What kind of bird is bird's milk made from? "Bird's milk": creating a sweet fairy tale. Legendary cake from the restaurant "Prague"

In childhood, many asked this question when they first tried the Bird's Milk sweets. But how is it really: do birds have milk, how is it obtained, and where do sweets get their name from? We will answer these questions and tell you about others interesting facts in our article. Believe me, you will learn a lot for yourself!

Why was the candy called "Bird's Milk"?

Children often wonder what kind of milk birds give. Adults know for sure that birds don’t give any milk, and it’s definitely not in the composition of sweets. But it is difficult to answer where such a name comes from. A treat appeared in Poland in 1936 under the name “Ptasie Mleczko”. And only in the 1960s, the Rot Front factory launched production in the USSR, simply by translating Bird's Milk into Russian. Many then thought that the name was metaphorical and associated with something very rare and valuable, since such sweets were in a terrible shortage. In fact, the creators were based on old legends and works of ancient Greece. They mention the milk of birds of paradise, which gives almost immortality and is considered a delicacy (ambrosia) of the Gods.

For example, in the old days, when young men wooed girls, they were asked to bring unheard-of gifts as a token of love. The more incredible the gift was, the more likely it was to win the heart of the beauty. But, if the girl did not like the groom, then she asked to get her bird's milk. Thus, she made it clear that he had no chance of becoming her chosen one. This tradition is found in many peoples. There is even such a proverb: "The rich have everything, especially bird's milk." In this way, candy producers wanted to attract the attention of consumers, thereby emphasizing the value and sophistication of taste.

But how much do we know about birds to say with certainty that they cannot produce milk? Let's figure out this difficult issue together!

The whole truth about bird milk

In fact, scientists have proven that some birds can produce milk that is completely different from what we are used to. Bird's milk consists of protein (about 60%), fat (up to 36%), a small amount of carbohydrates (up to 3%), a number of minerals and antibodies, but does not contain lactose and calcium. But like mammalian milk, it contains antioxidants and immunomodulatory proteins that are important for the growth and development of young animals.

Such milk is also called goiter, or pigeon. This secret is secreted by the cells of the goiter or special glands of the esophagus and stomach (depending on the type), it resembles a yellowish curd mass. It is noteworthy that goiter cells react to hormones during lactation in a similar way to the mammary gland. The curd is created from fat-filled cells (at the site of the crop where food is usually stored to soften before digestion) that break open and regurgitate the substance to nourish the offspring. Birds differ from other animals in that they do not have sweat glands, but they do have the ability to store fat in their outer skin cells (keratinocytes), which act as sweat glands. It has been found that the “lactation” of birds is related to this ability to divide fat cells. Interestingly, both males and females can feed offspring with "bird's milk". Milk is characteristic of representatives of the pigeon family, a number of parrots, flamingos and imperial penguins.

This process is best studied by example. pigeons. They usually lay two eggs. Soon after the chicks hatch from them, the parents begin to feed them with nutritious milk, which begins to be produced two days before the offspring appear. After that, after a week, the chicks switch to eating crushed "adult" food, such as seeds, fruits, insects and other invertebrates. However, if one of the eggs for some reason falls out of the nest, or one chick is born dead, then the remaining chick gets all the "bird's milk", and therefore it grows even faster. By the end of the first week after hatching, this chick will hardly differ in size from its parents. And here is the female penguin lays only one egg, which the male penguin warms with the heat of his body for a long two months until the long-awaited chick appears. After the appearance of the offspring, the caring father nurses him for another month and feeds him with milk along with the mother, who gets food. At flamingos The whole process of breastfeeding is amazing. Their nutritional secret also contains hemoglobin, which indicates the presence of bird blood in the milk, and this gives it a reddish color.

Interestingly, a number of studies were carried out in 1952, when chickens were fed pigeon milk, and their growth rate increased by as much as 38%! At the same time, attempts to reproduce goiter milk artificially did not lead to success. The chicks fed by the analogue either died or were too weak. Accordingly, this nutrient has also been shown to contain certain unique antibodies.

