It is difficult to find someone who has not at least once seen a painting by Ivan Shishkin "Morning in a pine forest", be it a reproduction on the wall or an illustration in a school textbook. But most of us know it from the wrapper of the “Bear-toed Bear” candies. How it happened that bears appeared in the landscape painter’s painting, and the recognized masterpiece began to be associated with candies - later in the review.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was considered an extremely master when it was necessary to write out every leaf, every blade of grass, but he had no problem with depicting people or animals. That is why in the famous painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” the bear family was painted by another artist - Konstantin Savitsky.
The painting was signed by both artists, but when it was taken to the customer Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, he erased Savitsky’s name with turpentine, declaring that he had ordered the painting from only one painter.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin received 4,000 rubles for the painting. He gave one thousand to Savitsky. Konstantin Apollonovich was indignant that the fee was not divided in half, and even angrily stated that his bears occupy a central place in the picture, and the forest is only a background. These words offended Shishkin very much. The artists no longer painted joint paintings.
Around the same period when the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was presented to the general public, a new type of candy was produced at the Einem Partnership confectionery factory: chocolate-covered wafer plates with a layer of almond praline. The need arose to create a wrapper for candy, and then the eyes of the owner of the company, Julius Gates, accidentally fell on a reproduction of Shishkin’s painting. A solution has been found.
After the October Revolution, the candy factory was nationalized and renamed “Red October,” although for several years “formerly” was added in parentheses. “Einem”, the brand was so popular. The candy “Teddy bear” became the favorite sweet of Soviet citizens. Over time, Shishkin's painting became associated with the wrapper, and its title was simplified to "Three Bears", although there are four of them on the canvas.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was remembered by posterity not only for his painting “Morning in a Pine Forest.” He, like no one else, managed to convey through his paintings the beauty of the pristine forest, the endless expanses of fields, and the cold of a harsh region. so realistic that it seems that the sound of a stream or the rustling of leaves is about to be heard somewhere.
Svetlana Yankina, Irina Gordon
A well-known trick: when they say “name a poet,” almost everyone answers - Pushkin, and when they say an artist, they remember Shishkin. Today, on the day of the artist’s 180th birthday, correspondents from the RIA Novosti agency went to the Museum of the History of Cocoa and Chocolate, where they told us how the bear cubs from the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” from the Tretyakov Gallery’s collection migrated to the wrapper “Bears Clubfoot” and what do the Germans have to do with it, passbook and blossoming almond.
It turned out that “Bear Clubfoot” is the oldest candy produced at the factory. It, like its packaging, appeared in the century before last, and both the recipe and the candy wrapper have come down to us almost unchanged.
"In the 19th century, neither candy nor chocolate had a name. Chocolate was designated by numbers and packaged in foil. Buyers distinguished it either by numbers or by the color of the foil. The same with candies. They were called praline - praline is almonds ground with sugar with the addition of cocoa butter. The filling is between two crispy waffles, covered with chocolate. It seems that everything is simple,” said Lyudmila Numerova, director of the cocoa and chocolate museum, leading us to the display case, where there is a place of honor among antique jars and boxes of sweets. occupies a stack of "Bears Clubfoot".
According to Numerova, almonds ground with sugar were a very common delicacy in Germany, the homeland of Ferdinand Theodor von Einem, the founder of the Einem factory, which became Red October after nationalization. Apparently, in order not to be too homesick, he decided to produce a delicacy in Russia that would remind him of home. The sadness finally dissipated when it became clear that this candy was in great demand, thereby increasing the capital of the factory owner.
Shishkin’s masterpiece ended up on a candy wrapper shortly after Pavel Tretyakov acquired the artist’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” for his collection. It is a well-known fact that those same bears were painted not by Shishkin himself, but by the artist Savitsky, for which he received a quarter of the proceeds from the sale of the canvas. What is less known is that he later removed his signature from the painting, relinquishing the copyright to it. How Einem and Tretyakov agreed then is not known for certain, but the fact remains that the artist Emmanuel Andreev, who was ordered to wrap praline sweets, took the plot of “Morning in a Pine Forest” as a basis and placed it on a turquoise background. The director of the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate does not rule out that the corresponding document has been preserved somewhere and does not lose hope of discovering it.
“The name of the candy was apparently born along with the design of the candy wrapper. When this happened is difficult to say exactly, but the historical label contains the coat of arms of the Russian Empire - the distinctive sign of the winner of the art and industrial fair in Nizhny Novgorod. This means that in the period between the end of 1880- x and mid-1890s, this candy was already on sale with this wrapper and name,” shared the director of the museum.
