Forking around with history - User contributions [en]

World Culinary Heritage

2026-06-24T09:38:17Z

Kpalion:

From among the many various traditions on Unesco's [https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage] I've picked those which I deemed to be culinary in nature. They include entries related to particular dishes or beverages, ritual meals or even entire cuisines and dietary traditions. I have omitted those entries which are primarily related to traditional methods of producing raw food materials (agricultural, pastoral, hunting, foraging, fishing, beekeeping, etc.). I will be updating the table as more traditional practices are inscribed by Unesco.

Only those countries which are party to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage can submit their entries to the lists. Countries which never accepted the convention include Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia and the United States, while South Africa and the United Kingdom joined only recently.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Tradition !! width=130px | Nominating countries !! Year of inscription !! Image
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/al-man-ouche-an-emblematic-culinary-practice-in-lebanon-02000 Al-man’ouché]'''''{{czyt|Al-man’ouché}} – Lebanese equivalent of pizza, a breakfast flatbread spread with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, thyme, sumac and sesame seeds || data-sort-value="Lebanon" | [[File:LBN.svg|border|27px|]] Lebanon || 2023 || [[File:Al-Man’ouché.jpg|200px|Al-Man’ouché]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/asturian-cider-culture-01959 Asturian cider]''' – traditionally poured from a height in a long stream to aerate the drink || align=left data-sort-value="Spain" | [[File:ESP.svg|border|27px|]] Spain || 2024 || [[File:Cydr asturyjski.jpg|200px|Asturian cider]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/skills-related-to-attieke-production-in-cote-d-ivoire-02086 Attieké]'''''{{czyt|Attieké}} – porridge made of cassava tubers and served as a side dish in Ivory Coast || align=left data-sort-value="Ivory" | [[File:IVC.svg|border|27px|]] Ivory Coast || 2024 || [[File:Attieké.jpg|200px|Attieké]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/artisanal-know-how-and-culture-of-baguette-bread-01883 Baguette]''' – an elongated bread roll made from wheat flour and a yeast starter (see also: [[Is Poolish Polish?]]) || data-sort-value="France" | [[File:FRA.svg|border|27px|]] France || 2022 || [[File:Bagietki.jpg|200px|Baguettes]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/beer-culture-in-belgium-01062 Belgian beer]''' – produced in such styles as: Trappist, abbey, saison or lambic, and paired appropriately with food || data-sort-value="Belgium" | [[File:BEL.svg|border|27px|]] Belgium || 2016 || [[File:Obiad z piwem belgijskim.jpg|200px|A meal paired with Belgian beers]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-knowledge-and-practices-for-the-making-and-consumption-of-cassava-bread-02118 Cassava bread]''' made in the Carribean Basin || align=left data-sort-value="Dominican Haiti " | [[File:DOM.svg|border|27px|]] Dominican Rep. [[File:HTI.svg|border|27px|]] Haiti [[File:HND.svg|border|27px|]] Honduras [[File:CUB.svg|border|27px|]] Cuba [[File:VEN.svg|border|27px|]] Venezuela || 2024 || [[File:Pieczywo z kasawy.jpg|200px|Cassava bread]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ceebu-jn-a-culinary-art-of-senegal-01748 Ceebu jën]'''''{{czyt|Thieboudienne}} – a Senegalese dish of rice, fish and vegetables (see also: [[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS2 (paprykarz szczeciński)|A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish]]) || data-sort-value="Senegal" | [[File:SEN.svg|border|27px|]] Senegal || 2021 || [[File:Ceebu Jën.jpg|200px|Ceebu Jën]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/practices-and-meanings-associated-with-the-preparation-and-consumption-of-ceviche-an-expression-of-peruvian-traditional-cuisine-01952 Ceviche]'''''{{czyt|Ceviche}} – an appetizer made from raw fish marinated in citrus juice mixed with salt, onion and chili peppers, typical for the Pacific coast of South and Central Americas || data-sort-value="Peru" | [[File:PER.svg|border|27px|]] Peru || 2023 || [[File:Ceviche 1.jpg|200px|Ceviche]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/spring-festival-social-practices-of-the-chinese-people-in-celebration-of-traditional-new-year-02126 Chinese New Year]''' – celebrated in spring by having a ceremonial dinner, including various foods whose names in Chinese are associated with good fortune. A fish dish is eaten only in part with some left over for the following day, which is believed to bring good luck in the coming year. || align=left data-sort-value="China" | [[File:CHN.svg|border|27px|]] China || 2024 || [[File:Chiński Nowy Rok.jpg|200px|Chinese New Year]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/arabic-coffee-a-symbol-of-generosity-01074 Coffee in the Arabic style]''' (see also: [[Tea or Coffee?]]) || style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Oman Qatar" | [[File:JOR.svg|border|27px|]] Jordan {{small|(2024)}}, [[File:OMN.svg|border|27px|]] Oman, [[File:QAT.svg|border|27px|]] Qatar, [[File:SAU.svg|border|27px|]] Saudi Arabia, [[File:UAE.svg|border|27px|]] United Arab Emirates || 2015 || [[File:Kawa po arabsku.jpg|200px|Coffee in the Arabic style]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/turkish-coffee-culture-and-tradition-00645 Coffee in the Turkish style]''' (see also: [[Tea or Coffee?]]) || data-sort-value="Turkey" | [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey || 2013 || [[File:Kawa po turecku.jpg|200px|Coffee in the Turkish style]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/commandaria-wine-02288 Commandaria]''' – a sweet red wine from the Limassol district in southern Cyprus || align=left data-sort-value="Cyprus " | [[File:CYP.svg|border|27px|]] Cyprus || 2025 || [[File:Commandaria.jpg|200px|Commandaria]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/knowledge-know-how-and-practices-pertaining-to-the-production-and-consumption-of-couscous-01602 Couscous]''' – durum-wheat semolina porridge made in the Maghreb
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Algeria Mauritania" | [[File:ALG.svg|border|27px|]] Algeria, [[File:MRT.svg|border|27px|]] Mauritania, [[File:MAR.svg|border|27px|]] Morocco, [[File:TUN.svg|border|27px|]] Tunisia || 2020 || [[File:Kuskus 1.jpg|200px|Couscous]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/knowledge-of-the-light-rum-masters-01724 Cuban light rum]''' – a spirit distilled from cane molasses and used in cocktails, such as the mojito and the daiquiri || data-sort-value="Cuba" | [[File:CUB.svg|border|27px|]] Cuba || 2022 || [[File:Rum jasny kubański.jpg|200px|Cuban light rum]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/dolma-making-and-sharing-tradition-a-marker-of-cultural-identity-01188 Dolma]''''' – stuffed vine leaves and vegetables || data-sort-value="Azerbaijan" | [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan || 2017 || [[File:Dolma.jpg|200px|Dolma]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/dragon-boat-festival-00225 Dragon Boat Festival]''' – observed in China to commemorate the poet Qū Yuán{{czyt|屈原 (Qū Yuán)}} (4th/3rd centuries {{small|BCE}}) who killed himself by drowning in a river when his city was invaded by a foreign army. The festival involves eating ''zongzi'',{{czyt|粽子 (zongzi)}} or tetrahedral sticky-rice dumplings with meat or sweet filling that are wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled, as well as drinking ''xiónghuáng jiǔ'',{{czyt|雄黃酒 (xiónghuáng jiǔ)}} rice or millet wine with powdered realgar (a red mineral consisting mostly of arsenic sulfide). || data-sort-value="China" | [[File:CHN.svg|border|27px|]] China || 2009 || [[File:Święto Smoczych Łodzi.jpg|200px|Święto Smoczych Łodzi]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/il-ftira-culinary-art-and-culture-of-flattened-sourdough-bread-in-malta-01580 Ftira]''''' – Maltese sourdough flatbread || data-sort-value="Malta" | [[File:MLT.svg|border|27px|]] Malta || 2020 || [[File:Ftira.jpg|200px|Ftira]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gastronomic-meal-of-the-french-00437 Gastronomic meal]''' of the French – the French way of celebrating special occasions by enjoying good food and drink together, including the search for high-qulity products, making use of wide a repertoire of recipës, setting a beautiful table, keeping the traditional order of courses, and pairing the food with wine || data-sort-value="France" | [[File:FRA.svg|border|27px|]] France || 2010 || [[File:Stół nakryty to posiłku gastronomicznego.jpg|200px|Table set for a French gastronomic meal]]
|-
| [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/georgian-wheat-culture-traditions-and-rituals-02335 '''Georgian ceremonial wheat-based foods''',] such as: khachapuri – a cheese‑filled flatbread; lobiani – a flatbread with red beans; tsandili – a dessert made from wheat grains, honey, nuts and dried fruits || align=left data-sort-value="Georgia" | [[File:GEO.svg|border|27px|]] Georgia || 2025 || [[File:Chaczapuri.jpg|200px|Khachapuri]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gifaataa-wolaita-people-new-year-festival-02315 Gifaataa]''''' – a New Year festival celebrated in September by the Wolaita people of southern Ethiopia, including the sharing of raw beef and beer || align=left data-sort-value="Ethiopia" | [[File:ETH.svg|border|27px|]] Ethiopia || 2025 || [[File:Gifaataa.jpg|200px|Gifaataa]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/gingerbread-craft-from-northern-croatia-00356 Gingerbreads of northern Croatia]''' – made in various shapes and richly decorated || data-sort-value="Croatia" | [[File:HRV.svg|border|27px|]] Croatia || 2010 || [[File:Piernik z północnej Chorwacji.jpg|200px|Gingerbread from northern Croatia]]
|-
| rowspan=2 | '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/harees-dish-know-how-skills-and-practices-01744 Harees]''''' (in Arabic; not to be confused with ''harissa'') or '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ceremonial-keskek-tradition-00388 keşkek]''''' (in Turkish) – porridge of wheat or barley cracked with a wooden mallet and mixed with meat and clarified butter, often prepared in large quantities and in a ceremonial manner with live music for special occasions, especially pilgrimages and Ramadan. Known in a vast area from Turkey and Armenia, to the Arabian Peninsula, to eastern Africa. Arabs typically eat it with their fingers while sitting on one knee. || data-sort-value="Turkey" | [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey || 2011 || rowspan=2 | [[File:Keşkek.jpg|200px|Cracking wheat for keşkek]]
|-
| align=left data-sort-value="Oman Saudi" | [[File:OMN.svg|border|27px|]] Oman, [[File:SAU.svg|border|27px|]] Saudi Arabia, [[File:UAE.svg|border|27px|]] United Arab Emirates || 2023
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/harissa-knowledge-skills-and-culinary-and-social-practices-01710 Harissa]''''' – chili-pepper paste made in the Maghreb. Not to be confused with ''harees''. || data-sort-value="Tunisia" | [[File:TUN.svg|border|27px|]] Tunisia || 2022 || [[File:Harissa.jpg|200px|Harissa production]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/hawker-culture-in-singapore-community-dining-and-culinary-practices-in-a-multicultural-urban-context-01568 Hawker culture]''' of Singapore, combining Chinese, Malay, Indian and European culinary traditions || data-sort-value="Singapore" | [[File:SGP.svg|border|27px|]] Singapore || 2020 || [[File:Mała gastronomia w Singapurze.jpg|200px|Mała gastronomia w Singapurze]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/iftar-eftari-iftar-iftor-and-its-socio-cultural-traditions-01984 Iftar]''' – a ceremonial supper, often shared by large numbers of people, eaten by Muslims after a whole day of fasting during Ramadan
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Azerbaijan Iran Turkey" | [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan, [[File:IRN.svg|border|27px|]] Iran, [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey, [[File:UZB.svg|border|27px|]] Uzbekistan || 2023 || [[File:Iftar 1.jpg|200px|Iftar]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/italian-cooking-between-sustainability-and-biocultural-diversity-02093 Italian cuisine]''' – based on local, seasonal ingredients and encompassing a wealth of dishes such as pasta, pizza and risotto, as well as cured meats, cheeses and olive oil in plenty of regional varieties || align=left data-sort-value="Italy" | [[File:ITA.svg|border|27px|]] Italy || 2025 || [[File:{{#setmainimage:Kuchnia włoska.jpg}}|200px|An Italian food market]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/knowledge-beliefs-and-practices-related-to-jang-making-in-the-republic-of-korea-01975 Jang]'''''{{czyt|장 (jang)}} – Korean condiment made from fermented soy beans and hot peppers || align=left data-sort-value="South Korea" | [[File:KOR.svg|border|27px|]] South Korea|| 2024 || [[File:Jang.jpg|200px|Jang]]
|-
| rowspan=2 | '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/kimjang-making-and-sharing-kimchi-in-the-republic-of-korea-00881 Kimjang]'''''{{czyt|김장 (kimjang)}} – the Korean art of making [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-kimchi-making-in-the-democratic-people-s-republic-of-korea-01063 '''''kimchi''''',]{{czyt|김치 (kimchi)}} or spicy vegetable and seafood pickles || data-sort-value="South Korea" | [[File:KOR.svg|border|27px|]] South Korea || 2013 || rowspan=2 | [[File:Kimchi 2.jpg|200px|Kimchi]]
|-
| data-sort-value="North Korea" | [[File:PRK.svg|border|27px|]] North Korea || 2015
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/koshary-daily-life-dish-and-practices-associated-with-it-02278 Koshary]''' – an Egyptian dish made of rice, pasta, lentils and onions || align=left data-sort-value="Egypt" | [[File:EGY.svg|border|27px|]] Egypt || 2025 || [[File:Koszari.jpg|200px|Koshary]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/krakelingen-and-tonnekensbrand-end-of-winter-bread-and-fire-feast-at-geraardsbergen-00401 Krakelingen]''''' – ring-shaped pretzels which at the end of the carnival are tossed from a hill to the people of the Flemish town of Geraardsbergen by members of the municipal authorities who first have to drink a goblet of wine together with a live [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_roach roach] swimming in it (see also: [[Holey Breads]]) || data-sort-value="Belgium" | [[File:BEL.svg|border|27px|]] Belgium || 2010 || [[File:Krakelingen 1.jpg|200px|Krakelingen]]
|-
| rowspan=2 | '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-spring-festive-rites-of-the-kazakh-horse-breeders-01402 Kumis]''''' (in Kazakh) or '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-technique-of-making-airag-in-khokhuur-and-its-associated-customs-01172 airag]''''' (in Mongolian) – an alcoholic drink made from mare's milk by horse herders in the steppes of central Asia || data-sort-value="Kazakhstan" | [[File:KAZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kazakhstan || 2018 || rowspan=2 | [[File:Ajrag.jpg|200px|Airag]]
|-
| data-sort-value="Mongolia" | [[File:MNG.svg|border|27px|]] Mongolia || 2019
|-
| rowspan=2 | [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/lavash-the-preparation-meaning-and-appearance-of-traditional-bread-as-an-expression-of-culture-in-armenia-00985 '''Lavash''',] also know as [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/flatbread-making-and-sharing-culture-lavash-katyrma-jupka-yufka-01181 '''''katyrma''''' or '''''yufka'''''] – unleavened flatbread commonly baked in western and central Asia || data-sort-value="Armenia" | [[File:ARM.svg|border|27px|]] Armenia || 2014 || rowspan=2 | [[File:Lawasz.jpg|200px|Lavash]]
|-
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Azerbaijan Iran Kazakhstan" | [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan, [[File:IRN.svg|border|27px|]] Iran, [[File:KAZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kazakhstan, [[File:KGZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kyrgyzstan, [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey || 2016
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-knowledge-and-cultural-contexts-of-making-maksym-a-traditional-kyrgyz-beverage-02123 Maksym]''' – a lightly fermented refreshing drink made from water, wheat flour and roasted barley flour || align=left data-sort-value="Kyrgyzstan" | [[File:KGZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kyrgyzstan || 2025 || [[File:Maksym.jpg|200px|Maksym]]
|-
| [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/breakfast-culture-in-malaysia-dining-experience-in-a-multi-ethnic-society-02113 '''Malaysian breakfast''',] consisting of: ''nasi lemak''{{czyt|nasi lemak}} (rice cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with pandan leaved, usually wrapped in banana leaves and served with hot sauce, fresh cucumber, fried anchovies, roasted peanuts and hard-boiled egg), ''roti canai ''{{czyt|roti canai}} (fried flatbread), ''saté''{{czyt|saté}} (skewered meat) and ''teh tarik''{{czyt|teh tarik}} (frothy black tea with condensed milk) || align=left data-sort-value="Malaysia" | [[File:MYS.svg|border|27px|]] Malaysia || 2024 || [[File:Malezyjskie śniadanie.jpg|200px|Malaysian breakfast]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/al-mansaf-in-jordan-a-festive-banquet-and-its-social-and-cultural-meanings-01849 Mansaf]''''' – Levantine dish of lamb or kid cooked in ewe's or goat's milk yogurt, served with bulgur or rice and very thin unleavened flatbread || data-sort-value="Jordan" | [[File:JOR.svg|border|27px|]] Jordan || 2022 || [[File:Mansaf 1.jpg|200px|Mansaf]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/mediterranean-diet-00884 Mediterranean diet]''' – based mostly on: cereal products, olives and olive oil, grapes and wine, other fresh fruits and vegetables, and to a lesser extent: fish and seafood, dairy and milk, as well as herbs and spices
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Croatia Cyprus" | [[File:HRV.svg|border|27px|]] Croatia {{small|(2013)}}, [[File:CYP.svg|border|27px|]] Cyprus {{small|(2013)}}, [[File:GRC.svg|border|27px|]] Greece, [[File:ITA.svg|border|27px|]] Italy, [[File:MAR.svg|border|27px|]] Morocco, [[File:PRT.svg|border|27px|]] Portugal {{small|(2013)}}, [[File:ESP.svg|border|27px|]] Spain || 2010 || [[File:Dieta śródziemnomorska.jpg|200px|Mediterranean diet]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/mesir-macunu-festival-00642 Mesir macunu]''''' – candies made of toffee mixed with 41 kinds of herbs and spices, which around the spring equinox are distributed from the roofs and minarets of Sultan's Mosque in Magnesia (Manisa) on Turkey's Aegean coast to commemorate a legend about the herbal paste bringing Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent's mother back to health || data-sort-value="Turkey" | [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey || 2012 || [[File:Mesir macunu.jpg|200px|Mesir macunu distributed from the of Sultan's Mosque in Magnesia]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/messosporitissa-festivity-all-holy-mother-of-god-of-the-mid-sowing-season-festivity-feast-of-our-lady-at-the-ancient-ruins-02101 Messosporitissa]'''{{czyt|Μεσοσπορίτισσα}} – the Festivity of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple, or Our Lady of the Mid-Sowing Season (21 November), celebrated especially in Eleusis by blessing various foods, such as: soup of various cereals and legumes, two kinds of bread, olive oil and wine || align=left data-sort-value="Greece" | [[File:GRC.svg|border|27px|]] Greece || 2024 || [[File:Messosporitissa.jpg|200px|Soup of various cereals and legumes]]
|-
| [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-mexican-cuisine-ancestral-ongoing-community-culture-the-michoacan-paradigm-00400 '''Mexican cuisine''',] making use of such native foods as: maize, tomato, ''Capsicum'' pepper, pumpkin, avocado, cocoa and vanilla, as well as traditional practices, such as nixtamalization, or cooking maize in limewater || data-sort-value="Mexico" | [[File:MEX.svg|border|27px|]] Mexico || 2010 || [[File:Kuchnia meksykańska.jpg|200px|Mexican cuisine]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/cooking-and-eating-mulgi-puder-traditional-mashed-potato-with-barley-in-the-mulgimaa-region-estonia-02081 Mulgi puder]'''''{{czyt|Mulgi puder}} – Mush of mashed potatoes and barley, served with pork cracklings and fried onion, typical for the Mulgimaa region of southern Estonia || align=left data-sort-value="Estonia" | [[File:EST.svg|border|27px|]] Estonia || 2024 || [[File:Mulgi puder.jpg|200px|Mulgi puder]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/nawrouz-novruz-nowrouz-nowrouz-nawrouz-nauryz-nooruz-nowruz-navruz-nevruz-nowruz-navruz-01161 Nowruz]''''' – Persian New Year observed on spring equinox by consuming a ceremonial meal among other celebrations
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Afghanistan Azerbaijan" | [[File:AFG.svg|border|27px|]] Afghanistan, [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan, [[File:IND.svg|border|27px|]] India, [[File:IRN.svg|border|27px|]] Iran, [[File:IRQ.svg|border|27px|]] Iraq, [[File:KAZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kazakhstan, [[File:KGZ.svg|border|27px|]] Kyrgyzstan, [[File:MNG.svg|border|27px|]] Mongolia {{small|(2024)}}, [[File:PAK.svg|border|27px|]] Pakistan, [[File:TJK.svg|border|27px|]] Tajikistan, [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey, [[File:TKM.svg|border|27px|]] Turkmenistan, [[File:UZB.svg|border|27px|]] Uzbekistan || 2016 || [[File:Nouruz.jpg|200px|Nowruz]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/nsima-culinary-tradition-of-malawi-01292 Nsima]''''' – East African maize-flour porridge || data-sort-value="Malawi" | [[File:MWI.svg|border|27px|]] Malawi || 2017 || [[File:Nsima.jpg|200px|Nsima]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/oku-noto-no-aenokoto-00271 Oku-noto no Aenokoto]''''' – a ritual celebrated twice a year by the farmers of Noto Peninsula in Japan, in which a deity of the rice paddy is invited into one's house for a sacrificial meal consisting mostly of rice, beans and fish || data-sort-value="Japan" | [[File:JPN.svg|border|27px|]] Japan || 2009 || [[File:Oku-noto no Aenokoto.jpg|200px|Oku-noto no Aenokoto]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/oshituthi-shomagongo-marula-fruit-festival-01089 Oshitushi shomagongo]''''' – a festival celebrating the harvest of the wild-growing marula fruits which the Owambo people of northern Namibia use for making wine called ''omagongo'' || data-sort-value="Namibia" | [[File:NAM.svg|border|27px|]] Namibia || 2015 || [[File:Oshituthi shomagongo.jpg|200px|Oshituthi shomagongo]]
|-
| rowspan=2 | '''Pilaf''', also known as '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/oshi-palav-a-traditional-meal-and-its-social-and-cultural-contexts-in-tajikistan-01191 palav]''''' (in Tajik) or '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/palov-culture-and-tradition-01166 palov]''''' (in Uzbek) – a dish made of rice, meat and vegetables, commonly made in western and central Asia || data-sort-value="Tajikistan" | [[File:TJK.svg|border|27px|]] Tajikistan || 2016 || rowspan=2 | [[File:Pilaw.jpg|200px|Pilaf]]
|-
| data-sort-value="Uzbekistan" | [[File:UZB.svg|border|27px|]] Uzbekistan || 2016
|-
| [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/art-of-neapolitan-pizzaiuolo-00722 '''''Pizza napoletana''''',] or Naples-style pizza || data-sort-value="Italy" | [[File:ITA.svg|border|27px|]] Italy || 2017 || [[File:Pizza neapolitańska.jpg|200px|Neapolitan pizza]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-ways-of-making-artisan-minas-cheese-in-minas-gerais-02102 Queijo-de-minas]'''''{{czyt|Queijo-de-minas}} – traditional cow's cheese from the state of Minas Gerais|| align=left data-sort-value="Brazil" | [[File:BRA.svg|border|27px|]] Brazil|| 2024 || [[File:Ser z Minas Gerais.jpg|200px|Queijo-de-minas]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ancient-georgian-traditional-qvevri-wine-making-method-00870 Qvevri]''''' – huge ceramic amphorae which Georgians (the Eurasian, not the American ones) fill with wine and bury in the ground for the wine to age || data-sort-value="Georgia" | [[File:GEO.svg|border|27px|]] Georgia || 2013 || [[File:Kwewri.jpg|200px|Qvevri]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/pyongyang-raengmyon-custom-01695 Raengmyon]''''' – cold soup with buckwheat noodles, meat, vegetables and eggs that is traditionally eaten in Pyongyang || data-sort-value="North Korea" | [[File:PRK.svg|border|27px|]] North Korea || 2022 || [[File:Raengmyon.jpg|200px|Raengmyon]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-knowledge-and-skills-of-sake-making-with-koji-mold-in-japan-01977 Saké]'''''{{czyt|酒 (sake)}} – Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice fermented with ''kōji ''{{czyt|麹 (koji)}} mould|| align=left data-sort-value="Japan" | [[File:JPN.svg|border|27px|]] Japan || 2024 || [[File:Sake 1.jpg|200px|Saké]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/slava-celebration-of-family-saint-patrons-day-01010 Slava]''''' – day of a family's patron saint celebrated with a festive meal and a round yeast cake called ''slavski kolač'' || data-sort-value="Serbia" | [[File:SRB.svg|border|27px|]] Serbia || 2014 || [[File:Święcenie slawskich kołaczy.jpg|200px|Blessing of Slava cakes]]
|-
|data-sort-value="Sljivovica"| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/social-practices-and-knowledge-related-to-the-preparation-and-use-of-the-traditional-plum-spirit-ljivovica-01882 Šljivovica]''''' – Serbian plum brandy || data-sort-value="Serbia" | [[File:SRB.svg|border|27px|]] Serbia || 2022 || [[File:Serbska śliwowica.jpg|200px|Serbian šljivovica]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/joumou-soup-01853 Soupe joumou]''''' – soup made from turban squash (the ''giraumon'' variety) with plantains (green bananas) and other vegetables, beef and spices, consumed especially on Haitian Independence Day (1 January) || align=left data-sort-value="Haiti" | [[File:HTI.svg|border|27px|]] Haiti || 2021 || [[File:Soupe joumou.jpg|200px|Soupe joumou]]
|-
| [https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/culture-of-sumanak-sumalak-cooking-02336 '''Sumanak''' (or '''sumalak''')] – a sweet paste, somewhat reminiscent of chocolate custard, made in Central Asia from ground wheat sprouts slowly cooked with water, oil and flour, eaten especially on Nowruz (Persian New Year) || align=left data-sort-value="Tajikistan" | [[File:TJK.svg|border|27px|]] Tajikistan || 2025 || [[File:Sumanak.jpg|200px|Sumanak]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tandir-craftsmanship-and-bread-baking-in-azerbaijan-02120 Tandir]''' – a clay oven used pimarily (though not only) for baking flat yeast breads || align=left data-sort-value="Azerbaijan" | [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan || 2024 || [[File:Tandir 1.jpg|200px|Flatbreads baked in a tandir]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/traditional-tea-processing-techniques-and-associated-social-practices-in-china-01884 Tea in the Chinese style]''' (see also: [[Tea or Coffee?]]) ||data-sort-value="China" | [[File:CHN.svg|border|27px|]] China || 2022 || [[File:Herbata po chińsku.jpg|200px|Tea in the Chinese style]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/culture-of-ay-tea-a-symbol-of-identity-hospitality-and-social-interaction-01685 Tea in the Turkish style]''' (see also: [[Tea or Coffee?]]) || style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Azerbaijan Turkey" | [[File:AZE.svg|border|27px|]] Azerbaijan, [[File:TUR.svg|border|27px|]] Turkey || 2022 || [[File:Herbata po turecku.jpg|200px|Tea in the Turkish style]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tomyum-kung-01879 Tom yum kung]'''''{{czyt|Tom yum kung}} – Central Thai sour-and-hot soup with lemongrass, lime, kaffir leaves, galangal, shallots, hot peppers and freshwater prawns || align=left data-sort-value="Thailand" | [[File:THA.svg|border|27px|]] Thailand || 2024 || [[File:Tomyum kung.jpg|200px|Tom yum kung.jpg]]
|-
| '''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/culture-of-ukrainian-borscht-cooking-01852 Ukrainian borscht]''' ⚠️ Inscribed on the list of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. || data-sort-value="Ukraine" | [[File:UKR.svg|border|27px|]] Ukraine || 2022 || [[File:Barszcz ukr.jpg|200px|Barszcz ukraiński]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/washoku-traditional-dietary-cultures-of-the-japanese-notably-for-the-celebration-of-new-year-00869 Washoku]''''' – traditional Japanese cuisine typically seen during New Year celebrations || data-sort-value="Japan" | [[File:JPN.svg|border|27px|]] Japan || 2013 || [[File:Washoku.jpg|200px|Washoku]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/xeedho-02001 Xeedho]''''' – a decorative vessel or basket filled with camel or beef jerky and, in ethnic Somali tradition, given as a wedding present from the mother-in-law to the bridegroom. ⚠️ Inscribed on the list of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. || align=left data-sort-value="Djibouti" | [[File:DJI.svg|border|27px|]] Djibouti || 2023 || [[File:Xeedho.jpg|200px|Xeedho]]
|-
| '''''[https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/yald-chella-01877 Yaldā]''''' – ritual supper consumed in the lands of the former Persian Empire on the night of winter solstice, in which red fruits (pomegranates, watermelons, grapes, jujube) are especially prominent
| style="text-align: left" data-sort-value="Afghanistan Iran " | [[File:AFG.svg|border|27px|]] Afghanistan, [[File:IRN.svg|border|27px|]] Iran || 2022 || [[File:Jalda.jpg|200px|Yaldā]]
|}

