From the history of candy. The history of chocolates and recipes for their preparation

The Museum of Russian Dessert in Zvenigorod near Moscow is simply 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 “Candy Shop” exhibition. Sounds unusual? It’s just that the current word “candy” is derived from the Latin “sonfectum"- a prepared drug. More in dictionariesXVIIIcentury this word was masculine. And even on boxesXIXcentury you can read “Lady's Confection”. In first place was the meaning “a candy is a medicine made from boiled fruits or herbs.” And only then - sweetness.

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

In general, candy has a history much longer than we might imagine. Her past spans the geography of the entire world. They say that the first candy is three thousand years old. It 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 and sesame seeds. And the predecessors of Russian sweets are most likely today's candied fruits. INXVIIcentury, this word came to us from the German language - “candied fruits”. And so it remained with us for many centuries. Before this, a similar product was called “dry Kiev jam.” These are pieces of fruit repeatedly boiled in sugar syrup, almost until amber transparency. The first mentions of it refer toXIVcentury. The chronicles tell how this “dry” jam was brought to the wedding table for the Lithuanian prince Jagiello. Subsequently, Catherine was a fan of this delicacyII. She even issued a special decree that in the fall it should be delivered to St. Petersburg and served at the royal table. Dignitaries and associates followed the example of the autocrat. So stagecoaches and carts with this sweetness went from Kyiv.

The first mention of the familiar candy dates back to 1489. For more than 500 years, this product made from molasses and honey has delighted our children and adults. Our great-great-great-grandmothers added ginger root there, which created a spicy taste. It is not known for certain when they learned to make lollipops. 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 wasn’t even “cockerels”, but “houses”, “squirrels”, “bears”. The syrup and molasses were poured into a special mold, a long sliver was inserted into the side, and it froze there. Then the shape “came apart” and the result was that very familiar lollipop.

For a long time, sweets would have been a piece of goods if not for sugar. The first mentions of him also refer toXIIIcentury. It was brought as spices and sold at a high price. And not everyone could afford it. In Russia, for example, drinking tea with sugar as a snack became a common habit only withXVIIIcentury. That old sugar was made, of course, from cane. PeterIalso tried to curb foreign adversaries and ordered the production of sugar in Russia. In 1718, he even established a sugar chamber. However, back then we made sugar from imported sugar cane. Beetroot began to be used as a raw material much later. And the first truly domestic sugar factories appear here at the beginningXIX century. It was then that numerous confectionery workshops opened in Russia, and then mass “industrial” production of sweets.

They say at the beginningXIX century, in cities and villages at parties, lunches and dinners, it was considered completely shameful if some rich and luxuriously dressed lady stole candy from the table and hid it in her reticule. This “indecent” behavior was explained simply: the candy was a rare and tempting product. So society forgave such offenses.
Naturally, the confectionery of the Imperial Court was an example of quality. They really made unique and “one-of-a-kind” products here. In fact, in all aristocratic houses, after a dinner party, a dessert table was set.
It was called “sugar parterre”. Even the architect Rastrelli was involved in the construction of such “tables”, which were essentially entire pyramids and sugar shelves. Based on his sketches, elaborate vases, castles, bouquets were created - all this architecture of “small forms”. They were all made from chocolate, marzipan, mastic, caramel.

It must be admitted that domestic craftsmen 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. True luxury. But she shouldn’t disappear! That is why it was customary after the reception to disassemble it all into “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 a huge carriage drove up to the entrance, a grandmother, tired of the ball, got out of it. Ahead of her, a servant was climbing the stairs, carrying two huge dishes filled with marzipan, sugar crackers, gingerbread cookies, cakes, and sweets. And all because after the ball, the grandmother, without hesitation, with the help of her 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’s house - from the kids to the cook - received sweets.

Another person who contributed to the candy industry was... Thomas Edison. The talented engineer, it seems, did not ignore 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, marzipan, cake and chocolates - only four types of sweets were produced here at the beginningXIX century. But already from the middle of the century, lollipops appeared. The discoverer of this era was the Landrin factory. 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 Peterhof Highway. Later, the workshop began producing chocolate and biscuits.

However, there is an alternative story. In the book “Moscow and Muscovites”, Vladimir Gilyarovsky provides information about the origin of the word “landrin”, which was told to him by the famous Moscow baker Filippov:

“- For example, take the sweets that are called “landrin”... Who is Landrin? What's a monpensier? Previously, our monpensiers were learned to make from the French, but they were sold in pieces of paper wrapped in all the confectionery shops... And then there’s Landrin... The same word seems to be foreign, which is what we need for trade, but it turned out very simply.

