Chak Chak: The National Sweet You Must Try In Tartarstan

If you are in Russia and visiting Kazan for World Cup 2018, you must put sampling the deliciously sweet chak chak on your list of things to do. Pervasive throughout Tartarstan and other parts of central Asia, it is hard to miss this honeyed dessert – there is even a museum dedicated to it! Beloved by Tatars, it is recognised as the region’s national sweet, so just how did this delicious treat work its way into a peoples’ psyche?

Chak chak has been served at Tatar festivities for generations, and the dish has become inherently linked with celebration and joy. Tatarstan loves the dessert so much it made a massive one for Kazan’s millennium celebration in 2005. Weighing in at 1000 kilograms, it was the biggest ever made.
A post shared by @chakchak_samara on May 27, 2015 at 12:01pm PDT
Like all Tatar recipes, how to make chak chak is passed down through families, and while it is a fairly straight forward and simple sweet, families have their slight variations, adding their own personal flair to the dish.

Flat bread, often sweetened with cognac, is rolled into to small balls which are then deep fried and drenched in a honey based syrup. Usually these balls are stacked, similar to a profiterole cake, in a tower. Alternatively they are assembled into miniature towers for individual portions.

Sometimes nuts and fruits are added to the mix before coating with honey, other times candied fruit, nuts, poppy seeds and dragee, colourful candied almonds similar to Jordan almonds and Italian Bomboniere, are added as decoration along with bright flowers. Alternatively, the syrup, which is essentially honey and sugar, can have a spice added to it, to give it an extra flavour dimension.

Pastries and baked goods are fundamental to Tatar cuisine. Gubadiya, another celebratory dish, is a layered pie that can be made either savoury or sweet and there are a gamut of savoury morsels wrapped up in various doughs, and chak chak keeps in line with this tradition. These bread based dishes are are warming, comforting and easy to share, which is a reflection of Tatar hospitality.
A post shared by @chakchak_samara on May 31, 2015 at 8:38am PDT
As they are traditionally nomadic people, Tatar cuisine pulls together elements from other regional clans, who through the course of history and the flux of empires and khanates, have come together. As evidence of this chak chak is often on the table as part of Eid celebrations in much of the Islamic world, a testament to just how tasty this unassuming, but much loved stack of bread and honey is.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.