[[pl:Lista światowego dziedzictwa kulinarnego]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-19T21:52:04Z

Kpalion: /* Good Spirits at the Stove */

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting these timepieces in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.svg|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.svg|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.svg|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

[[Category: Carp in cream]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Lobster in the Polish style]]
[[Category: Onion soup]]
[[Category: Pozharsky cutlet]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Henryk Babiński]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Jan Brzechwa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Cuper]]
[[Category: Józef Cyrankiewicz]]
[[Category:Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
[[Category: Jarosław Dumanowski]]
[[Category: Alexandre Dumas]]
[[Category: Władysław Gomułka]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Gronowski]]
[[Category: Henry III]]
[[Category: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]
[[Category: Kazimierz Jaroszyński]]
[[Category: Jan Kalkowski]]
[[Category: Władysław Edward Kucharski]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa]]
[[Category:Darya Pozharskaya]]
[[Category: Edward Pożerski]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Przypkowski]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Jędrzejów]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Torzhok]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]

[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-19T21:27:40Z

Kpalion: /* The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy */

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting these timepieces in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.svg|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.svg|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.svg|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżebieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

[[Category: Carp in cream]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Lobster in the Polish style]]
[[Category: Onion soup]]
[[Category: Pozharsky cutlet]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Henryk Babiński]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Jan Brzechwa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Cuper]]
[[Category: Józef Cyrankiewicz]]
[[Category:Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
[[Category: Jarosław Dumanowski]]
[[Category: Alexandre Dumas]]
[[Category: Władysław Gomułka]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Gronowski]]
[[Category: Henry III]]
[[Category: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]
[[Category: Kazimierz Jaroszyński]]
[[Category: Jan Kalkowski]]
[[Category: Władysław Edward Kucharski]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa]]
[[Category:Darya Pozharskaya]]
[[Category: Edward Pożerski]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Przypkowski]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Jędrzejów]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Torzhok]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]

[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-06-19T21:13:54Z

Kpalion: /* The Roots of Rus */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Rheims only to find her husband’s realm a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''“русское”'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''“российское”'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. 
Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

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[[Category: Ravioli]]
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[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-06-19T21:12:46Z

Kpalion: /* The Roots of Rus */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Reims only to find her husband’s realm a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''“русское”'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''“российское”'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. 
Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
[[Category: Marcin Bielski]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Czerniecki]]
[[Category: Ivan Franko]]
[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Napoleon I]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Eliza Orzeszkowa]]
[[Category: Peter I, the Great]]
[[Category: Marco Polo]]
[[Category: Vladimir Putin]]
[[Category: Sigismund II Augustus]]
[[Category: Vasily III]]
[[Category: Vladimir the Great]]
[[Category: Wojciech Wielądko]]
[[Category: Yaroslav the Wise]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Ukraine]]
[[Category: Kyiv]]
[[Category: Lviv]]
[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
[[Category: Pasztecik szczeciński]]
[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-06-19T20:42:48Z

Kpalion: /* My Grandma’s Pierogi */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''“русское”'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''“российское”'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. 
Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

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[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Evading Crusading

2026-06-19T20:39:47Z

Kpalion: /* What Happened Next */

{{data|18 December 2018}}
The are two anecdotes that no one writing about the history of Polish beer for the general public ever fails to recount. One is about [[Saint Piva of Warka]], whom we already dealt with before. This time, we’re going to focus on the other one – about how Duke Lestek the White (also known as Leszek, the modern Polish spelling of his name) wriggled out of going on a crusade. Here it is as told by a Polish beer-lover’s guide:

{{cytat
| Leszek the White stayed out of crusades by arguing that there was no beer in the Holy Land; Pope Innocent III granted him a dispensation.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Fałat
| imię = Ziemowit
| nazwisko2= et al.
| tytuł = Przewodnik piwosza
| wydawca = Pascal
| miejsce = Bielsko-Biała
| rok = 2002
| strony =
}}, own translation
| oryg = Leszek Biały bronił się przed udziałem w krucjatach argumentując, że w Ziemi Świętej nie ma piwa – papież Innocenty III udzielił mu dyspensy.
}}

Singer-songwriter Jacek Kowalski even wrote a song based on this story. It was commissioned by the Żnin Brewery in the Paluki region, which until 2007 produced an unpasteurized beer called Leszek.

{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNpNQ1bCQAo|szer=400|poz=right|opis=Jacek Kowalski sings of Lestek the White}}
{{cytat
| <poem>A vow he once made
To join a crusade,
But then suddenly he would say,
“This honour’s not mine,
For in Palestine
There is no Palukian ale.”
’Tis a terrible day
Which passes away
With no ale! No ale!</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kowalski
| imię = Jacek
| tytuł = Pieśń rodu Napiwonów
}}, own translation
| oryg = <poem>Miał dowodzić prawie
Krzyżowej wyprawie,
Aż tu nagle się odzywa:
„Zaszczyt ten mię minie,
Bowiem w Palestynie
Nie ma pałuckiego piwa.”
A doba straszliwa
Jest, kiedy upływa
Bez piwa! Piwa!</poem>
}}

As with any such oft-repeated story, the question is: did it really happen?

== A Game of the Cracow Throne ==
[[File:Etykieta Leszek.jpg|thumb|upright|A 2002 label of Leszek Premium beer brand]]
Let’s start with simpler questions: who was this Lestek the White? And did he really intend to take the cross and travel to the Holy Land?
Lestek, known as “the White” due to his blond hair, was one of the youngest grandsons of Boleslav Wrymouth,<ref>I’ve adjusted the spelling of all medieval Polish names in this post to make them more pronounceable to English speakers. Back then, people didn’t even know how spell their own names, so I believe that’s OK.</ref> the duke who divided Poland amongst his sons. Boleslav’s sons divided their parts among their sons and so forth, with Poland growing into a loose collection of ever smaller duchies. In Lestek’s times, the political situation in Poland resembled that in the novels of the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series by George R.R. Martin. In Westeros there is supposedly one realm with one king, but in fact each of the eight regions (the old seven kingdoms plus the Riverlands) is ruled by a local great lord. All these lords are constantly fighting each other by all means possible – from diplomatic marriages to kidnappings, poisonings, assassinations, to all-out wars. The nominal king is whoever, at the given moment, controls the capital city and is able to physically sit on the Iron Throne.

In 13th-century Poland there was also supposedly a single kingdom (but no king) divided into several regions, each ruled by a local duke – a grandson or great-grandson of Boleslav Wrymouth – aided by local lords. All (or almost all) of these dukes were constantly fighting each other by all means possible – from diplomatic marriages to kidnappings, poisonings, assassinations, to all-out wars. The nominal high duke of all Poland was whoever, at the given moment, controlled the capital city and was able to physically sit on the throne in Cracow. Starting from the year 1205, this would have been our Lestek.

[[File:Rodzina Lestka Białego EN.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Lestek’s family relations (only those relevant to this story are shown)
{| style="width: 100%;"
|-
| style="width: 50%;" |
{{Legenda|#4A2372|Masovian branch}}
{{Legenda|#A41E1D|Lesser Poland branch}}
{{Legenda|#121191|Greater Poland branch }}
|
{{Legenda|#64D966|Upper Silesian branch}}
{{Legenda|#E6CF71|Lower Silesian branch}}
|}]]
Just like the king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men has his power supported by the faith of the Seven, so did Polish dukes coöperate with the Catholic Church to strengthen their power. And as the popes at the time were really looking forward to freeing the Holy Land from the Saracens, the dukes could help their chances to win the Cracovian throne by participating (or at least by promising to participate) in a crusade. The crusade movement had been only moderately popular in Poland until then, but we know for instance that Henry, one of Lestek’s uncles, did go on one, if not two crusades. Did Henry encourage his nephew to take the cross with tales of his overseas exploits? Unlikely, as he had died 20 years before Lestek was born.

What’s more, the image of the crusade movement suffered in Lestek’s lifetime after the Fourth Crusade had failed to even reach Palestine and settled on plundering the perfectly Christian Constantinople instead. This was followed by a Children’s Crusade, which was just as terrible an idea as it sounds. But when Pope Innocent III announced a new crusade in 1215, Lestek resolved to enrol anyway. Innocent promised a plenary (full) indulgence to anyone who would join the crusade himself or send an armed delegate, and a partial indulgence for financial support. Taking the cross also gave you a kind of immunity, as any attack on a crusader was punishable by excommunication. The pope’s protégé in Poland, Archbishop Henry Ketlich of Gnezno, had little trouble inducing a team of young Polish dukes to make a crusader’s vow. The team consisted of Lestek and his brother Conrad, as well as their cousins, Casimir of Opole and Vladislav Spitter. Together they formed a coalition of junior dukes put together by Ketlich to wrest control of all Poland from the elder generation of Wrymouth’s descendants.

[[File:Pieczęć Leszka I Białego.jpg|thumb|upright|A seal of Lestek the White]]
But when the crusade eventually started two years later, only Casimir did actually join. For other dukes, the crusade had lost its appeal. Innocent III had died in 1216, leaving Ketlich without either influence in Rome or further interest in the crusade. Meanwhile, Lestek and Conrad had made peace with the elder dukes, Henry the Bearded and Vladislav Spindleshanks, so they no longer needed their crusader’s immunity so much. And what about Spitter? Betrayed by Lestek, he had to run into exile from his spindle-shanked uncle, so crusades were definitely the last thing on his mind.

== Letter from the Pope ==
After this lengthy introduction, we come back to our anecdote at last. Did Pope Innocent III grant Lestek a dispensation from his crusader’s vow? Probably not, as Innocent was already dead by the time the crusade started. But the new pope, Honorius III, did not forget about Lestek’s vow and started to remind him that excommunication awaited not only those who attacked a crusader, but also those who failed to follow through on their obligation to take the cross. Lestek needed to come up with some excuse.

The letter in which Lestek allegedly explained to the pope that he could not travel to Palestine as that place lacked beer, without which he could not live, has not survived to our times. What has survived is a letter dated April 1221 from Honorius III to two Polish clergymen – Bishop Lawrence of Vratislav and Provost Peter of Glogov. And in this letter the pope does mention the excuses that Lestek had made to justify his no-show on the crusade.

{{cytat
| Recently we were told for certain that the said duke could not cross the sea to aid in the Holy Land any time soon, being heavy in his body and because, having changed habit into nature, he is unable to drink wine or simple water, being used to drinking beer or mead instead {{...}}
| źródło = Honorius III, quoted in: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chrzanowski
| imię = Marek
| tytuł = Leszek Biały
| wydawca = Avalon
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2013
| strony = 120 }}, own translation
| oryg = Nuper autem nobis est pro certo relatum, quo idem dux corporis gravedine gravis vir aut numquam posset in Terre Sancte subsidium transfretare presertim cum ex accidenti verso in naturam nec vinum nec simplicem aquam bibere valeat, consuetus potare tantum cerevisiam vel medonem {{...}}
}}

[[File:leszek bez piwa.jpg|thumb|left|“What do you mean, no beer?”]]
So it’s true! It’s this one brief mention in the papal letter that made future historians label Lestek as a lazy, obese drunk. Especially that “having changed habit into nature” sounds very much like a nice euphemism for “being an alcoholic”. But there’s a few things here that don’t look right…

First of all, what kind of alcoholism makes you drink beer and mead, but stay away from wine? Secondly, how come the pope bought an excuse so flimsy? And does “''corporis gravedine gravis''” really mean “heavy in his body”? This Latin fragment could be also translated as “being full of catarrh” or “suffering from a heavy cold”. Anyway, I suspect that Lestek was trying to excuse his failure to join the crusade with some grave illness, and the necessity to replace wine and water in his diet with beer and mead was not necessarily his personal preference, but a medical prescription. Yes, I know, neither a cold nor being overweight would let me get away with not showing up to work, but perhaps medieval attitudes to sick leaves were more relaxed?

It’s also possible that the pope was simply being sarcastic. What he meant was perhaps something like, “look at this northern brute who promised to go on a crusade, but now says he doesn’t feel like it! The fat drunken sloth who probably can’t even live without those barbaric northern drinks like beer and mead!” But if this was the case, then what convinced the pope to forgive Lestek and not excommunicate him after all? Well, what could have worked was what the duke offered as a replacement.

{{cytat
| Being a neighbour to the Prussians, he may easily enter their land with a large force and not only defend the neophytes, but also convert other pagans with his effort and diligence.
| źródło = ''ibid''.
| oryg = {{...}} cum vicinus Prutenie, facile potest eam intrate cum multitudine bellatorum, non solum defensurus neophitos, verum eciam alias paganos suo studio et dilligentia faciente domino conversurus {{...}}
}}

That’s right, with his effort and diligence, not with fire and sword! What Lestek proposed was to convert the pagan tribes of the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. But rather than conquer their territory and convert them by force, he would build a merchant town in their land and use it to export to them some of the goods they lacked, such as salt and iron. Only once the Prussians had swallowed the bait, would missionaries start to preach the Gospel to them. The pope didn’t seem convinced that this unorthodox approach would work, but decided to give Lestek a chance nonetheless.

And that’s it, as far Lestek’s weakness for alcoholic beverages is concerned. In this case, as Myth Busters would say, myth confirmed! But if you want to know how Lestek’s plan of peaceful Christianization of the Prussians worked out, then read on.

== What Happened Next ==
{{Video|url=https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&t=91&v=P-Yr06xWvlw|szer=400|opis=An animated map of Poland during the Age of Fragmentation (1138–1320). Lestek (''Leszek Biały'') first appears in the year 1195.}}
It would seem that Lestek’s plan was doomed to fail. Even Jon Snow’s attitude towards the wildlings was never this liberal and he was still killed for siding with the enemy. And fail it did! In the years 1222–1223, Lestek, along with Conrad, Henry the Bearded and Swantopolk, Lestek’s representative in Pomerania, twice travelled into Prussian territory and twice did they return with nothing. After the second failed mission, the dukes decided that for now, they would just set up something akin to the Night’s Watch – a line of strongholds manned by knights from all parts of the kingdom to keep the wildl— I mean, the Prussians at bay. The pope agreed to treat this force as a crusade and thus hold Lestek’s and Conrad’s vows fulfilled.

The three major differences between these Polish watchmen and the Night’s Watch is that the former didn’t require chastity vows, they didn’t have a giant ice wall at their disposal and they didn’t last eight thousand years, but only… less than two. One night the Prussians attacked one of the strongholds; some of the knights died defending it, while others ran for their lives. Back in the capital, this led to a civil war between House Odrovonsh, whose sons had died in the battle, and House Griffin, whose members were decried as cravens and traitors. The Griffins escaped (again) to Silesia, where they talked Henry the Bearded into capturing Cracow while Lestek was away and claiming the title of high duke for himself. Lestek retook Cracow only a week later, but while the dukes were duking it out, the neglected watch entirely collapsed.

[[File:The death of Leszek the White.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Lestek’s death as painted by Jan Matejko in 1880]]
In 1227, Lestek called a summit of all Polish dukes at Gonsava in Paluki, the border region between Masovia, Greater Poland and Pomerania. We don’t know exactly what points were on the agenda, but it most likely had something to do with ending the feud between Spitter and Spindleshanks over Greater Poland and bringing Swantopolk to heel, as he was trying to free Pomerania from Polish rule. Lestek from Cracow, Conrad from Masovia, Henry the Bearded from Silesia, Vladislav Spindleshanks from Greater Poland, as well as many bishops and great lords, all came to Gonsava. Only two key participants were missing: Vladislav Spitter and Swantopolk. After almost two weeks, it was decided that there was no point waiting any longer and most people started heading back home. Lestek and Henry lingered on, though. Did they want to talk some things over in private or had they drunk so hard that they were unfit for a journey home (Henry had the same reputation as Lestek in this regard)? We don’t know. But it was then, in the early morning of 24 November, when Spitter and Swantopolk finally showed up – along with their henchmen. Henry, whom they assaulted in his bed, was wounded, but it was his loyal knight, Peregrin of Weissenburg, who took the fatal blow. Meanwhile, Lestek was attacked while having a bath. Somehow this allegedly obese, hung-over forty-something was able to escape the assailants, run naked from the bathhouse to the stable, jump on a horse and ride off into a snow-covered forest (back then, the climate was colder and Poland was more forested). Unfortunately, the assassins caught up with him 2 kilometres away.

A year after Lestek’s untimely death, but possibly still on his orders, a Dominican friar of House Odrovonsh set out from Cracow on a mission to Kyiv. Better known as [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|Saint Hyacinth]], he is believed to be the one who brought the first recipë for pierogi on his way back to Poland.

A short time before that, Conrad concluded that his brother’s peaceful approach towards the Prussians was going nowhere and it would be better to hire the Teutonic Knights to do the job of converting his pagan neighbours. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time; who would have known that he had just caused Poland a series of problems that would only end in 1945? For the time being, it just meant less trouble with the Prussians.

It would only be the next generation of Polish dukes who had to face an invasion so terrifying, that the Prussian raids would seem like a mild nuisance in comparison. Even the combined forces of the Teutonic Knights and the sons of Lestek and Henry the Bearded were unable to stop the hosts led by the Night King… I mean, Baidar, grandson of Chinghis Khan<ref>“Chinghis Khan” is a less common spelling than “Genghis Khan”, but it’s closer to original Mongolian pronunciation.</ref> (who, incidentally, had died the same year as Lestek). Apart from fire and destruction, did these Mongol-Tatar hordes also bring recipës for tartar sauce and steak tartare? Well, that’s a topic for another post.

{{Przypisy|Notes}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Tea or Coffee?|nast=Genuine Old Polish Bigos}}
{{Komentarze}}

[[Category: Beer]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Leszek the White]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Innocent III]]
[[Category: Honorius III]]
[[Category: Mead]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Tatars]]
[[Category:Old Prussians]]
[[Category:Cracow]]
[[Category:Hungary]]
[[Category:Saint Piva of Warka]]

[[pl:Jak wymigać się od krucjaty]]

Evading Crusading

2026-06-19T20:38:57Z

Kpalion: /* What Happened Next */

{{data|18 December 2018}}
The are two anecdotes that no one writing about the history of Polish beer for the general public ever fails to recount. One is about [[Saint Piva of Warka]], whom we already dealt with before. This time, we’re going to focus on the other one – about how Duke Lestek the White (also known as Leszek, the modern Polish spelling of his name) wriggled out of going on a crusade. Here it is as told by a Polish beer-lover’s guide:

{{cytat
| Leszek the White stayed out of crusades by arguing that there was no beer in the Holy Land; Pope Innocent III granted him a dispensation.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Fałat
| imię = Ziemowit
| nazwisko2= et al.
| tytuł = Przewodnik piwosza
| wydawca = Pascal
| miejsce = Bielsko-Biała
| rok = 2002
| strony =
}}, own translation
| oryg = Leszek Biały bronił się przed udziałem w krucjatach argumentując, że w Ziemi Świętej nie ma piwa – papież Innocenty III udzielił mu dyspensy.
}}

Singer-songwriter Jacek Kowalski even wrote a song based on this story. It was commissioned by the Żnin Brewery in the Paluki region, which until 2007 produced an unpasteurized beer called Leszek.

{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNpNQ1bCQAo|szer=400|poz=right|opis=Jacek Kowalski sings of Lestek the White}}
{{cytat
| <poem>A vow he once made
To join a crusade,
But then suddenly he would say,
“This honour’s not mine,
For in Palestine
There is no Palukian ale.”
’Tis a terrible day
Which passes away
With no ale! No ale!</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kowalski
| imię = Jacek
| tytuł = Pieśń rodu Napiwonów
}}, own translation
| oryg = <poem>Miał dowodzić prawie
Krzyżowej wyprawie,
Aż tu nagle się odzywa:
„Zaszczyt ten mię minie,
Bowiem w Palestynie
Nie ma pałuckiego piwa.”
A doba straszliwa
Jest, kiedy upływa
Bez piwa! Piwa!</poem>
}}

As with any such oft-repeated story, the question is: did it really happen?