The artisan Fedya worked for the confectionery shop of Grigory Efimovich Eliseev. Every morning, he used to bring him a tray of monpensiers - he made it in a special way - half white and red, motley, no one else knew how to do this, and in pieces of paper. After the name day, perhaps with a hangover, he jumped up to carry the goods to Eliseev.
He sees that the tray is covered and ready. He grabbed it and ran so as not to be late. Brings. Eliseev untied the tray and shouted at him:
- What did you bring? What?..
Fedya saw that he forgot to wrap the candies in paper, grabbed the tray and ran. Tired, I sat down on a pedestal near the women's gymnasium... Schoolgirls are running, one, another...
- How much are the candies?
He doesn't understand-
-Will you take two kopecks? Give me your heels.
A ten-kopeck coin is put in... Behind it is another... He takes the money and realizes that it is profitable. Then a lot of them ran out, bought up the tray and said:
- You come to the yard tomorrow, at 12 o’clock, for recess... What’s your name?
- Fedor, whose last name is Landrin -
I calculated the profits - it’s more profitable than selling to Eliseev, and the gold pieces of paper are worth the profits. The next day he brought it back to the gymnasium.
- Landrin has arrived!
He started selling first as a peddler, then locally, and then opened a factory. These sweets began to be called “landrin” - the word seemed French... landrin and landrin! And he himself is a Novgorod peasant and got his last name from the Landra River, on which his village stands.”

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Sweets do not become obsolete, do not go out of fashion, and do not get boring. Sweets are given to children and teachers, medical staff and secretaries, mothers-in-law and bosses. Small tempting sources of endorphins that can please and appease, thank and console. Where do sweets come from in Rus', says "The Table"

500 year old lollipop

The predecessors of sweets in Rus' were candied fruits. “Domostroy” described varieties of “Kyiv jam” - fruits and berries candied in honey, and later in sugar. In 1777, Empress Catherine II tried 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 preparation, but until the 19th century, stagecoaches with dry jam left every autumn from Kyiv to St. Petersburg.

The 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, into which dry jam was placed and sugar was poured - this had to be shaken for a long time and thoroughly 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, placing 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. It is unknown who and when came up with the idea of ​​making lollipops. Most likely, this invention has many authors. In 1489, Rus' already had 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 most noble ladies secretly hid candy treats in their reticules at parties. 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 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. In the 18th century, Rastrelli 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 hastily took away the “royal gifts” from the table.

German psychologists have found that strawberry filling in sweets is chosen by romantic people. Creative people prefer coconut, shy people prefer nuts.

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 Georg Landrin partnership turned into the Leningrad State Caramel Factory named after. Mikoyan", "Abrikosov and Sons Partnership" became the "Babaev Factory", "Einem" became the "Red October", "Sioux and Co" became the "Bolshevik" Factory. But even at large enterprises, production for a long time was semi-handicraft. Cooking fire ovens, hand presses, open cooking kettles with hand mixers were used, and the 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 the candies known today.

Bonbonniere with a surprise

The candy business developed. 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 packaged in plain paper. And also in boxes, caskets, porcelain boxes. A bonbonniere is a box for sweets and candies (bonboniere, from bonbon - candy). In candy stores, fragile chocolates were placed in a single row, sometimes with additional wrapping, in flat cardboard boxes without decorations. Candies 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 with the name of the manufacturer's company appeared. In addition to decorations and advertising, educational information was often placed on it. To attract buyers, confectionery packaging was created in series or sets.

Since the 1880s, colorful tin packaging has come into fashion. The tins protected the goods from dampness and could subsequently be used by housewives to store food. Some confectionery factories had their own packaging production workshops. For example, the Abrikosov factory had a workshop for the production 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 company for 1912, there is an indication that Japanese lacquer boxes were used for Sakai, Bungo and Miyaki chocolates.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what kind of filling you'll get." (Forrest Gump)

For significant dates and anniversaries, for example, the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, the 100th anniversary of the War of 1812, sweets were produced in special packaging. Special packaging could be ordered in small quantities and for local celebrations - regimental or family holidays, completion of ship construction, or company representation 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 placed in candy boxes. Advertising postcards were also placed there: upon presentation of the entire series of postcards, the store or company awarded the buyer a prize. Handicraft samples or culinary recipes were also used as attachments.

