INDULGENCE
178 PRESTIGE J U LY 2019
Eateries aren’t the only places where you can find
quality food; there are also plenty of farmer’s markets
in the city. At the 800-year-old Stary Kleparz farmer’s
market, stalls sell dried forest mushrooms, rustic sausages,
farmhouse cheeses such as oscypek (smoked sheep cheese)
and sledz (herrings) to accompany Chopin (vodka; Mlody
Ziemniak, based on young potatoes, is considered
the premium luxury Chopin vodka). Jablecznik (cider),
incidentally, is becoming popular because of the apple
surplus caused by an export embargo to Ukraine.
A fine wine culture is also growing, with domestic
wines dearer than imports. Founded in 2008, Winnica
Srebrna Gora, whose 28ha vineyard is located at the foot of
the Camaldolese Hermit Monastery in Bielany, is reviving
10th -century monastic viticulture. It makes 120,000
bottles annually, among them a Polish beaujolais, to
commemorate St. Martin, the patron saint of winemakers.Wine has brought forth the first Polish sommeliers,
like Maciej Murzyniec of Karakter, an offal restaurant
in the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. He advises on
pairings for horsemeat tartare, goose stomachs and bull
testicle pâté. Don’t doubt his proposals. He is an expert in
kendo, having studied in Japan.
There are even cookery schools, pierogi power
workshops and a new bagel museum, Zywe Muzeum
Obwarzanka, where you can sulka (roll) and warkocz (braid)
your own obwarzanek or bagel.
It won’t be a stretch to say that Krakow is taking
pride of place as Poland reinvents its rich gastronomic
heritage for all. It has become a city for gourmands
and gastronomes. And not just aristocratic or regal
ones. The world is coming to Krakow to eat well. And
more Poles are wishing one another, “Smacznego!” – “Enjoy
your meal!”Winnica Srebrna
Gora’s expansive
vineyard in the
picturesque Vistula
valley is one of the
largest in Poland