900 Kilogram Sweet Mountain

The already traditional Sweet Mountain culinary festival was held recently at the Koroliov Palace of Culture, starring the 900 kilogram title cake (in 1999, it weighed 550 kilos, and 650 kilos in 2000). The cake was shaped as a miniature copy of Mt. Govardhan in India, and the expert cooks reproduced highland features like lakes, waterfalls, and buildings.

Legend has it that 5,000 years ago the residents of the town of Vrindaban canceled sacrifices to the demigod of Indri to establish monotheism and brought their gifts (various kinds of rice, vegetables, and sweets) to that mountain. Indri was outraged and sent a heavy rain, but Krishna raised the mountain high and held it for seven days on the little finger of his left hand, so the villagers could hide from the rain under the mountain as though it were an umbrella. After that event the cake baking ceremony became a traditional holiday.

The cake is made using a special recipe consisting exclusively of milk and vegetarian products without a single egg. In our case the cake was offered to all those present at the end of the program. The Sweet Mountain festival is also an educational event, propagating a healthy lifestyle. A vegetarian cafe and a cookbook exhibit were organized in the lobby, some dishes were prepared on the spot, so visitors could learn the recipes (for many of us dairy dishes are reduced to twenty at best, yet the assortment appears to number 160!).

The cooking festival was held under a program called Hare Krishna, Food for Life, which began in 1972.