January 11 is Vegetarian Day in Poland. This creates a problem for those that want to honor it but are used to their beef and pork gołąbki. Polish cuisine is meat-oriented so what can we do with this problem? It seems that whatever we may eat, we’ll feel miserable. Hmmm… let’s eat misery!
There is a Polish side dish called mizeria (misery). It is a cucumber salad so it’s meatless and easy to prepare. But why is there a dish called misery anyway? Well, one story suggests that cucumbers were favorite of Queen Bona Sforza, wife of Sigismund I the Old. Since they were common in Italy, she would cry every time she saw cucumbers and hence the name of the dish. Since cucumbers were quite common in Poland since at least the middle ages, it suggests that the queen cried quite often. Poor thing.
To make the salad you’ll need:
1 cucumber
1/2 cup sour cream
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or chive (not both)
1 or 2 tablespoon vinegar (optional, makes the author of this article miserable)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional and not for purists, the author of this article does not approve)
Lemon, (optional, the author of this article does not know, never tried it)
Slice cucumbers, add salt so it adheres to them, drain water, add sour cream and mix. Smacznego!
In Poland, Christmas time is special and magical. There are myriads of customs and traditions associated with the time of year during which people celebrate the birth of Jesus. The most well known Polish traditions are the Pasterka and Wigilia. Pasterka, which could be literally translated as shepherdess but really means Shepherd’s Mass is celebrated at midnight Christmas Day. Wigilia, from Latin vigilare, means to watch, or wakefulness (and we also draw the English word vigil). Wigilialiterally means eve in Polish and wieczerza wigilijna is the dinner enjoyed by the family after the first star appears on the firmament.
Another Christmas tradition celebrated to this day in Poland is Christmas caroling; kolędowanie. The custom is celebrated between Christmas Day and Epiphany, i.e. January, 6th. During this time, the priest walks from one household to another with blessing and prayer. Children and teenagers also go around singing Christmas carols (and receive some money for it). People visit their friends and family and traditionally enter with a carol on their lips.
This tradition of kolędowanie, evolved from an earlier, pagan-inspired holiday of Gody, or fertility. During winter solstice, the light defeats darkness (days become longer) thus people are optimistic, joyful, and full of hope. At this time, people would put hay under their tables (sounds familiar?) to foretell the future by pulling pieces of straw and appease the gods Siem and Rigł who were gods of homes and fields respectively. (It is possible that this was in fact one god Siemrigł.) They also observed the weather over the 12 days to foretell the weather for the next 12 months.
The carolers (kolędnicy) walked from house to house singing carols (kolędy), which in this meaning refer to songs welcoming the new-year and wished health, benediction, good harvest etc. in the upcoming new year. When children spotted the carolers, they exclaimed: kolędnicy idą!; the carolers are coming! The tradition of good wishing is known as winszowanie (literally, congratulate), and is done in rhyme and good cheer. It might go something like this:
Turoń from the Folk Art Gallery
By the grace of our Lord May you have plenty,
In barn and in pantry,
May moles not dig up your field,
And bogeyman* in your dreams not be concealed
May you have sheep the size of horses,
And cows the size of elephants,
May you do nothing but eat, drink, and play,
But from time to time remember to pray
A coin from you, host, may we receive,
And in good cheer and happiness leave,
May God bless you.
(*note: what is translated as boogeyman, is in fact Bebok. In Polish folklore, likely inspired by a Slavic entity by the same name, Bebok (Babok, Bobok, or Bobo) was a demon that liked to make mischief, beat children and so forth. He could be appeased with gifts of food. Adults used him to scare their children if they misbehaved: “if you don’t behave, Bobok will take you”.)
This traditional troupe of carolers consisted of monsters (maszkary) and varied by region but some of the more recognizable characters are turoń (auroch), wolf, bear, goat, horse, star-carrier (gwiazdorz), stork, policeman, soldier, chimneysweep, Gypsy, Jew, devil, death, and, of course, musicians.
All would dress up in their respective costumes but the person playing turoń had a special role. Usually a nimble lad with a knack for tricks and pranks would be chosen and he would wear a sheepskin or an overcoat with fur lining to cover up as much of his body as possible including his head. He would carry a stick with a head of an auroch, usually made of wood so the large mouth could make noises when shut. He would sometimes be led by a chain by the leader of the troupe (star-carrier). Once the troupe entered a cottage, turoń would play tricks, run around the cottage, dance, make animal noises, scare children and provide overall entertainment. An important part of the ritual was that at one point, turoń fell on the floor as if dead and had to be revived, usually by massaging, magic incantations, pouring vodka into his snout, and burning hay. He would then revitalize and start his pranks again. This symbolized Slavic vegetative magic as earth was reborn and spring was heralded.
Welcome to the beta of the new Polish Center website. In this inaugural blog post I will be covering why we are updating the web site and what we are hoping to accomplish by doing so.
The old website is not the easiest to update as it requires someone of technical skill to do so. This has created the problem of the old website being updated infrequently and often having outdated information and old events listed. The new website is powered by a piece of software called WordPress. WordPress is a Free Open Source website and blog system. Using WordPress over our current system allows a person with the most minimal of technical skills the ability to update, contribute, and maintain the website.
By having a website that is easier to update and maintain, we are planning to gain better out-reach and a stronger digital presence. We will be doing this by maintaining a Polish Center blog and a more up to date and accessible calendar of events. By having an active blog we will be able to share not only what the center is up to but also history, articles and news about the contributions of Poland and Polish people around the world. Second, by having a more up to date calendar we will be able to better inform the public of activities and events that the people can join at the Polish Center.
So be sure to check back here frequently for updates, news and blog posts about all the happenings at the Polish Center! Also, if you haven’t, be sure to like us on Facebook!