One of the most valuable exhibits is an authentic “Bear Clubfoot Bear” wrapper from the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, which had to be chased at auctions. In addition, the collection contains a wrapper from the early 1920s with the propaganda inscription “If you want to eat Mishka, get yourself a Savings Book.” This was the only innovation of the Soviet era, the turquoise background and bears remained in place. There is also a Mosselprom booklet " with a price list, after studying which it becomes clear that the advice given was sound: "Bears Clubfoot" were the most expensive candies - four rubles per kilo.
The museum, whose second name is “BEAR”, opened not so long ago, but there is no end to visitors. So it’s worth signing up for a tour (for now this is the only way they’re allowed into the museum), put on a white robe and cap and get ready to learn something new about the sweet life.
“Teddy Bear” is a candy that comes from our childhood. But few people know how old the recipe for this delicacy is. Now it is produced at the Moscow confectionery factory “Red October”. But the clumsy bears were inherited by the Soviet food industry from the former, bourgeois owner, Theodor Ferdinand von Einem. What is the composition of the candies now? Has the appearance of all sorts of emulsifiers and stabilizers, dyes and flavor enhancers affected it? We will look at this in our article.
How Shishkin became involved in the creation of sweets
The Einem factory appeared in Russia in the nineteenth century, namely in 1867. The manufacturer packed the chocolate in multi-colored foil and gave simple numbers. But as for sweets, he showed creative imagination, calling them with sonorous names: “Golden Label”, “Mignon”, “Empire”. These sweets were produced in boxes. Since the buyer loves everything new, Einem began to produce serial candies. In the boxes he included a trading card with a beautiful picture on one side and encyclopedic information on the back. There were various series: “Gifts of the Sea and Land”, “History of Hunting in Russia”, etc. And then one day Einem released a new series of chocolates. It was called “Russian artists and their paintings.” The series consisted of twelve cards. And one of them was a reproduction of Shishkin’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest.” The series was published in 1896. So “Bear Clubfoot” is a candy of quite a considerable age. They are already more than one hundred and twenty years old.
An old recipe for sweets
The entire series, dedicated to paintings by Russian artists, was the same. That is, different cards were put into boxes randomly. This collection also included “The Knight at the Crossroads” by Vasnetsov, and other famous works by Russian masters. But of all of them, only Shishkin entered the history of Russian confectionery with his “Morning in a Pine Forest.” Much later, the sweet received the name “Bear Clubfoot”.
Not all citizens could afford these sweets (the composition of the dessert was expensive). Between the crispy thin wafers was placed praline - almonds ground into flour with sugar and cocoa butter. The entire candy was covered with chocolate glaze. Pralines are a favorite delicacy in Germany, and Einem was German. Since almonds are an expensive nut, the sweets were not cheap. The majority of the population could afford them only on the bright holiday of Christmas. That’s why the first candy wrappers were decorated with the stars of Bethlehem.
Finding the wrapper
The candies from the “Russian Artists” series were very popular with the public. However, buying a whole box was sometimes too expensive. Therefore, at the turn of the twentieth century, Einem launched the production of loose candies. Each of them had to be packaged in a separate wrapper. And from all twelve postcards he chose the famous work of Shishkin. Of course, it was styled as a wrapper. They removed the landscape, leaving only three cubs. At the same time, the name of the sweet appeared - “Teddy bear”. The candy acquired its modern design in 1913. Artist Manuil Andreev painted a mother bear and her three cubs on a turquoise background framed by fir branches. The stars of Bethlehem also “migrated” to the candy wrapper. After the revolution, Eimen's factory was nationalized and renamed "Red October". But candies called “Bear-toed Bear” continued to be produced according to the pre-revolutionary recipe and in the same wrappers. And they continued to enjoy the same popularity.
“Teddy Bear” (candies): “Red October” and Mayakovsky
As soon as the world began to trade with the Land of the Soviets, this type of sweets began to be exported. Only selected products were used to make confectionery products. A kilogram of Teddy Bear sweets therefore cost four rubles - unheard of money in those days. Due to its high price, this product has become a kind of equivalent to a comfortable life. The great Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky came up with an apt slogan: “If you want to eat Mishka, get yourself a savings book.” Despite the fact that this motto was intended to encourage citizens to invest their savings in the bank, it was transferred to the label of an expensive candy. And it worked!
How does the modern “Teddy Bear” differ from its predecessor?