By the early 20th century, candy wrappers and chocolate bars were designed with as much care as theater posters. They contained riddles, sayings, ditties, horoscopes, wishes, even multiplication tables and the alphabet - for schoolchildren. And no one was surprised by fortune-telling candy wrappers. Mikhail Vrubel, Viktor Vasnetsov, Ivan Bilibin did not consider it shameful to become artists and designers of candy wrappers.

Chocolate “Children are naughty”

After the 1917 revolution, candy wrappers lost their sophistication, but acquired a propaganda focus. On the candy wrapper of the “Harvest” candy there was the inscription “You harvested the harvest on time - you helped the Motherland a lot!” The cognitive factor also remained intact. After eating the Rhinoceros candy, the child could find out in which areas this animal is found, how long it lives and what it eats. Candies like “Admiral Nakhimov” were designed to raise the patriotic spirit. The brands “Little Red Riding Hood”, iris “Kis-kis”, and the famous “Cancer necks” have survived to this day.

Caramel "Red Army Star"

If every evening, when leaving work, a girl finds Little Red Riding Hood candy in her coat pocket, she becomes friendly with all the 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 Peterhofskoye Highway in St. Petersburg. In 1860, the production of the famous monpensier 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, confectioners of the Russian Empire could give a head start to any foreign master: their caramel flowers turned out to be jewelry-like beautiful and at the same time large-scale in Russian style. 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 great. Under Alexander III, the factory received the honorary title of “Supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty.” This was a kind of sign of quality. Sweets from “Georg Landrin” under Alexander III and Nicholas II were regularly served on the royal table during ceremonial dinners and holidays.

Caramel “Tsar 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 a supplier to the Imperial Court with “the right to depict the state emblem on his labels.” At international exhibitions in the food category, Georges Bormann invariably 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. Borman's products could do without advertising - there was such an aroma around the factory on Anglisky Prospekt in St. Petersburg that it was impossible to pass by the company store.

Confectionery of Georges Bormann in St. Petersburg

The factory produced caramel, monpensiers, lollipops, and chocolates. A separate production facility was opened especially for the aristocracy for the daily production of fresh sweets. The assortment included 200 items: “Alyonushka”, “Ears”, “Roaring heads”, “Yakshi”, “Candied fruits”, “Sampuchay”, “Zhmurka”, “Georges”, “Lobi-Tobi”.

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

The Georges Borman company became a pioneer of automated trading in Russia. At the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Nadezhdinskaya Street, the Georges Borman company put up the first of its automatic machines for selling chocolate bars. To get a chocolate bar, you had to put a coin in the hole on the front wall and turn the handle located here, a slot would open at the bottom and a chocolate bar would slide out. The machine was immediately dubbed the “House of the Brothers Grimm.” As usual, in Russia everything went its own way. Then someone would throw in two kopecks instead of 15 kopecks and then, having received neither chocolate nor change, would kick the machine. Then some merchant would stick a three-ruble note into the slot, after which the unit would stop working altogether. I had to place the burly fellow at the machine gun. And this ruined the very idea. There were supposed to be about 40 such devices on Nevsky Prospect alone, but the idea could not be realized.

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

Two kilograms of milk toffee, poured into a desk drawer as bait, makes getting ready in the morning easier and cuts the trip to the office in half

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

Chocolate "Spanish" from Apricot Factory

The grandfather of the future manufacturer, serf peasant Stepan Nikolaev, having received his freedom, in 1804 created a small workshop in Moscow in which members of his family worked. They made preserves and marmalade, but their apricot pastille turned out especially well. It was for this that my grandfather was nicknamed Abrikosov, and was even recorded under this surname during the population census in 1814. His son improved the workshop. But only his grandson, Alexey Mikhailovich, turned the family business into the most significant confectionery factory in Russia. In 1873, he installed a 12 horsepower steam engine at the factory. After this, the workshop became the largest Moscow mechanized confectionery enterprise.

The Abrikosov's grandson was a marketing genius. Its advertisements were everywhere - in newspapers and magazines, on signs in store windows and on the facades of houses. He issued special price lists, something like modern advertising booklets, included branded calendars in purchases, and held charity events. The boxes and candy wrappers of Abrikosov's sweets were so colorful that they became collector's items.

