# Pastila
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{{Short description|Russian fruit confectionary}}
{{about|Russian fruit confectionery|the Arabo-Andalusian meat pie|Pastilla|the Philippine milk-based confectionery|pastillas}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Pastila
| image =Kolomna Pastila.jpg
| image_size =220px
| caption = Pastila from Kolomna
| alternate_name =
| country = [Russia](/source/Russia)
| region =
| creator =
| course = [Confectionery](/source/Confectionery)
| type =
| served =
| main_ingredient = fruit [purée](/source/pur%C3%A9e), [egg white](/source/egg_white)s, [sugar](/source/sugar) or [honey](/source/honey)
| variations = [Food coloring](/source/Food_coloring)
| other =
| serving_size =
| calories =
| protein =
| fat =
| carbohydrate =
| glycemic_index =
| similar_dish =
}}
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'''Pastila''' ({{langx|ru|пастила́}} {{IPA|ru|pəsʲtʲɪˈɫa|}}) is a traditional [Russian](/source/Russian_cuisine) [fruit](/source/fruit) [confectionery](/source/confectionery) (''[pâte de fruits](/source/%3Afr%3Ap%C3%A2te_de_fruits)''). It has been described as "small squares of pressed fruit paste"[Vera Broido. ''Daughter of Revolution: A Russian Girlhood Remembered''. Constable, 1998. Page 122.] and "light, airy puffs with a delicate apple flavor".[Darra Goldstein. ''A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality''. Russian Information Services, 1999. {{ISBN|1880100428}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aKEICug2T-EC&pg=PA209 Page 209].] In [Imperial Russia](/source/Imperial_Russia), the "small jellied [sweetmeats](/source/sweetmeats)" were served for tea "with a white foamy top, a bit like [marshmallow](/source/marshmallow), but tasting of pure fruit".[''Christmas Around the World''. Sutton Publishing, 1998. {{ISBN|9780750917247}}. Page 31.]
Pastila is also eaten in [Kazakhstan](/source/Kazakhstan), primarily as a popular dessert or delicacy often served with tea. It is a sweet, colorful fruit and berry paste, and a common offering in [Kazakh cuisine](/source/Kazakh_cuisine) alongside other Russian and [Central Asian](/source/Central_Asia) sweets.[https://theworldsfood.com/regions/asia/kazakhstan/36396/pastila.html]
The first mentions of pastila in Russian written sources date back to the 16th century.[М. Р. Фасмер. ''Этимологический словарь русского языка''. Прогресс, 1964—1973. [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=config&morpho=0&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cvasmer&first=1&off=&text_word=Пастила&method_word=substring&ic_word=on&text_general=&method_general=substring&ic_general=on&text_origin=&method_origin=substring&ic_origin=on&text_trubachev=&method_trubachev=substring&ic_trubachev=on&text_editorial=&method_editorial=substring&ic_editorial=on&text_pages=&method_pages=substring&ic_pages=on&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=word&ic_any=on Пастила] ([Max Vasmer](/source/Max_Vasmer), ''Etymological dictionary of the Russian language'').][''[http://www.ido.rudn.ru/ffec/hist/chrest%5CX_10.html Послание Ивана Грозного в Кириллов монастырь] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819063913/http://ido.rudn.ru/ffec/hist/chrest/X_10.html |date=2007-08-19 }}'', 1573 (''The epistle of [Ivan the Terrible](/source/Ivan_the_Terrible) to the abbot of the [Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery](/source/Kirillo-Belozersky_Monastery)'', 1573).][''Домострой''. [http://www.wco.ru/biblio/books/domostroy/main.htm глава 66] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412033245/http://wco.ru/biblio/books/domostroy/Main.htm |date=2019-04-12 }} (''[Domostroy](/source/Domostroy)'', a 16th-century Russian set of household rules. Section 66).] The name is probably a [loanword](/source/loanword) from {{langx|it|pastello}} or ''pastiglia'', or from the cognate {{langx|fr|pastille}} which in turn comes from {{langx|la|pastillus}} (a loaf or pie, cf. [pastilla](/source/pastilla)).[А. Н. Чудинов. ''Словарь иностранных слов, вошедших в состав русского языка''. 1910. [http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/dic_fwords/26328/ПАСТИЛА Пастила] (A. N. Tchudinov. ''Dictionary of foreign words adopted to the Russian language.'' 1910).]