You did not even suspect that these animals also give milk

We know how important milk is for babies. It is a rich combination of nutrients that are necessary for the development of the child and his immunity. In the entire animal kingdom, only one group of animals produces milk for their offspring: the mammals, to which we belong. The milk of mammals is considered to be real milk. However, some living organisms have secretions that strongly resemble milk and are intended for feeding. This "false milk" is not like cow or human milk, and it is not produced in the same way. But it serves the same purpose: it feeds baby animals until they are old enough to take care of themselves.

cockroaches. Yes, you heard right: some cockroaches feed their young with milk. One such example is the beetle cockroach Diploptera punctata, or Pacific cockroach.
Most female cockroaches lay their eggs in a kind of sac that exits the body before the eggs hatch. After the young cockroaches hatch from their eggs, they fight to find food. But the female Pacific cockroach beetle takes a different approach to childcare. Instead of hatching from a clutch, the embryos develop fully inside her body. As soon as the embryos have fully formed digestive organs, they begin to drink "milk" produced by special crystals (cells), and quickly gain weight. Since young cockroaches get a lot of food while still in their mother's body, they are more developed and mature at the time of birth. Such interesting feature these cockroaches attracted the attention of Indian scientists. The crystals of these cockroaches, as it turned out, contain a complete set of nutrients: fats, proteins, carbohydrates and amino acids. This product has a high calorie content, so it would be useful in conditions of overpopulation and long-distance space flights. Researchers are now trying to reproduce the substance in the laboratory.

false scorpions, or false scorpions. Like Pacific beetle cockroaches, female pseudoscorpions produce a milky-like substance. But it does not come out of her womb, but out of her ovaries. The female carries her fertilized eggs in a special pouch attached to her abdomen. Once the babies hatch, they stay in the pouch and feed on their mother's milk. Even after they leave the pouches, they continue to ride on their mother's back until they are old enough to live on their own. Pseudoscorpions are 2-3 mm long. They are often found in rooms with dusty books, which is why they are sometimes referred to as "book scorpions".

Discus fish. Their milk is actually a mucus-based secretion that coats the bodies of both parents. It is rich in proteins and antibodies. A few days after the young fish hatch from their eggs, they attach themselves to their parents and feed on the slime secretions that cover their bodies. During the first two weeks, they spend most of their time feeding their offspring. Feeding lasts 5-10 minutes, after which one of the parents dumps the young on the other parent. From the third week, parents stop feeding. They swim for longer periods, forcing young fish to look for other sources of food. This example is very similar to how mammals take care of their children.

Legless African amphibians, or caecilians. Vertebrate amphibians are very similar to worms. Most species guard their eggs until they hatch and then leave them. But caecilians native to southeastern Kenya have developed a more sophisticated parenting style. When the offspring hatch from their eggs, they are completely immature and completely dependent on their mother. To feed her children, the female caecilian produces a thick layer of protein and fat on the top layer of her skin. Newborns clean this layer of skin with the help of special suction cups that look like small teeth. The layer of nutrients is so dense that in a week the young individual increases in length by about 11%. This greatly affects the mother. After one week of feeding, she loses about 14% of her body weight.

The world around us still holds many mysteries. It would seem that it is well studied, but something new always opens up. Did you know that some birds actually have milk?

Do birds give milk?

We continue to acquaint you with the history of famous dishes, and our next "hero" is the Bird's Milk cake. Where did everyone's favorite delicacy in Soviet times come from such an unusual name? Why did you stand in line for a day for a dessert, and even now not every housewife manages to repeat the original recipe? You will learn all this and much more from our material.

