil for a few minutes. With the resulting mixture, fill the molds by a third, add the filling and pour over the rest of the chocolate. Remove the workpiece in the cold until completely hardened. Finished products are removed from molds and packed in foil.

For the second recipe, you need to prepare:

• 250-300 g roasted peanuts;
• 150 g wheat flour;
• cookies "For tea" - 4 pcs.;
• 3.5 st. l. honey;
• 2.5 tsp butter;
• 1-2 bars of any chocolate.

Place honey and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour this liquid over crushed peanuts and biscuits. When the mass thickens somewhat, small balls can be downloaded from it. Melt chocolate in any convenient way (in a water bath, in a microwave, in a double boiler).

Using a pair of forks, dip the balls in chocolate and put on foil, let it freeze in a cold place. Sweets are ready.

A few cooking tips:

1. Molds should be perfectly dry without a drop of moisture.
2. Cooking should be done in a cool place (up to 22 degrees).
3. When melting chocolate, you can add liquid in the form of liquor or cognac.

The composition of sweet products

The calorie content of sweets directly depends on the composition of the confectionery. Of course, this figure will be significantly higher for chocolates than for caramel products. Often unscrupulous manufacturers replace cocoa butter in chocolate with heavier palm or coconut oil. Chocolate candy can have various high-calorie fillings, so it’s better not to get carried away with such sweets.

List of delicious sweets and their calorie content (100 g of product):

• marmalade in chocolate - 437 kcal;
• truffle - 347 kcal;
• cherry in chocolate - 399 kcal;
• cherry in chocolate with liquor - 490 kcal;
• assorted dark chocolate - 540 kcal;
• chocolate candy with filling - 455 kcal;
• milk chocolate - 555 kcal;
• white chocolate - 580 kcal;
• dried fruits in chocolate - 345 kcal;
• waffles in chocolate - 575 kcal;
• walnut praline products - 530 kcal.

Harmful or helpful?

So what is more in sweets - harm or benefit? There is no definite answer to this question. The main advantage of the products is the content of "fast" carbohydrates, which allows a person to renew the energy supply in a short time.

Thanks to chocolate, the so-called "happiness hormone" - endorphin - is produced in the body.

Harm in most cases can only bring excessive and uncontrolled use of these delicacies, especially by children. Not only can overweight appear, teeth deteriorate from them, diathesis and diabetes mellitus appear. Various dyes, preservatives and flavor enhancers that are so often added to the composition of sweets can cause severe allergic reactions in some people. In this case, it is better to make chocolates at home in order to be completely sure of the naturalness of all the ingredients. You can and should eat sweets, but you should do it wisely.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Sweets do not become obsolete, do not go out of fashion, do not get bored. Sweets are given to children and teachers, medical staff and secretaries, mothers-in-law and bosses. Little seductive sources of endorphins that can please and appease, thank and console. Where did the candies come from in Russia, says "Stol"

500 year old lollipop

The forerunners of sweets in Russia were candied fruits. In Domostroy, varieties of “Kyiv jam” were described - fruits and berries candied in honey, and later in sugar. In 1777, Empress Catherine II tasted the Little Russian treat 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 Kyiv to St. Petersburg every autumn.

A delicacy was prepared in small rooms equipped with ovens. The fruits were cut, boiled, stood in sugar syrup, then the syrup was allowed to drain and the jam was sprinkled with sugar. For the last stage, strong healthy yard girls were required. They held large trays in their hands, where dry jam was put, sugar was poured - this had to be shaken for a long time and carefully so that the sugar coating became uniform and stable. 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 candies in the form 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 most noble ladies at social receptions quietly hid candy treats in their reticules. Not out of greed, but out of a thirst for knowledge. After all, each confectioner 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 in the 18th century painted the “Sugar Parterre”, which was built for the royal feast. According to tradition, when the imperial family left the dining room, the guests present hurriedly pulled away the “royal gifts” from the table.

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

The first confectionery production in Russia appeared in the 18th century in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Large factories arose 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 today. The partnership "Georg Landrin" has become the "Leningrad State Caramel Factory named after. Mikoyan”, “Partnership Abrikosov and Sons” became the “Babaevskaya factory”, “Einem” - “Red October”, “Sioux and Co” - the factory “Bolshevik”. But even at large enterprises, production was semi-handicraft for a long time. Cooking fire ovens, manual presses, open digesters with manual 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 a surprise

The candy industry has grown. Marketing optimization was the invention of branded packaging. Few people know that the candy wrapper was invented by the famous Thomas Edison, 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 packaged in plain paper. And also in drawers, caskets, porcelain boxes. A bonbonniere is a box for sweets and sweets (bonboniere, from bonbon - candy). In confectionery shops, fragile chocolates were packed in one row, sometimes in an additional wrapper, in flat cardboard boxes without decorations. Sweets sold in bulk were most often placed in wooden or metal boxes in the shape 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 advertising, information of an educational nature was often placed on it. To attract buyers, confectionery packaging made up series or sets.

