Poland's Social and Food Customs

Since the earth was created, new consumable friendly products for ingestion have been discovered by humans. Different types of food are incorporated into the human life every day. Dating back to the Stone Age era, it is arguably shocking to imagine how people in those days tested the foods that were fit for consumption, even with zero level of technology. Up to date, new foods are being discovered, and the present ones are receiving new recipes on how to prepare them. Just as in every other culture, the Polish have taken in some of the foods from people they have socialized with, especially the Jews. This speech will explain how the Jewish culture influenced today's food from Poland.

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The Jewish and Poland cultures have an interesting history, referencing back to the early 14th century. As Marks (2010) asserts, the Polish ruler at that time, the Great Boleslaw Chrobry Casimir III, had minimal interest in demonstrating his cruelty towards the Jews. The ruler went on and ruled out some of the brutality that targeted the Jews. This action attracted the settlement of a good number of Jews into Poland. The exchange of cultural beliefs and practices between the two did not take too long to be significant. However, the preparation methods and eating habits of the Jews into Polish culture was more evident than any other Jewish practices.

The origin of Golabki stuffed cabbages is not well known but the Jews introduced the cuisine to people living in Poland. Dubnow (2000) quotes an old cookbook by Marciszewska and claims that the dish contains duck, goose, rice, chicken and bacon. This food has been adopted into the Polish holiday seasons and is consumed during most religious practices. In the fall season, cabbages are cheap since they are greatly harvested making them cheap for the adopted Jewish dish. Though the food is related to Jewish peasants, the Ukrainians, Romanians, and Polish were not held back from trying this delicacy. Golabki stuffed cabbages form a dove shape when served in plates, and so different people name it anything related to doves or pigeons. The cooking method of this dish is traditionally baked but recently the dish has been simmered in mushrooms or meat.

The settlement of the new visitors into Poland disrupted the citizen's taste in selecting the best of alcohols and the properly brewed fine wines. According to Dynner (2014), Jews dominated the drinking market but were not much into the type of leisure sprees. Polish would line up on the Jewish taverns to grab a drink or two for a little relaxation moment. Jews were known for their sober moments, and were linked to being the best to run the liquor taverns. At one point the carts were banned since the level of drinking shot in the region. The Polish protected the Jews from the local authorities when a warning was sent for the alcohol traders. Up to date, the Jewish sellers are in local markets supplying traditional brews.

Summarizing the adoption of different Jewish cultures into Poland, the Polish took in some of the practices brought in by the immigrants. The famous Golabki stuffed cabbages have been improvised into the modern Polish culture. Slivovitz, a traditional Jewish brew is being taken to date in the local drinking joints.

Works Cited

Dubnow, S. (2000). History of the Jews in Russia and Poland (Vol. 1). Avotaynu Inc.

Dynner, G. (2014). Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland. Oxford University Press.

Marks, G. (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish food. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.