== A Game of the Cracow Throne ==
[[File:Etykieta Leszek.jpg|thumb|upright|A 2002 label of Leszek Premium beer brand]]
Let’s start with simpler questions: who was this Lestek the White? And did he really intend to take the cross and travel to the Holy Land?
Lestek, known as “the White” due to his blond hair, was one of the youngest grandsons of Boleslav Wrymouth,<ref>I’ve adjusted the spelling of all medieval Polish names in this post to make them more pronounceable to English speakers. Back then, people didn’t even know how spell their own names, so I believe that’s OK.</ref> the duke who divided Poland amongst his sons. Boleslav’s sons divided their parts among their sons and so forth, with Poland growing into a loose collection of ever smaller duchies. In Lestek’s times, the political situation in Poland resembled that in the novels of the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series by George R.R. Martin. In Westeros there is supposedly one realm with one king, but in fact each of the eight regions (the old seven kingdoms plus the Riverlands) is ruled by a local great lord. All these lords are constantly fighting each other by all means possible – from diplomatic marriages to kidnappings, poisonings, assassinations, to all-out wars. The nominal king is whoever, at the given moment, controls the capital city and is able to physically sit on the Iron Throne.

In 13th-century Poland there was also supposedly a single kingdom (but no king) divided into several regions, each ruled by a local duke – a grandson or great-grandson of Boleslav Wrymouth – aided by local lords. All (or almost all) of these dukes were constantly fighting each other by all means possible – from diplomatic marriages to kidnappings, poisonings, assassinations, to all-out wars. The nominal high duke of all Poland was whoever, at the given moment, controlled the capital city and was able to physically sit on the throne in Cracow. Starting from the year 1205, this would have been our Lestek.

[[File:Rodzina Lestka Białego EN.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Lestek’s family relations (only those relevant to this story are shown)
{| style="width: 100%;"
|-
| style="width: 50%;" |
{{Legenda|#4A2372|Masovian branch}}
{{Legenda|#A41E1D|Lesser Poland branch}}
{{Legenda|#121191|Greater Poland branch }}
|
{{Legenda|#64D966|Upper Silesian branch}}
{{Legenda|#E6CF71|Lower Silesian branch}}
|}]]
Just like the king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men has his power supported by the faith of the Seven, so did Polish dukes coöperate with the Catholic Church to strengthen their power. And as the popes at the time were really looking forward to freeing the Holy Land from the Saracens, the dukes could help their chances to win the Cracovian throne by participating (or at least by promising to participate) in a crusade. The crusade movement had been only moderately popular in Poland until then, but we know for instance that Henry, one of Lestek’s uncles, did go on one, if not two crusades. Did Henry encourage his nephew to take the cross with tales of his overseas exploits? Unlikely, as he had died 20 years before Lestek was born.

What’s more, the image of the crusade movement suffered in Lestek’s lifetime after the Fourth Crusade had failed to even reach Palestine and settled on plundering the perfectly Christian Constantinople instead. This was followed by a Children’s Crusade, which was just as terrible an idea as it sounds. But when Pope Innocent III announced a new crusade in 1215, Lestek resolved to enrol anyway. Innocent promised a plenary (full) indulgence to anyone who would join the crusade himself or send an armed delegate, and a partial indulgence for financial support. Taking the cross also gave you a kind of immunity, as any attack on a crusader was punishable by excommunication. The pope’s protégé in Poland, Archbishop Henry Ketlich of Gnezno, had little trouble inducing a team of young Polish dukes to make a crusader’s vow. The team consisted of Lestek and his brother Conrad, as well as their cousins, Casimir of Opole and Vladislav Spitter. Together they formed a coalition of junior dukes put together by Ketlich to wrest control of all Poland from the elder generation of Wrymouth’s descendants.

[[File:Pieczęć Leszka I Białego.jpg|thumb|upright|A seal of Lestek the White]]
But when the crusade eventually started two years later, only Casimir did actually join. For other dukes, the crusade had lost its appeal. Innocent III had died in 1216, leaving Ketlich without either influence in Rome or further interest in the crusade. Meanwhile, Lestek and Conrad had made peace with the elder dukes, Henry the Bearded and Vladislav Spindleshanks, so they no longer needed their crusader’s immunity so much. And what about Spitter? Betrayed by Lestek, he had to run into exile from his spindle-shanked uncle, so crusades were definitely the last thing on his mind.

== Letter from the Pope ==
After this lengthy introduction, we come back to our anecdote at last. Did Pope Innocent III grant Lestek a dispensation from his crusader’s vow? Probably not, as Innocent was already dead by the time the crusade started. But the new pope, Honorius III, did not forget about Lestek’s vow and started to remind him that excommunication awaited not only those who attacked a crusader, but also those who failed to follow through on their obligation to take the cross. Lestek needed to come up with some excuse.

The letter in which Lestek allegedly explained to the pope that he could not travel to Palestine as that place lacked beer, without which he could not live, has not survived to our times. What has survived is a letter dated April 1221 from Honorius III to two Polish clergymen – Bishop Lawrence of Vratislav and Provost Peter of Glogov. And in this letter the pope does mention the excuses that Lestek had made to justify his no-show on the crusade.

{{cytat
| Recently we were told for certain that the said duke could not cross the sea to aid in the Holy Land any time soon, being heavy in his body and because, having changed habit into nature, he is unable to drink wine or simple water, being used to drinking beer or mead instead {{...}}
| źródło = Honorius III, quoted in: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chrzanowski
| imię = Marek
| tytuł = Leszek Biały
| wydawca = Avalon
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2013
| strony = 120 }}, own translation
| oryg = Nuper autem nobis est pro certo relatum, quo idem dux corporis gravedine gravis vir aut numquam posset in Terre Sancte subsidium transfretare presertim cum ex accidenti verso in naturam nec vinum nec simplicem aquam bibere valeat, consuetus potare tantum cerevisiam vel medonem {{...}}
}}

[[File:leszek bez piwa.jpg|thumb|left|“What do you mean, no beer?”]]
So it’s true! It’s this one brief mention in the papal letter that made future historians label Lestek as a lazy, obese drunk. Especially that “having changed habit into nature” sounds very much like a nice euphemism for “being an alcoholic”. But there’s a few things here that don’t look right…

First of all, what kind of alcoholism makes you drink beer and mead, but stay away from wine? Secondly, how come the pope bought an excuse so flimsy? And does “''corporis gravedine gravis''” really mean “heavy in his body”? This Latin fragment could be also translated as “being full of catarrh” or “suffering from a heavy cold”. Anyway, I suspect that Lestek was trying to excuse his failure to join the crusade with some grave illness, and the necessity to replace wine and water in his diet with beer and mead was not necessarily his personal preference, but a medical prescription. Yes, I know, neither a cold nor being overweight would let me get away with not showing up to work, but perhaps medieval attitudes to sick leaves were more relaxed?

It’s also possible that the pope was simply being sarcastic. What he meant was perhaps something like, “look at this northern brute who promised to go on a crusade, but now says he doesn’t feel like it! The fat drunken sloth who probably can’t even live without those barbaric northern drinks like beer and mead!” But if this was the case, then what convinced the pope to forgive Lestek and not excommunicate him after all? Well, what could have worked was what the duke offered as a replacement.

{{cytat
| Being a neighbour to the Prussians, he may easily enter their land with a large force and not only defend the neophytes, but also convert other pagans with his effort and diligence.
| źródło = ''ibid''.
| oryg = {{...}} cum vicinus Prutenie, facile potest eam intrate cum multitudine bellatorum, non solum defensurus neophitos, verum eciam alias paganos suo studio et dilligentia faciente domino conversurus {{...}}
}}

That’s right, with his effort and diligence, not with fire and sword! What Lestek proposed was to convert the pagan tribes of the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. But rather than conquer their territory and convert them by force, he would build a merchant town in their land and use it to export to them some of the goods they lacked, such as salt and iron. Only once the Prussians had swallowed the bait, would missionaries start to preach the Gospel to them. The pope didn’t seem convinced that this unorthodox approach would work, but decided to give Lestek a chance nonetheless.

And that’s it, as far Lestek’s weakness for alcoholic beverages is concerned. In this case, as Myth Busters would say, myth confirmed! But if you want to know how Lestek’s plan of peaceful Christianization of the Prussians worked out, then read on.

== What Happened Next ==
{{Video|url=https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&t=91&v=P-Yr06xWvlw|szer=400|opis=An animated map of Poland during the Age of Fragmentation (1138–1320). Lestek (''Leszek Biały'') first appears in the year 1195.}}
It would seem that Lestek’s plan was doomed to fail. Even Jon Snow’s attitude towards the wildlings was never this liberal and he was still killed for siding with the enemy. And as a matter of fact – it did fail! In the years 1222–1223, Lestek, along with Conrad, Henry the Bearded and Swantopolk, Lestek’s representative in Pomerania, twice travelled into Prussian territory and twice did they return with nothing. After the second failed mission, the dukes decided that for now, they would just set up something akin to the Night’s Watch – a line of strongholds manned by knights from all parts of the kingdom to keep the wildl— I mean, the Prussians at bay. The pope agreed to treat this force as a crusade and thus hold Lestek’s and Conrad’s vows fulfilled.

The three major differences between these Polish watchmen and the Night’s Watch is that the former didn’t require chastity vows, they didn’t have a giant ice wall at their disposal and they didn’t last eight thousand years, but only… less than two. One night the Prussians attacked one of the strongholds; some of the knights died defending it, while others ran for their lives. Back in the capital, this led to a civil war between House Odrovonsh, whose sons had died in the battle, and House Griffin, whose members were decried as cravens and traitors. The Griffins escaped (again) to Silesia, where they talked Henry the Bearded into capturing Cracow while Lestek was away and claiming the title of high duke for himself. Lestek retook Cracow only a week later, but while the dukes were duking it out, the neglected watch entirely collapsed.

[[File:The death of Leszek the White.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Lestek’s death as painted by Jan Matejko in 1880]]
In 1227, Lestek called a summit of all Polish dukes at Gonsava in Paluki, the border region between Masovia, Greater Poland and Pomerania. We don’t know exactly what points were on the agenda, but it most likely had something to do with ending the feud between Spitter and Spindleshanks over Greater Poland and bringing Swantopolk to heel, as he was trying to free Pomerania from Polish rule. Lestek from Cracow, Conrad from Masovia, Henry the Bearded from Silesia, Vladislav Spindleshanks from Greater Poland, as well as many bishops and great lords, all came to Gonsava. Only two key participants were missing: Vladislav Spitter and Swantopolk. After almost two weeks, it was decided that there was no point waiting any longer and most people started heading back home. Lestek and Henry lingered on, though. Did they want to talk some things over in private or had they drunk so hard that they were unfit for a journey home (Henry had the same reputation as Lestek in this regard)? We don’t know. But it was then, in the early morning of 24 November, when Spitter and Swantopolk finally showed up – along with their henchmen. Henry, whom they assaulted in his bed, was wounded, but it was his loyal knight, Peregrin of Weissenburg, who took the fatal blow. Meanwhile, Lestek was attacked while having a bath. Somehow this allegedly obese, hung-over forty-something was able to escape the assailants, run naked from the bathhouse to the stable, jump on a horse and ride off into a snow-covered forest (back then, the climate was colder and Poland was more forested). Unfortunately, the assassins caught up with him 2 kilometres away.

A year after Lestek’s untimely death, but possibly still on his orders, a Dominican friar of House Odrovonsh set out from Cracow on a mission to Kyiv. Better known as [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|Saint Hyacinth]], he is believed to be the one who brought the first recipë for pierogi on his way back to Poland.

A short time before that, Conrad concluded that his brother’s peaceful approach towards the Prussians was going nowhere and it would be better to hire the Teutonic Knights to do the job of converting his pagan neighbours. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time; who would have known that he had just caused Poland a series of problems that would only end in 1945? For the time being, it just meant less trouble with the Prussians.

It would only be the next generation of Polish dukes who had to face an invasion so terrifying, that the Prussian raids would seem like a mild nuisance in comparison. Even the combined forces of the Teutonic Knights and the sons of Lestek and Henry the Bearded were unable to stop the hosts led by the Night King… I mean, Baidar, grandson of Chinghis Khan<ref>“Chinghis Khan” is a less common spelling than “Genghis Khan”, but it’s closer to original Mongolian pronunciation.</ref> (who, incidentally, had died the same year as Lestek). Apart from fire and destruction, did these Mongol-Tatar hordes also bring recipës for tartar sauce and steak tartare? Well, that’s a topic for another post.

{{Przypisy|Notes}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Tea or Coffee?|nast=Genuine Old Polish Bigos}}
{{Komentarze}}

[[Category: Beer]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Leszek the White]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Innocent III]]
[[Category: Honorius III]]
[[Category: Mead]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Tatars]]
[[Category:Old Prussians]]
[[Category:Cracow]]
[[Category:Hungary]]
[[Category:Saint Piva of Warka]]

[[pl:Jak wymigać się od krucjaty]]

Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves

2026-06-14T09:45:40Z

Kpalion: /* From Stohrer to Savarin */

{{data|24 April 2019}}
[[File:babà da infornare.jpg|thumb|Neapolitan ''babà al rum'' still in their moulds. This photo and the next come from the blog ''[https://profumodilievito.blogspot.com/search?q=baba Profumo di lievito]'' (''The Scent of Yeast'').]]
Easter season is here, which is a good occasion to write something about the ''baba'', a tall, rich yeast cake traditionally served in Poland for Easter breakfast. But before we move on to the Polish ''baba'', let’s take a look at the ''babà al rum'', which the Neapolitans consider their unique regional speciality.

== ''Si ’nu babà'' ==
A ''babà al rum'' is a kind of oversized cupcake that is baked, usually more than one at a time, in a can-shaped mould so that the dough rises over the edge to form a mushroom-like shape. Once it’s done, removed from the mould and allowed to cool down, the ''babà'' is soaked in syrup mixed with some rum (hence the ''al rum'' in the name) or ''limoncello'' (local lemon liqueur). Neapolitans prize this delicacy so much that the word ''babà'' has become a synonym for anything or anyone that is particularly sweet and attractive. This is what Ms. Carla Nuti, an Italian psychologist who describes human personalities by comparing them with desserts, has to say about the origin of the ''babà'' and its name:
{{clear}}

[[File:babà crema.jpg|thumb|upright|A Neapolitan ''babà al rum'' with pastry cream]]
{{ Cytat
| “Tu si nu babà!” [literally: you are a baba!] is a compliment Neapolitans use to tell their girlfriends that they are lovely, beautiful, attractive and sweet.

The babà, a truly Neapolitan speciality, is in fact of Polish origin. Stanislao Leszczinski [sic], King of Poland and a great gourmet, is said to have one day angrily pushed away a dessert he wasn’t fond of and to have accidentally spilled some rum on it, which gave the dish a more inviting scent and look, thus winning the royal palate. Inspired by Ali Baba, a character from One Thousand and One Nights, the sovereign named the delicacy after him.

The baba first arrived in Paris and then in Naples, together with the “monslù”, or chefs employed by Parthenopean [that is, Neapolitan] noble families, where it acquired its characteristic mushroom shape. I like to bake this cake in a round mould with a hole in the middle and to decorate it with little babàs along with some pastry cream or whipped cream, even though “true” Neapolitans consider such additions sacrilegious.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Nuti
| imię = Carla
| tytuł = Una psicologa in cucina
| url = https://books.google.dk/books?id=Hq43aMpr7lsC&pg=PA107&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg55KNnrThAhWBpYsKHSgcA-0Q6AEIKjAA
| wydawca = Sovera Edizioni
| miejsce = Roma
| rok = 2011
| strony = 107
}}, own translation
| oryg = «Tu si nu babà!!!», complimento che i napoletani fanno alla loro ragazza per dirle che è amabile, bella, attraente e dolce.

Il babà, specialità prettamente napoletana, ha in realtà un’origine polacca. Si racconta che Stanislao Leszczinski (Re di Polonia), uomo molto goloso, un giorno, allontanando rabbiosamente il piatto contenente un dolce che amava poco, fece cadere su questo del rhum donandogli un profumo en un aspetto invitante, tanto de conquistare il palato del Re. Fu lo stesso Sovrano, inspirandosi ad Alì Babà, personaggio del libro “Le Mille e una Notte”, a dare il nome a questa leccornia.

Il babà arrivò prima a Parigi e poi a Napoli con i “monslù” (cuochi delle famiglie nobili partenopee), dove assunse la sua forma caratteristica a fungo. A me piace prepararlo tondo con il buco centrale, decorato con piccoli babà e servito con crema o panna montata. Questi sapori aggiunti, sono per i napoletani “veraci”, un vero sacrilegio.
}}

Mr. Fabrizio Mangoni, “just like Stanislao, an urbanist and a gourmet”, as he describes himself, recounted the former Polish king’s alleged invention of the ''babà'' in even more colour:

[[File:Baba al rhum.jpg|thumb|Jars of Italian babàs drowned in rum or limoncello syrup]]
{{ Cytat
| The golden, wavy, spongy surface had just detached from the mould. It looked like something between a turban and a pagoda, an architecture with a new texture, built out of concentric circles growing smaller and smaller towards the top. Stanislao soon understood that he had found an answer to his own desires. It looked soft and was supple to the touch. Its fine texture and the scent it spread made it an absolute novelty. Even before tasting it, he knew that he had invented a dessert like no other in his land or in his times; a rare point of equilibrium between consistency and lightness. A bit like his own life.

This is the beginning of the long journey of the babà, a mythical dessert invented in the mid-18th century by Stanislao Lekzinsky [sic], ex-King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine at the time. A journey which has many links with the Orient. Stanislao had spent much time in Ottoman captivity and had the opportunity to study and sketch the architecture of that land, which would later inspire the pavilions decorating his ducal palace, along with an enormous theatre of automata. At first, the babà was dry, filled with sultana and Corinthian raisins, and, most importantly, it spread the scent of saffron. For its exoticism, the novelty of its taste and texture, Stanislao dubbed the dessert Ali Baba, in reference to One Thousand and One Nights, whose French translation he had read during his stay in the sultan’s prison in Constantinople.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Festival della letteratura di viaggio
| nazwisko r = Mangoni
| imię r = Fabrizio
| rozdział = I viaggi del Babà
| adres rozdziału = http://www.festivaletteraturadiviaggio.it/altrove/cibi/viaggi-del-baba.htm
| wydawca = Società Geografica Italiana Onlus
| miejsce = Roma
| rok = 2017
}}, own translation
| oryg = La superficie dorata, a balze, spugnosa, si era appena staccata dalla forma. Ricordava qualcosa a metà tra il turbante e la pagoda, architettura di cerchi concentrici e digradanti verso l’alto, di una consistenza nuova. Che rispondesse ai suoi desideri Stanislao lo capì subito. Ne saggiò l’elasticità al tatto, e si presentava soffice. Il senso di morbidezza e il profumo che emanava ne facevano un’assoluta novità. Anche senza averlo ancora assaggiato, sapeva di aver inventato un dolce che non aveva niente a che vedere con gli altri della sua terra e della sua epoca; un raro punto di equilibrio tra consistenza e leggerezza. Un po’ come la sua vita.

Con queste parole si apre il racconto del lungo viaggio del Babà, un dolce mitico, inventato a metà del Settecento da Stanislao Lekzinsky, ex re di Polonia e al momento dell’invenzione duca di Lorena. Viaggio che presenta molti legami con l’Oriente. Stanislao era sto a lungo prigioniero dei turchi, e lì ha potuto studiare e disegnare le architetture di quella terra, che ispireranno più tardi lo stile dei Pavillons che decoreranno il suo palazzo ducale, insieme ad un enorme teatro di automi. Il babà, all’inizio era secco, aveva nell’impasto l’uvetta di Smirne e di Corinto e, soprattutto, portava il profumo dello zafferano. Per l’esotismo, la novità del sapore e della consistenza del dolce Stanislao decise di chiamarlo l’Alì Babà, in omaggio alle Mille e Una Notte, il cui testo francese aveva potuto leggere proprio durante il suo soggiorno – prigione presso il Sultano di Costantinopoli.
}}

How much of all that is true? Should Stanislao really get the credit for inventing the rum baba and does its name really come from a fairy-tale Arab craftsman who robbed the forty thieves of their sesame treasure? As you can see from the quotations above, the first stop on our journey to unravel this mystery is going to be in France.

== Babaorum ==
[[File:Babaorum.jpg|thumb|upright|Roman Gaul ca. 50 BCE according to Goscinny and Uderzo]]
According to one popular publication about the history of France, the rum baba dates back all the way to antiquity. The French term for this dessert, ''baba au rhum'' may have come from the name of a Roman military camp called Babaorum. In Julius Caesar’s time, it was one of the four Roman camps surrounding the last independent Gaulish village in Armorica. The other three were called Laudanum, Petibonum and Aquarium.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Goscinny
| imię = René
| nazwisko2= Uderzo
| imię2 = Albert
| tytuł = Astérix : Le Combat des chefs
| wydawca = Hachette
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2013
| strony = 3
}}</ref>

Yet a different source, ''Larousse Gastronomique'', the Bible of French cuisine, confirms the story of King Stanislas inventing the baba and naming it after a character from an Arabic fairy tale.

{{ Cytat
| Baba, a cake made from leavened dough that contains raisins and is steeped, after baking, in rum or kirsch [Alsatian cherry liqueur] syrup. {{...}} The origin of this cake is attributed to the greediness of the Polish king Stanislas Leszcsynski [sic], who was exiled in Lorraine. He found the traditional kouglof [Alsatian bundt cake] too dry and improved it by adding rum. As a dedicated reader of the Thousand and One Nights, he is said to have named this creation after his favourite hero, Ali Baba. This recipë was a great success at the court of Nancy [capital of Lorraine], where it was usually served with a sauce of sweet Málaga wine. {{...}} Sthorer [sic], a pastrycook who attended the court of the Polish king, perfected the recipë using a brioche steeped in alcohol; he made it the speciality of his house in the Rue Montorgueil in Paris and called it ‘baba’.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Joël Robuchon
| tytuł = Larousse Gastronomique
| wydawca = Hamlyn
| rok = 2009
| strony = 51
}} }}

As we shall see, ''Larousse Gastronomique'' isn’t much more reliable than ''Astérix'' as a source of historical knowledge. After all, why would Stanislas take an Alsatian ''kouglof'' and steep it in Alsatian ''kirsch'' while staying in Lorraine? Was this recipë really developed by the king himself or rather by one of his pastrycooks, such as the aforementioned Stohrer? And most importantly, why would a Pole name a cake after some Arab guy, if the word ''“baba”'' had already meant “bundt cake” in his own native language for centuries?

It looks like we need to take a closer look at this King Stanislas and his relation to the ''baba''. You could shoot a few action movies based on his biography, but I will do my best to recap his life and his times as succinctly as possible.

== A King-in-Exile ==
[[File:Uczta koronacyjna Stanisława Leszczyńskiego.jpg|thumb|upright|left|King Stanislas’s coronation banquet]]
Poland entered the 18th-century as a great power in decline, under King Augustus II of House Wettin, who also ruled the Electorate of Saxony, a relatively small, but rich, state in what is now eastern Germany. Just before the end of the previous century (1698), Augustus was visited by Tsar Peter the Great of Russia, on his way back from his grand survey of Europe. Both monarchs were unusually tall, strong and able to consume copious amounts of alcohol. So when they met, they engaged in a several-day-long bout of binge drinking punctuated with cannon-shooting and bare-handed-horseshoe-breaking contests. And, while they were at it, they also decided to wage war against Sweden. A coalition of Saxon, Russian and Danish forces attacked the mighty Baltic empire soon afterwards (1700). But, like many other drunken ideas, it didn’t go exactly as intended. The Swedes smashed the Danes in Zealand, the Russians at Narva and the Saxons on the Daugava, and then proceeded to invade Poland. Polish senators tried to explain to King Charles XII of Sweden that Augustus was at war with him as Elector of Saxony rather than as King of a neutral Poland, but to no avail. The Swedes soon captured Vilno, Warsaw, Poznań and Cracow (1702), and Charles started looking around to find Poland a new king. His first choice was James Sobieski, the eldest son of the previous king, but Augustus had him imprisoned in Saxony (1704).

Anti-Saxon opposition in Poland sent a delegation to the king of Sweden, headed by the Palatine of Poznań, Stanisław Leszczyński{{czyt|Stanisław Leszczyński}}. King Charles was so charmed by the young, handsome, well-read and eloquent palatine, that he decided to make him his own puppet on the Polish throne. The royal election of 1705 – the first in Polish history to be conducted in the presence of foreign troops – was widely considered a farce, but it did dutifully elect the 28-year-old Leszczyński as the dethroned Saxon’s successor. He was crowned (in Warsaw rather than in Cracow, the traditional coronation site) with a crown which Charles had lent him for the ceremony and which he took back just afterwards. The reign of Stanisław I lasted no longer than four years. The situation changed dramatically when the Russians crushed the Swedish army at Poltava (1709), forcing King Charles into exile in the Ottoman Empire. Augustus got his Polish throne back, while Stanisław ran to the Swedish city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) and thence to the Ottoman Empire, to consult further plans with Charles.

