Pozharsky kotlety

Recipes and their origins are surrounded by mystery and imagination.

A popular historical myth about the creation of Pozharsky kotlety is based in Torzhok, a small town located between Moscow and St Petersburg, and the Pozharsky family, the owners of an inn and a restaurant in the town. Torzhok was a common place for coach stops where the travellers took a break, changed horses and had a snack or two.

Alexander Pushkin happened to dine at the restaurant quite often and recommended it in a letter to a friend: “dine at Pozharsky in Torzhok, try fried kotlety and set out with a light mood”.

So what’s so special about the kotlety that Pushkin liked so much?

Pozharsky kotlety are made of ground chicken or veal formed as a patty. Adding butter and soaked in cream bread to the ground chicken meat or veal instead of eggs makes these kotlety especially fluffy, juicy and tender to taste.

The dish was created in the beginning of the 19th century in Russia and became a classic in Russian cuisine. It was later adopted by the French haute cuisine, or the other way around.

The French chefs experimented with various patties made of meat (veal, chicken, grouse, hare) or fish (salmon) mixed with butter. All of those variations were named “Pojarski” in classical French cookbooks.

Pozharsky kotlety feature in the Soviet Book of Tasty and Healthy Food where cream was replaced by milk and butter by margarine making it a proletarian kotlety.

In the middle of the 20th century, industrially produced, semi-processed ground meat patties were introduced in the USSR. Colloquially known as Mikoyan kotlety (named after Soviet Food Minister, Anastas Mikoyan, who traveled to the US), these kotlety were cheap and available. They were basically pork or beef patties and resembled American burgers. You don’t want those. My grandma never allowed me to eat them.

So, let’s cook the good old fashioned Pozharsky kotlety. You need the following ingredients:

meat from one chicken (both white and dark), 1 onion, 5 garlic cloves, 1 stick of butter, ½ French Baguette, 1 ½ cup of cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken bones and skin can be saved and used for chicken broth.

Cut the crust from French baguette and dice it into even 1/4 inch cubes. Place these cubes in a bowl, pour in enough cream to cover the bread, and cover with plastic wrap. The bread cubes should absorb the cream.

Cut meat into small bits, and season with salt and pepper, and a pinch of paprika. Chop with a large meat cleaver or grind meat together with onion and garlic.

Then add the cream-soaked bread cubes and continue chopping and mixing with the cleaver or using your hand to incorporate the soaked bread.

Cut frozen butter into small cubes and fold them into chicken mixture little by little. When the stuffing is smooth, set it aside in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15 minutes or so.

Form patties and sear them in olive oil on both sides until brown, sealing the juice. Then cover with a lid and keep cooking until the kotlety are done.