There are many origin myths around this dish. The more likely version speaks of Russian emperor Alexander I who, while on his way from St. Petersburg to Moscow, had his carriage broken down and was forced to stay at Yevdokim Pozharsky's inn in Torzhok. At lunch, the emperor ordered a veal cutlet that was on the menu, but the owner had run out of veal. His daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who we know for a fact to have existed, took minced chicken and fashioned it into some sort of a fake veal cutlet that she even set on a bone as per French custom.