From the 1880s, colorful tin packaging came into vogue. The tins protected the goods from moisture and could later be used by housewives to store food. Some confectionery factories had their own packaging workshops. For example, the Abrikosov factory had a workshop for the manufacture of boxes from tin and cardboard "under the direction of the painter Fyodor Shemyakin."

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

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what stuffing you're going to get." (Forrest Gump)

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

Einem factory Borodino chocolate

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 buyer with a prize. Samples for needlework or culinary recipes were also used as attachments.

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

Chocolate "Children are naughty"

After the revolution of 1917, candy wrappers lost their sophistication, but instead acquired a propaganda focus. Here on the candy wrapper "Harvest" was the inscription "You harvested the harvest on time - you helped the Motherland a lot!" The cognitive factor was also preserved. Having eaten the Rhino candy, the child could find out in which areas this animal lives, how long it lives and what it eats. The patriotic spirit was called upon to raise sweets like "Admiral Nakhimov". Since then, the brands "Little Red Riding Hood", the iris "Kis-Kis", the famous "Cancerous 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 employees and completely stops taking sick leave

Candy pioneers

In 1848 an entrepreneur Georg Landrin opened a workshop for the production of candy caramel on the Peterhof highway in St. Petersburg. In 1860, the production of the famous Montpensier began here. It was here that the prototype of the current candy bouquets appeared - caramel decorations. The technique of caramel decoration was considered the highest achievement of confectionery art. By the end of the 19th century, the confectioners of the Russian Empire could give odds to any foreign craftsman: caramel flowers came out of 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" under Alexander III and under Nicholas II were regularly served on the royal table during ceremonial dinners and holidays.

Caramel "Royal Raspberry" from the factory Landrin

“I have never heard the words “only” and “candy” used in the same sentence!” (South Park)

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

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

Confectionery Georges Bormann in St. Petersburg

The factory produced caramel, montpensier, lollipops, chocolates. Especially for the aristocracy, a separate production was opened for the daily production of fresh sweets. The assortment consisted of 200 items: Alyonushka, Ears, Riven Heads, Yakshi, 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 were placed in the egg. Thematic series of chocolate were produced: "Geographical 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, Georges Borman put up the first of the automatic machines for selling chocolate bars. To get a chocolate bar, it was necessary to put a coin into the hole on the front wall and turn the handle located here, a slot opened below and a chocolate bar was put forward. 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 piece and then, having received neither chocolate nor change, gave the machine a kick. Then some merchant stuck a three-ruble note into the slot, after which the unit stopped working altogether. I had to put a hefty fellow with the machine. And that ruined the idea. About 40 such devices were supposed to be on Nevsky Prospekt alone, but the idea could not be realized.

1917 destroyed the Georges Bormann empire, the factories were nationalized.

Two kilograms of milky toffees, poured into the desktop drawer as bait, make morning preparations easier and cut the road to the office in half.

The best pre-revolutionary confectionery factory in Moscow is considered to be the confectionery factory “Partnership of A.I. Abrikosov and Sons, founded in 1874.

Chocolate "Spanish" factory Apricots

The grandfather of the future manufacturer, the serf Stepan Nikolaev, having received his freedom, in 1804 created a small workshop in Moscow in which members of his family worked. They made jams, marmalade, but apricot marshmallows were especially good. It was for her that the grandfather was nicknamed Abrikosov, and even recorded under this surname during the census in 1814. His son improved the workshop. But only the 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 the factory. After that, the workshop became the largest Moscow mechanized confectionery enterprise.

The grandson of the Apricots was a marketing genius. His advertising was 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 booklets, invested branded calendars in purchases, and held charity events. Boxes and candy wrappers of Abrikosov sweets were so colorful that they became a collector's item.

Abrikosov issued 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 chocolate hares and Santa Clauses wrapped in foil.

When branded stores appeared at the Abrikosovs, promotions began to be carried out right at the point of sale. For example, the city newspaper published the news that in one store of the Abrikosovs only blondes work as saleswomen, and in another only brunettes. The public immediately rushed to check the news. Without purchases, of course, few people left. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov was considered the "chocolate king of Russia." And after the revolution, his enterprise turned into the "Factory named after the worker Babaev."

