How chak-chak and other dishes were prepared for the top officials of the BRICS summit

It was interesting to observe how some country leaders reacted to this treat. Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “We have it in China too.” Indeed, in the Celestial Empire there is a dessert called shatzima, similar to chak-chak. The head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, suggested to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko: “Take a little bite.” To which the guest, having tasted the golden ball, immediately responded with a joke: “I said a little! No, to eat the whole thing!”

By the way, the name chak-chak, and not all Tatarstan residents know about this, translates as “a little bit.” As Kazan local historian Ruslan Bushkov, a specialist in the history of Tatar cooking and tea etiquette, told RG, in the 19th century this dish was called “kak-tosh”. And the current name was established during Soviet times. It was turned into a symbol of Tatar tea drinking and hospitality in the 1980s by the legendary culinary specialist Yunus Akhmetzyanov.

But eating just a little chak-chak is, of course, an impossible task. To welcome the guests of the summit in Kazan, 130 kilograms of delicacies were prepared. We are talking only about the chak-chak with which politicians were greeted at the airport. In fact, there was much more. The chef of the Tatar Estate restaurant, a catering worker with 40 years of experience, Liliya Baikeeva is one of those who prepared chak-chak and many other dishes for heads of state. Her treats were on the table of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many others.

– They cooked in tons, this has never happened in my lifetime! – she says. – Only chak-chak made 2000 balls, each 100 grams.

That is, 200 kilograms of chak-chak came out of her hands alone! Liliya-apa also prepared baursaki, koshtele, kastyby, gubadia, bekkens with pumpkin and rice, and her signature dish talkysh kaleve. This is a dessert related to chak-chak, only it is made from the thinnest threads in the shape of pyramids and instantly melts in the mouth. Liliya Baikeva says that she worked at Kazan Expo side by side with chefs from Moscow and St. Petersburg and her baked goods were very popular with them – everyone asked for recipes.

Only from the hands of Liliya Baikeeva came 200 kilograms of chak-chak! Photo: from the archive of Liliya Baikeeva

And here is the recipe for chak-chak for RG readers from Lily-apa with the note: “If you want to surprise everyone and make a good homemade chak-chak”:

• Ten eggs and five yolks. One full tablespoon with sour cream on top, a pinch of salt and one hundred grams of sugar. A pack of baking powder and flour.
• Knead the dough, it should be elastic, similar to dumplings. Then make balls the size of a baby’s head and let them rest for ten minutes.
• Then roll them out to a thickness of one centimeter, cut into thin strips and fry in a large amount of sunflower oil, stirring constantly. The oil should not boil.
• As soon as the dough pieces turn yellow, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel.
• After this, take honey at the rate of half a kilo per kilogram of chak-chak and two hundred grams of sugar. You melt it all away. The mixture should not boil, just gurgle slightly!
• And finally, pour honey over the pieces of dough, stir and shape.

The shapes of chak-chak in Tatarstan vary depending on the region: slide-shaped, cone-shaped, cylindrical, square, portioned balls. In total, the consumer cooperation system of the Republic of Tatarstan produces an average of 80-90 tons of chak-chak every year. Demand for this product is high in the summer, when a large flow of tourists passes through Kazan. It sells worse in winter.

By the way, not only residents of Tatarstan, but also residents of Moscow, Novosibirsk, and Barnaul can buy chak-chak. In these cities there are hypermarkets of the Bakhetle chain. In 2016, during Rustam Minnikhanov’s visit to New York, a representative of the local Tatar community complained that they did not have Bakhetle. To this, the head of Tatarstan replied that these stores are only for lazy women.