[[File:Colin Stanislas Ier.jpg|thumb|upright|Stanislas I, King of Poland, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, in the autumn of his years]]
Bender, a town in what is now Transnistria (between Moldova and Ukraine), was where King Charles stayed for a few years after Poltava and the only place in the Ottoman Empire where Stanisław spent any amount of time. He never was in Constantinople, let alone in an Ottoman prison. Eventually (1714), Charles gave him the Swedish-owned Duchy of Two Bridges (now Zweibrücken, Germany), where the former Polish king, inspired by Ottoman architecture, built himself a little palace he called Tschifflik (from Turkish ''“çiftlik”'', or “farm”). Unfortunately, Stanisław had to move out after his Swedish protector passed away (1718), so he moved to a modest palace in nearby Wissembourg. It’s a town in Alsace, a border region which by that point had belonged to France for almost forty years, but was still mostly German-speaking (Alsace would later change hands between Germany and France like a ping pong ball, eventually staying with the latter). Maybe Stanisław would have stayed there for the rest of his life, if not for an unexpected visit by matchmakers from Versailles, who asked him for his daughter’s hand in the name of King Louis XV of France. And so Princess Marie Leszczyńska married Louis, seven years her junior, and proved to be a perfect wife (she would give him ten children without getting much in the way of his many extramarital liaisons), while her parents, who wanted to be closer to their only living daughter, moved into Chambord, one of the most luxurious ''châteaux'' of the Loire Valley.

Meanwhile, back in Poland, Augustus II continued to reign until he ended his gluttonous life by dying from gangrene after diabetic foot amputation (1733). Stanisław, counting on his son-in-law’s support, decided it was a good occasion to try and win back the Polish throne. He travelled incognito back to Warsaw, where he made his sudden appearance on the election field and was chosen – legally, this time – as king of Poland. His earlier coronation was retroactively declared valid, so there was no need to repeat it. However, the history from almost thirty years before repeated itself in reverse – foreign troops, Russian this time around, captured Praga, the eastern suburb of Warsaw, where they arranged a rival election of Augustus II’s son, soon afterwards crowned in Cracow as King Augustus III. Stanisław escaped from Warsaw to Danzig (Gdańsk), a city which managed to hold out against a Russian siege for some time. A network of alliances covering Europe transformed the fight for the Polish throne into a major international conflict, which – despite being known as the War of the Polish Succession – was fought out mostly in Italy and on the banks of the Rhine. France was quick to capture Lorraine (another border region), but (except for a small and unsuccessful landing operation in Westerplatte near Danzig) did little to help Stanisław keep his crown. In the end, Danzig fell to the Russians and Stanisław, disguised as a peasant, escaped (once again) to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia).

The war ended with Augustus III staying on the Polish throne. As a consolation prize, Louis XV gave his dad-in-law the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar (1737), where Leszczyński lived out his years while still being addressed as “king” and where, in the words of Voltaire, he was “able to do more good than all the Sarmatian [that is, Polish] kings ever managed to do on the banks of the Vistula.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Voltaire
| inni = trans. Robert M. Adams, ed. Nicholas Cronk
| tytuł = Candide, or Optimism
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=pNU4DAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PT51
| wydawca = W.W. Norton & Company
| rok = 2016
}}</ref> Lorrainers still remember Leszczyński as King Stanislas the Good (''Stanislas le Bienfaisant''), even though he earned this moniker largely due to the “good tsar, bad boyars” principle, finally living his dream of reigning as a charitable enlightened monarch surrounding himself with artists and philosophers, while leaving the day-to-day chores of running the government to his French chancellor, the widely hated Marquis de La Galaizière.

Although Stanislas and the Wettins of Saxony were fierce political rivals, they were united in their love of good food, sweets, wine and women. In Poland, the reign of Augustus III finally brought a period of long-sought peace, now known as the “Saxon Carnival”, when the Polish nobility lived out the proverb:

[[File:Baba au rhum chez roi Stanislas.jpg|thumb|A ''baba au rhum'' being devoured at the court of King Stanislas at Lunéville. Still from Arnaud Sélignac’s 2007 biopic ''Divine Émilie''.]]
{{Cytat
| <poem>Under a Saxon king,
Loosen your belt to eat and drink!</poem>
| źródło = Polish saying (18th century), own translation
| oryg = <poem>Za króla Sasa
Jedz, pij i popuszczaj pasa!</poem>
}}

Meanwhile, Stanislas, in his “little Versailles” at Lunéville, hosted Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu, enjoyed the theatre of automata in his exotic gardens and stuffed his face with fantastic creations sculpted from sugar and ice cream by his court confectioner Joseph Gillers. He got terribly fat, yet still outlived Augustus III; he chose not to fight for the Polish throne again, though, leaving Empress Catherine the Great of Russia to pick his namesake, Stanisław Poniatowski, as Poland’s new (and last) king (1764).

One of the shortest-reigning kings of Poland, but also the longest-lived, died a particularly nasty death. It’s said that he wanted to light his pipe or that he just plunged himself in deep thought next to a fireplace; but pissing into the fireplace wasn’t unusual at all back then, especially for elderly monarchs who didn’t always feel like walking all the way to the outhouse. In any case, his clothes caught fire and the former king died from severe burns after a few days of agony.

'''''TL;DR:''''' Stanisław Leszczyński was a king of Poland, then he was exiled, lived in Alsace for some time, then he became king of Poland and got exiled all again, and spent the rest of his life as duke of Lorraine and a great gourmet. But so far, we haven’t learned anything new about the ''baba''.

== Baba, baby ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvXyhC27buU|szer=300|poz=right|opis=Eugeniusz Bodo singing ''“Ach te baby”'' in Michał Waszyński’s 1933 film ''Zabawka'' (''Toy'')}}
The Polish word ''“baba”'' is unusually rich in meanings. In its original Proto-Slavic sense, it refers to a grandmother or, by extension, any elderly lady. In old Polish, the same word was used for any peasant woman and is still used to describe an uncouth, boorish hag. Other meanings include “female street vendor”, “herbalist”, “midwife” and “witch” (as in the most famous Slavic witch, Baba Yaga). A ''“baba”'' may even refer to a married or widowed woman of any age, as in ''“moja baba”'', or “my wife”. You can use the diminutive form, ''“babka”'', for a young and attractive woman, much like the ''“babà”'' in the Neapolitan dialect of Italian. But don’t overdo it, because if you diminutize the word even further, you’re gonna get a ''“babcia”'', or “granny”.<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Piotr Żmigrodzki
| tytuł = Wielki Słownik Języka Polskiego
| rozdział = Baba
| adres rozdziału = https://www.wsjp.pl/do_druku.php?id_hasla=50227&id_znaczenia=0
| wydawca = Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
}}</ref>

In Polish grammar, the plural and genitive form of ''“baba”'' is ''“baby”''{{czyt|baby}} (pronounced: ''bah-bih'', not ''bay-bee''). You can sometimes see in Poland some half-translated labels, like ''“żel do mycia baby”'', which was probably meant to say “baby-washing gel”, but actually says “crone-washing gel”. When interwar Poland’s top heart-throb Eugeniusz Bodo sang ''“ach te baby”'' in the 1930s, he wasn’t addressing his one and only baby; he meant all women in general. Or did he mean the cakes?

[[File:Adam Setkowicz.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.6|A Polish girl carrying an Easter ''baba'', visually extended by her pleated skirt (1936)]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Lovely “baby”, oh these “baby”!
One could eat them with a spoon.</poem>
| źródło = Jerzy Nel, ''Ach te baby'' (1933), own translation
| oryg = <poem>Kochane baby, ach te baby!
Człek by je łyżkami jadł.</poem>
}}

So which of these multiple meanings gave rise to ''“baba”'', the bundt cake? Perhaps the cake resembled a [https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+kamienne&tbm=isch pagan stone idol,] which is also called ''“baba”'' in Polish? Or does the cake’s name come from its resemblance to a peasant woman’s long pleated skirt? Or maybe it comes from the fact that it’s always been old women who were most experienced in the tricky art of yeast-cake baking?

[[File:Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Kłopoty wielkanocne.jpg|thumb|These ''baby'' (women) let a man into the kitchen and now their ''baba'' (cake) has flopped.]]

After all, baking a beautiful, tall, airy ''baba'' was one of the most demanding tasks Polish home cooks ever had to face. Great care was needed to prevent the cake from sinking or browning a little too much. A housewife who aimed for the perfect ''baba'' had to start by choosing the best ingredients – high-quality wheat flour, good beer yeast and fresh butter. The oven had to be heated as much as possible, so that it could keep a constant temperature for a long time. The moulds had to be perfectly clean before being filled with dough and popped into the oven. Then came the almost magical practices whose goal was to prevent the ''baba'' from “catching a cold” and falling. Doors and windows were sealed to avoid draughts, women walked on their toes and talked in whispers when close to the oven, and finally, the ''baba'' was gently placed on down pillows for cooling. And, of course, no men were allowed in the kitchen; the baking of a ''baba'' was a ''baby''-only affair.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Łozińska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Łoziński
| imię2 = Jan
| tytuł = Historia polskiego smaku: Kuchnia, stół, obyczaje
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 173–174
}}</ref>

In any case, the word ''“baba”'' was used in the sense of “bundt cake” at least as early as the 17th century,<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Włodzimierz Gruszczyński
| tytuł = Elektroniczny słownik języka polskiego XVII i XVIII wieku
| rozdział = Baba
| adres rozdziału = https://sxvii.pl/index.php?strona=haslo&id_hasla=1295
| wydawca = Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}</ref> so it’s hard to guess why Stanislas would have had to reinvent the word from Ali Baba.

== From Stohrer to Savarin ==
[[File:Nos petits Alsaciens chez eux; notes et souvenirs d{{'}}artiste, par P. Kauffmann; (1918) (14566626019).jpg|thumb|upright|Alsatian girls carrying a ''Kugelhopf'' on Three Kings Day]]
While the word ''“baba”'' is without a doubt of Slavic origin (so there’s never been a need to borrow it from Arabic), there is no reason to believe that a turban-shaped yeast cake is a native Polish, or generally Slavic, invention. The same kind of cake has been known, under various names, throughout central Europe, from the Netherlands, to Alsace, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech lands, Poland, to Russia. In German-speaking territories it’s known as ''“Gugelhupf”'' or ''“Kugelhupf”''. The ''Kugelhupf'' didn’t always have to be sweet, as evidenced by the tradition of former eastern Poland, where they still bake a potato casserole with onions and bacon (the Jews make it too, but without the bacon) and call it “potato ''babka”, “kugel”, “kugiel”'' or ''“kugelis”''.

The origin of this German name is even more mysterious than that of the Polish ''“baba”''. ''“Kugel”'' means “a ball” in modern German, but the cake was never baked in such a shape. Perhaps ''“Gugel”'' comes from Latin ''“cucullus”'', or “a hood”, while ''“Hupf”'' is the equivalent of “hop” (as in jumping)? But what would a jumping hood have to do with a bundt cake? According to a pair of famous German etymologists, brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (who also collected German folk tales as part of their linguistic studies), a yeast cake would grow so fast that it jumped, but it’s possible that what they recorded was just folk etymology. Or maybe it has something to do with prancing around at weddings, where bundt cakes were often served?

This kind of cake was especially popular in Alsace, particularly on special occasions, such as weddings or the Three Kings Day (Epiphany). The Alsatians have come up with some legends to explain the name of this cake, known as ''“Kugelhopf”'' in the local dialect of German. According to one legend, it was invented by an Alsatian priest, whose name was Gérard Kugelhopf.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Krondl
| imię = Michael
| tytuł = Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert
| wydawca = Chicago Review Press
| rok = 2011
| strony = 173
| url = https://books.google.dk/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&lpg=PA171&pg=PA17
}}</ref> A more interesting legend claims that it was the Three Kings (or Magi) themselves who stopped on their way from the Holy Land to Cologne (where their alleged relics are still held) in the picturesque Alsatian town of Ribeauvillé. There, they stayed in the house of a local baker named Kugel and showed their gratitude by giving him a recipë for a yeast cake, which he would later make in the shape of their turbans.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Perrier-Robert
| imię = Annie
| tytuł = Dictionnaire de la gourmandise
| rozdział = Kugelhopf
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.dk/books?id=gk2xWRx5sgIC&lpg=PT242&pg=PT816
| wydawca = Robert Laffont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2012
}}</ref>

[[File:Stohrer Paris.jpg|thumb|left|Inside the Stohrer pastry shop in Paris]]
And so we may finally solve the riddle. During his stay in Alsace (between his two stints as king of Poland), Stanislas employed local chefs, pantlers and pastrycooks. It’s quite likely that from time to time they served him some Alsatian specialities, including the ''Kugelhopf'', and that he couldn’t fail to notice that it’s actually the same thing as the Polish ''baba''. The best-known pastrycook to have begun his career at Stanislas’s court was Nicolas Stohrer (1706 – ca. 1781),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Goldstein
| imię = Darra
| tytuł = The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets
| nazwisko r = Field
| imię r = Elizabeth
| rozdział = Stohrer, Nicolas
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.de/books?id=jbi6BwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA312&pg=PA657
| wydawca = Oxford University Press
| rok = 2015
| strony = 657
}} According to Prof. Loïc Bienassis, Nicolas Stohrer never existed and was a 19th-century marketing creation (note added on 14 June 2026).</ref> whom Princess Marie took with her to Versailles when she became Queen of France. For the young Stohrer this meant the best bullet point on his resumé he could have ever dreamed of, but it also gave him the opportunity to popularize the pastry from his home region at the French royal court. The only problem was the cake’s German name, which the French found unpronounceable and unspellable; if the French absolutely have to write that word down, they come up with at least as many different ways to spell it (''cougloff, goglopf, gouglouff, guglhupf, kougelhopf, kouglhupf, kouglof,'' etc.) as they have ways to spell Leszczyński’s surname. So instead of calling the cake by its German name, Stohrer presented it to the French as ''baba'', the name he had learned from his Polish employer.<ref>M. Krondl, ''op. cit.'', s. 171</ref> The new word started to crop up in French texts half a century later, including in a letter from Denis Diderot, a co-author of the ''Encyclopédie'', to his lover, in which he described the banquets held by the Baron d’Holbach in his Grand-Val castle in southern France (quite far away from Alsace, Lorraine and Versailles):
{{clear}}

{{ Cytat
| I’m going to pass another week here. Pray to God that I don’t die from indigestion. Every day, they bring us from Champigny the most furious and most perfidious eels, and then little watermelons from Astrakhan, and then sauerkraut, and then partridges with cabbage, and then young partridges à la crapaudine, and then babas, and then pies, and then tarts, and then you would need twelve stomachs [to eat all that…] Fortunately, we drink in proportion, so it all goes well.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. J. Assézat, Maurice Tourneux
| tytuł = Œuvres complètes
| nazwisko r = Diderot
| imię r = Denis
| rozdział = Lettres à Sophie Volland, CVI: Au Grandval, le 24 septembre 1767
| adres rozdziału = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Diderot_-_%C5%92uvres_compl%C3%A8tes,_%C3%A9d._Ass%C3%A9zat,_XIX.djvu/256
| wydawca = Garnier
| miejsce = Paris
| tom = 29
| rok = 1876
| strony = 246
}}, own translation
| oryg = J’ai encore huitaine à passer ici. Priez Dieu que je ne meure pas d’indigestion. On nous apporte tous les jours de Champigny les plus furieuses et les plus perfides anguilles, et puis des petits melons d’Astracan, puis de la sauerkraut, et puis des perdrix aux choux, et puis des perdreaux à la crapaudine, et puis des baba, et puis des pâtés, et puis des tourtes, et puis douze estomacs qu’il faudrait avoir {{...}} Heureusement on boit en proportion, et tout passe.
}}

Somehow, along the way, ''“baba”'' has lost its original feminine gender and its association with women, becoming a masculine noun in both French (''“le baba”'') and, later, Italian (''“il babà”''), which may explain how the Ali Baba connection may have seemed plausible to non-Slavs.

In 1730, Stohrer decided to start his own business, so he opened – next to the northern coach terminus in Paris, at Mont Orgueilleux (now 51, Montorgueil Street) – [https://stohrer.fr/en the oldest Parisian pastry shop still in operation.] Did he sell ''babas / kouglofs'' there? Most probably. Were they imbibed with rum? Probably not, at least not from the start. 18th-century sources are quite unanimous in describing the ''baba'' as coloured with saffron and studded with raisins, without any mention of rum. At the beginning of the 19th century, the great gourmet Grimod de La Reynière would already attribute the baba to Stanislas, but it still wasn’t the rum baba.

[[File:Baba zwyczajna.jpg|thumb|A regular Polish ''baba'' From [https://polona.pl/item/dra-oetkera-przepisy-dla-skrzetnych-gospodyn,MTY0MjkxNDA/20/#item a collection of pastry recipës] published in the 1930s by a Dr. Oetker factory in Oliva, Free City of Danzig (now part of Gdańsk, Poland)]]
{{ Cytat
| The baba is a Polish dish invented by Stanislas Leczinski [sic], King of Poland and Grand [sic] Duke of Lorraine and Bar, a great gourmet towards the end of his days, who was no stranger at all to culinary practice. Saffron and Corinthian raisins are the principal seasonings of the baba, but few cooks know how to make it well.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Reynière
| imię = Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La
| tytuł = Manuel des amphytrions
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=vAs9QwAACAAJ&pg=PA170
| wydawca = Capelle et Renard
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1808
| strony = 170
}}, own translation
| oryg = Le baba est un met polonais, de l’invention de Stanislas Leczinski, Roi de Pologne, et Grand-Duc de Lorraine et Bar, prince fort gourmand vers la fin de ses jours, et qui n’étoit point étragner à la pratique de la cuisine. Le safran et les raisins de Corinthe sont les principaux assaisonnements du baba, mais peu de cuisiniers savent bien le faire.
}}

In pre-revolutionary France, rum was rare anyway, mostly due to high custom duties, imposed to protect the producers of domestic brandies and other alcohols. It was only at the beginning of the 19th century that the French learned to appreciate the English punch, which was made from Caribbean sugar-cane rum. In the 1840s, rum started to appear in French dessert recipës. And so the tasty legend of a Polish king who soaked a dry ''kouglof'' in rum and named it after a fairy-tale protagonist, falls apart like a house of cards. Mr. Michael Krondl, a food historian, has put it best:

{{ Cytat
| The French love to tell anecdotes about their food, and if some eminent person can be attached to a dish, so much the better. Some of the tales happen to be true, many are made up, but in some cases the stories are like a napoleon or millefeuille made up of layers of crisp fact and frothy fiction. Pulling it apart neatly is almost impossible. What’s more, once you’ve scraped away all the fluff, the truth you are left with can be a little dry.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Krondl
| imię = Michael
| tytuł = Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert
| wydawca = Chicago Review Press
| rok = 2011
| strony = 171
| url = https://books.google.dk/books?id=Dt0RErSFvE8C&lpg=PA171&pg=PA17
}}
}}

[[File:{{#setmainimage:Baba czekoladowa.jpg}}|thumb|A Polish chocolate ''baba'' The Dr. Oetker factory in Oliva is still operational, with the characteristic cloying scent of powdered milk wafting off its premises. I live 400 metres away from it, so I would know.]]
Soaking individual helpings of dry cake in wine, coffee or chocolate is surely an old practice, but it’s not the same as soaking an entire bundt cake prior to serving. Whose idea was it then? We don’t know. We do know, however, that in 1845 Auguste Julien, a co-owner of a pastry shop at Place de la Bourse in Paris, expanded his offer by introducing small babas with candied orange zest instead of raisins and imbibed with rum (or kirsch)-based syrup. And because, as we already know, the French prefer those dishes that they can associate with celebrities, he named this new kind of baba ''“savarin”''<ref>M. Krondl, ''op. cit.'', p. 172</ref> – after the famous gourmet Jean-Anthelme Brillat, who changed his name to Savarin (or was it his father?), so that he could inherit his aunt’s property.<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Joël Robuchon
| tytuł = Larousse Gastronomique
| rok = 1997
| strony = 141
| url = https://archive.org/details/DictionnaireLarousseGastronomique/page/n76
}}</ref>

As for the distinctive shape of the ''baba'' or ''Gugelhupf'', sometimes also known the “Turk’s head”, such moulds were already used by the Romans ca. 200 CE.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Adamson
| imię = Melitta Weiss
| tytuł = Food in Medieval Times
| url = https://books.google.de/books?id=jtgud2P-EGwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA69
| wydawca = Greenwood Press
| rok = 2004
| strony = 69
}}</ref> Which means that history came full circle, from ancient Rome, via Germany, Poland, Alsace, France and back to Italy and the Neapolitan ''babà al rum''.

== Recipë ==
History also came full circle when recipës for Polish ''baby'' came back to Poland, but “improved” by the addition of alcohol-laced syrup. Here’s one, with arak-based punch, rather than rum, added to the dough before baking:

{{ Cytat
| '''Ordinary punch''': Soak one pound of sugar in water, but first use it to scrape the zest of six lemons, put it immediately into a pot and boil into syrup; pour a quart of arak and then the juice squeezed from the six lemons into the syrup; keep under cover for some time, then pour the [punch] essence into a bottle {{...}}

'''Punch babas''': Mix two pounds of fine flour with a quart of lukewarm milk and 4 tablespoons of thick yeast, add 10 whole eggs and a quarter of a pound of sugar; leave in a warm place for the night; in the morning, add a pound of lukewarm pre-melted butter and half a quart of punch essence. Knead the dough thoroughly, baste small moulds with fresh butter, half-fill them with the dough; after the dough has risen, put them into a medium-heated oven for three quarters. Remove from moulds while hot.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien: książka podręczna dla ekonomiczno-troskliwych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item/kucharz-polski-jaki-byc-powinien-ksiazka-podreczna-dla-ekonomiczno-troskliwych-gospodyn,MzU1NTg1Nw/187
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 368, 424
}}, own translation
| oryg = '''Poncz zwyczajny''': Funt cukru umoczyć w wodzie, poprzednio jednak trzeba go obetrzeć o skórkę 6 cytryn, włożyć natychmiast w rondelek i zagotować na syrop; mając już wyciśnięty i sok z 6 cytryn, wlać do syropu najprzód kwartę araku, a potem sok cytrynowy, potrzymać tak pod przykryciem, wtedy zlać esencję do butelki {{...}}

'''Babki ponczowe''': Dwa funty pięknej mąki zarobić kwaterką letniego mleka, 4 łyżkami albo łutami gęstych drożdży, dodać 10 jaj całych i ćwierć funta cukru; zostawić w ciepłym miejscu pod przykryciem na noc; a nazajutrz rano, dodać funt przetopionego letniego masła i półkwaterek esencji ponczowej. Wyrobić ciasto dokładnie, małe foremki wysmarować świeżym masłem, napełnić do połowy ciastem, po chwili rośnienia, wsadzić w piec umiarkowany na 3 kwadranse. Wyjąć z foremek na gorąco.
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=A Royal Banquet in Cracow|nast=A Barrel of Beer for the Benedictine Brothers}}
{{Komentarze}}

[[Category: Arak]]
[[Category: Baba]]
[[Category: Kirsch]]
[[Category: Millefeuille]]
[[Category: Limoncello]]
[[Category: Punch]]
[[Category: Rum]]
[[Category: Savarin]]
[[Category: Augustus II]]
[[Category: Augustus III]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Denis Diderot]]
[[Category: Joseph Gillers]]
[[Category: Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Marie Leszczyńska]]
[[Category: Bronisława Leśniewska]]
[[Category: Louis XV]]
[[Category: Peter the Great]]
[[Category: Nicolas Stohrer]]
[[Category: Vladislaus IV Vasa]]
[[Category: Voltaire]]
[[Category: Naples]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Alsatians]]
[[Category: Ancient Romans]]
[[Category: Antiquity]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Szczecin]]
[[Category: Italy]]
[[Category: Turkey (country)]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Germany]]

[[pl: Stanisław Leszczyński i czterdziestu rozbójników]]

Is Poolish Polish?

