The sweet treat chak-chak has a rich history. Tell us about this national delicacy.
It is believed the treat may have appeared around one or two thousand years ago among the ancestors of modern Tatars — the nomadic Bulgars. According to folk legend, Tatars say chak-chak is already five thousand years old. Originally chak-chak was a nomads' food and consisted of large pieces of simple flour dough mixed with water and fried in fat. The pieces were filling, kept for a long time and suitable for snacking on the road, which was especially important for nomads. On holidays the dish became sweet: the dough pieces were dipped in honey. Sugar did not exist then. Today chak-chak is a national ritual treat prepared for major celebrations. It is served at weddings and during the traditional holidays Sabantuy* and Nowruz**. In Tatar wedding tradition chak-chak symbolizes the future family. Newlyweds are wished to live close and strong, that their married life be as sweet, and that they have as many children and as much happiness as there are pieces of chak-chak. Therefore it is believed that the smaller the pieces, the happier the family will be.
** The holiday of the arrival of spring and the New Year according to the astronomical solar calendar among Iranian and Turkic peoples
How did the idea to create the Chak-Chak Museum come about?
To this question the museum founders Dmitry and Raushaniya Polosiny answer as follows. They are avid travelers and, traveling through different countries and cities, met new people and made friends. When they settled in Kazan, new friends began to visit them. The museum owners wanted to immerse guests in Tatar culture, but there was no authentic place in the city devoted to traditional Tatar everyday life. The National Museum has "Tatar corners," but they don't allow a full immersion in the people's history. Therefore in 2014 Dmitry and Raushaniya decided to open a space where visitors to Kazan and city residents could fully experience Tatar domestic life and literally "taste history."
Founders: Dmitry and Raushaniya Polosiny
What is the museum's concept and main mission?
It is the preservation and popularization of traditional Tatar culture. We try to be as authentic as possible. In the 19th century our house belonged to a grocer, a merchant of the second guild, Vafa Bigaev. Today its authentic 19th-century interior has been restored — even the floors creak. We serve guests chak-chak prepared according to a 19th-century recipe. Only the mutton fat, traditionally used for frying chak-chak, has been replaced with oil. Everything here is very traditional. Probably when people hear the phrase "Tatar costume" they imagine glittering outfits with sequins, but in reality that wasn't the case. Even with the costumes we try to keep restraint and follow traditional canons.
Besides the museum we have other projects: the souvenir studio "Aida", the interior brand "TatarHome", and the handicraft and jewelry brand "TatarHandmade." We take something traditional and "modernize" it while preserving the cultural code.
Chak-Chak Museum in Kazan at 18 Parizhskaya Kommuna Street
Tell us how the museum's exhibition was created?
In our museum guests can feel history with their own hands — we allow touching everything. Except for the storefront displays and chandeliers, our interior consists of authentic items. We collected rugs, chests, various household items, bedcovers and pillows piece by piece. Some items were passed to the museum owners from relatives. We have a chest that Raushaniya Rafikovna slept on as a child. Wicker baskets, sugar tongs and spoons came to Dmitry Nikolaevich from his family. Many historical items were donated to the museum by friends and visitors: people want to give a second life to objects passed down in their families from generation to generation. And sometimes we ourselves acquire amazing items for the museum at the Kazan flea market.
Tea room
What tour programs do you offer?
We conduct tours by appointment only because our house is small and cannot accommodate many guests at once. Our tours are divided by season. The tour themes are related to the occupations of Tatars in the 19th century at different times of the year. In autumn the Tatars did well in trade, so we talk about their commercial relations and the formation of the urban environment. In winter we talk about Tatar pagan mythology, widespread before the adoption of Islam. In spring we talk about the national costume and why girls wore fifteen kilograms of jewelry. In summer we talk about wedding traditions: who abducted whom, how much it cost to organize a wedding and how many guests were typically invited. The most interesting thing is that all the themes I mentioned are connected to chak-chak.
What other events take place at the Museum?
For example, this summer, with the support of the Vladimir Potanin Charitable Foundation, we have many museum events. These include city tours, lectures with tea, and various master classes. Recently we held a master class in jewelry making. We take brass bases in triangle, circle and rhombus shapes, and each participant creates a traditional Tatar piece of jewelry with their own hands. We also hold master classes in preparing various national dishes, and in summer we try to run them more often. We often win grants, so most of the museum's events are held with grant support. We also regularly host concerts by local performers whose spirit and style harmonize with our museum's concept.
Often the museum hostesses (that's what we call our guides) come up with some tour or lecture dedicated to Kazan or Tatar culture, and we always give the girls a space to hold the event and gather guests. It's important to us that beginning guides develop.
What are the museum's plans for the future?
The museum has many plans. For example, our house has a semi-attic third floor which, essentially, is a wasted space. We want to clean and improve it to hold master classes or lectures for guests there, and also to expand the house tour. We have another dream. Our house has a wing (fligel), and the land adjacent to it does not belong to us. Over time we'd like to acquire this plot and build small rural Tatar houses on it so that visitors to Kazan could rent authentic accommodation and feel like Tatars of the 19th century.
Interview by Elizaveta Delorosa
