Regional traditional food – food from the Lodz Region

1. Regionaltraditionalfood – foodfromtheLodz Region

2. Regional and traditionalfood The preservation of regional and traditional recipes in our homes is a chance to discover our rich cusine and to rescue a significant part of our cultural heritage. The Lodz Region was a mosaic of four nationalities and their cusine, and the names of some products and dishes were transformed into Polish like the Jewish kugl (kugiel z Przedborza) or zalewajka (which originated from Lodz workers). Some of them have been certifiedand you can find them on the List of Traditional Products.

3. What is a culinary tradition? It’s the way in which individualsand groups select,prepare and consume the available food accordingto social andcultural restrictions.

4. Lodz Region Titbits Every one of the presented meals,mostly of very originalname, has its own historyand tradition passed from generation to generation. Each one of them isan exceptional specialitythat guarantees new taste andsmell experiences, unknown to people from different towns. The diverse, rich, local culinary heritage is prepared from natural ingredientsfrom one’s own farm or picked in the woods; the dishes are inseparable.Apart from the numerous certificates available, healthy food fairs,traditional dish competitions and the dynamically developing Lodz farm tourism are very helpful.

5. Traditionaldishes as a part of theregionalculture It is said that every dish has an identity of its own. Preparingtasty foodisn’t sosimple– it is a real culinary art testifying not only of the farmer’s wealth but most of all of the agricultureof the region, the customs, social life and current cultural patterns. The preparationof traditional dishes was often of a community-spirited character.

6. Deliciousregionalexamples Zalewajka withroux Ingredients: water, sour starter, potatoes, carrot, smoked bacon, parsley, wheat flour, celery, salt, vegetable boullion, black pepper and a bay leaf. Use water from your own intake – if there is a possibility like this. The sour starter is prepared in a special tin – the old recipe says that mixed ingredients mature in this tin for several days at theappropriatetemperature. When the sour starter is ready, add the particular vegetables cut into cubes,and spices. While cooking the stock,fry the sliced onion together with the smoked bacon. Add all these ingrdients to the soup and next prepare the roux of melted fat and wheat flour – then add them to the soup. History – zalewajka is widely known soup of Polish folk cuisine which comes from the region near to Lodz. Apartfromthesourrye soup orborscht, this soup was alsoconsumed for breakfast, dinner orsupper. The secret tozalewajka wasto use the cheapest ingredients like potatoes.

7. Deliciousregionalexamples Kugiel from Przedbórz Ingredients: potatoes, porkribs, knuckle of pork, porkshoulder blade orneck, onion, salt, pepper. Peel the potatoes and grate them into small pieces (like for potato pancakes). Then add the grated onion, salt andpepper – carefully mix everything. At the bottom of a pot put the fatter parts of the meat and then by turns put layers of the grated potatoes with spices and the meat. At the top, the potato dough is to be placed. Everything is coveredwith a lid. The pot is then put into a hot bread oven – the kugiel should be baked from 6 to 12 hours. History – Polish kugiel is a roastdishpreparedinlargepots. Original jewish kugiel was made of goose meat roastedwith pearl barley, beansand goose lard. It was putinto an oven on Friday and eaten on Saturdaymorning.

8. Deliciousregionalexamples Sourdough Ingredients: dry brown bread, dry bread of rye bolting flour, sugar, bakersyeast, water. The bread must be madewith organic flour to makethe sourdough. Cut the dry bread into 2 cm cubes, pour over with warm water (about 40°C), add bakers yeast and sugar. Thenleaveeverything for fermentation for about 5 days. When it is condensed enough, extract it, cool down and pasteurise (at 80°C) in glass bottles. History – in 1905 when the Land of Lask was under the Russian partation, men were forced into the Tsar’s Army which was defeated in the war with Japan.One year later, a soldier named Piotr Wieczorek returned to his home in Brodnia. For the villagers he became a source of knowledge about the world and he was appointed village administrator. When the neighbours visited him, his wife treated them to sourdough,prepared according to the recipe brought from Russia by her husband.

9. Somethingeasy to prepareathome Home-brewedbeer Ingredients: • 5 litres of water • 300 gramsof sugar • 80 gramsof groundcoffee (not instant) – it is made from: rye, barley, chicory, sugar beet – roasted. • 2.5 gramsof yeast (it is better to use fresh yeast rather than instant) • A handful of hops (optional) You will need 4-5 empty 1.5 litreplastic botles In general, brewing beer at home is very similar to brewing commercially.Homebrewers can select from ingredients identical to those used in commercial brewing, in addition to a wide range of post-market customizations.