2026-06-14T05:59:44Z

Kpalion: /* The Baker in Spite of Himself */

{{data|4 August 2021}}
<nomobile>[[File:{{#setmainimage:Bagietka 1.jpg}}|thumb|Cross-section of a baguette]]</nomobile>
If you ever happen to bake your own bread, then you may have heard of a yeast starter called poolish. And if you have heard of poolish, then you may have also heard that – as its name implies – it’s a remarkable example of Polish contribution to the development of global baking. But is it? This is the question we’re going to deal with today.

<mobileonly>[[File:Bagietka 1.jpg|thumb|Cross-section of a baguette]]</mobileonly>
But for those who haven’t heard of poolish, let’s first explain what it is exactly. Poolish is a kind of highly-hydrated pre-ferment. Okay, if that didn’t help, then let’s start from the beginning.

== Grain, Yeast, Beer and Bread ==
Ever since people domesticated cereals (or maybe it was the other way around), they have known that if you grind the grains down into flour, then mix the flour with water into dough and bake it, then you’ll get a flat, brittle bread like roti, pita or matzo. But if you leave the dough in a warm place for a few hours before baking it, then it will start to bubble and rise; and if you then bake it, the bread will be soft, fluffy, pleasantly tart and aromatic. Beer, another cereal product, has been known about as long as bread. And it’s been also known for a long time that if you gather the froth from the surface of fermenting wort and add it to the bread dough, then it will rise faster.

<nomobile>[[File:Poolish.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.7|Poolish – above, freshly mixed; below, risen]]</nomobile>
Centuries later, once microscopes were around, the bubbles that cause the dough to rise were shown to be produced by microörganisms. Oversimplifying, there are two kinds of them. One kind is lactic-acid bacteria, which eat the sugars present in the flour, excreting carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Bacteria like these are also responsible for milk going sour (hence their name: “lactic” means “milk”, “acid” means “sour”) and for cabbage turning into sauerkraut. In bread, pockets of the carbon dioxide are trapped in the dough, making the crumb porous and fluffy, while the lactic acid gives the bread its specific tart flavour. And yes, the dough which is left for bacteria to make it sour is called sourdough.

The other kind is a bunch of single-celled fungi found in the froth from beer wort and called yeast. Yeast cells eat sugar, excreting carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. They are also responsible for producing wine, mead and vodka. In bread, the carbon dioxide makes the bread fluffy, while the alcohol mostly evaporates during baking (which means you can’t get drunk on bread; tough luck). Bakers, as we’ve already seen, used to obtain their yeast from breweries and add it to the starter for their dough (not sour at all).

The year 1842 saw the brewing of the world’s first lager in Pilsen (now Plzeň, Czech Republic). Lager is a low-fermentation beer, which means that the yeast, once done, sinks to the bottom of the vat rather than float to the surface. Pilsner-type lager caught Europe by the storm, which had the unexpected side-effect of bakers no longer having access to a source of fresh yeast, as there was nothing to collect from the surface of the lager brew. And fresh yeast was indispensable. In the case of sourdough, it’s common to leave some of it to kick-start the next batch, with the resulting flavour only getting better every time. This approach doesn’t work with yeast, though, as old yeast gives bread a rather unpleasant, stale aroma.

A method, therefore, was needed to somehow rejuvenate this old yeast. And this is why pre-ferments were invented. The idea is to effect preliminary fermentation and let new generations of yeast cells to bud out from the old ones. Only then comes the second phase of fermentation whose purpose is to rise the dough with the young population of yeast. Pre-ferments come in several kinds, such as the Italian ''biga'' (used in production of ciabattas) or the English sponge (used in making hamburger buns). But what we’re interested in is the highly-hydrated pre-ferment, in which flour and water are mixed in equal proportion by weight, producing a loose starter similar in its consistency to pancake batter. This method is mostly used in preparing the dough for baguettes and other typically French rolls. And this is the method which is known by the word “poolish”. Phew!
<mobileonly>[[File:Poolish.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Poolish – above, freshly mixed; below, risen]]</mobileonly>

== Let Them Eat… What Exactly? ==
Now that we know what poolish is, let’s see how the French have learned to make it. We can start by looking at what can be gleaned from the Internet. Here’s what one French culinary website has to say on the topic:

<nomobile>[[File:Marie Antoinette in 1775.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), Queen of France]]</nomobile>
{{ Cytat
| Originally, poolish was invented to economise on industrially-produced yeast, which was expensive at the time when it was new on the market. Today this is no longer the case and the method is employed for its other advantages. This practice originated in Poland and it was Viennese bakers who introduced it in France for Marie Antoinette.
| oryg = A l’origine, la poolish a été mise au point pour économiser la levure industrielle alors assez onéreuse au début de sa commercialisation. Aujourd’hui ce n’est plus le cas et on utilise cette méthode pour ses autres avantages. Ce mode de fabrication a son origine en Pologne, et ce sont les boulangers viennois qui l’introduisirent en France pour Marie Antoinette.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = La cuisine de Fabrou
| rozdział = Pain Poolish ou Pouliche
| adres rozdziału = http://lacuisinedefabrou.fr/Recettes/Pain%20poolish.htm
}}, own translation }}

Seems legit, doesn’t it? After all, Marie Antoinette, an Austrian-born queen of France, is famous for her expertise in baked goods and for her piece of advice that those who can’t afford bread should eat cake instead. Right? Well, not really, as it turns out. Firstly, the way this quotation is commonly rendered into English is quite loose, because what Marie Antoinette actually talked about was not cake, but brioche (''“qu’ils mangent de la brioche”''), a sweet bun made from dough rich in eggs and butter. The cake version must have spread in the English language before the brioche became popular in the English-speaking world.

<mobileonly>[[File:Marie Antoinette in 1775.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), Queen of France]]</mobileonly>
And secondly… Marie Antoinette never really said anything like that. This sentence was originally attributed to an unspecified princess by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in an anecdote of his device. Back then, Marie Antoinette was ten years old and not even thinking about moving to France. It was only long after her death that the gibe was taken from the anonymous princess’s mouth and put into the French queen’s – most likely to provide some justification for why she’d been guillotined. Interestingly, in Samuel William Orson’s translation of Rousseau’s ''Confessions'' it’s neither brioche nor cake, but pastry!

{{ Cytat
| I furnished myself from time to time with a few bottles to drink in my own apartment; but unluckily, I could never drink without eating; the difficulty lay therefore, in procuring bread. {{...}} I could not bear to purchase it myself; how could a fine gentleman, with a sword at his side, enter a baker’s shop to buy a small loaf of bread? it was utterly impossible. At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Then let them eat pastry!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Rousseau
| imię = Jean-Jacques
| inni = transl. Samuel William Orson
| tytuł = The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau
| url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3913/3913-h/3913-h.htm
| wydawca = Project Gutenberg
| wolumin = Book VI
}}
| oryg = L’occasion fit que je m’en accommodai de temps en temps de quelques bouteilles pour boire à mon aise en mon petit particulier. Malheureusement, je n’ai jamais pu boire sans manger. Comment faire pour avoir du pain ? {{...}} En acheter moi-même, je n’osai jamais. Un beau monsieur, l’épée au côté, aller chez un boulanger acheter un morceau de pain, cela se pouvait-il ? Enfin je me rappelai le pis-aller d’une grande princesse à qui l’on disait que les paysans n’avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit : Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Rousseau
| imię = Jean-Jacques
| tytuł = Les Confessions
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Rousseau_-_Les_Confessions,_Launette,_1889,_tome_1.djvu/363
| wydawca = Launette
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1889
| tom = I
| strony = 265–266
}} }}

But let’s get back to the poolish. Suppose this method really was developed to economise on mass-produced pressed yeast. It’s hard to figure out, then, how it could have been done about a hundred years before such yeast actually hit the market. I suggest we no longer bother our heads about a headless queen and look for more reliable sources instead. Let’s see, for example, what Bakerpedia, an online baking encyclopedia, has to say about the origin of poolish:

{{ Cytat
| This breadmaking method was first developed in Poland during the 1840s by a nobleman named Baron Zang. Poolish was later spread by Viennese bakers into Austria who upon emigrating to France around 1840 initiated the production of Vienna breads and other luxury bakery products in Paris using the Poolish technique. With this technique bakers switched from using associations of yeast and sourdough {{...}} to yeast alone for carrying out fermentation at the bakeshop.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Bakerpedia
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://bakerpedia.com/processes/poolish/
}} }}

So it wasn’t an Austrian princess who helped introduce poolish to France when she arrived there in 1770; it was a nobleman who came to France from Austria 70 years later! But the crucial bit that both sources agree on is that poolish is a Polish invention. That’s hardly surprising, as Poland is famous for its bread. It’s more famous for its rye sourdough loaves than for yeast-raised wheat baguettes, though, but we wouldn’t want to question this great Polish achievement and yet another source of Polish national pride, would we?

Well, of course we would! And so, by tracing the ultimate source of the information that eventually found its way to Bakerpedia and many other texts (print and online), we can determine that it relies on the authority of Raymond Calvel, the professor of baking at the National Higher School of Milling and Cereal Industries ({{small|ENSMIC}}) in Paris who wrote the book on baking bread. This is what the book, ''The Taste of Bread'', says about where the poolish method comes from:

<nomobile>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), professor of baking]]</nomobile>
{{ Cytat
| This method of breadmaking was first developed in Poland during the 1840s, from whence its name. It was then used in Vienna by Viennese bakers, and it was during this same period that it became known in France. The bread produced by this method became known as Vienna bread, named for those Austrian bakers who began to make it in Paris after having come from Vienna. The poolish method seems to have become the only breadmaking method used in France until the 1920s for production of breads leavened solely with yeast. {{...}} The Vienna bread made during that period was the result of a production method introduced into France by an Austrian, Baron Zang. With the assistance of a group of Viennese bakers, the Baron began to produce this type of bread in Paris in 1840, in a bakery that still exists today on the Rue de Richelieu. This bread corresponded to our definition of “traditional” bread, since it was made from a mixture of flour, water, yeast and salt, occasionally enriched with the addition of a little malt extract. It was leavened with a poolish, and was thus a baker’s yeast leavened product. During the whole of the 1840s–1920s, this type of bread experienced well-deserved commercial success in the larger French cities, especially Paris. As may be seen still today on the advertising signs of old bakeries, the consumer had the choice between “French bread” made from levain [i.e., sourdough starter], and Vienna-style bread, made from baker’s yeast.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| inni = transl. Ronald L. Wirtz, ed. James J. MacGuire
| tytuł = The Taste of Bread
| wydawca = Springer Science+Business Media
| miejsce =
| rok = 2001
| strony = 42, 116
}}
| oryg = Cette méthode de panification aurait vu le jour en Pologne, d’où son nom, dans les années 1840, puis aurait été exploitée en Autriche, à Vienne, par les boulangers viennois. C’est à la même époque, qu’elle a été connue en France. Le pain, ainsi obtenu, prit le nom de pain viennois, du nom des boulangers, venus de Vienne, le fabriquer à Paris. La poolish devait, alors, être, le seul mode de panification utilisé en France, jusqu’aux années 1920, pour la production du pain uniquement ensemencé à l’aide de la levure de boulangerie. {{...}} Le pain viennois résultait alors d’une production introduite en France par un Autrichien, le baron Zang, qui, accompagné d’ouvriers boulangers viennois, devait, à partir de 1840, le fabriquer à Paris, dans une boulangerie qui existe encore, rue de Richelieu. C’était un pain répondant à la définition du pain traditionnel, résultant d’un mélange de farine, d’eau, de levure et de sel, enrichi, parfois, d’un peu d’extrait de malt, ensemencé sur poolish et, donc, à base de levure. Il devait connaître, durant toute cette période, dans les grandes villes et surtout à Paris, un succès mérité et le consommateur avait le choix, comme on peut le constater encore aujourd’hui, sur la devanture d’anciennes boulangeries, entre « le pain français », obtenu au levain, et le « pain viennois » obtenu à la levure de boulangerie.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| tytuł = Le goût du pain
| wydawca = Éditions Jérôme Villette
| miejsce =
| rok = 1990
| strony = 30, 81
}} }}

<mobileonly>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), professor of baking]]</mobileonly>
If a bread-making expert of this stature said that poolish was of Polish origin, then few people saw the reason to question this assertion. Well, alright, but who was this supposedly Polish baron with a rather non-Polish-sounding name, credited with bringing from Austria to France the pre-ferment which gave rise to French baguettes?

== The Baker in Spite of Himself ==
[[File:August Zang.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|August Zang (1807–1888), a businessman (colourized)]]
According to Jim Chevalier, a specialist in French bread history, Christopher August Zang was born in 1807 in the family of a Viennese surgeon. As a young man, Zang served as an artillery officer and studied chemical engineering in the Austrian capital. When he was 28, his military career was cut short by his father’s death. After all, why pursue a career of any kind, if you’ve inherited a fortune from your dad? The inheritance was enough for some time of carefree indulgence and then, all of a sudden, it ran dry. Zang managed a soft landing by marrying into a rich family, but this experience taught him that once you earn some funds, it’s better to invest them rather than blow them all on consumption. And so Zang discovered in himself a knack for entrepreneurship.

As a keen observer, Zang noticed visiting French people raving about Viennese bread. Whenever he was in Paris, he could see for himself that French bread – dark, heavy and sour – was nothing like what was available back in Vienna. There was an obvious niche on the French baking market and Zang resolved to enter this niche with a little capital. In 1837 he moved to Paris, where he and his business partner, Ernest Schwarzer, opened a new bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu. Do you need to know anything about baking bread to run a successful bakery? Not necessarily, as Zang and Schwarzer promptly demonstrated; all you need is to hire good Viennese bakers, trust that they know what they’re doing and have the guts to invest in the technological innovations these bakers recommend. In the meantime, the owners focused on marketing; after all, if you’re investing in technological novelties, your customers should be made aware of that. And so, Zang’s patrons (Schwarzer sold his share to Zang in 1839) soon learned that the dough for Zang’s bread was kneaded not by a sweaty half-naked baker, but by a modern, hygienic machine, and that the loaves were baked in a special steam oven which gave the finished product an appetizingly shiny crust. Parisians were quick to learn about the advantages of “Viennese” baked goods, which owed their highly-prised aroma, lightness, whiteness and freshness to a combination of good Hungarian wheat flour and baker’s yeast (free from the hoppy bitterness of brewer’s yeast).

[[File:Kipferl + Kaisersemmel.png|thumb|left|A crescent roll (German ''Kipferl'', French ''croissant'') and a kaiser roll (German ''Kaisersemmel'', French ''petit pain viennois'')]]
Zang’s establishment was known as ''Boulangerie Viennoise'', or “Viennese Bakery”. True to its name, it offered Austrian breadstuffs that had been hitherto unknown in Paris, such as ''[[What Has the Battle of Vienna Given Us?#Croissants|Kipferl]]'', or Viennese crescent rolls (dubbed ''“croissants”'' by the French), and ''Kaisersemmel'', or kaiser rolls (which Parisians referred to simply as ''“petits pains viennois”'', or “little Viennese breads”). Zang’s commercial success was quickly copied by local bakers, so that by 1840 a dozen shops offering “Viennese” breads had sprung up across Paris.

Eight years later a wave of revolutions known as the Springtime of Nations swept across Europe, upsetting the order which had been established in the wake of Napoleonic wars. France became a republic again, while political reforms in Austria brought about a greater freedom of the press. For Zang this was an occasion to invest in a completely new business. He sold the bakery and returned to Vienna, where he became a newspaper publisher. Here, again, he would bet on innovation; his paper ''Die Presse'' published short paragraphs arranged in columns, novels in episodes and numerous advertisements which helped maintain a competitive price. Zang stayed in this business for two decades until he sold his publishing house only to move on to banking and mining (the lignite mine that he purchased in Styria bears the name Zangtal to this day).

[[File:Piekarnia Wiedeńska Zanga.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|The Viennese Bakery (''Boulangerie Viennoise'') at 92, rue de Richelieu, in Paris, which circa 1909 still displayed Zang’s name on its shop sign]]
Zang was without a doubt an affluent and influential man, but he could only be described as a baron in the figurative sense. He never bore any actual titles of nobility, whether by birth or by grant. Was he proud of his contribution to the development of French bread-making? Not particularly. In fact, he actively tried to hide this episode of his professional life, spurred on by his business and political rivals dismissing him as a simple baker. Contrary to his efforts, however, his name had become a strong enough brand on the French bread market that subsequent owners of the bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu, consistently refused to remove it from the shop sign, even when offered financial compensation. Zang’s name was still prominently displayed on the bakery’s façade long after his death in 1888.

All the while, Viennese bread in France kept evolving. By the early 20th century, the word ''“viennoiserie”'' (literally, “Viennese stuff”) had been coined in French in the sense of “luxury Viennese-type breads”. But at the same time, these “Viennese” breads were becoming increasingly more French than Austrian. Supposedly Viennese croissants were now made with French puff pastry rather than traditional yeast dough. The latter did survive, however, in a new kind of bread rolls which only became common in the 1920s. These rolls were long and thin, white and sweetish (which made them attractive to consumers), but were very quick to go stale, so you had to buy them 2–3 times a day (which made them attractive to bakery owners). Due to their distinctive baton-like shape, they became known as “baguettes”, or “little sticks”. And this is how French baking as we know it today came to be. By that time, poolish had been in common use in France, especially for the production of baguettes. But this was already long after Zang’s death and even longer after he had divested himself of his Parisian bakery. Which means it probably isn’t him who should get the credit for introducing poolish to France.

'''''TL;DR:''''' It’s true that Zang opened in Paris a bakery, in which he employed Viennese bakers, but he was neither a baker himself nor a baron, nor Polish. And it wasn’t him who brought poolish to France. But if not him, then who? And is there any connection between poolish and Polish bakers after all?

== What’s in a Name? ==
[[File:Poolish forum.png|thumb|Polish, Austrian, French or English? One of the attempts to solve the poolish puzzle on baking message boards:
{{Cytat
| “Poolish” comes from an English word which means “Polish” and refers to a French bread-making method imported by the Austrians. Four countries to define one method!
| oryg = La pouliche vient du mot « poolish », mot anglais qui veut dire « polonais » et qui serait une méthode de panification française importée par des autrichiens. Quatre pays concernés pour définir une méthode !
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = BoulangerieNet
| nazwisko r = Dewalque
| imię r = Marc
| rozdział = La pouliche ou poolish, histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://www.boulangerienet.fr/bn/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23242&p=129829
| data = 3 October 2007
}}, own translation }} ]]

We know by now that while Prof. Calvel was a great authority on baking bread, he was not infallible, especially in matters of history. Besides, it seems he must have repeated the story about “Baron” Zang “from Poland” after someone else, as the same information had already appeared in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1972.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The Atlantic Monthly
| nazwisko r = Suyker
| imię r = Betty
| rozdział = A la Recherche du Pain Perdu
| miejsce = Boston
| data = July 1972
| strony = 90–92
}}; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Morph: A Blog About Languages And How They Change
| url =
| nazwisko r = Baerman
| imię r = Matthew
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://morph.surrey.ac.uk/index.php/2019/04/24/poolish/
| data = 24 April 2019
}}; also quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Mae’s Food Blog
| nazwisko r = Travels
| imię r = Mae
| rozdział = Baker’s Words
| adres rozdziału = https://maefood.blogspot.com/2018/02/bakers-words.html
| data = 14 February 2018
}}</ref> Is it possible, then, that he was wrong not only about Zang being Polish, but also about the Polish origin of the poolish method? Let’s take a closer look at the word itself: the spelling looks neither Polish nor German, nor French. If it looks like anything, it’s English – but weird English, like the word “Polish”, but written with a double “O” for whatever reason.

I’ve examined a variety of ancient sources while looking for a possible etymology of the word “poolish”, from 19th-century grain exchange reports to early-21st-century online message boards for bakers. It turns out there’s a number of hypotheses, none of them convincing.

=== Poolish ← Polish ===
The explanation which is most common (thanks to uncritical repetition) links “poolish” with the English word “Polish”. Some sources say that “Poolish” is an old alternative spelling of the same adjective, but I haven’t been able to find a dictionary that would confirm that. Yet, even if it were true, it only helps muddle the matter more than to elucidate it; why would the French call a Polish method they learned from the Austrians by an archaic English word? You can sense the frustration with how little sense it all makes in this post by Mr Thierry Martin in the French baking forum BoulangerieNet:

{{ Cytat
| But the word itself? Why the heck an English one? And an old English one at that? And only used in France, as it’s used neither in Poland nor in Austria, nor in England!
| oryg = Mais pour le mot lui-même ? Pourquoi diable en anglais ? Et en vieil anglais encore ! Et uniquement utilisé en France, et pas en Pologne, pas en Autriche et pas en Angleterre !
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = BoulangerieNet
| nazwisko r = Martin
| imię r = Thierry
| rozdział = La poolish est-elle polonaise ?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.boulangerienet.fr/bn/viewtopic.php?t=41255&sid=4a80373ac2d18559b1c1c9aef14ebcce
| data = 21 February 2010
}}, own translation }}

The same user (a dentist and home baker from the island of Reunion) later comes to the logical conclusion that even though Polish people are known for making good bread, it’s not enough to prove a Polish origin of the poolish method.

=== Poolish ← Polisch ===
Some of the oldest French-language mentions of this supposedly Polish starter use the spellings ''“poolisch”'' or ''“polisch”'' (with “sch”), which suggests an alternative version of the above etymology. Namely, that the word comes not from English, but from German. But isn’t the German word for “Polish” written as ''“polnisch”'', with an “N”? Yes, it is in modern Standard German; but in 19th-century southern dialects (used in Austria), the same adjective could be written without the “N”, as ''“polisch”'', ''“pohlisch”'' or ''“pollisch”''. And some of these spellings can be found in the context of bread starters. For example, an 1865 advertisement for St. Marxer, a Viennese brand of pressed yeast, mentions a ''“Polisch”'' method. The word, in this sense, seems to have been largely forgotten in German with time, but even a century later a German bread-making handbook still talked about a ''“polische”'' bread dough:

{{cytat
| The polische dough, with its minimal yeast requirement, was {{...}} the standard way of preparing Viennese white bread at the time. The use of very long working time was made possible by the practically unlimited working hours in the era of manual labour. One was choosing here a lesser evil: it was better, by using a polische starter, to accept a somewhat rough texture with unpredictable crumb pores and weak colouration of the baked product than to lower its quality by using more brewer’s yeast.
| oryg = Die polische Teigführung mit ihrem Minimum an Hefebedarf war {{...}} die Standardführung der Wiener Weißbäckerei in der damaligen Zeit. Ermöglicht wurde die Anwendung dieser sehr lange Arbeitszeit in Anspruch nehmenden Teigführung durch die praktisch unbegrenzten Arbeitszeiten in jener handwerksgeschichtlichen Epoche. Man wählte hierbei das kleinere Übel: denn es war immer noch besser, den durch die polische Führung bedingten, etwas derben Gebäckcharakter bei gleichzeitig sehr unruhiger Krumenporung und schwacher Farbannahme der Gebäcke im Backofen hinzunehmen, als durch Zusatz höherer Bierhefemengen zur Teigführung die Gebäckqualität noch mehr zu verschlechtern.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Brot und Gebäck
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=sCNIAAAAYAAJ
| wydawca = Arbeitsgemeinschaft Getreideforschung
| miejsce =
| rok = 1965
| tom = 19–21
| strony = 151
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Zakwas na żur.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Fermented rye meal – a ''polnische Suppe''?]]
But this is still no proof for the method having been developed in Poland. Dr. Matthew Baerman, in his article for the linguistic blog ''Morph'', suggests that the name may have come from a mental association made between the loose starter and the famous Polish fermented-rye-meal soup called ''“żur”''{{czyt|żur}} or ''“żurek”''{{czyt|żurek}} – even though the soup is made from diluted sourdough rather than a yeast starter.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Morph: A blog about languages and how they change
| nazwisko r = Baerman
| imię r = Matthew
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://morph.surrey.ac.uk/index.php/2019/04/24/poolish
| data = 24 April 2019
}}</ref> In fact, some German sources use the name ''“polnische Suppe”'' (“Polish soup”) for the loose yeast pre-ferment.<ref> {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Markus J. Brandt, Michael Gänzle
| tytuł = Handbuch Sauerteig
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=QPCzWumEHU8C
| nazwisko r = Seiffert
| imię r = Martin
| rozdział = Technik der Weizenvor- und Sauerteig-Führungen in Deutschland und Europa
| wydawca = Behr’s Verlag
| rok = 2006
| strony = 286
}}</ref> What Dr. Baerman may have been unaware of is that the word ''“żurek”'' also has a special meaning in Polish baking terminology, where it refers to a loose sourdough starter. But this is a kind of starter Polish bakers use for making ''chleb''{{czyt|chleb}}, a sourdough rye bread, rather than for white yeast rolls. Mixed rye-wheat ''chleb'' is also common in Poland, but even then you would prepare a rye sourdough starter and a wheat yeast pre-ferment separately.<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Mieczysława Janik
| tytuł = Piekarstwo: receptury, normy, porady i przepisy prawne
| wydawca = Zakład Badawczy Przemysłu Piekarskiego, Handlowo-Usługowa Spółdzielnia „Samopomoc Chłopska”
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2002
| strony = 11–12
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Mieczysław Dłużewski
| tytuł = Technologia żywności: podręcznik dla technikum
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=iYsDzUppFAMC&lpg=PA23&pg=PA23
| wydawca = Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2008
| wolumin = part 4
| strony = 23
}}</ref>

Whatever the case, Dr. Baerman admits that “this theory has the minor drawback of lacking any positive evidence in its favor.”