In that happy time, when humanity did not yet know emulsifiers and stabilizers, and in order to add flavor to the product, the manufacturer put natural ingredients into it, sweets were made from wafers, grated almonds mixed with cocoa butter, and pure chocolate. The recipe did not change after the 1917 revolution. But many years have passed, the age of chemistry has come into its own, and this has had the most unfortunate effect on the composition of the “Bear-Toed Bear” sweets. “Red October” now uses non-hydrogenated sunflower, palm oil, as well as illipe and shea oil for chocolate glaze, along with the canonical cocoa and sugar. Instead of the previous “praline”, the label now says “filling”. What does it consist of? Grated almonds, sugar and cocoa butter are still there. But now they have added vanilla flavoring, E-476 and soy lecithin. The chemicals even penetrated into the waffles. To prolong their freshness, emulsifier E322 and antioxidant E306 are added to the dough. The waffles have a vanilla flavor thanks to a “flavor identical to natural.” And in the end, OJSC “Red October” reluctantly admits: “The presence of peanuts, hazelnuts and dairy products is possible.”
Loss of popularity
As you can see, everyone’s favorite childhood dessert is no longer the same. And the cheaper ingredients had no effect on the price. “Teddy Bear” is a candy that is more than expensive - about eight hundred rubles per kilogram. Their popularity remains only due to inertia. Many people buy the brand's confectionery products, remembering how delicious they used to be. On the wave of popularity, “Mishka” moved to other republics of the former Union. There, too, the memory of the sweets from the Red October confectionery factory is still alive. In Ukraine, the product imported from Russia costs four hundred and eighty hryvnia per kilogram - about twenty dollars. Therefore, the Kharkov biscuit factory has launched the production of “Vedmedic Klishonogy” sweets. Moreover, the sweet label remained identical to the Russian one. And the composition is very similar to the traditional one.
Benefits and harms of the product
The calorie content of the “Bear-Toed Bear” candy depends on its composition. And since a product with this name is produced not only by Red October OJSC, but also by Rot Front, the recipe is changing. Some manufacturers abroad use honey in the filling, which, of course, increases the beneficial properties of the sweetness. Let's study the nutritional value of one hundred grams of this popular dessert. It contains as much as 58.6 g of carbohydrates, that is, more than half. Fats are 30 g. And proteins are only 6 g. As for the energy value of one hundred grams of product, it is 530 kcal. That's quite a lot. So, if you don’t want to turn into a clumsy bear, you should limit yourself to consuming this sweetness. The calorie content of 1 candy “Teddy Bear” is eighty units.
What consumers say about the product
There is so much nostalgia for the same charming taste in the reviews! Modern candies can be eaten while they are fresh. Then the waffles, at least, do not come off from the filling, and it does not crumble, maintaining its plasticity. Consumers are very disappointed with the frosting. It doesn't melt in your mouth. Palm and other oils (which should not be in chocolate) leave a cloying taste in the mouth. The consumer opinion is unanimous: the manufacturer should stick to the previous recipe.
Few people know that the “Mishka Kosolapy” (honey roasted) candy is a calling card not only of the industry, but also the pride of Tsarist Russia itself. After all, this sweet masterpiece was born in the workshops of the legendary Einem steam factory, which has been producing tea biscuits and chocolate since 1851. What was the “life” of sweets with a literally centuries-old history?
"Bear Clubfoot" - candy with a taste of art
The wrapper of these sweets is decorated with a modified plot of the well-known painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”, painted by Ivan Shishkin in 1889. But it was with the light hand of Maniul Andreev, a major industrial artist, that this became the “face” of one of the most popular varieties of candies in Russia and abroad.
When Julia Hoys, who was then in charge of the factory’s affairs, was first brought to a tasting of a candy consisting of a thick layer of nut praline, covered with it, he liked it so much that it was necessary to begin mass production of this type immediately. And, if you believe the legend, it was a reproduction of the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” that decorated the wall in Mr. Hoyes’s office. This is where the name and later the design of the new candies came from.
Thus began the journey of “Mishka Kosolapogo” from the factory confectionery shop to the tables of many generations of Russians. But this path was not always so “sweet”.
From Einem to Red October
“Teddy Bear” is a candy with a hundred-year history. It all started at the tsarist factory “Einem”, which in 1922, five years after the October Revolution, was renamed “Red October”. Fortunately, despite the upheavals and changes in the state, the production of these sweets was not suspended. They, like many other well-known varieties of toffee and chocolate, were produced without interruption until the range of confectionery products was reduced to 2 items, and part of the production capacity was transferred to the production of porridge concentrates and signal checkers.
Only in 1960 did these sweets return to store shelves and were able to please everyone again with their unique taste.