A cake made of delicate dough with an airy biscuit layer was released in 1978 and became a real legend of the Prague restaurant. The prototype of "Bird's milk" was the Czechoslovak sweets "Ptase mlechko", which the minister once tasted during a business trip Food Industry USSR. "Make something similar, but according to the original recipe," the minister commanded, after which numerous experiments began to find the ideal composition of the new domestic delicacy. Following the sweets, first prepared in the 60s, it was decided to "conjure" also over the cake. The merit of its creation belongs to the confectioner Vladimir Guralnik. The name of this man has entered the history of culinary arts forever, and it would seem that with such a rich past, he could now work in any of the most expensive confectioneries in Moscow. However, Guralnik remains loyal to Prague to this day - in confectionery shop he works for the benefit of preserving long-standing traditions and creating new culinary masterpieces.

Together with the team, we worked on the recipe for "Bird's Milk" for more than 6 months. I wanted the bottom to be from an unusual dough: not biscuit, not sand, not puff. That's how it was created the new kind test - whipped semi-finished product, it is somewhat similar to a cupcake. The filling had to be boiled for a long time: agar-agar has a melting point of about 120 degrees, unlike gelatin, which already coagulates at 100 degrees. The secret of our recipe is in agar-agar - a more expensive and rich substitute for gelatin. We experimented for a long time: some ingredients were added, others were removed, brought to different temperatures - either a syrup is obtained, or a viscous mass. Until they found the right consistency, just 6 months passed,

Once Guralnik told the edition "Evening Moscow". In the Soviet years, the "Bird's Milk" cake was a real "king of tables". For the original cake, sold only in the restaurant "Prague", people stood in line for several hours - a string of people wishing to treat themselves could fill half of the Old Arbat. What is real success, Guralnikov found out when he was furtively offered coupons for his own creation at the subway.

The secret of such success lay not only in the taste of the dessert, but also in its name - in its, so to speak, sacred sense. According to ancient mythology, bird's milk is an unseen miracle. Something that does not really exist, what they fed their children birds of paradise. "A man who has everything can only dream of bird's milk" - this expression gained popularity again in 18th century Europe. And who did not want to have something fantastic and impossible during the years of shortage in the USSR!

According to one of the legends, once the girls, in order to get rid of annoying gentlemen, sent them to wander around the cities and villages in search of "bird's milk". Back those, of course, did not return.

Now to leave for "Bird's milk" and not return is an incredible story. The delicacy is presented in almost all confectioneries of the country. True, the original cake according to the recipe of Vladimir Guralnik is exclusively sold only in 10 stores in Moscow. As he himself says, cakes are delivered there in special branded vans and the taste of this treat cannot be confused with anything.

Guralnik does not hide the secret of making the "Bird's Milk" cake:

We pour whipped protein with agar-agar, then add butter and condensed milk, mix and cool to 80 degrees. Then pour this mass into a mold and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Then it is worth laying the layers correctly, because "Bird's milk" is a cake constructor. A layer of dough alternates with a layer of agar-agar, and so on again. The dessert is topped with chocolate.

Chocolate, by the way, also has its own secret, - says the author. - It must have a certain melting point of 38 degrees, otherwise it will "turn gray" in the refrigerator. And chocolate, in order for it to be tasty, must be kneaded properly. We have a special machine that constantly stirs chocolate.

However, now every confectionery has its own recipe for "Bird's Milk", somewhat different from the original. HELLO.RU decided to find out how "Bird's milk" is prepared in the Odessa cuisine restaurant "Babel". You can definitely repeat this recipe at home!

"Bird's milk" from the restaurant "Babel"Ingredients:

wheat flour 200 gr.

egg yolk 7 gr.

butter 275 gr

soda 1 tsp

sugar 350 gr.

condensed milk

lemon acid

chocolate 150 gr

cream 38 percent

egg white 7 pcs.

Cooking:

1. Beat room temperature butter with sugar, add yolks, soda and flour, beat everything with a mixer.

2. Bake the mass at a temperature of 170 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

3. For the cream, soak the gelatin in half a glass of cold water. Add citric acid and sugar to the water with swollen gelatin. Then beat the proteins until a stable foam.

4. Separately, beat the butter with condensed milk and gradually add to the mass with whipped proteins and gelatin solution. Don't stop whipping.

