Mikoyan cutlet (russian: микояновская котлета) was a Soviet semi-processed

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, incl ...

cutlet Cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', "rib") refers to: # a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork or chicken # a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a '' cotoletta ...

variety on the basis of American

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

beef

patty A patty or burger (in British English) is a flattened, usually round, Serving size, serving of ground meat and/or legumes, grains, vegetables, or Meat analogue, meat alternatives. Patties are found in multiple cuisines throughout the world. ...

, nicknamed after Soviet politician Anastas Mikoyan. In 1964, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reported that the Mikoyan cutlet was "the cheapest, most popular if not most revered piece of meat a few

kopeck The kopek or kopeck ( rus, копейка, p=kɐˈpʲejkə, ukr, копійка, translit=kopiika, p=koˈpʲijkə, be, капейка) is or was a coin or a currency unit of a number of countries in Eastern Europe closely associated with t ...

s can buy".

History

In 1936, Anastas Mikoyan, who at the time was People's Commissar of Food Industry of the USSR, went on a trip to the United States to boost economic cooperation and study the development of the US economy. During his visit to the United States Mikoyan studied the system of

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

department store in New York. There Mikoyan took notice of the mass production of hamburger patties and ordered 22 hamburger-producing appliances. However, due to the subsequent

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the production of patties in the Soviet Union failed and the so-called Mikoyan cutlets appeared instead. The cutlets were usually made of pork or beef. nglish translation: /ref> Some varieties bore names of well known Russian restaurant dishes, such as Kiev cutlets or

Pozharsky cutlet A Pozharsky cutlet (russian: пожарская котлета, ', plural: , '; also spelled ''Pojarski'') is a breaded ground chicken or veal patty that is typical of Russian cuisine.Павел Сюткин, Ольга Сюткина. ''Неп� ...

s, but their ingredients had little in common with the original dishes. While Mikoyan cutlets were mass-produced for ordinary people, being sold from 3 to 5 kopeks each, Mikoyan's factories supplied the Soviet government with first-class sausages, hams and other delicacies. The name "Mikoyan cutlets" still circulated occasionally in the beginning of '' perestroika''.

References

{{reflist Meat dishes Soviet cuisine Economy of the Soviet Union

History

See also

References