In the 19th century, pastila was made from sourish Russian [apple](/source/apple)s such as [Antonovka](/source/Antonovka) or mashed Northern berries ([lingonberry](/source/lingonberry), [rowan](/source/rowan), [currant](/source/Ribes)s) sweetened with [honey](/source/honey) or [sugar](/source/sugar) and lightened with [egg white](/source/egg_white)s. The paste was baked in the [Russian oven](/source/Russian_oven) for many hours, then arranged in several layers inside an [alder](/source/alder) box and then left to dry in the same oven.[В. В. Похлёбкин. ''[http://kulinarnayakniga.ru/tesaurus/207/177707/ Кулинарный словарь] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402182424/http://kulinarnayakniga.ru/tesaurus/207/177707/ |date=2019-04-02 }}''. Центрполиграф, 2002 ([William Pokhlyobkin](/source/William_Pokhlyobkin). ''Culinary Dictionary''. Centrpoligraf, 2002).]
In [Imperial Russia](/source/Imperial_Russia), pastila was considered an expensive treat. Priced at one [rouble](/source/Ruble) and a half, it was produced at noblemen's manors by serf labor. The cheapest pastila was made with honey instead of sugar. The Russian stove afforded two days of steadily diminishing heat to bake the fruit paste.[Леонид Васильевич Беловинский.
''Энциклопедический словарь российской жизни и истории: XVIII-начало XX в.'' ОЛМА-ПРЕСС, 2003. {{ISBN|5-224-04008-6}}.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=4W5sUATx57MC&pg=PA721 Сласти] (Leonid Belovinsky, ''Encyclopaedic dictionary of Russian life and history: From the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century''. OLMA-PRESS, 2003).]
In the [Soviet](/source/Soviet_cuisine) period, pastila was produced using an industrially optimised technology.[[http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200022417 ГОСТ-6441-96, Изделия кондитерские пастильные, общие технические условия] (Interstate Standard 6441-96, former Soviet state technical standard, ''Pastila type confectionery. General specifications'').] According to [William Pokhlyobkin](/source/William_Pokhlyobkin), this Soviet-style pastila does not depend on the unique properties of the peasant stove and is markedly inferior to its homemade predecessors.[{{Cite web|url=http://www.forbes.ru/svoi-biznes/istorii-uspekha/310831-sladkoe-mesto-kak-proizvodstvo-pastily-iz-promysla-prevratilos-v|title=Сладкое место: как производство пастилы из промысла превратилось в бизнес|date=25 January 2016 }}]
==Production in Kolomna==
[Kolomna](/source/Kolomna) claims to be the birthplace of original "white-foam" pastila and maintains a museum and a museum factory dedicated to the history and traditions of pastila production.[Paul Duvernet. [http://rbth.com/articles/2011/09/15/pastila_the_delicacy_of_yesteryear_13409.html Pastila: The delicacy of yesteryear], Russia Beyond the Headlines, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 2011.][{{Cite web |url=http://kolomnapastila.ru/en/ |title=Website of the Pastila Museum |access-date=2014-04-01 |archive-date=2019-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112055902/http://kolomnapastila.ru/en/ |url-status=dead }}][[http://kolomnapastila.com/ Website of the Pastila Museum Factory]] The museum occupies a merchant house dating from ca. 1800, while the museum factory is located in a historical factory building. [Rzhev](/source/Rzhev) and [Belyov](/source/Belyov) used to be known as other important centres of production.