=== Poolish ← Pouliche ===
[[File:Baquet a pouliche.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|A ''pouliche'' bucket according to a 1937 French baking handbook]]
But there’s still more confusion to come. Some of the oldest texts about poolish use a different, much more French-looking, spelling: ''“pouliche”''. And it’s not only French-language sources that do it; ''“pouliche”'' appears for example in an article about French bakeries which was published in an American millers’ magazine in 1897,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The Northwestern Miller
| nazwisko r = Harwood
| imię r = W.S.
| rozdział = The Bread of Paris
| adres rozdziału = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008286860&view=1up&seq=651
| wydawca = Miller Publishing Company
| miejsce = Minneapolis
| data = October–December 1897
| wolumin = v. 44
| strony = 31
}}</ref> as well as in an American handbook written by an Austrian baker in 1903.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Braun
| imię = Emil
| tytuł = Baker’s Book: A Practical Hand Book of All the Baking Industries in All Countries
| wydawca = Van Nostrand
| miejsce = New York
| rok = 1903
| tom = 2
| strony = 317
}}; quoted in: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2019
}}</ref>

The trouble is that in French the word ''“pouliche”'' has a meaning which is completely unrelated to baking; it means “filly”. What could a young female horse have to do with a yeast starter? Perhaps someone associated a pre-ferment, whose purpose is to rejuvenate a yeast population, with a young equine? Or maybe fermenting and bubbling dough reminded someone of a prancing filly? We can only guess. In any case, this the etymology that Jim Chevalier is leaning to. In his opinion, the pseudo-English phonetic spelling “poolish” appeared after the original ''“pouliche”'', and it was only then that its similarity to the English word “Polish” gave rise to the story about the method’s Polish origin. And to make this story more believable, someone decided to explain the Polish-French connection by adding the famous August Zang as a missing link.

=== Poolish ← פאליש ===
<nomobile>[[File:Luboml synagogue poolish.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A pre-Holocaust picture of the ''poolish'' of the Great Synagogue in the Volhynian town of Luboml (now in western Ukraine)]]</nomobile>
I’ve found an even more surprising hypothesis, which proposes that the work “poolish” comes from ''“polish”'' (פאליש), which is a Yiddish word for a synagogue antechamber. The idea here is that a pre-ferment is the first step towards a finished bread, just like the antechamber is the first step towards the synagogue. In the central (Polish-Galician) dialect of Yiddish, the vowel “o” is closer to the “oo” sound, which would explain the “poolish” spelling in English transcription, as well as indicate a Polish origin of the method. Except that, in this case, the authorship of this method would belong not to Poles in general, but specifically to Polish Jews.

<mobileonly>[[File:Luboml synagogue poolish.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A pre-Holocaust picture of the ''poolish'' of the Great Synagogue in the Volhynian town of Luboml (now in western Ukraine)]]</mobileonly>
Prof. David Gold, who suggested this possibility, admits that it “sounds farfetched”.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gold
| imię = David L.
| tytuł = Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=l015C5vm1XkC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA584
| wydawca = Universidad de Alicante
| rok = 2009
| strony = 584–585
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Or Maybe It’s Poolish ← Polish After All? ===
[[File:Polisch Odessa.png|thumb|upright=1.5|“Polish Odessa” (or “Polisch Odessa”) in 19th-century British, French, Belgian and German press]]

When looking for the oldest possible anchor points, I discovered that west European press, starting in the first half of the 19th century, often used the phrase “Polish Odessa” (also spelled “Polisch Odessa”), which is quite surprising when you consider that Odessa was never a Polish city. It turns out, however, that this was the name used for the wheat imported from what is now western Ukraine.

This is how Polish wheat varieties were described in a French book on grain trade from 1910:
{{clear}}
{{ Cytat
| The wheat from Poland is exported via Danzig and Odessa; it is often confused with Russian wheat and known as “Odessa wheat” if exported through that port. It comes in white, yellow and red varieties; whether pure or mixed, the most appreciated types come from Sandomierz and Cracow. {{...}}

The kinds [of wheat from Russia] most commonly used include the high-quality Polish red. It is called “nervous”, which means it helps the dough rise {{...}}
| oryg = Les Froments de Pologne sont exportés par Dantzig et Odessa ; ils sont souvent confondus avec les blés de Russie et sont traités sous le nom de « Blé Odessa », lorsqu’ils sont exportés par ce port. Ces froments sont blancs, jaunes et roux ; purs ou bigarrés, les types les plus appréciés viennent de Sandomierz et Cracovie. {{...}}

Les qualités [des froments de Russie] le plus couramment traitées sont : les blés Polish, roux de bonne qualité. Ils sont dits « nerveux », c’est-à-dire qu’ils font monter la pâte {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Hissenhoven
| imię = Paul van
| tytuł = Les grains et le marché d’Anvers
| url = https://archive.org/details/lesgrainsetlemar00hiss/page/24/mode/2up
| wydawca = Imprimerie Aug. van Nylen
| miejsce = Anvers
| rok = 1910
| strony = 24
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Trasy eksportu zboża z Polski w XIX wieku.png|thumb|left|Grain transportation routes from Poland to London in the 19th century (blue lines)]]
Throughout the 19th century, the wheat which grew in the Russian-controlled territories of the erstwhile Polish Commonwealth was exported to the west via two routes. The northern route went from the Sandomierz area in what is now southeastern Poland down the Vistula river across the Prussian partition of Poland to Danzig (now Gdańsk) and from there, on Dutch merchant ships, across the Baltic and North seas to London. The southern route took the grain from the regions of Volhynia and Podolia (now western Ukraine) down the Dniester river to Odessa and thence, on Greek ships, across the Black and Mediterranean seas to London. At the time, London was Europe’s chief grain-trading hub; it was on London exchanges that people speculated on grain before it had even reached the shores of England, settled its price and decided which batch of wheat would eventually go to which port in western Europe.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Business and Economic History
| nazwisko r = Rothstein
| imię r = Morton
| rozdział = Centralizing Firms and Spreading Markets: The World of International Grain Traders, 1846–1914
| adres rozdziału = https://thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v017/p0103-p0114.pdf
| wydawca = Business History Conference
| miejsce =
| rok = 1988
| wolumin = Second Series
| tom = 17
| strony = 103–113
}}</ref>

No wonder that even in France the wheat from Poland was known under the English trade name of “Polish”. But the French have always been very creative in butchering the words they loaned from English (mind you, the French word for “shampoo” is ''“shampooing”'' and the French for “walkie-talkie” is ''“talkie-walkie”''), so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would write the English word “Polish” as ''“Polisch”'' or even ''“Poolish”''.

And now it’s time for my own proposition: the poolish method was developed in France, but it gave the best results with the “nervous” Polish wheat, which was known in France as “Poolish” (among other misspellings) and lent its name to the method. Only once the name “poolish” had caught on, along with the pseudo-English pronunciation to match the butchered spelling, was the French phonetic spelling ''“pouliche”'' (which also happens to be the French word for “filly”) coined.

Is this proposition supported by any historical sources? No. Is it far-fetched? Definitely. But is it more of a stretch than the other etymologies presented above? I shall leave it for the Reader to decide. So what do we know for sure? That poolish was invented in France rather than in Poland, and in the second half of the 19th century, so it couldn’t have been popularised by August Zang – let alone by Marie Antoinette’s court bakers. But the origin of its name will remain a mystery.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| tytuł = Le Goût du Pain : Comment le préserver, comment le retrouver
| url =
| wydawca = Éditions Jérôme Villette
| rok = 1990
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = August Zang and the French Croissant: How Viennoiserie Came to France
| url = https://books.google.pl/books/about/August_Zang_and_the_French_Croissant.html?id=7MfvT_NOdHsC
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2009
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=EIrDywEACAAJ&dq=Before+the+Baguette
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2019
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Piekarski i Cukierniczy
| nazwisko r = Piesiewicz
| imię r = Henryk
| rozdział = Podmłody – ważny element procesu produkcji
| adres rozdziału = http://www.sigma-not.pl/publikacja-76264-podm%C5%82ody---wa%C5%BCny-element-procesu-produkcji-przeglad-piekarski-i-cukierniczy-2013-5.html
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = May 2013
| strony = 28–30
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Piekarski i Cukierniczy
| nazwisko r = Piesiewicz
| imię r = Henryk
| rozdział = Powrót do tradycyjnych rozczynów: Podmłody
| adres rozdziału = http://www.sigma-not.pl/publikacja-80911-powr%C3%B3t-do-tradycyjnych-rozczyn%C3%B3w---podm%C5%82ody-przeglad-piekarski-i-cukierniczy-2013-12.html
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = December 2013
| strony = 20–22
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Good Humour, Good Health: How They Do It in Asia|nast=Epic Cooking: The Decorous Rite of the Mushroom Hunt}}

[[Category: Baguette]]
[[Category: Brioche]]
[[Category: Beer]]
[[Category: Bread]]
[[Category: Kaiser roll]]
[[Category: Croissant]]
[[Category: Sour rye-meal soup]]
[[Category: Raymond Calvel]]
[[Category: Marie-Antoinette]]
[[Category: Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]
[[Category: August Zang]]
[[Category: London]]
[[Category: Odessa]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Vienna]]
[[Category: Jews]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category:Wheat]]

[[pl:Czy poolish wymyślili Polacy?]]

Is Poolish Polish?

2026-06-14T05:56:07Z

Kpalion: /* The Baker in Spite of Himself */

{{data|4 August 2021}}
<nomobile>[[File:{{#setmainimage:Bagietka 1.jpg}}|thumb|Cross-section of a baguette]]</nomobile>
If you ever happen to bake your own bread, then you may have heard of a yeast starter called poolish. And if you have heard of poolish, then you may have also heard that – as its name implies – it’s a remarkable example of Polish contribution to the development of global baking. But is it? This is the question we’re going to deal with today.

<mobileonly>[[File:Bagietka 1.jpg|thumb|Cross-section of a baguette]]</mobileonly>
But for those who haven’t heard of poolish, let’s first explain what it is exactly. Poolish is a kind of highly-hydrated pre-ferment. Okay, if that didn’t help, then let’s start from the beginning.

== Grain, Yeast, Beer and Bread ==
Ever since people domesticated cereals (or maybe it was the other way around), they have known that if you grind the grains down into flour, then mix the flour with water into dough and bake it, then you’ll get a flat, brittle bread like roti, pita or matzo. But if you leave the dough in a warm place for a few hours before baking it, then it will start to bubble and rise; and if you then bake it, the bread will be soft, fluffy, pleasantly tart and aromatic. Beer, another cereal product, has been known about as long as bread. And it’s been also known for a long time that if you gather the froth from the surface of fermenting wort and add it to the bread dough, then it will rise faster.

<nomobile>[[File:Poolish.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.7|Poolish – above, freshly mixed; below, risen]]</nomobile>
Centuries later, once microscopes were around, the bubbles that cause the dough to rise were shown to be produced by microörganisms. Oversimplifying, there are two kinds of them. One kind is lactic-acid bacteria, which eat the sugars present in the flour, excreting carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Bacteria like these are also responsible for milk going sour (hence their name: “lactic” means “milk”, “acid” means “sour”) and for cabbage turning into sauerkraut. In bread, pockets of the carbon dioxide are trapped in the dough, making the crumb porous and fluffy, while the lactic acid gives the bread its specific tart flavour. And yes, the dough which is left for bacteria to make it sour is called sourdough.

The other kind is a bunch of single-celled fungi found in the froth from beer wort and called yeast. Yeast cells eat sugar, excreting carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. They are also responsible for producing wine, mead and vodka. In bread, the carbon dioxide makes the bread fluffy, while the alcohol mostly evaporates during baking (which means you can’t get drunk on bread; tough luck). Bakers, as we’ve already seen, used to obtain their yeast from breweries and add it to the starter for their dough (not sour at all).

The year 1842 saw the brewing of the world’s first lager in Pilsen (now Plzeň, Czech Republic). Lager is a low-fermentation beer, which means that the yeast, once done, sinks to the bottom of the vat rather than float to the surface. Pilsner-type lager caught Europe by the storm, which had the unexpected side-effect of bakers no longer having access to a source of fresh yeast, as there was nothing to collect from the surface of the lager brew. And fresh yeast was indispensable. In the case of sourdough, it’s common to leave some of it to kick-start the next batch, with the resulting flavour only getting better every time. This approach doesn’t work with yeast, though, as old yeast gives bread a rather unpleasant, stale aroma.

A method, therefore, was needed to somehow rejuvenate this old yeast. And this is why pre-ferments were invented. The idea is to effect preliminary fermentation and let new generations of yeast cells to bud out from the old ones. Only then comes the second phase of fermentation whose purpose is to rise the dough with the young population of yeast. Pre-ferments come in several kinds, such as the Italian ''biga'' (used in production of ciabattas) or the English sponge (used in making hamburger buns). But what we’re interested in is the highly-hydrated pre-ferment, in which flour and water are mixed in equal proportion by weight, producing a loose starter similar in its consistency to pancake batter. This method is mostly used in preparing the dough for baguettes and other typically French rolls. And this is the method which is known by the word “poolish”. Phew!
<mobileonly>[[File:Poolish.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Poolish – above, freshly mixed; below, risen]]</mobileonly>

== Let Them Eat… What Exactly? ==
Now that we know what poolish is, let’s see how the French have learned to make it. We can start by looking at what can be gleaned from the Internet. Here’s what one French culinary website has to say on the topic:

<nomobile>[[File:Marie Antoinette in 1775.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), Queen of France]]</nomobile>
{{ Cytat
| Originally, poolish was invented to economise on industrially-produced yeast, which was expensive at the time when it was new on the market. Today this is no longer the case and the method is employed for its other advantages. This practice originated in Poland and it was Viennese bakers who introduced it in France for Marie Antoinette.
| oryg = A l’origine, la poolish a été mise au point pour économiser la levure industrielle alors assez onéreuse au début de sa commercialisation. Aujourd’hui ce n’est plus le cas et on utilise cette méthode pour ses autres avantages. Ce mode de fabrication a son origine en Pologne, et ce sont les boulangers viennois qui l’introduisirent en France pour Marie Antoinette.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = La cuisine de Fabrou
| rozdział = Pain Poolish ou Pouliche
| adres rozdziału = http://lacuisinedefabrou.fr/Recettes/Pain%20poolish.htm
}}, own translation }}

Seems legit, doesn’t it? After all, Marie Antoinette, an Austrian-born queen of France, is famous for her expertise in baked goods and for her piece of advice that those who can’t afford bread should eat cake instead. Right? Well, not really, as it turns out. Firstly, the way this quotation is commonly rendered into English is quite loose, because what Marie Antoinette actually talked about was not cake, but brioche (''“qu’ils mangent de la brioche”''), a sweet bun made from dough rich in eggs and butter. The cake version must have spread in the English language before the brioche became popular in the English-speaking world.

<mobileonly>[[File:Marie Antoinette in 1775.jpg|thumb|upright|Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), Queen of France]]</mobileonly>
And secondly… Marie Antoinette never really said anything like that. This sentence was originally attributed to an unspecified princess by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in an anecdote of his device. Back then, Marie Antoinette was ten years old and not even thinking about moving to France. It was only long after her death that the gibe was taken from the anonymous princess’s mouth and put into the French queen’s – most likely to provide some justification for why she’d been guillotined. Interestingly, in Samuel William Orson’s translation of Rousseau’s ''Confessions'' it’s neither brioche nor cake, but pastry!

{{ Cytat
| I furnished myself from time to time with a few bottles to drink in my own apartment; but unluckily, I could never drink without eating; the difficulty lay therefore, in procuring bread. {{...}} I could not bear to purchase it myself; how could a fine gentleman, with a sword at his side, enter a baker’s shop to buy a small loaf of bread? it was utterly impossible. At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Then let them eat pastry!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Rousseau
| imię = Jean-Jacques
| inni = transl. Samuel William Orson
| tytuł = The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau
| url = https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3913/3913-h/3913-h.htm
| wydawca = Project Gutenberg
| wolumin = Book VI
}}
| oryg = L’occasion fit que je m’en accommodai de temps en temps de quelques bouteilles pour boire à mon aise en mon petit particulier. Malheureusement, je n’ai jamais pu boire sans manger. Comment faire pour avoir du pain ? {{...}} En acheter moi-même, je n’osai jamais. Un beau monsieur, l’épée au côté, aller chez un boulanger acheter un morceau de pain, cela se pouvait-il ? Enfin je me rappelai le pis-aller d’une grande princesse à qui l’on disait que les paysans n’avaient pas de pain, et qui répondit : Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Rousseau
| imię = Jean-Jacques
| tytuł = Les Confessions
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Rousseau_-_Les_Confessions,_Launette,_1889,_tome_1.djvu/363
| wydawca = Launette
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1889
| tom = I
| strony = 265–266
}} }}

But let’s get back to the poolish. Suppose this method really was developed to economise on mass-produced pressed yeast. It’s hard to figure out, then, how it could have been done about a hundred years before such yeast actually hit the market. I suggest we no longer bother our heads about a headless queen and look for more reliable sources instead. Let’s see, for example, what Bakerpedia, an online baking encyclopedia, has to say about the origin of poolish:

{{ Cytat
| This breadmaking method was first developed in Poland during the 1840s by a nobleman named Baron Zang. Poolish was later spread by Viennese bakers into Austria who upon emigrating to France around 1840 initiated the production of Vienna breads and other luxury bakery products in Paris using the Poolish technique. With this technique bakers switched from using associations of yeast and sourdough {{...}} to yeast alone for carrying out fermentation at the bakeshop.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Bakerpedia
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://bakerpedia.com/processes/poolish/
}} }}

So it wasn’t an Austrian princess who helped introduce poolish to France when she arrived there in 1770; it was a nobleman who came to France from Austria 70 years later! But the crucial bit that both sources agree on is that poolish is a Polish invention. That’s hardly surprising, as Poland is famous for its bread. It’s more famous for its rye sourdough loaves than for yeast-raised wheat baguettes, though, but we wouldn’t want to question this great Polish achievement and yet another source of Polish national pride, would we?

Well, of course we would! And so, by tracing the ultimate source of the information that eventually found its way to Bakerpedia and many other texts (print and online), we can determine that it relies on the authority of Raymond Calvel, the professor of baking at the National Higher School of Milling and Cereal Industries ({{small|ENSMIC}}) in Paris who wrote the book on baking bread. This is what the book, ''The Taste of Bread'', says about where the poolish method comes from:

<nomobile>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), professor of baking]]</nomobile>
{{ Cytat
| This method of breadmaking was first developed in Poland during the 1840s, from whence its name. It was then used in Vienna by Viennese bakers, and it was during this same period that it became known in France. The bread produced by this method became known as Vienna bread, named for those Austrian bakers who began to make it in Paris after having come from Vienna. The poolish method seems to have become the only breadmaking method used in France until the 1920s for production of breads leavened solely with yeast. {{...}} The Vienna bread made during that period was the result of a production method introduced into France by an Austrian, Baron Zang. With the assistance of a group of Viennese bakers, the Baron began to produce this type of bread in Paris in 1840, in a bakery that still exists today on the Rue de Richelieu. This bread corresponded to our definition of “traditional” bread, since it was made from a mixture of flour, water, yeast and salt, occasionally enriched with the addition of a little malt extract. It was leavened with a poolish, and was thus a baker’s yeast leavened product. During the whole of the 1840s–1920s, this type of bread experienced well-deserved commercial success in the larger French cities, especially Paris. As may be seen still today on the advertising signs of old bakeries, the consumer had the choice between “French bread” made from levain [i.e., sourdough starter], and Vienna-style bread, made from baker’s yeast.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| inni = transl. Ronald L. Wirtz, ed. James J. MacGuire
| tytuł = The Taste of Bread
| wydawca = Springer Science+Business Media
| miejsce =
| rok = 2001
| strony = 42, 116
}}
| oryg = Cette méthode de panification aurait vu le jour en Pologne, d’où son nom, dans les années 1840, puis aurait été exploitée en Autriche, à Vienne, par les boulangers viennois. C’est à la même époque, qu’elle a été connue en France. Le pain, ainsi obtenu, prit le nom de pain viennois, du nom des boulangers, venus de Vienne, le fabriquer à Paris. La poolish devait, alors, être, le seul mode de panification utilisé en France, jusqu’aux années 1920, pour la production du pain uniquement ensemencé à l’aide de la levure de boulangerie. {{...}} Le pain viennois résultait alors d’une production introduite en France par un Autrichien, le baron Zang, qui, accompagné d’ouvriers boulangers viennois, devait, à partir de 1840, le fabriquer à Paris, dans une boulangerie qui existe encore, rue de Richelieu. C’était un pain répondant à la définition du pain traditionnel, résultant d’un mélange de farine, d’eau, de levure et de sel, enrichi, parfois, d’un peu d’extrait de malt, ensemencé sur poolish et, donc, à base de levure. Il devait connaître, durant toute cette période, dans les grandes villes et surtout à Paris, un succès mérité et le consommateur avait le choix, comme on peut le constater encore aujourd’hui, sur la devanture d’anciennes boulangeries, entre « le pain français », obtenu au levain, et le « pain viennois » obtenu à la levure de boulangerie.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| tytuł = Le goût du pain
| wydawca = Éditions Jérôme Villette
| miejsce =
| rok = 1990
| strony = 30, 81
}} }}

<mobileonly>[[File:Raymond Calvel.jpg|thumb|Raymond Calvel (1913–2005), professor of baking]]</mobileonly>
If a bread-making expert of this stature said that poolish was of Polish origin, then few people saw the reason to question this assertion. Well, alright, but who was this supposedly Polish baron with a rather non-Polish-sounding name, credited with bringing from Austria to France the pre-ferment which gave rise to French baguettes?

== The Baker in Spite of Himself ==
[[File:August Zang.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|August Zang (1807–1888), a businessman (colourized)]]
According to Jim Chevalier, a specialist in French bread history, Christopher August Zang was born in 1807 in the family of a Viennese surgeon. As a young man, Zang served as an artillery officer and studied chemical engineering in the Austrian capital. When he was 28, his military career was cut short by his father’s death. After all, why pursue a career of any kind, if you’ve inherited a fortune from your dad? The inheritance was enough for some time of carefree indulgence and then, all of a sudden, it ran dry. Zang managed a soft landing by marrying into a rich family, but this experience taught him that once you earn some funds, it’s better to invest them rather than blow them all on consumption. And so Zang discovered in himself a knack for entrepreneurship.

As a keen observer, Zang noticed visiting French people raving about Viennese bread. Whenever he was in Paris, he could see for himself that French bread – dark, heavy and sour – was nothing like what was available back in Vienna. There was an obvious niche on the French baking market and Zang resolved to enter this niche with a little capital. In 1837 he moved to Paris, where he and his business partner, Ernest Schwarzer, opened a new bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu. Do you need to know anything about baking bread to run a successful bakery? Not necessarily, as Zang and Schwarzer promptly demonstrated; all you need is to hire good Viennese bakers, trust that they know what they’re doing and have the guts to invest in the technological innovations these bakers recommend. In the meantime, the owners focused on marketing; after all, if you’re investing in technological novelties, your customers should be made aware of that. And so, Zang’s patrons (Schwarzer sold his share to Zang in 1839) soon learned that the dough for Zang’s bread was kneaded not by a sweaty half-naked baker, but by a modern, hygienic machine, and that the loaves were baked in a special steam oven which gave the finished product an appetisingly shiny crust. Parisians were quick to learn about the advantages of “Viennese” baked goods, which owed their highly-prised aroma, lightness, whiteness and freshness to a combination of good Hungarian wheat flour and baker’s yeast (free from the hoppy bitterness of brewer’s yeast).