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

When the Abrikosovs opened branded stores, they began to conduct advertising campaigns right at the point of sale. For example, the city newspaper published news that in one Abrikosov store only blondes work as saleswomen, and in another - only brunettes. The public immediately rushed to check the news. Of course, few people left without purchasing anything. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alexey 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 taken in Dymen, the Netherlands, from May 11 to 13, 1990

The “Abrikosov and Sons Partnership” competed with the “Einem Partnership”, founded by Ferdinand Theodor von Einem, a German citizen in 1867. Einem produced caramel, sweets, chocolate, cocoa drinks, marshmallows, cookies, gingerbread, and biscuits. After opening a branch in Crimea, Einem’s assortment now includes chocolate-covered fruits and marmalade.

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

Monpasier of the Landrin factory

Collectors have kept sets of futuristic postcards “Moscow of the Future”, on the back of which “Einem T-vo” is printed in tiny letters.

After the revolution, Theodor von Einem's production, 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 Chupas into orbit. I C UPdecided it was safe. Video of astronauts with lollipops became the company's most effective advertisingChupa 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 candies, marmalade, marshmallows, cakes, dragees, ice cream, gingerbread, and jam. There was an assortment of sweets that were specially prepared for the morning - they were ordered to be eaten only fresh. By 1900, the trading house “A. Siu and Co. had a network of branded stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Warsaw. Confectionery shops supplied Russia and Ukraine with coffee, cocoa and various sweets. Through the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, goods went to Persia and China. It was Adolf Siu who created the famous Yubileiny cookies. The factory released it for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.

Chocolate "Caricature"

Siu 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, and the interior of the company's retail store on Arbat was decorated in the Rococo style of the Louis XV era. In 1918, production was nationalized and renamed the Bolshevik factory. Since 1994, it has been part 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 and produced 5 varieties of these candies: large caramel, small caramel, lollipops, montpensiers, and “satin pillows.” Many modern caramels are still produced according to the Leonovs’ recipe.

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

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The history of candy covers the geography of the entire globe. The word “candy” itself is translated from Latin as “prepared drug.” 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, they made 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 Rus', sweets were made from maple syrup, molasses and honey.

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

In general, this sweet delicacy has been popular throughout the centuries 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 candies are chocolate ones. 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 one 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 most noble Russian ladies, when at parties, tried to discreetly hide sweets in their reticules. This obscene behavior was explained simply: there were no confectionery factories in Russia, and each pastry chef prepared candy 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. German psychologists think so. By the way, it is believed that taste preferences directly depend on a person’s character: 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.

Today, sweets have become one of the traditional treats on our table during tea parties. Few people would refuse to treat themselves to some 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 origin of candies in order to learn many interesting details and facts, then in this article we have tried to collect for you the most interesting historical excerpts from the history of the appearance and gradual development of candies. However, we immediately warn you that after our story you will have an irresistible desire to quickly buy candy in Moscow, and more.

An ancient delicacy

Like many dishes on our table, sweets have been known since ancient times. Even 3 thousand years ago, references to sweets appeared in a variety of sources. The first candies were very simple, no chocolate was added to them, but in shape they were already similar to what we see on the table today.

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

If we talk about chocolate, the first candies using it appeared in South America. Here, sweets with chocolate were served to the table of priests and high-ranking Indians.

European innovation

If in the East sweets for a long time were in the state in which we wrote about them above, then in Europe cooks gradually began to experiment with them. For example, in Italy, back in the 16th century, sugar was first added to sweets. An interesting feature is that sweets with sugar were sold only in pharmacies for a long time. Moreover, at high prices - sugar was not the most affordable delicacy. Sweets were considered medicinal due to the properties of sugar to raise a person’s tone - patients who did not receive additional glucose naturally became better from sugar.

However, gradually the candies began to move from the shelves of pharmacies to traditional confectionery stores.

What about in Russia?

It’s interesting that in our country, sweets were made back in Ancient Rus'. Back 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 quite quickly they began to use sugar beets to obtain it. At the same time, chocolates remained a delicacy for the richest buyers for a long time. Today everything has changed, and anyone can buy caramel in Moscow, as well as a wide variety of sweets. So why deny yourself this?

The history of mankind's love for sweets began about three thousand years ago. The first confectionery products appeared in Ancient Egypt. The 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 departures of the pharaohs.
The recipes for the first sweets were not very diverse; residents of Ancient Greece and the countries of the Middle East enjoyed similar confectionery products. At that time, people did not know how to produce sugar; the basis of all sweets was honey with the addition of dried apricots, nuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and spices.

The first candies appeared in Europe

The first chocolates appeared in...Europe!