Image by Charlie charlie360x on flickr.com

One of the things I really miss about Poland is the crispy, fresh baked bread (chrupiący, świeży chleb)! I have to be honest – I have never tasted toast style bread until moving to USA. All I ate in Poland was freshly baked, still warm bread, nice fresh rolls…I wish I would have a bakery close to where I live now! My parents in Poland have warm bread delivered to their house every morning!Amazing!It’s crispy, it smells amazing…So just like me, most of the Poles I know, miss the Polish bread!

To begin with, we hardly ever eat toast (just like I mentioned above). Bread is something Polish people will be picky about. Take Tarnów, for example. This city in south-eastern Poland (116,000 people) sells almost 160 types of bread, including 40 types of ‘traditional’ bread. Its bakers were recently describing on Polish TV how to recognise a well baked loaf of bread (it’s all bout the crust).

Then there’s the religious aspect – in a deeply Catholic country like Poland bread has always been revered as a highly symbolic type of food. Many people still make a sign of cross on a fresh loaf before slicing it.

Bread is also an important accompaniment to many dishes and is in itself an ingredient. For example, a Christmas delicacy called makówki, made traditionally in the region of Upper Silesia in the south of Poland, consists of layers of sliced bread (or baguette) soaked in a sweet mixture of ground poppy seeds, milk, nuts, almonds, raisins, orange peel and sugar.

And since I mentioned Upper Silesia, I also need to mention what is probably the only Museum of Bread in Poland.

The Bread and School Museum is not a typical museum. The exhibits are not displayed in show cases as in many other museums. No, here everything is easily accessible and visitors can actually handle and touch the interesting and unusual exhibits. The museum was established as a “labour of love” by its founder Piotr Makiewicz who had a great interest in the history of bread and bread-making. In 2000, Piotr opened the first Bread Museum in Poland. It displayed the machines and tools used in bread-making, which he had collected over many years, together with pictures, post cards and rare items closely linked with regional and German cultures. The motto of the museum is “experience and try out”, and visitors can do this on the guided tours and demonstrations when they can have a go at baking bread and learn how to form a “spitzel”.

In 2005 the School Museum was opened and here, visitors can take part in a lesson set in a classroom from the early 20th century. This is an exciting experience for all ages. It reminds older visitors of their own childhood and gives younger visitors the opportunity to experience life in earlier times.

The newest part of the museum is an alpine cabin built in traditional “Góralski” style. In order to the make the cabin as authentic as possible, it was actually constructed by górale, who come from the mountaineous regions near the Polish-Slovakian border. After a guided tour, it is the perfect place to relax and to enjoy its traditional atmosphere and surroundings.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)