[[File:Kipferl + Kaisersemmel.png|thumb|left|A crescent roll (German ''Kipferl'', French ''croissant'') and a kaiser roll (German ''Kaisersemmel'', French ''petit pain viennois'')]]
Zang’s establishment was known as ''Boulangerie Viennoise'', or “Viennese Bakery”. True to its name, it offered Austrian breadstuffs that had been hitherto unknown in Paris, such as ''[[What Has the Battle of Vienna Given Us?#Croissants|Kipferl]]'', or Viennese crescent rolls (dubbed ''“croissants”'' by the French), and ''Kaisersemmel'', or kaiser rolls (which Parisians referred to simply as ''“petits pains viennois”'', or “little Viennese breads”). Zang’s commercial success was quickly copied by local bakers, so that by 1840 a dozen shops offering “Viennese” breads had sprung up across Paris.

Eight years later a wave of revolutions known as the Springtime of Nations swept across Europe, upsetting the order which had been established in the wake of Napoleonic wars. France became a republic again, while political reforms in Austria brought about a greater freedom of the press. For Zang this was an occasion to invest in a completely new business. He sold the bakery and returned to Vienna, where he became a newspaper publisher. Here, again, he would bet on innovation; his paper ''Die Presse'' published short paragraphs arranged in columns, novels in episodes and numerous advertisements which helped maintain a competitive price. Zang stayed in this business for two decades until he sold his publishing house only to move on to banking and mining (the lignite mine that he purchased in Styria bears the name Zangtal to this day).

[[File:Piekarnia Wiedeńska Zanga.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|The Viennese Bakery (''Boulangerie Viennoise'') at 92, rue de Richelieu, in Paris, which circa 1909 still displayed Zang’s name on its shop sign]]
Zang was without a doubt an affluent and influential man, but he could only be described as a baron in the figurative sense. He never bore any actual titles of nobility, whether by birth or by grant. Was he proud of his contribution to the development of French bread-making? Not particularly. In fact, he actively tried to hide this episode of his professional life, spurred on by his business and political rivals dismissing him as a simple baker. Contrary to his efforts, however, his name had become a strong enough brand on the French bread market that subsequent owners of the bakery at 92, rue de Richelieu, consistently refused to remove it from the shop sign, even when offered financial compensation. Zang’s name was still prominently displayed on the bakery’s façade long after his death in 1888.

All the while, Viennese bread in France kept evolving. By the early 20th century, the word ''“viennoiserie”'' (literally, “Viennese stuff”) had been coined in French in the sense of “luxury Viennese-type breads”. But at the same time, these “Viennese” breads were becoming increasingly more French than Austrian. Supposedly Viennese croissants were now made with French puff pastry rather than traditional yeast dough. The latter did survive, however, in a new kind of bread rolls which only became common in the 1920s. These rolls were long and thin, white and sweetish (which made them attractive to consumers), but were very quick to go stale, so you had to buy them 2–3 times a day (which made them attractive to bakery owners). Due to their distinctive baton-like shape, they became known as “baguettes”, or “little sticks”. And this is how French baking as we know it today came to be. By that time, poolish had been in common use in France, especially for the production of baguettes. But this was already long after Zang’s death and even longer after he had divested himself of his Parisian bakery. Which means it probably isn’t him who should get the credit for introducing poolish to France.

'''''TL;DR:''''' It’s true that Zang opened in Paris a bakery, in which he employed Viennese bakers, but he was neither a baker himself nor a baron, nor Polish. And it wasn’t him who brought poolish to France. But if not him, then who? And is there any connection between poolish and Polish bakers after all?

== What’s in a Name? ==
[[File:Poolish forum.png|thumb|Polish, Austrian, French or English? One of the attempts to solve the poolish puzzle on baking message boards:
{{Cytat
| “Poolish” comes from an English word which means “Polish” and refers to a French bread-making method imported by the Austrians. Four countries to define one method!
| oryg = La pouliche vient du mot « poolish », mot anglais qui veut dire « polonais » et qui serait une méthode de panification française importée par des autrichiens. Quatre pays concernés pour définir une méthode !
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = BoulangerieNet
| nazwisko r = Dewalque
| imię r = Marc
| rozdział = La pouliche ou poolish, histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://www.boulangerienet.fr/bn/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23242&p=129829
| data = 3 October 2007
}}, own translation }} ]]

We know by now that while Prof. Calvel was a great authority on baking bread, he was not infallible, especially in matters of history. Besides, it seems he must have repeated the story about “Baron” Zang “from Poland” after someone else, as the same information had already appeared in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1972.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The Atlantic Monthly
| nazwisko r = Suyker
| imię r = Betty
| rozdział = A la Recherche du Pain Perdu
| miejsce = Boston
| data = July 1972
| strony = 90–92
}}; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Morph: A Blog About Languages And How They Change
| url =
| nazwisko r = Baerman
| imię r = Matthew
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://morph.surrey.ac.uk/index.php/2019/04/24/poolish/
| data = 24 April 2019
}}; also quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Mae’s Food Blog
| nazwisko r = Travels
| imię r = Mae
| rozdział = Baker’s Words
| adres rozdziału = https://maefood.blogspot.com/2018/02/bakers-words.html
| data = 14 February 2018
}}</ref> Is it possible, then, that he was wrong not only about Zang being Polish, but also about the Polish origin of the poolish method? Let’s take a closer look at the word itself: the spelling looks neither Polish nor German, nor French. If it looks like anything, it’s English – but weird English, like the word “Polish”, but written with a double “O” for whatever reason.

I’ve examined a variety of ancient sources while looking for a possible etymology of the word “poolish”, from 19th-century grain exchange reports to early-21st-century online message boards for bakers. It turns out there’s a number of hypotheses, none of them convincing.

=== Poolish ← Polish ===
The explanation which is most common (thanks to uncritical repetition) links “poolish” with the English word “Polish”. Some sources say that “Poolish” is an old alternative spelling of the same adjective, but I haven’t been able to find a dictionary that would confirm that. Yet, even if it were true, it only helps muddle the matter more than to elucidate it; why would the French call a Polish method they learned from the Austrians by an archaic English word? You can sense the frustration with how little sense it all makes in this post by Mr Thierry Martin in the French baking forum BoulangerieNet:

{{ Cytat
| But the word itself? Why the heck an English one? And an old English one at that? And only used in France, as it’s used neither in Poland nor in Austria, nor in England!
| oryg = Mais pour le mot lui-même ? Pourquoi diable en anglais ? Et en vieil anglais encore ! Et uniquement utilisé en France, et pas en Pologne, pas en Autriche et pas en Angleterre !
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = BoulangerieNet
| nazwisko r = Martin
| imię r = Thierry
| rozdział = La poolish est-elle polonaise ?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.boulangerienet.fr/bn/viewtopic.php?t=41255&sid=4a80373ac2d18559b1c1c9aef14ebcce
| data = 21 February 2010
}}, own translation }}

The same user (a dentist and home baker from the island of Reunion) later comes to the logical conclusion that even though Polish people are known for making good bread, it’s not enough to prove a Polish origin of the poolish method.

=== Poolish ← Polisch ===
Some of the oldest French-language mentions of this supposedly Polish starter use the spellings ''“poolisch”'' or ''“polisch”'' (with “sch”), which suggests an alternative version of the above etymology. Namely, that the word comes not from English, but from German. But isn’t the German word for “Polish” written as ''“polnisch”'', with an “N”? Yes, it is in modern Standard German; but in 19th-century southern dialects (used in Austria), the same adjective could be written without the “N”, as ''“polisch”'', ''“pohlisch”'' or ''“pollisch”''. And some of these spellings can be found in the context of bread starters. For example, an 1865 advertisement for St. Marxer, a Viennese brand of pressed yeast, mentions a ''“Polisch”'' method. The word, in this sense, seems to have been largely forgotten in German with time, but even a century later a German bread-making handbook still talked about a ''“polische”'' bread dough:

{{cytat
| The polische dough, with its minimal yeast requirement, was {{...}} the standard way of preparing Viennese white bread at the time. The use of very long working time was made possible by the practically unlimited working hours in the era of manual labour. One was choosing here a lesser evil: it was better, by using a polische starter, to accept a somewhat rough texture with unpredictable crumb pores and weak colouration of the baked product than to lower its quality by using more brewer’s yeast.
| oryg = Die polische Teigführung mit ihrem Minimum an Hefebedarf war {{...}} die Standardführung der Wiener Weißbäckerei in der damaligen Zeit. Ermöglicht wurde die Anwendung dieser sehr lange Arbeitszeit in Anspruch nehmenden Teigführung durch die praktisch unbegrenzten Arbeitszeiten in jener handwerksgeschichtlichen Epoche. Man wählte hierbei das kleinere Übel: denn es war immer noch besser, den durch die polische Führung bedingten, etwas derben Gebäckcharakter bei gleichzeitig sehr unruhiger Krumenporung und schwacher Farbannahme der Gebäcke im Backofen hinzunehmen, als durch Zusatz höherer Bierhefemengen zur Teigführung die Gebäckqualität noch mehr zu verschlechtern.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Brot und Gebäck
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=sCNIAAAAYAAJ
| wydawca = Arbeitsgemeinschaft Getreideforschung
| miejsce =
| rok = 1965
| tom = 19–21
| strony = 151
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Zakwas na żur.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Fermented rye meal – a ''polnische Suppe''?]]
But this is still no proof for the method having been developed in Poland. Dr. Matthew Baerman, in his article for the linguistic blog ''Morph'', suggests that the name may have come from a mental association made between the loose starter and the famous Polish fermented-rye-meal soup called ''“żur”''{{czyt|żur}} or ''“żurek”''{{czyt|żurek}} – even though the soup is made from diluted sourdough rather than a yeast starter.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Morph: A blog about languages and how they change
| nazwisko r = Baerman
| imię r = Matthew
| rozdział = Poolish
| adres rozdziału = https://morph.surrey.ac.uk/index.php/2019/04/24/poolish
| data = 24 April 2019
}}</ref> In fact, some German sources use the name ''“polnische Suppe”'' (“Polish soup”) for the loose yeast pre-ferment.<ref> {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Markus J. Brandt, Michael Gänzle
| tytuł = Handbuch Sauerteig
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=QPCzWumEHU8C
| nazwisko r = Seiffert
| imię r = Martin
| rozdział = Technik der Weizenvor- und Sauerteig-Führungen in Deutschland und Europa
| wydawca = Behr’s Verlag
| rok = 2006
| strony = 286
}}</ref> What Dr. Baerman may have been unaware of is that the word ''“żurek”'' also has a special meaning in Polish baking terminology, where it refers to a loose sourdough starter. But this is a kind of starter Polish bakers use for making ''chleb''{{czyt|chleb}}, a sourdough rye bread, rather than for white yeast rolls. Mixed rye-wheat ''chleb'' is also common in Poland, but even then you would prepare a rye sourdough starter and a wheat yeast pre-ferment separately.<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Mieczysława Janik
| tytuł = Piekarstwo: receptury, normy, porady i przepisy prawne
| wydawca = Zakład Badawczy Przemysłu Piekarskiego, Handlowo-Usługowa Spółdzielnia „Samopomoc Chłopska”
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2002
| strony = 11–12
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Mieczysław Dłużewski
| tytuł = Technologia żywności: podręcznik dla technikum
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=iYsDzUppFAMC&lpg=PA23&pg=PA23
| wydawca = Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2008
| wolumin = part 4
| strony = 23
}}</ref>

Whatever the case, Dr. Baerman admits that “this theory has the minor drawback of lacking any positive evidence in its favor.”

=== Poolish ← Pouliche ===
[[File:Baquet a pouliche.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|A ''pouliche'' bucket according to a 1937 French baking handbook]]
But there’s still more confusion to come. Some of the oldest texts about poolish use a different, much more French-looking, spelling: ''“pouliche”''. And it’s not only French-language sources that do it; ''“pouliche”'' appears for example in an article about French bakeries which was published in an American millers’ magazine in 1897,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The Northwestern Miller
| nazwisko r = Harwood
| imię r = W.S.
| rozdział = The Bread of Paris
| adres rozdziału = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433008286860&view=1up&seq=651
| wydawca = Miller Publishing Company
| miejsce = Minneapolis
| data = October–December 1897
| wolumin = v. 44
| strony = 31
}}</ref> as well as in an American handbook written by an Austrian baker in 1903.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Braun
| imię = Emil
| tytuł = Baker’s Book: A Practical Hand Book of All the Baking Industries in All Countries
| wydawca = Van Nostrand
| miejsce = New York
| rok = 1903
| tom = 2
| strony = 317
}}; quoted in: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2019
}}</ref>

The trouble is that in French the word ''“pouliche”'' has a meaning which is completely unrelated to baking; it means “filly”. What could a young female horse have to do with a yeast starter? Perhaps someone associated a pre-ferment, whose purpose is to rejuvenate a yeast population, with a young equine? Or maybe fermenting and bubbling dough reminded someone of a prancing filly? We can only guess. In any case, this the etymology that Jim Chevalier is leaning to. In his opinion, the pseudo-English phonetic spelling “poolish” appeared after the original ''“pouliche”'', and it was only then that its similarity to the English word “Polish” gave rise to the story about the method’s Polish origin. And to make this story more believable, someone decided to explain the Polish-French connection by adding the famous August Zang as a missing link.

=== Poolish ← פאליש ===
<nomobile>[[File:Luboml synagogue poolish.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A pre-Holocaust picture of the ''poolish'' of the Great Synagogue in the Volhynian town of Luboml (now in western Ukraine)]]</nomobile>
I’ve found an even more surprising hypothesis, which proposes that the work “poolish” comes from ''“polish”'' (פאליש), which is a Yiddish word for a synagogue antechamber. The idea here is that a pre-ferment is the first step towards a finished bread, just like the antechamber is the first step towards the synagogue. In the central (Polish-Galician) dialect of Yiddish, the vowel “o” is closer to the “oo” sound, which would explain the “poolish” spelling in English transcription, as well as indicate a Polish origin of the method. Except that, in this case, the authorship of this method would belong not to Poles in general, but specifically to Polish Jews.

<mobileonly>[[File:Luboml synagogue poolish.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A pre-Holocaust picture of the ''poolish'' of the Great Synagogue in the Volhynian town of Luboml (now in western Ukraine)]]</mobileonly>
Prof. David Gold, who suggested this possibility, admits that it “sounds farfetched”.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gold
| imię = David L.
| tytuł = Studies in Etymology and Etiology: With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance and Slavic Languages
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=l015C5vm1XkC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA584
| wydawca = Universidad de Alicante
| rok = 2009
| strony = 584–585
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Or Maybe It’s Poolish ← Polish After All? ===
[[File:Polisch Odessa.png|thumb|upright=1.5|“Polish Odessa” (or “Polisch Odessa”) in 19th-century British, French, Belgian and German press]]

When looking for the oldest possible anchor points, I discovered that west European press, starting in the first half of the 19th century, often used the phrase “Polish Odessa” (also spelled “Polisch Odessa”), which is quite surprising when you consider that Odessa was never a Polish city. It turns out, however, that this was the name used for the wheat imported from what is now western Ukraine.

This is how Polish wheat varieties were described in a French book on grain trade from 1910:
{{clear}}
{{ Cytat
| The wheat from Poland is exported via Danzig and Odessa; it is often confused with Russian wheat and known as “Odessa wheat” if exported through that port. It comes in white, yellow and red varieties; whether pure or mixed, the most appreciated types come from Sandomierz and Cracow. {{...}}

The kinds [of wheat from Russia] most commonly used include the high-quality Polish red. It is called “nervous”, which means it helps the dough rise {{...}}
| oryg = Les Froments de Pologne sont exportés par Dantzig et Odessa ; ils sont souvent confondus avec les blés de Russie et sont traités sous le nom de « Blé Odessa », lorsqu’ils sont exportés par ce port. Ces froments sont blancs, jaunes et roux ; purs ou bigarrés, les types les plus appréciés viennent de Sandomierz et Cracovie. {{...}}

Les qualités [des froments de Russie] le plus couramment traitées sont : les blés Polish, roux de bonne qualité. Ils sont dits « nerveux », c’est-à-dire qu’ils font monter la pâte {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Hissenhoven
| imię = Paul van
| tytuł = Les grains et le marché d’Anvers
| url = https://archive.org/details/lesgrainsetlemar00hiss/page/24/mode/2up
| wydawca = Imprimerie Aug. van Nylen
| miejsce = Anvers
| rok = 1910
| strony = 24
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Trasy eksportu zboża z Polski w XIX wieku.png|thumb|left|Grain transportation routes from Poland to London in the 19th century (blue lines)]]
Throughout the 19th century, the wheat which grew in the Russian-controlled territories of the erstwhile Polish Commonwealth was exported to the west via two routes. The northern route went from the Sandomierz area in what is now southeastern Poland down the Vistula river across the Prussian partition of Poland to Danzig (now Gdańsk) and from there, on Dutch merchant ships, across the Baltic and North seas to London. The southern route took the grain from the regions of Volhynia and Podolia (now western Ukraine) down the Dniester river to Odessa and thence, on Greek ships, across the Black and Mediterranean seas to London. At the time, London was Europe’s chief grain-trading hub; it was on London exchanges that people speculated on grain before it had even reached the shores of England, settled its price and decided which batch of wheat would eventually go to which port in western Europe.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Business and Economic History
| nazwisko r = Rothstein
| imię r = Morton
| rozdział = Centralizing Firms and Spreading Markets: The World of International Grain Traders, 1846–1914
| adres rozdziału = https://thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v017/p0103-p0114.pdf
| wydawca = Business History Conference
| miejsce =
| rok = 1988
| wolumin = Second Series
| tom = 17
| strony = 103–113
}}</ref>

No wonder that even in France the wheat from Poland was known under the English trade name of “Polish”. But the French have always been very creative in butchering the words they loaned from English (mind you, the French word for “shampoo” is ''“shampooing”'' and the French for “walkie-talkie” is ''“talkie-walkie”''), so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would write the English word “Polish” as ''“Polisch”'' or even ''“Poolish”''.

And now it’s time for my own proposition: the poolish method was developed in France, but it gave the best results with the “nervous” Polish wheat, which was known in France as “Poolish” (among other misspellings) and lent its name to the method. Only once the name “poolish” had caught on, along with the pseudo-English pronunciation to match the butchered spelling, was the French phonetic spelling ''“pouliche”'' (which also happens to be the French word for “filly”) coined.

Is this proposition supported by any historical sources? No. Is it far-fetched? Definitely. But is it more of a stretch than the other etymologies presented above? I shall leave it for the Reader to decide. So what do we know for sure? That poolish was invented in France rather than in Poland, and in the second half of the 19th century, so it couldn’t have been popularised by August Zang – let alone by Marie Antoinette’s court bakers. But the origin of its name will remain a mystery.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Calvel
| imię = Raymond
| tytuł = Le Goût du Pain : Comment le préserver, comment le retrouver
| url =
| wydawca = Éditions Jérôme Villette
| rok = 1990
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = August Zang and the French Croissant: How Viennoiserie Came to France
| url = https://books.google.pl/books/about/August_Zang_and_the_French_Croissant.html?id=7MfvT_NOdHsC
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2009
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Chevallier
| imię = Jim
| tytuł = Before the Baguette: The History of French Bread
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=EIrDywEACAAJ&dq=Before+the+Baguette
| wydawca = Chez Jim
| miejsce = North Hollywood
| rok = 2019
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Piekarski i Cukierniczy
| nazwisko r = Piesiewicz
| imię r = Henryk
| rozdział = Podmłody – ważny element procesu produkcji
| adres rozdziału = http://www.sigma-not.pl/publikacja-76264-podm%C5%82ody---wa%C5%BCny-element-procesu-produkcji-przeglad-piekarski-i-cukierniczy-2013-5.html
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = May 2013
| strony = 28–30
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Piekarski i Cukierniczy
| nazwisko r = Piesiewicz
| imię r = Henryk
| rozdział = Powrót do tradycyjnych rozczynów: Podmłody
| adres rozdziału = http://www.sigma-not.pl/publikacja-80911-powr%C3%B3t-do-tradycyjnych-rozczyn%C3%B3w---podm%C5%82ody-przeglad-piekarski-i-cukierniczy-2013-12.html
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = December 2013
| strony = 20–22
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Good Humour, Good Health: How They Do It in Asia|nast=Epic Cooking: The Decorous Rite of the Mushroom Hunt}}

[[Category: Baguette]]
[[Category: Brioche]]
[[Category: Beer]]
[[Category: Bread]]
[[Category: Kaiser roll]]
[[Category: Croissant]]
[[Category: Sour rye-meal soup]]
[[Category: Raymond Calvel]]
[[Category: Marie-Antoinette]]
[[Category: Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]
[[Category: August Zang]]
[[Category: London]]
[[Category: Odessa]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Vienna]]
[[Category: Jews]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category:Wheat]]

[[pl:Czy poolish wymyślili Polacy?]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-02T22:47:24Z

Kpalion: /* The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland */

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish high school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting these timepieces in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.svg|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.svg|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.svg|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżebieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

[[Category: Carp in cream]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Lobster in the Polish style]]
[[Category: Onion soup]]
[[Category: Pozharsky cutlet]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Henryk Babiński]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Jan Brzechwa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Cuper]]
[[Category: Józef Cyrankiewicz]]
[[Category:Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
[[Category: Jarosław Dumanowski]]
[[Category: Alexandre Dumas]]
[[Category: Władysław Gomułka]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Gronowski]]
[[Category: Henry III]]
[[Category: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]
[[Category: Kazimierz Jaroszyński]]
[[Category: Jan Kalkowski]]
[[Category: Władysław Edward Kucharski]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa]]
[[Category:Darya Pozharskaya]]
[[Category: Edward Pożerski]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Przypkowski]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Jędrzejów]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Torzhok]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]

[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

Category:Vladimir Putin

2026-06-01T09:41:25Z

Kpalion: Created page with "Vladimir Putin '''Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin''' (b. 1952) – president of Russia. Category:Politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Putin Vladimir}} pl:Kategoria:Władimir Putin"

[[File:Владимир Путин (06-02-2024).jpg|thumb|200x200px|Vladimir Putin]]
'''Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin''' (b. 1952) – president of Russia.

[[Category:Politicians]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putin Vladimir}}

[[pl:Kategoria:Władimir Putin]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-06-01T09:40:17Z

Kpalion:

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''“русское”'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''“российское”'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
[[Category: Marcin Bielski]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Czerniecki]]
[[Category: Ivan Franko]]
[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Napoleon I]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Eliza Orzeszkowa]]
[[Category: Peter I, the Great]]
[[Category: Marco Polo]]
[[Category: Vladimir Putin]]
[[Category: Sigismund II Augustus]]
[[Category: Vasily III]]
[[Category: Vladimir the Great]]
[[Category: Wojciech Wielądko]]
[[Category: Yaroslav the Wise]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Ukraine]]
[[Category: Kyiv]]
[[Category: Lviv]]
[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
[[Category: Pasztecik szczeciński]]
[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-06-01T08:58:47Z

Kpalion: /* Russians Great and Little */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''“русское”'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''“российское”'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

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[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
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[[Category: Ravioli]]
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[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-01T08:50:30Z

Kpalion:

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish high school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting sundials in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.svg|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.svg|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.svg|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.svg|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.svg|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.svg|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżebieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

[[Category: Carp in cream]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Lobster in the Polish style]]
[[Category: Onion soup]]
[[Category: Pozharsky cutlet]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Henryk Babiński]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Jan Brzechwa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Cuper]]
[[Category: Józef Cyrankiewicz]]
[[Category:Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
[[Category: Jarosław Dumanowski]]
[[Category: Alexandre Dumas]]
[[Category: Władysław Gomułka]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Gronowski]]
[[Category: Henry III]]
[[Category: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]
[[Category: Kazimierz Jaroszyński]]
[[Category: Jan Kalkowski]]
[[Category: Władysław Edward Kucharski]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa]]
[[Category:Darya Pozharskaya]]
[[Category: Edward Pożerski]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Przypkowski]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Jędrzejów]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Torzhok]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]

[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-01T08:44:32Z

Kpalion: /* The Recipients */

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish high school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting sundials in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.png|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.png|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.png|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.png|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.png|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżebieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

[[Category: Carp in cream]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Lobster in the Polish style]]
[[Category: Onion soup]]
[[Category: Pozharsky cutlet]]
[[Category: Recipës]]
[[Category: Henryk Babiński]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin]]
[[Category: Jan Brzechwa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Cuper]]
[[Category: Józef Cyrankiewicz]]
[[Category:Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]
[[Category: Jarosław Dumanowski]]
[[Category: Alexandre Dumas]]
[[Category: Władysław Gomułka]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Gronowski]]
[[Category: Henry III]]
[[Category: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]
[[Category: Kazimierz Jaroszyński]]
[[Category: Jan Kalkowski]]
[[Category: Władysław Edward Kucharski]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Maria Ochorowicz-Monatowa]]
[[Category:Darya Pozharskaya]]
[[Category: Edward Pożerski]]
[[Category: Tadeusz Przypkowski]]
[[Category: Stanisław Leszczyński]]
[[Category: Cracow]]
[[Category: Jędrzejów]]
[[Category: Paris]]
[[Category: Torzhok]]
[[Category: Warsaw]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]

[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane

2026-06-01T08:43:56Z

Kpalion: /* The Recipients */

{{data|23 June 2025}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Odznaka orderu Pomiana.jpg}}|thumb|upright=1.3|Badge of the Order of Pomiane]]
There is a curious award badge, called the Order of Pomiane (''Order Pomiana'' in Polish), which occasionally turns up at numismatics-and-phaleristics auctions in Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| nazwisko2 r = Belke
| imię2 r = Rafał
| rozdział = Mafia kolekcjonerska pod młotkiem
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rp.pl/ekonomia/art13653071-mafia-kolekcjonerska-pod-mlotkiem
| rok = 22 June 2012
}}</ref> It has never had the status of a state decoration, yet its badges were produced by the Polish National Mint and the award ceremony was at times hosted at a Polish embassy with all the customary fanfare.

