Cuisine of Warmia and Mazury

How it looks today?
Cuisine of Warmia and Mazury isn’t so well known. Great part of local inhabitants are extraneous population who came here after II World War and their descendants. In the same time most of native inhabitants were forced to leave their homeland. Communism regime was fighting with remains of local traditions. In cause of it culinary tradition, as other elements of local culture like dialect or customs, today is totally forgotten in everyday life. But 15 years after collapse of communism now we can see slow revival of interest in it.


What was being eaten?
Warmia and Mazury are one of colder regions in Poland. For hundred years it was it has been rural area and it have strong impact on regional culinary traditions. Peasants have been being self-sufficient but mostly not so rich. Regional cuisine is simple and, because of cool climate, heavy and satiated.
The most common vegetables are carrot, pea, beet and especially cabbage. But from XIX century the most important have been potatoes which were basic component of peasant’s menu. The most popular fruits have been apples, pears, plums, cherry and gooseberry which were using to make juices, jams and vines or were being dried up. Radish and cucumber were being used only to feed pigs and nobody can thought about eat it.
The most common drinks are milk, water, herbal tea and made of barley corny coffee. Real tea and coffee were being drunk very rarely only by the richest peasants because of high prices of these goods. One of the most popular drink was drink only on special occasions “lenkwar” – water with fermented honey and grains of junpier. It was fizzy, a bit bitterish drink with strong junpier smell. The most popular alcohol was beer which was being produce in this region. Only in Olsztyn were working several well-flourishing breweries. Popular was vodka too; it was drinking by peasants even to breakfast (but not in big amounts, only as a “power-drink”) and it was important compound of menu.
Meat was very rare. It was eaten only in time of holidays. Mostly meat was boiled. Popular were smoked sausages. More common were fishes, especially herring.
Bread and floury food were being eaten rather rarely, mostly in houses of rich peasantsand time of hard works in field. Bread was in great respectability and had important symbolic role.
In local menu very important were dairy products – milk, butter, cottage cheese. As accompaniment were using buttermilk and dresser. Eggs were using to make melt egg or adding to dough. Boiled eggs were eaten on breakfast in time of Easter.
In kitchen very important role was playing linseed oil used to frying and as embellishment.

Meals
-Breakfast was ate on dawn before start of work. In winter the most common was pea and cabbage with lard, potatoes in oil or crude cabbage.
-Second Breakfast was ate about 10am. On this meal peasant were eating bread with butter or lard and drinking milk and corny coffee.
-Lunch was ate at midday. In this time very popular were “strawa” (stewed pea, cabbage and rutabage with greaves eaten with bread), noodle made of rye or wheat flour or crude potatoes, mushroom soup, “zaklepka” (soup made of clabber with flour).
-Tea was ate about 4pm. On this meal were eaten bread or, only on holidays, yeast-cake. This meal was eaten only from Eeastern to 8. September (Festival of Virgin Mary Patron of Sowings). On Sundays were doing melt egg. In autumn popular was “czernina” (soup of goose blood), in winter beef or pork, in summer mutton with noodle or potatoes. Menu was depend of season of year and type of doing work.
-Dinner was ate at 8pm.

Few other typical regional dishes
Surgały – long, thin dried roll made of wheat dough; It was breaking and pieces were serving with hot sweet honey
Ajtopf/Eintopf – thick soup with greengrocery, meat and potatoes
Kiza – white cheese made of clabber mixed with cream, with cumin, slashed onion, salt or sugar
Plince – potato cake flan fried on linseed oil
Czernina – soup made of goose blood with fried fruits and noodles
Łątrębizak – very crispy bread with bran

Where you can try original regional dishes? In Gietrzwałd, a small town nearby Olsztyn is located Karczma Warmińska.
Address: Gietrzwałd 32
Tel.: 089 512-34-23
089 512-34-57

Rural savoir vivre

Rules of behavior in Warmia and Mazury were simple but very important in everyday life. Very important role were being played by bread. Every time when new loaf was being started, on its underside were being cut mark of cross. When the loaf felt down, it was kissed in apology. Leftovers were never being throw away. Instead of it uneatable leftovers were being burnt down. It was believed in cleaning power of fire.

On greeting bread and salt were using to demonstrate great regard to the guest. Godparents were giving child bread as a symbol of abundance. The same meaning had when hostess was coming first into new house with bread and fire.

At the table as the first person were sitting head of family, mostly it was father. Before start eating households were praying. It was very important to do it because especially for peasants religion was one of the most important part of life.

Households were eating from one, the same bowl. They were using wooden spoons. After eating, for example, potatoes spoons were being licked – it was form of cleaning it before start new dish. It was very rude when someone didn’t do it. Plates, knives and fork were being used only in time of holidays. Cutlery were unpopular. People were saying about the fork “I have five fingers and I don’t need this fork [in meaning as a farming equipment]”.