5. For the glaze, melt the chocolate and add a little butter. Melt everything over low heat and bring to a homogeneous mass.

6. Lay out the dessert in layers and pour over the chocolate.

Enjoy your meal!

This dessert is surely adored by everyone who remembers the times of the Union. Fortunately, today's sweet tooth has the opportunity to taste "Bird's milk". Everything is perfect in this dessert: the most delicate soufflé, chocolate icing with an expressive taste, appetizing look, and in the case of a cake, also a soft biscuit. The name itself is associated not just with a treat, for many it is a symbol of the era.

But why is "Bird's milk" called "bird"? Surely this question at least once puzzled everyone.

The first swallows

Many people know that the Poles were the pioneers. It was in Poland, at the E. Wedel factory, back in 1936, that these sweets were first produced. The filling was similar in composition to marshmallows, but did not contain eggs.

Once the Minister of Light Industry of the USSR tried the Polish sweets "Ptichye Moloko". He liked them so much that the country's leadership set the task for confectioners to develop an analogue.

Origins of the name

When answering the question of why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's milk", it is worth looking even not at 1936, but at even earlier times. In medieval European folklore, a plot is very common in which an insidious beauty sends an unlucky boyfriend in search of bird's milk. Drawing analogies, we can mention the Slavic image of a fern flower and the fabulous “I don’t know what”. Of course, the cavalier had to either return with nothing, or disappear, because there is no bird's milk in nature. In any case, in medieval Europe he certainly wasn't.

But there are even more ancient references. They will also help us figure out why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's milk". The ancient Greeks believed that the birds of paradise nursed their babies with milk. If a person happens to try this delicacy, he will become invincible, strong and healthy, and will retain his youth for many years.

In Russia, there was a proverb saying that the rich man has everything except bird's milk. It was understood that some things (friendship, health, love) cannot be bought with money, no matter how rich a person is.

As you can see, in many cultures there were legends that birds can give milk. And everywhere it was associated with unearthly pleasure, blessings, treasure. No wonder Polish confectioners gave their creation this alluring name.

Since 1967, the production of sweets began in the USSR. It was decided to keep the unusual name. By that time, it had already gained fame and popular love. Why "Bird's milk" is called "bird's", the Soviet people may have wondered, but they were definitely not surprised. Apparently, the memory of generations worked: the dessert evoked persistent associations with an outlandish delicacy, a fabulous pleasure, a feast of taste.

The Polish manufacturers kept the manufacturing technology and composition of "Bird's Milk" a secret. Therefore, their Soviet colleagues had to work hard to create something similar to taste. The most interesting thing about this story is that the name misled Soviet technologists: they were sure that it was due to the presence of eggs in the candy filling. In fact, eggs have nothing to do with the name. But if they were not in Polish sweets, today they are present in many desserts of the same name.

Unique Component

But the confectioners did not set the task of completely repeating the recipe. On the contrary, they went their own way. The specialists of the factory in Vladivostok used not only their professionalism, but also their wealth native land. Instead of gelatin, it was decided to use agar-agar, extracted from Far Eastern algae. It was this factory that first launched the production of new items. The recipe has been registered.

The second factory was Rot Front. And after some time, other confectionery enterprises in all parts of the country, including the famous Red October, joined the implementation of the plan.

Today Vladivostok sweets "Ptichye Moloko" are considered the best. In a 300-gram box, the buyer will find sweets with three different flavors (chocolate, lemon and cream), which can be stored for no more than 15 days. They still contain useful agar-agar.

Legendary cake from the restaurant "Prague"

The success of the sweets inspired culinary specialists as well. Vladimir Guralnik forever inscribed his name in the history of sweets, because it was he who developed the recipe for the Bird's Milk cake in the early 80s. Conjuring over the ingredients, the master initially decided that he would also use agar-agar. The composition also included egg whites, powdered sugar, water. And the basis was an air biscuit.

The number of orders grew exponentially. If at the very beginning only visitors to the Moscow restaurant "Prague" could taste the delicacy, then after a few months the shop also worked to take away.

