Eastern Keks, Tsar-kulich - a Nizhny Novgorod culinary product created and popularized in the spring of 2004[1] as part of the Capital Status program.[2]

The Nature of the Phenomenon

Initially, the plan was to create and publicize a kulич (Easter cake) of unprecedented size.

The meme arose from a mistranslation of the cake's English name: "Eastern Cake" (oriental cake) instead of "Easter Cake" (Easter kulич). The error is presumed to originate from a press release issued by the project's organizers.

The meme was spawned by a news item from the NTA-Volga Region agency, featuring the memorable headline "The Nizhny Novgorod Tsar-Kulич may be entered in the Guinness Book of Records as an Eastern Cake".

Coverage in Mass Media

« 22.04.2004 11:39

The Nizhny Novgorod giant Easter kulič may be entered in the Guinness Book of Records as an "Eastern Cake." This is because the English equivalent of the Russian word "kulič" is "Easter cake" ("Eastern cake"). This was reported to NTA-Volga Region by a source close to the creation of the kulič. According to the source, the application to include the Nizhny Novgorod record in the Guinness Book is still under review, and no response has been received from the Book's London headquarters.

To recap: at Easter, a unique Tsar-Kulič was created in Nizhny Novgorod — the world's largest Easter kulič. The kulič, which fed more than 5,000 Nizhny Novgorod residents, weighed 641.2 kilograms, stood 147 centimeters tall, and measured 110 centimeters in diameter. It was baked according to a special Stroganov recipe, which allowed it to stay fresh for a long time. To create this culinary marvel, 14 rings were baked and joined together with Easter fondant icing. As a result, when the kulič was cut, each person received a proper slice complete with glazing, regardless of how deep into the cake their piece came from.

Russia's new world record was registered by Alexey Svistunov, president of the PARI agency and editor-in-chief of the Russian Book of Records.[1][3]
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Interesting Facts

  • Like other products created under the "Capital Status" program of Presidential Envoy S.V. Kirienko, the kulich (Easter bread), in addition to its own name, received the prefix Tsar.[2][1]

See Also

Sources

  1. aif.ru — Argumenty i Fakty
  2. regnum.ru — Capital Status the Nizhny Novgorod Way: To Be or Not to Be (on the campaign of Volga Federal District envoy Sergey Kirienko for Capital Status for Nizhny Novgorod), 14 June 2007 (archive)
  3. Kommersant (Volga Region) — Sekret Firmy (ID "Kommersant") — Svistunov's Book of Records (Alexey Svistunov, president of "Agentstvo PARI", publisher of the "Book of Records of Russia"), 6 December 2004 (archive)