Not just grilled meat
There is no arguing with the fact that this is perhaps one of the most famous and beloved varieties of candies, but the question arises: why is “Bear Clubfoot” so popular? There are very, very many sweets today, even dozens of types of the same grilled candy can be counted, but the sales leadership always remains with this variety. The secret of success is simple: it's soft roasting. Not those candies that you can break your teeth on trying to chew them, but a tender and tasty honey-nut delicacy. They are often included in children's New Year's gifts. Therefore, “Bear-toed Bear” is a candy that is familiar to most people from childhood. And now - in more detail about the very essence, that is, about the composition.
Candies “Bear Clubfoot”: composition
From the time of its appearance to the present day, the recipe for making this beloved delicacy has undergone many changes. Today the candies contain the following ingredients:
- crushed peanuts;
- chocolate coating, which consists of cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa butter equivalent, emulsifiers E476 and E322 and natural vanilla flavoring;
- Sahara;
- crushed hazelnut kernels;
- molasses;
- milk fat substitute;
- fruit puree;
- natural honey;
- whole milk powder;
- "Vanilla-creamy";
- gelling agent E407;
- emulsifier E322;
- citric acid;
- sodium citrate.
Price
This type of grilled meat has a pleasant price-quality ratio, which always attracts the attention of consumers. But “Bear-toed Bear” is a candy, the price of which may vary depending on the place of purchase. They are available in packages of different types and weights. The most popular form of packaging is 250 gram bags. The average price of such packaging today is 100-110 rubles.
If you buy candy by weight, the price per kilogram usually starts from 180 rubles, but can also vary significantly depending on the place of purchase. It is cheaper to buy them in small retail chains or wholesale markets. In supermarkets, such candies cost 30-40 rubles more. This is especially true for “Bear Bear” in branded bags of 250 grams.
Unfortunately, these chocolates are not available in gift boxes. This may be due to the fact that this variety is not associated with something rare; it is well known, popular and sold in almost every retail outlet.
Benefits and harms
“Teddy Bear” - which is equal to 528 kcal/100 g, which is a quarter of the average daily requirement. Therefore, it is better not to abuse these sweets, as well as many others. Although some packs indicate a different calorie content - 491 or 493 kcal/100 g.
Can everyone eat Teddy Bear candies? The composition and content of useful organic substances is distributed as follows:
- carbohydrates - 54.4 g;
- fats - 31.3 g;
- proteins - 8.7 g.
Due to the presence of sugar and a high percentage of carbohydrates, such sweets are contraindicated for people with diabetes, slow metabolism and a tendency to gain weight. They fill you up well, but hunger will return very quickly after such a sweet snack.
Also, these candies are not suitable for people with allergies to nuts and/or honey, chocolate and milk fat, children suffering from diathesis, and people with milk protein intolerance.
Candy Wars: “Mishka” vs. “Mishka”
On September 8, 2014, a repeat match took place between the Red October and Pobeda factories. The cause of the dispute was the brand of sweets “Bears in the Forest”, produced by the latter. According to the plaintiff (OJSC "Moscow Confectionery Factory "Red October"), the name is too consonant with their brand "Bear Clubfoot". In addition, the wrappers of both varieties look very similar, which also became the reason for going to court.
Red October's first attempt to sue Pobeda for 1.2 million rubles in compensation was unsuccessful, as the judge rejected the claims due to the fact that, in his opinion, the defendant did not use an image on its products that was so similar to the packaging of the plaintiff's products. But the Red October lawyers did not give up; later the results of the trial were annulled, and the application was sent for reconsideration to higher authorities.
World fame
Clumsy Bear - under this English name, produces Red October candies on the world market. “Teddy bear” is loved not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. For many, this brand has become the same symbol as a nesting doll or borscht. Many tourists who come to us take home kilograms of soft grilled meats as gifts and souvenirs.
This delicacy can also be bought in so-called “Russian” stores around the world or even ordered online. Isn't this what we call global popularity?
And the Red October factory itself is known outside of Russia for its quality and centuries-old confectionery traditions. It may seem to some that we cannot compete in the sweet art with European countries, in particular, with “chocolate” Belgium, but even the inhabitants of Europe, so spoiled by sweets, remain crazy about our grillage. Therefore, “Mishka Kosolapyy” is a candy that will delight us with its unique taste for many decades to come.
Only lazy people didn’t write about the “Mishka Teddy Bear” candy. This product has been with us since childhood, everyone has eaten it, everyone knows it, it constantly appears on store shelves. These candies have a truly impressive history. For me, for example, it was a discovery that the “Bear-toed Bear” candy is not a product of Soviet confectioners (I thought that the candy was invented at the dawn of the construction of communism, in the 1920-30s), but of the “Einem” factory, the predecessor of “ Red October". The presence of praline in the sweets immediately became clear. The founder of Einem was German, and almond products, which include pralines, are common sweets in Germany.
