Forking Around with History

Virtually every general-audience publication that however briefly retells the history of beer in Poland mentions two mandatory anecdotes. The one about Saint Piva of Warka was already covered in one of my previous posts. This time, we're going to focus on the other one – about how Duke Lestek the White (also known as Leszek, the modern Polish spelling of his name) wriggled out of going on a crusade. Leszek the White stayed out of crusades by arguing that there was no beer in the Holy Land; Pope Innocent III granted him a dispensation. — Fałat, Ziemowit et al., Przewodnik piwosza , Pascal, Bielsko-Biała 2002, own translation A 2002 label of the Leszek Premium beer brewed in Żnin from the collection of Stanisław (Piwo-Mania) Source:  My Virtual Museum The poet and singer Jacek Kowalski even wrote a song about it. It was commissioned by the Żnin Brewery in the Paluki region, which until 2007 produced an unpasteurized beer called Leszek. A vow he once made To join a cr

Imagine you're visiting someone at home. The host offers you a cup or mug of some hot stimulant non-alcoholic beverage. What kind of drink do you expect to get? Well, it depends, to a large extent, on the geographic location. In most of the world, the host is likely to ask you whether you would like some coffee. There are many countries, though, where the question is going to be, "would you care for a cup of tea?" Five years ago  The Economist  published a great interactive map (based on data gathered by Euromonitor) where this great hot-drink divide can be clearly seen. Most of the Americas and much of Europe are staunch members of the coffee camp. Guatemala turns out to be the most caffeine-addicted nation in the world, with 99.6% Guatemalans preferring coffee over tea. It's closely followed by the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Ecuador. World map of tea and coffee preferences Source: The Economist (click here for an interactive version of the map or

Szczecin – formerly known by its more pronounceable German name, Stettin – is a port city in northwestern Poland and home to two peculiar snacks. They’re called pasztecik szczeciński and paprykarz szczeciński , pronounced: pash- TEH -cheek shcheh- CHEEN -skee and pahp- RIH -kash shcheh- … oh, you know what, never mind, forget it; let’s just call them PS1 and PS2, alright? PS1 is a kind of hand-held deep-fried pastry filled with ground meat or some other stuffing. On 20 October, Szczecinians celebrated the PS1 Day – a tradition that dates all the way back to 2017. As far as I know, this treat is virtually unknown anywhere in Poland outside Szczecin itself. PS2, on the other hand, is a canned fish spread that is popular throughout the country. It doesn’t seem, however, to have its own holiday yet.  PS1 Source:  Pasztecik.Szczecin.pl When it comes to Szczecin – or western Polish borderlands in general – it’s difficult to speak of any long-held culinary traditions. The G