And a piece for me: where to immerse myself in the history of Russian cheese making
Against the background of interest in gastronomic tourism in Russia, its subspecies, cheese tourism, is actively developing. Travelers from all over the country travel to the regions where this product has been produced for centuries. Izvestia and the Eurasian Community of Travel Industry Specialists traveled for three days along the special route "Vereshchagin Cheese Triangle" (village of Edimonovo – village of Koprino – city of Uglich) to visit local cheese factories and immerse themselves in history.
Konakovsky cheese factory, Zavidovo resort
The Vereshchagin Cheese Triangle is a route that combines several points relatively close to Moscow, traditionally associated with cheese making. Together, Edimonovo (Tver Region), Koprino (Yaroslavl Region) and Uglich (Yaroslavl Region) represent three cheese capitals or even an entire cheese region.
Port
It takes about two hours to get to Edimonovo in the Tver region from Moscow. It was here that in the 1870s, under the leadership of Nikolai Vereshchagin, the first and then the only dairy farming school was opened.
Nikolai Vereshchagin is the elder brother of the famous battle artist. After giving up his military career, he went to Switzerland, where he learned how to cook cheese. After returning to his homeland, he decided to transfer the Western experience to Russia and began teaching peasants how to cook cheese. It was on his initiative that the first artisanal cheese factory appeared in the country.
Therefore, the Konakovsky cheese Factory, located next to Edimonovo and existing since 1936, becomes the first stop on the way to immerse yourself in the history of Russian cheese making. Cheese is still being prepared here using technologies that Vereshchagin explored in Switzerland, and the cheese itself is produced under the brand of the same name. As part of the tour, you will be guided through the workshops of the factory, introduced to the stages of cheese production, and will also learn in detail about Nikolai Vereshchagin himself. There is also a small museum, which contains rare exhibits used in the 20th century to make cheese and butter.
One of the main features of the Konakovo factory is the 19th-century basements, built by Vereshchagin's students. Today, cheeses ripen in them in natural conditions — it takes at least 70 days. You can go down to the basements to see the fluffy milk heads with your own eyes.
Mold on cheese in the basement of the 19th century
In addition to delving into the history and familiarization with the production process, guests will enjoy a tasting of semi-hard and pickled cheeses. At the moment, the plant produces 19 types of them, including shanklish, belper knollet and others. You can buy your favorite cheeses immediately after the tour, on the website or in Moscow stores.
Another advantage is the proximity to one of the largest and most beautiful rivers in Russia, the Volga. To fully immerse yourself in the historical atmosphere, you can stay at the Yamskaya Sloboda Hotel in the Zavidovo resort, decorated in an antique style with carved palisades. And have dinner at the Cheese Factory restaurant, which offers a variety of dishes, including using cheese.
In addition, there are many other accommodation options in Zavidovo: camping, glamping and various hotels from three to five stars. Everyone will find something to do here, from walking in the woods to visiting the spa.
Turning slightly off the "cheese route", you can also take a look at the Konakov Gingerbread House of the Unzhakov family, where gingerbread prepared according to an old recipe using local ingredients as fillings — pine cones and rowan or juniper berries are presented for tasting.
Yamskaya Sloboda Hotel Complex
If you have free time, you can also visit the Konakovsky Faience production and tourism center or drive to the new port, which already accepts tourists traveling by water.
Ancient cheese factory in Koprino, Yaroslavskoye seaside resort
The next stop of the triangle is the cheese factory in Koprino, Yaroslavl region, which is located on the site of the village of the same name, which was once destroyed during the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir. It's a long way to get here — at least four hours by car. Izvestia traveled this way in comfortable Chery cars.
Nikolai Vereshchagin, already familiar to us, arrived here in the 19th century, appreciating the richness of the local meadows. It was here that he opened a branch of the Edimonov School of Dairy Farming, as well as the first artisanal cheese factory that made Dutch cheese. That's how Koprino became famous all over the country.
Now the historical building, which used to play the role of a dairy hut, is being restored as a museum. During the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir, it was removed from flooded lands, and many years later it was discovered, returned to its historical place and is now being restored.
The restored cheese factory building in Koprino
— A few years ago, our colleagues who deal with the history of Koprino, who had a photo archive, looked at what buildings there were, including the buildings of the cheese factories. <...> In a large Village, they found the building they saw in the photo. It turns out that this is the Vereshchagin cheese factory, which was dismantled and reassembled 40 km away, because the Large Village did not fall into the flood zone," says Nikolai Kozhenkov, Deputy General Director for marketing of the Syrkultprosvet museum—factory project.
Restoration work and preparations for the museum's opening to visitors are currently underway. Preserved photos are used for greater accuracy. And next to the cheese factory building, a glacier designed for storing cheese has been recreated.
The museum of the Rybinsk Sea is located very close by, where there are many photographs and materials telling about the history of the area and the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir.
Koprino Bay Park Hotel
The Yaroslavskoye Seaside resort is located around the future museum today. There are also several accommodation options — cottages and hotels. Staying at the Koprino Bay Park Hotel, you can not only immerse yourself in the history of cheese making, but also forget about the hustle and bustle of the city for a while. Special attention should be paid to the "Protected Forest", which occupies an impressive territory of 55 hectares, where you can walk or ride a bike, pick berries and enjoy the beauty of untouched nature.
Museum-factory "Syrkultprosvet" in Uglich
The third and final corner of the "Vereshchagin Cheese Triangle" is the museum-factory "Syrkultprosvet" in Uglich. In 1935, it was here that the Soviet government decided to revive the cheese industry — then an Experimental cheese factory was built, at which a research laboratory was opened.
The modern factory building has recently been restored and equipped with modern technologies. And the museum space "Syrkultprosvet" on its territory was opened a year ago, in the spring of 2024.
The museum-factory in Uglich
Visitors to the museum will learn about the history of the factory in different periods, from 1935 to the heyday of cheese production in the 1970s and modern times. Old equipment will be shown, as if brought to the museum from the filming of a film about space. Special attention is paid to this topic here, because the tour begins with an inspection of the space panel generated by neural networks. It is not accidental that it is here. Few people know that the plant in Uglich produced special—purpose products - they flew into space.
Anyone can stay at the interactive exhibits and study the etymology of the word "cheese" in different languages, write down their favorite recipe for a dish containing this product, and much more.
One of the main stages of the tour will be an introduction to the production of cheese and other dairy products produced at the factory. Walking along the glassed-in promenade, you can see all the stages of the production chain, which the guide will tell you more about.
The current production plant in Uglich, view from the glazed promenade
During the tasting, you can taste the cheeses that are produced at the factory. Among them are Romagnier, Uglich, Poshekhonsky, Etelsky and brynza. Then the tour moves to the former dairy building, where everyone has the opportunity to come up with their own cheese label, find out what role you would play in cheese production, and even take a picture with a milk truck from the 1960s.
You can continue your acquaintance with cheese at the SyrBor restaurant, which is open on the territory of the factory. During the day, it operates in the free-flow format (free flow — Izvestia), and in the evening, the a la carte menu begins to operate. There are a variety of cuisines from all over the world, of course, using cheese.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