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

The "Partnership of Apricots and Sons" competed with the "Partnership of Einem", founded by Ferdinand Theodor von Einem, a German citizen in 1867. Einem produced caramel, sweets, chocolate, cocoa drinks, marshmallows, cookies, gingerbread, biscuits. After the opening of a branch in the Crimea, Einem's assortment included chocolate-glazed fruits and marmalade.

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

Monpasier factory Landrin

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

After the revolution, the production of Theodor von Einem, founded a stone's throw 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 Chupy into orbit. I C UPdecided it was safe. Video of astronauts with lollipops has become the company's most effective advertisingChupa Chups

Another major chocolate manufacturer is the Frenchman Adolf 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, jam. There were sweets in the assortment, which were specially prepared for the morning - they were prescribed to be eaten only fresh. By 1900, the trading house "A. Sioux & Co. had a network of branded stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Warsaw. Confectionery shops supplied coffee, cocoa and various sweets to Russia and Ukraine. Through the Nizhny Novgorod fair, goods went to Persia and China. Adolf Siu is the author of the famous Jubilee cookie. The factory produced it for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

Chocolate "Caricature"

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

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

Now the Krasny Oktyabr, Babaevsky and RotFront factories have been merged into the United Confectioners holding.

Editor's Choice

The history of mankind's love for sweets began about three millennia ago. The first confectionery 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 solemn departures of the pharaohs.
The recipes of the first sweets were not very diverse; the inhabitants of Ancient Greece and the Middle East enjoyed similar 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 sweets appeared in Europe

At the dawn of our era, brown sugar made from cane was imported to Europe from India. Subsequently, the sweet product was replaced by a cheaper American counterpart, which led to the rapid development of confectionery production in the countries of the Old World.
Sweets in a form more familiar to us appeared in Italy in the 16th century. The confectioners of this European country melted lump sugar on fire, mixed the resulting mass with fruit and berry syrups and poured it into various forms. The forerunners of modern caramel in medieval Italy were sold only in, as it was believed that sweets had healing properties. It is interesting that initially only adults could buy a 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 Plessy ─ Praline. This is in 1671 in Belgium, where the nobleman served as the French ambassador. Before the advent of real chocolates, there were still 186 years left.
Belgian pharmacist John Neuhaus in 1857 worked on the invention of cough. Quite by chance, he managed to get a product that today is called "chocolates". Since 1912, the son of a pharmacist introduced them to mass sale. 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 the same pharmacists. The Latin word confectum as a term was used by medieval pharmacists. In ancient times, this was the name of processed fruits prepared for further use for medicinal purposes.

Today sweets have become one of the traditional treats on our table during tea parties. Few people refuse to treat themselves to sweets for tea, and manufacturers are trying to supply the market with more and more new varieties of sweet treats.

However, if you decide to study the history of the emergence of sweets in order to find out a lot of interesting details and facts, then in this article we have tried to collect for you the most entertaining historical excerpts from the history of the appearance and gradual development of sweets. However, we immediately warn you that after our story, you will have an irresistible desire to quickly buy sweets in Moscow, and more.

ancient delicacy

Like many dishes on our table, sweets have been known since ancient times. Even 3 thousand years ago, mentions of sweets appeared in a variety of sources. The first sweets were very simple, they did not add chocolate, but in shape they already looked like what we see on the table today.

The sweet first appeared in the Middle East, and then it was nuts and dried fruits pressed with honey. The delicacy was served to rich nobles, but ordinary people did not forget and occasionally indulge themselves in such sweetness. Of course, sugar and chocolate were not added there - completely different ingredients were used.

If we talk about chocolate, then the first sweets with its use appeared in South America. Here, sweets with chocolate were served for the table of priests and high-ranking Indians.

European innovations

If in the East sweets were for a long time in the state in which we wrote about them above, then in Europe culinary specialists gradually began to experiment with them. For example, in Italy, back in the 16th century, sugar was first added to sweets. At the same time, an interesting feature is that sweets with sugar were sold only in pharmacies for a long time. And at high prices - sugar was not the most affordable delicacy. Sweets were considered medicinal because of the properties of sugar to raise the tone of a person - patients who did not get enough glucose in a natural way, it became better from sugar.

However, gradually sweets began to move from the shelves of pharmacies to traditional pastry shops.

And what about in Russia?

It is interesting that in our country sweets were made in Ancient Russia. Then they were created using honey, molasses and sugar syrup. Traditional sweets appeared on the tables of Russians during the time of Peter I. Then sugar began to be imported into Russia, and rather quickly they began to use sugar beets to obtain it. At the same time, chocolates have long remained a delicacy for the richest buyers. Today everything has changed, and anyone can buy caramel in Moscow, as well as a variety of sweets. So why deny yourself this?