[1][2][3] A distinct feature of this cutlet is adding butter to minced meat, which results in an especially juicy and tender consistency.

[1][2] Located between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the small town of Torzhok was a common place for coach stops where the travellers took a break and changed horses.

[1] Alexander Pushkin recommended in 1826 in a letter to a friend to "dine at Pozharsky in Torzhok, try fried cutlets and set out with a light mood".

[1] There are numerous references by the contemporaries mentioning both veal cutlets Pozharsky and their versions made of minced chicken and coated with breadcrumbs.

[2][13] Pelageya Alexandrova-Ignatieva notes in The Practical Fundamentals of the Cookery Art (1899–1916) that the same cutlets can also be made from game (grouse, partridge etc.).

[4] In the recipe included in The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food, white bread soaked in milk and heated butter are added to ground chicken meat.

In the middle of the 20th century, industrially produced, semi-processed ground meat cutlets were introduced in the USSR.