Cuisine
The culinary traditions of Poznań and the Wielkopolska Region were shaped by the mutual influence of Slavic cuisine and numerous borrowings. The latter have greatly enriched the local repertoire of groats, meat, beer and local vegetables. Already in the Middle Ages, spices were imported to the city, first by Jewish and then Armenian merchants. Wine came to the city in the 15th century and was imported and sold by Italians and then Greeks.
Cuisine of the Wielkopolska Region took its final shape in the 19th century. It shared many similarities with German cuisine and some culinary novelties were introduced by Bamberg settlers. It was probably thanks to them that drinking coffee for breakfast (often cereal coffee) became popular. As an ethnographer Oskar Kolberg wrote: ‘Life in wealthy villages surrounding Poznań, namely the life of the so-called Bambrzy, is much more luxurious, and meat dishes, especially pork, appear very often on the tables. Milk, and often coffee as well, is served for breakfast and sometimes even for dessert.’
Nowadays it is also hard to imagine eating out without the selection of foreign restaurants: Italian, Spanish, Thai. A kind of enclave of Turkish cuisine is, for example, Wielka Street, where Turks who settled in Poznań run their kebab restaurants. What is more, since 2017 many Georgian bakeries and restaurants have appeared in the city. This was the result of introducing visa-free travel, which made it easier for Georgians to stay and run their own businesses in Poland.
Settlers from Bamberg brought into the Poznań culture not only their attire but also various culinary borrowings, photo by Łukasz Zandecki
