Pastila

Pastila (Russian: пастила) is a traditional Russian fruit confectionery (pâte de fruits). It has been described as "small squares of pressed fruit paste" and "light, airy puffs with a delicate apple flavor". In Imperial Russia, the "small jellied sweetmeats" were served for tea "with a white foamy top, a bit like marshmallow, but tasting of pure fruit".

The first mentions of pastila in Russian written sources date back to the 16th century. The name is probably a loanword from Italian: pastello or pastiglia, or from the cognate French: pastille which in turn comes from Latin: pastillus (a loaf or pie, cf. pastilla).

In the 19th century, pastila was made from sourish Russian apples such as Antonovka or mashed Northern berries (lingonberry, rowan, currants) sweetened with honey and lightened with egg whites. The paste was baked in the Russian oven for many hours, then arranged in several layers inside an alder box and then left to dry in the same oven.

Kolomna claims to be the birthplace of original "white-foam" pastila and maintains a museum dedicated to history and traditions of pastila production. The museum occupies a merchant house dating from ca. 1800. Rzhev and Belyov used to be known as other important centres of production.