It was difficult to scare a Soviet person with a queue, and therefore the workers calmly lined up behind a secret cake, taking their places before dark. Eyewitnesses of those times recall that the tail of the queue often turned to the neighboring Stary Arbat. The recipe for the "Bird's Milk" cake has been officially approved. Violation of the recommended norms was prosecuted by law.

"Bird's milk" today

Sweets "Bird's milk" are produced today. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, not all manufacturers adhere to the original Far Eastern recipe. Expensive agar-agar is often replaced with gelatin; preservatives are used to extend the shelf life. But there is a plus in this: the price of some types of "Bird's milk" is very low. You can find both loose sweets and packaged in beautiful boxes.

No less popular are cakes, pastries, soufflé "Bird's Milk", which today many hostesses have learned to cook on their own.

11.02.2017 11:35 2241

Is there bird's milk and why candy was called that.

Perhaps you have ever heard adults say about someone "he just doesn't have bird's milk." This means that a person has even more than he can wish for.

Sweets with an unusual name "Bird's milk" are loved by more than one generation of sweet teeth. But how many people know where it came from original name these sweets and does bird's milk actually exist in nature?

Birds are not mammals and do not feed their chicks with milk. Therefore, the expression "bird's milk" began to mean something unprecedented, which in reality does not exist and cannot be, the impossible, the limit of desires.

However, oddly enough, ornithologists have proven that bird's milk still exists, although not in all bird species. For example, pigeons, goldfinches, crossbills, emperor penguins, flamingos have it.

True, the milk of birds is not at all like the cow or goat that is familiar to us, but rather resembles liquid cottage cheese, but its purpose is the same as that of the usual one. These birds feed their chicks for a very short time - no more than a month. So in the feathered world, bird's milk is a rarity.

Pigeons, for example, feed their chicks with a special gruel secreted from the goiter, which is sometimes called pigeon milk. This so-called milk is formed from a whitish liquid secreted from the goiter of the pigeon, which is mixed with a thick porridge that the pigeon burps from the stomach into the goiter.

Emperor penguins also feed their chicks with a mushy substance that they produce in the walls of the esophagus and stomach. These penguins hatch chicks in the midst of the Antarctic winter, when the air temperature reaches -80 degrees. The birds keep their only egg on their paws, covering it from above with a fold of skin on the belly.

Well, is there really bird's milk, we found out. Now let's answer the question why the well-known sweets are so named, which are a delicate, sweet soufflé covered with chocolate.

The inventors of this delicacy are Polish confectioners, who first produced a batch of unusually tasty and sweet soufflé in chocolate in 1936. Most likely, they chose such a name for their sweet creation to show its peculiarity and, of course, to attract the attention of those with a sweet tooth.

In Russia (or rather, then in the Soviet Union), the Bird's Milk soufflé appeared in the 60s of the last century and became so popular that 10 years later, Soviet confectioners came up with a recipe for a cake with the same name, based on the famous soufflé.

As a child, gobbling up on both cheeks a candy called bird's milk I really thought that birds give, the father said doves, and the mother laughed and said - do not confuse the child. Growing up, I realized that these are fairy tales, and yet my father was right, bird's milk is pigeon's milk.

What is pigeon milk

Where does bird's milk come from?

The birds that feed their chicks are pigeons. True, they feed their newly hatched chicks with a special curd mass, which produced in their goiter. This "baby food" is called bird's or pigeon's milk. Pigeon milk is so nutritious that in the first two days of life, the baby becomes twice as heavy!

To grown up chicks of a dove bird or pigeon milk after a week, it becomes theoretically unnecessary, they feed on plant seeds, although very often you can see how parents feed pigeon milk even on the wing.

Wild pigeons living in Russia.

In the forests of the North Caucasus, a secretive and cautious wood dove, or wityuten, nests. Turtle doves live in gardens and parks throughout Russia, as well as rock pigeons - the most numerous city dwellers among relatives with whom we are all well acquainted.