(photo found on the Internet)
But let's get down to the candy itself - what is now produced under this name by the Red October factory. Let's start, as always, by studying the website of the manufacturer - "Red October". The description of these sweets on the website literally looks like this: “a delicate praline of roasted grated almonds with the aroma of vanilla between layers of waffles.” And here it is on the candy wrapper: “candies coated with chocolate glaze with filling between layers of wafers.” It would seem like a trifle: here there is praline made from roasted almonds, and here there is just a “filling”, without specifying the ingredients that make it up. But I don’t consider this unimportant information, so I’ll remember this point and return to it when I consider the filling itself.
The candies, at least the ones I got, are produced in Moscow, on Krasnoselskaya, that is, at the new address of the factory - on the production territory of the Babaevsky concern. I admit that candies under the same name are produced for “Red October” and at other factories that are part of the “United Confectioners” concern, but I haven’t seen any of them yet, so I can’t confirm.
I have always liked the design of the wrapper. After all, Soviet designers (or were they called artists then?) understood beauty. The wrapper is easily recognizable, not overloaded with various unnecessary details, laconic, contrasting.
I am glad that the Red October factory did not modernize the design and left it practically unchanged (there are still minimal changes: background color and fonts). The typographic work did not disappoint either: the image does not “float”, the letters are easy to read even in a small size, and excellent paper is used for wrapping.
The icing covering the candy upset me. I did not expect that the manufacturer would save on such legendary and, frankly speaking, not the cheapest candies. Yes, I understand that now you can’t live without palm oil (and judging by the composition, not only without it), but even with it, some manufacturers manage to create a more acceptable glaze. “Red October” has none. That is, the glaze has no taste at all, other than excessive sweetness. It is not rich and does not leave a pleasant aftertaste characteristic of high-quality chocolate. It doesn’t melt in your mouth at all—you just have to chew it. The only thing it gives is a cloying sensation that you want to quickly wash down with water.
The glaze covers the candy more or less evenly, although not without flaws.
Now for the filling. Which is “praline”. Considering that praline is a mixture of fried grated almonds and sugar, I tried to catch at least a hint of almonds in “Mishka” - if not the taste, then at least the aroma. But no, it's useless. There is nothing - no taste, no aroma - just a sweet mass. You can “guess” the content of almonds in the filling only after reading the composition, that is, trusting your eyes and not your taste buds. Therefore, returning to the point about the difference between “praline” and “filling” in the second paragraph of this post, I am still inclined to use the latter word in relation to these sweets. It's the "filling".
The consistency of the filling is unacceptably hard. Waffles from such a hard filling, of course, are easily separated, dividing the candy into three parts: two of them are waffles with glaze, and one part is the filling itself. The ensemble doesn’t work out because you have to eat the candy in these very parts, and not completely. I consider such easy separation of the waffles from the filling as a sign of poor quality filling. Technologists need to come up with something to provide the filling with greater plasticity.
The only thing I have no complaints about (except for the candy wrapper) is the waffles. But that’s because I didn’t feel their taste at all. However, it probably shouldn’t exist. I don't know why they are present in the recipe, but I can assume that the waffles here are supposed to serve as some kind of hard, crunchy structure that creates a contrast with the plastic filling. But since the filling is far from ideal, the function of the waffles is leveled out.
I run the risk of arousing the wrath of fans of the “Mishka Kosolapy” candies, but I don’t recommend buying what “Red October” produces under this name.
But on the other hand, I will not support the currently fashionable trend that, supposedly, in the Soviet years, sweets were real, but now they have spoiled. Perhaps this is so - before, sweets were both tastier and better quality, but now even a big name can’t save them. But I will say one thing - in my Soviet childhood, I also did not understand the charm of these sweets.
Information about the sweets “Bear Clubfoot”
Compound: chocolate glaze (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter equivalent (non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (palm, shea, illipe, sunflower)), cocoa powder, emulsifiers: soy lecithin E476, vanilla flavoring), sugar, grated almond kernel, cocoa butter, waffles (drinking water, wheat flour, refined deodorized sunflower oil, salt, emulsifier soy lecithin, baking powder sodium bicarbonate), antioxidant ascorbic acid, flavoring "Vanilla".
The nutritional value per 100 g: proteins - 6.0 g, fats - 30.0 g, carbohydrates - 58.0 g, dietary fiber - 3.4 g.
Energy value per 100 g: 530 kcal.