10. Home-brewedbeer Freshyeast Natural graincoffee Sugar Hops (optionally) Pot Water Plastic bottles

11. Home-brewedbeer • Add the groundcoffee to the water – whenitisboilingyoushouldboilitmore – about 10 minutes • Wait until the “coffee soup” hascooled down. • Take linenoreventea-towel to filterour brew • Add sugar and when the brew is warm (room temperature), drain off a glass from the 5 litres of the brew and dissolve the yeast. Then pour it into our pot and mix. • Pour out the brew to our plastic bottles so that they are 2/3 full. Then squeeze the bottles and screw on the lid. • Wait 2-4 days and our drink isready! Important ! Do not put the brew into glassbottles! Our drinkwill be fizzy with foam like typical beer with foam (the yeast will be working!).

12. Home-brewedbeer 3 4 * You can change the proportion, for those pictures I reduced the amount of ingredients by 4/5. 5

13. Home-brewedbeer This is the best healthy beer recommendedif you are thirsty. It can have a maximum of 1.5% alcohol. It tasteslike weak coffee beer (of course it is fizzy – so watch out whenopening the bottles). This drink was known for years and almost forgotten. Because the coffee is made from vegetables, don’t worry - children can drink it! When the home-brewed beer is ready you can keep it in thefridge for about one week.

14. The List of Traditional Products in theLódz Region Bakery goods • Dmosinskibreadwithtraditionalsourdough • Leczyckiryebrownwholemealbread • Leczyckivillagebread • Villagebreadbased on sourdoughfroma brickstoveinBiala • RyebrownwholemealbreadfromBiala • Buckwheatbread • Brown breadfromthevalley of the Mroga riverwithcerealgrains • Old Polishbreadfromthevalley of the Mroga • Cookies from scratchings • Swiatnickiryebread • Nagawskibreadalwaysfrehs • Ritualbredfromthevalley of the Mroga river • Gingerbreadhousesfromthe region of the Mroga valley • Ginger carrotcake • Tatarczuchfrom Radomsko • Farm breadfrom Mroga • Ryebreadwithmilk • Ryebreadfrom Szadek

15. The List of Traditional Products in the Lódz Region Nuts, seeds, cereals, vegetables, friuts, honeys • Nadwarcianskihorseradishbased on the Old Polishrecipe • Lowicki red beetrootsaladwithhorseradish • TinnedcucambersfromLowicz • PicklesfromLowicz • Picklesfromthe region of Wielun • Cucumber puree fromLowicz • TinnedsorrelfromLowicz • Plum stew fromLowicz • Nagawskiebackedappleswithjuice • Cherry stewedfriutfromLowicz • Honeysfromthevalley of the Mroga River • Honeyfromthecommune of Zelechlinek • Honeyfromthe Brzeziny Land, Hills of Lodz and the Rawka River

16. The List of Traditional Products inLódz Region Ready-cooked meals and dishes • Zalewajka withroux • Obrawskahorseradish soup • Cabbagewithpeas • Stuffedcabbagefrom Osiny • Koplonek (wodzianka) from Galków • Pear nalewka from Galków • PotatoPlendzefromWojcin • Kugiel from Przedbórz • Zalewajka from Radomsko • Jezowskasourrye soup withpotatoes • Golabkifrom Osiny

17. The List of Traditional Products inLódz Region Freshmeats and butchergoods, oils, fats and cheese • Lamb of Swiniarka (breed of sheep) • TraditionallysmokedNagawskasausage • Liversausageinringsfrom Nadolna • OatgoosefromBoguslawice • Jordanowska junipersausage • Traditionallysmoked Nadolski bacon • Smoked jordanowskie sausages • Smokedmeatfrom Szadek • Hamfrom Wielun • Nagawskiebutter • ButterfromGluchów • Goatcurdcheesefrom Eufeminów • Traditional curd cheese • GoatcurdcheesefromDruzbin • Gypsyhamfrom Zaborów • Peasantsausage

18. The List of Traditional Products in the Lódz Region Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks • Laskie beer • Friut nalewka from Nagawki • Rasberry ratafia from Nagawki • Apple juicefromKaleczew • Sourdough • Nalewka fromlemon and ginger • Raspberrysyrupfrom Dmosin

19. Bon appétit! Anna Krzyżanowicz-Stępien Krystyna Rozensztrauch Marcin Stępka Helpfulpublications: - Publication of Self-government of Lódzkie Region „TraditionalgoodsfromtheLodz Region” - Publication of Self-government of Świętokrzyskie Region „Świętokrzyskie Region Titbits” - Theofficialwebsite of Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment