Some associate the name of Borodino bread with the remarkable Russian composer Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin. It is said that he tried an unusual bread during a trip to Italy and brought the recipe back to Moscow. From there, this rye bread began its victorious march across Russia. However, this version, despite its plausibility, is unfounded. Firstly, composer Borodin never lived in Moscow and visited it rarely. Secondly, he was a brilliant musician, a talented chemist, and a public figure, but he was not known for a passion for cooking. And thirdly, rye bread is not popular in Italy and is not baked there. Therefore, the traveler could not have acquired the Borodino bread recipe there. Another legend connects the origin of Borodino bread with the village of Borodino, the same place where the famous battle of 1812 took place. It is said that one of the French shells hit a wagon carrying rye flour and caraway seeds. These two ingredients spilled out of the torn sacks and mixed on the road. The local peasants, not accustomed to delicacies, gathered this mixture and tried to bake bread. The result unexpectedly pleased them, and rye bread with caraway became popular. However, this version also raises doubts. It seems strange that the Russian army would carry sacks of caraway and that the spice would mix with the flour in a flavor-perfect proportion. There is a more realistic story associated with the village of Borodino. Some believe that the special bread began to be baked in a convent. The monastery was founded near the site of the bloody battle eight years later. Historians have found evidence that the nuns distributed incredibly tasty rye bread to the peasants after church services. The monastery, called Spaso-Borodinskaya, was founded by Margarita Tuchkova, the widow of Major General Alexander Tuchkov, who died at Borodino, and even his body was never found. The monastery, built with funds from the sale of family jewels, became a sort of memorial to the hero. Tuchkova is credited with creating the monastery's bread, which included rye flour, molasses, caraway, and malt. This version seems quite plausible, but it also has a flaw. Aside from the dubious "recollections" of peasants (who were unlikely to have left memoirs), nothing confirms the baking of such bread in the convent. It is well known that Borodino bread began to appear for sale in the 1930s in Moscow, and before that, it was unheard of. The modern recipe for Borodino bread was developed in 1933 by the Moscow Bread Trust, according to which coriander was one of the bread's ingredients.