Russian Ravioli (Pelmeni) “Taiga Style” were invented in Angarsk

Angarsk is the pelmeni’s capital of Russia. This is how our city was called in the 1960s. There was a restaurant “Taiga” in the city of Petrochemicals at that time. There you could order a drink and a quick bite. Everything changed when in 1959 Matvey Alexandrovich Yankelevich was appointed the director of “Taiga”. The Party posed a task before Yankelevich to make turn the ordinary eatery into a modern restaurant. Soon the restaurant became famous all over the country. And the dish on the menu was “Taiga style pelmeni”, the recipe of which was adopted by the best restaurants in Moscow.

The dish was first tried by Estonian opera singers Tiit Kuusik and Georg Ots. At the end of the evening, one of the waitresses told the director that the guests were happy to eat the ravioli and that they had wrapped the pots and … carried them off with them. Instead of souvenirs.

Then Yankelevich came up with a wonderful idea. The famous Estonians could also eat Russian ravioli on the road. The clay pots keep food warm for a long time. Later, the director of the “Taiga” repeatedly sent a dish to distinguished guests who were returning home.

A car raced from Angarsk to Irkutsk Airport. Dumplings were not simply transported in clay pots, but they were also carefully wrapped, and therefore by the end of the path it remained juicy and hot. Presents for the passengers were transferred right before taking off with the wishes of a happy journey. There was no advertising at that time, and no one even thought about it, but today we can say that it was an unconscious, but very powerful marketing move.

The pelmeni’s fame quickly flew across the country. The owners of the best restaurants of the Soviet Union were traveling to Angarsk in search of culinary mysteries. The first one who asked for a pelmeni’s recipe was the restaurant “Seventh Heaven”, located in the Ostankino TV Tower, then the secret of cooking was opened to the Balts.

Matvey Yankelevich received his colleagues with joy and shared with them a famous recipe from a sense of solidarity and friendship. The staff of “Taiga” was warmed by the idea that their dishes will be served by famous cooks in very prestigious restaurants.

The restaurant thundered all over the country, its collective for almost ten years held a passing red banner, then it was very honorable. A deep phrase in the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “For high performance in the socialist competition” contained all the achievements of the famous Angarsk restaurant: The invention of unusual ravioli, and several dozens of other special dishes, the unprecedented fame of the restaurant, and, as a result, a gigantic annual turnover of the company. Directors of the restaurant “Taiga”, the public’s favorite Yankelevich, as well as the authors of culinary masterpieces, were awarded the orders of the Red Banner of Labor.

Source: https://angarsk38.ru/