The badge has the form of a little shield in the roughly triangular shape of a goblet, measuring 57×45 mm. The shield is adorned with a bull’s or bison’s head in black enamel overlaid with a crossed knife and fork. The badge would be hung around the recipient’s neck on a yellow-and-red ribbon and fastened with a metal buckle in the shape of a filled dumpling. It came in a decorative box, whose lid bore the bison’s head again, along with the Latin motto: ''“Materiam superat opus”'' (“The workmanship surpasses the material”).<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Niemczyk
| imię = Michał
| tytuł = Aukcja 30. Jubileuszowa
| url = https://niemczyk.pl/storage/39007/katalog-A30.pdf
| wydawca = Antykwariat Numizmatyczny
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 September 2021
| strony = 353
}}</ref>

The knife, fork, goblet and dumpling suggest that the award must have had something to do with eating and drinking. But whom was it awarded to – and for what achievements? Who conferred this peculiar honour – and why? Where did the idea and the name for this decoration come from? And what the heck is a bison’s head doing in the design? These are the questions I will try to answer in this post.

== The Namesake: The Guru of Gallic Gastronomy ==
First things first, so let’s begin with the man who lent the Order of Pomiane its name.

[[File:Edward Pożerski herbu Pomian.jpg|thumb|Edward Pożerski of Clan Pomian (1875–1964), a gastroenterologist and gastronome]]
He was born in 1875 in Paris, in a Polish noble family, and his real name was Edward Pożerski.{{czyt|Edward Pożerski}} His parents were refugees who had fled Poland after the failed anti-Russian uprising of 1863. They sent him to a Polish high school in the French capital, where he was raised as a Polish patriot, but fed rather poorly. He would later write in his memoirs that he was hungry most of his youth. The hunger kept him thinking about food to such an extent that once he had graduated from school, he chose to study gastrointestinal physiology at the university. He became a doctor of medicine in 1902. By that time he had already worked at the Pasteur Institute for a year and this is where he would keep doing research on digestive juices for most of his life.

[[File:Henryk Babiński.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|left|Henryk Babiński (1855–1931), also known as Ali-Bab, cookbook author]]
His academic work on digestion motivated him to take interest in healthy nutrition, which in turn led him to the question of rational food preparation techniques. It was another Frenchman whose parents had been political refugees from Poland, albeit a generation older, who became Pożerski’s mentor in culinary matters. His name was Henryk Babiński{{czyt|Henryk Babiński}} and, although he was a mining engineer by trade, he also authored cookbooks under the pen name Ali-Bab. His monumental work, ''Practical Gastronomy'' (''Gastronomie pratique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ali-Bab
| tytuł = Gastronomie pratique : études culinaires suivies du Traitement de l’obésité des gourmands
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k34113057/
| wydawca = Ernest Flammarion
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1923
}}</ref> was a best seller in the French culinary literature of the early 20th century.

Encouraged by Ali-Bab, Pożerski decided to publish his own thoughts on how to cook meals that are both tasty and healthy: an essay on theoretical gastronomy. The author of ''Practical Gastronomy'' penned a foreword to the book, where he stated that Pożerski was walking in the footsteps of “the master of us all, the immortal author of ''The Physiology of Taste''”, meaning Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin{{czyt|Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin}} (1755–1826), who was a famous gourmet, but not really a scientist. Brillat-Savarin’s work, contrary to its title, doesn’t actually say much about the physiology of the sense of taste; it was more of a suggestion for future scientists to delve into the matter.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Brillat Savarin
| imię = Jean-Anthelme
| tytuł = Physiologie du goût
| url = https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1063697/
| wydawca = G. de Gonet
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1848
}}</ref> Pożerski’s book, entitled, ''Eat Well to Live Well'' (''Bien manger pour bien vivre''), was a first step towards taking this suggestion up. Pożerski argued that cooking ought to be a marriage between the art of gastronomy and the science of gastrotechnique (a word of his own coinage) whose ultimate goal would be to a create a dish providing maximum pleasure, thus inducing the healthy secretion of digestive juices. “The discovery of a new dish,” wrote Pożerski, quoting Brillat-Savarin, “does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}</ref>

{{video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzjyfqPe7ZE|poz=left|szer=350|opis=First episode of the TV show ''French Cooking in Ten Minutes'', aired by BBC in 1995, with Polish actor Krzysztof Różycki as Edouard de Pomiane. In English, but with a thick Polish accent.}}

In those times, however, culinary matters were considered trivial and unbecoming of a scientist. For this reason, Pożerski, who always signed his academic papers with his Polish name, decided, not unlike Babiński, to use a pen name when writing about gastronomy and gastrotechnique. Unlike Babiński, though, he chose a ''nom de plume'' which wasn’t as fairy-talish as “Ali-Bab”. He forged his pseudonym from the French version of his first name and the French spelling of “Pomian”, the name of his nobility clan, ending up with “Edouard de Pomiane”.{{czyt|Edouard de Pomiane}}

Soon, under this name, he started to publish cookery books, putting the theoretical tenets of gastrotechnique into practice. He was also the first person to host a culinary radio show. Edouard de Pomiane would shortly become a gastronomic celebrity.

[[File:Edward Pożerski w kuchni.JPG|thumb|upright=.7|Edward Pożerski in his kitchen, with the wooden spoons his mother brought all the way from Siberia]]
Unlike earlier culinary authorities, Pomiane didn’t write for great chefs whose ambition was to rise to the summit of culinary artistry and to prepare feasts worthy of monarchs and aristocrats. His target audience consisted of ordinary housewives who wished to cook healthy, thrifty and tasty meals for their families, and still have time left for other pursuits. His novel approach is already evident from the titles of his books, such as: ''Cooking in Six Lessons'' (''La cuisine en six leçons'') or ''Cooking in Ten Minutes'' (''La cuisine en dix minutes''). Older masters of the pot and pan must have scratched their heads when reading that a daily supper could very well do without one meat and one fish course.

Even though Pomiane carried out his culinary revolution in France in the first half of the 20th century, he did it in a romantic Old Polish style he had been brought up to love. If, for example, his recipë called for a bunch of parsley, he would specify that it had to be the size of a bouquet of violets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62
}}</ref> With his bald dome and bushy white whiskers, he even looked like a character out of an illustration to ''Pan Tadeusz'', the Polish national epic by Adam Mickiewicz that is set in the early 19th century. And apparently, this was no coincidence. His father, after whom he would increasingly take after with age, was friends with Michał Elwiro Andriolli, an Italian-Polish artist who etched well known illustrations to ''Pan Tadeusz'' and who used the elder Pożerski as a model for a typical old-time Polish gentleman.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 89
}}</ref>

Pomiane is also responsible for having smuggled some Polish touches into French cuisine. He even wrote an entire book whose purpose was to familiarize the French with Polish dishes and foodways, ''Polish Cookery as Seen from the Banks of the Seine'' (''La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine''). When entertaining guests at home, he would often regale them with “Polish dinners”, which could include, for example, a shot of bison-grass vodka and a piece of dried sausage for an ''apéritif'', meat with Tartary buckwheat and cognac-infused sauce or croquettes with fresh strawberries.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 82–83</ref> And whenever he wanted to brew some tea, he did it in an old samovar, the same that his father shared with Fyodor Dostoyevsky when they were both serving time in a Russian penal colony.<ref>''Ibid.'', p. 89</ref>

== First Course: Pozhersky Cutlets, Anyone? ==
[[File:Kotlety pożarskie.jpg|thumb|<s>Pozhersky</s> Pozharsky cutlets]]
According to food journalist Jan Kalkowski, Edward Pożerski was the inventor of a delicacy known as ''kotlety pożerskie'', or Pozhersky cutlets.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref> The same information is even repeated in the ''Polish Biographical Dictionary'' (''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'').<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}</ref> This isn’t true, however.

First of all, there is no such thing as “Pozhersky” cutlets. There is, however, a dish known as Pozh'''a'''rsky cutlets. Some sources, such as Maciej Halbański’s 1987 ''Dictionary of Culinary Arts'' (''Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej''), claim that they’ve been named after Prince Dmitry Pozharsky,<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Halbański
| imię = Maciej E.
| tytuł = Leksykon sztuki kulinarnej
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1987
| strony = 89
}}</ref> the national hero of Russia who, together with Kuzma Minin, lead the uprising which liberated Moscow from Polish occupation in 1612. Halbański referenced this claim to what he called “serious historians of culinary arts”, even though, back in the 1980s, there were still very few serious historians who would have deemed culinary arts to be a topic worthy of serious historical research. Anyway, the idea that Pozharsky cutlets have anything to do with Dmitry Pozharsky, isn’t accurate either. The only thing that is true, so far, is that Pozharsky cutlets originate from Russian – not Polish – cuisine.

Historical sources indicate that ''pozharskiye kotlyety''{{czyt|пожарские котлеты}} were first created in Torzhok, a town in the Tver Region, on the road from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. It was there that, in the first half of the 19th century, a man called Yevdokim Pozharsky ran an inn, famous for its signature chicken cutlets.

This is what one can read about the town in an 1843 Russian guidebook:

{{ Cytat
| In Torzhok, two things deserve special attention: firstly, Morocco-leather products {{...}} The second item relates to gastronomy: at Pozharskaya Inn, they make very tasty chicken cutlets that will melt in your mouth. I advise everyone who passes through Torzhok to sample them. A single portion, or two cutlets, costs only a ruble.
| oryg = В Торжке два предмета заслуживают особенного внимания: во первых, сафьянные изделия {{...}} Второй предмет относится до гастрономии: в гостинице Пожарской приготовляются очень вкусные котлеты; они делаются из курицы и тают во рту; советую всем проезжающим чрез Торжок покушать их. Порция, или две котлетки стоют только рубль.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Жданов
| imię = Михаил Павлович
| tytuł = Путевые записки по России
| url = https://www.prlib.ru/item/441211
| wydawca = В. Поляков
| miejsce = Санктпетербург
| rok = 1843
| strony = 25–26
}}, own translation }}

As you can imagine, there were many famous and influential people travelling up and down the road between Russia’s two major cities and many of them would stop in Torzhok for lunch, helping spread the fame of the local cutlets far and wide. Alexander Pushkin, for instance, included the following advice, in verse, in a letter to his friend, Sergei Sobolevsky:

{{ Cytat
| <poem>In Torzhok, at your leisure,
At Pozhersky’s alight.
Try the cutlets (a pleasure),
Then keep travelling light.</poem>
| oryg = <poem>На досуге отобедай
У Пожарского в Торжке,
Жареных котлет отведай (именно котлет)
И отправься налегке.</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Собрание сочинений в 10 томах
| nazwisko r = Пушкин
| imię r = Александр Сергеевич
| rozdział = С.А. Соболевскому
| adres rozdziału = https://rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1826/1390_207.htm
| wydawca = РВБ
| tom = 9. Письма 1815–1830
| strony = 242
}}, own translation }}

Pozharsky cutlets were also praised by foreign visitors, including French novelist Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt{{czyt|Charles-Victor Prévost d’Arlincourt}}<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Le Vicomte d’Arlincourt
| tytuł = L’étoile polaire
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=_b9hAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA305
| wydawca = Dumont
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1843
| strony = 305
}}</ref> and Scottish writer Leitch Ritchie. The latter wrote that in Torzhok he had “the satisfaction of eating the finest veal [''sic''] cutlets in Europe” and that the Russian “empress herself burned with curiosity to taste them”, so much that she had the woman who cooked them “brought to St. Petersburg express, to make veal cutlets for majesty.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ritchie
| imię = Leitch
| tytuł = A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow Through Courland and Livonia
| url = https://books.google.pl/books?id=r09EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA179
| wydawca = Longman
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1836
| strony = 179
}}</ref> “The woman”? Yes, because it wasn’t Yevdokim Pozharsky himself who created the recipë; it was his daughter, Darya Pozharskaya, who worked at her father’s inn as a chef. But why does the quote mention veal, rather than chicken, cutlets? Well, because they were made from chicken, but meant to look and taste as though they were made from veal. There’s even a legend about Emperor Nicholas I himself calling at Pozharsky’s inn and ordering veal cutlets for his meal, upon which, not having any veal in her pantry, Darya quickly devised a new recipë using chicken instead.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Torzhok.pro
| rozdział = Дарья Евдокимовна Пожарская
| adres rozdziału = https://torzhok.pro/vyidayushhiesya-lichnosti-torzhka/darya-evdokimovna-pozharskaya.html
| data = 16 December 2021
}}</ref>

[[File:Daria Pożarska.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Darya Yevdokimovna Pozharskaya (1798–1854) with a child {{small|By Carl Timoleon von Neff}}]]
In the second half of the 19th century, once a railway line linking Moscow with Saint Petersburg had been opened, the Torzhok inn lost much of its traffic. By that time, however, the recipë for ''côtelettes Pojarsky''{{czyt|côtelettes Pojarsky}} was already taking France by storm and from there it would soon spread all over Europe. Here’s a Polish version of the recipë from the early 20th century:

{{ Cytat
| Use only [poularde] breasts for the cutlets; it is most thrifty to buy just the breasts from kosher butchers. Detach each half of the breast, together with the wing, from the bone. Scrape the bone as for a veal cutlet. Remove veins and skin from the meat, salt and pound thin with a mallet. {{...}} Spread each cutlet with stuffing made from ground veal and bone marrow mixed with egg yolk, fold in half, then fold the edges in, baste with whisked egg, cover with flour mixed with an equal part of sieved breadcrumbs, and fry in clarified butter. Once they are nicely browned, put them into an oven for five more minutes until they are done inside. Before serving, sprinkle with lemon juice and douse with strong bouillon. Serve with cauliflowers, green peas or a mash of white mushrooms or chestnuts.
| oryg = Na kotlety używa się tylko mięso [pulard] z piersi, dlatego najoszczędniej jest kupować w jatkach koszernych same piersi. Odjąć każdą połowę piersi od kości wraz ze skrzydełkiem, kostkę oskrobać jak przy kotlecie cielęcym, a mięso wyżyłować, zdjąć z niego skórkę, posolić i zbić cienko pałką. {{...}} Posmarować każdy [kotlet] w środku farszem ze zmielonej cielęciny ze szpikiem wymieszanej z żółtkiem, złożyć kotlet we dwoje, zawinąć brzegi, posmarować rozbitym jajkiem, obsypać mąką wymieszaną na wpół z przesianą bułką i smażyć na sklarowanym maśle. Gdy się ładnie obrumienią, wstawić je jeszcze do pieca na pięć minut, aby w środku doszły, a wydając skropić cytryną i podlać mocnym bulionem. Podać do nich kalafiory, zielony groszek lub purée z pieczarek albo kasztanów.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ochorowicz-Monatowa
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Uniwersalna książka kucharska
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4459abd-6847-4275-b9bd-96ee9e8da151?page=470
| wydawca = Lwów: Księgarna H. Altenberga, Warszawa-Łódź: Ludwik Fiszer
| rok = 1910
| strony = 417–418
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Founder: The Last Nobleman in Communist Poland ==
[[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), a gnomonist and gastronome]]
Some time ago, Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski,{{czyt|Jarosław Dumanowski}} head of the Culinary Heritage Centre at the History Department of the Copernicus University in Toruń, advised me to take interest in the collection of old hand-written recipës held in the archives of the [http://muzeum.jedrzejow.pl/o-nas/zbiory Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.] But wait, I said, isn’t it a museum of sundials?

Yes, the unique collection of sundials, said to be the world’s third largest, is what the museum is best known for. It was the local doctor, Feliks Przypkowski, who started collecting sundials in 1895, a hobby later taken up by his son, Tadeusz Przypkowski.{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} Tadeusz, however, a true Renaissance man, didn’t just continue his father’s passion; he also had several of his own. His interests included the histories of art and astronomy, printmaking and bromoil photography, bibliophilia and bookplates, heraldry and numismatics… as well as the enjoyment of good food and drink.

Before World War II, Tadeusz Przypkowski obtained his PhD in art history at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and followed his studies with extensive travels (including to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Norway and Estonia). Back in Poland, he got a job as a cultural propaganda specialist – first in Cracow and later in Warsaw. Back then, the word “propaganda” didn’t yet carry the negative connotation it does today; think of it as equivalent to “promotion” or “public relations”. His duties as a cultural propagandist in Cracow included showing high-ranking foreign visitors around the historic monuments of Poland’s former capital (he even had the questionable honour of serving as a tourist guide to Josef Goebbels, the German Minister of Propaganda). Eventually, once the war broke out, he settled down back home in Jędrzejów{{czyt|Jędrzejów}} – a small town on the road from Kielce{{czyt|Kielce}} to Cracow – but still kept in touch with numerous interesting people in various countries, especially in France. “I am to be found either in Paris,” he was fond of saying, “or in Jędrzejów.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4
}}</ref>

[[File:Podkładka pod piwo z zegarem słonecznym.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|An artefact in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum, which reflects two of Tadeusz Przypkowski’s passions: gnomonics and gastronomy. It’s a beer coaster adorned with the coat of arms of the town of Jędrzejów and equipped with a folding gnomon, or pointer, which converts it into a sundial.]]

When in Jędrzejów, Przypkowski helped his father collect, research and design sundials. After his father’s death, he took over the care of the collection, housed in a private museum near the town square, over from him. He went on to become one of the world’s foremost gnomonists, or experts on sundials. The sundials placed in some historic landmarks, including St. Mary’s Basilica in Cracow, the Royal Castle in Warsaw and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, are of his design.

Janusz Roszko,{{czyt|Janusz Roszko}} a journalist who was a close friend of Przypkowski’s, described him as “the last nobleman of the Polish Commonwealth”, who swapped the sabre for a professor’s umbrella, wore his suit as aloofly as if it were a 17th-century gentleman’s robe and every now and then raised a pinch of snuff to his bewhiskered face.<ref>''Ibid.''</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = nr 1711
| strony = 11
}}</ref> Przypkowski was also a master of the Old Polish art of banter and humbug. You could never know for sure whether he was joking or being serious. And if truth ever happened to stand in his way of telling a good anecdote, well, then it was tough luck for the former. He used to claim, for example, to be a cousin to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 21
}}</ref> Once, he made efforts to open a “Museum of the Prehistory of Communism” in what he maintained was a newly discovered former Calvinist church, until it turned out it had never been a church in the first place, but a synagogue.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}</ref>

[[File:Przypkowscy.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Tadeusz Przypkowski (1905–1977), seated below a portrait of his father, Feliks Przypkowski (1872–1951), flanked by his son, Piotr Maciej Przypkowski (b. 1947), right, and his grandson, Jan Aleksander Przypkowski (b. 1973), current director of the Przypowski Museum]]

In 1962, Przypkowski donated the sundial collection to the People’s Republic of Poland, thus giving rise to the State Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. It may very well have been a preëmptive move to avoid forced nationalization, allowing him to gain access to public funding, while keeping actual control over the collection in the hands of House Przypkowski, where the post of the museum director is passed from father to son (currently in the third generation). It’s just one of many examples proving that, his Old Polish charm notwithstanding, Tadeusz Przypkowski was resourceful enough to successfully make do in the grim reality of post-war communist Poland.

His head was always full of fantastic ideas, which he persistently pitched to the communist authorities. Many of these schemes were way too far-fetched to have any chance of ever materialising, but Przypkowski never lost heart and just kept coming up with new ones. His own design for a new national coat of arms fell through.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Kto był autorem godła?
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33527
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = nr 1362
| strony = 8
}}</ref> So did his suggestion to use Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, the tallest building in Europe at the time, as part of a giant sundial, so that its shadow would not remain “unemployed like the shadows of skyscrapers in capitalist cities”. He was able to bring at least some of his concepts to fruition, though, and the Order of Pomiane was one of them. But where did he get that idea from?
{{clear}}
<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 1.jpg | Przypkowski Museum as seen from the town square of Jędrzejów
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 2.jpg | Astronomical observatory
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 3.jpg | Garden with water cascades, enclosed by a wall decorated with astronomical and alchemical symbols
File:Muzeum Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie 4.jpg | Sundials standing among beds planted with culinary herbs
</gallery>

== The Idea: A New Order ==
[[File:List Brillat-Savarina.jpg|thumb|upright|A letter, dated the 12th of ''Frimaire'', Year VI of the French Republic (that is, 2 December 1797 CE), from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, secretary of the general staff of the French Army in Germany, to War Minister Claude-Louis Petiet, now in the collection of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów]]
Considering both men’s fondness for tasty food and Old Polish gentry styles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Edouard de Pomiane became friends with Tadeusz Przypkowski, even though the latter was thirty years his junior. During his visits to Paris, the gnomonist was among those invited to the Polish dinners held by the famous gastroenterologist. Years later, Przypkowski would still fondly remember Pomiane’s Baccarat crystal decanter filled with Polignac cognac, half of which the host poured into a pot while preparing the sauce for one of his dishes.<ref>D. Pietrzkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 82</ref>

Przypkowski, conversely, must have also made quite an impression on Pomiane. Strong enough, in any case, that in 1964, when Pomiane died in a car crash at the age of 89, it was revealed that he had bequeathed some of his belongings to his friend from Jędrzejów. The Przypkowski Museum thus acquired a sizeable collection of vintage kitchen and tableware (including the crystal decanter), as well as Pomiane’s library collection, which consisted of old cookbooks, restaurant menus, dinner invitations and celebrity gourmet memorabilia (including a letter signed by none other than Brillat-Savarin, back when he was an officer in the French Revolutionary Army).

It was this inheritance which most likely inspired Przypkowski to build his own gastronomic collection. As a result, Jędrzejów is now home to Poland’s largest assemblage of culinary manuscripts, mostly from the 19th century. I’m going to write more about these in the future. Przypkowski himself, on the other hand, wrote surprisingly little on the subject of food and cooking.

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Sobieski i Marysieńka.JPG|thumb|left|King John III Sobieski and Queen Mary Casimire d’Arquien in one of Maja Berezowska’s illustrations to ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg'' (1974)]]
In 1968, he made plans to attend the 12th International History of Science Congress in Paris. At previous editions of the event he had talked about the astronomical instruments used by Copernicus, but this time he intended to give a speech on the history of Polish cookery and its relations to French cuisine. Unfortunately, he was impeded by ill health, so all he could do was to send his lecture in writing. He typed the account of the evolution of Polish foodways – from 13th-century Cistercian monks planting grapevines in Jędrzejów Abbey, to [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona Sforza]], [[Use the Forks, Henry|King Henry Valois]], [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|King Stanislas Leszczyński]], all the way to Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane – on four pages in French. Przypkowski asked for the text to be read out by his friend, culinary journalist Edouard Longue,{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} but the paper was rejected by the congress organising committee.<ref> {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Tadeusz
| tytuł = L’art et la science de la gastronomie dans les relations entre la France et la Pologne
| rok = 1968
}}, manuscript at the Library of the Institute of Advanced Education (''École normale supérieure'') in Paris (IUHPS 55.3)</ref> He would later rewrite the text in Polish and in a more popularising tone, which was then published as a foreword to a little book entitled ''A Spoon in a Boot Leg and a Fork on the Table'' (''Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole''). The book’s main part consisted of stories by Magdalena Samozwaniec{{czyt|Magdalena Samozwaniec}} about the eating habits of Old Polish nobility, illustrated with racy artwork by Maja Berezowska.{{czyt|Maja Berezowska}} In his “prologue tale”, Przypkowski presented his view of the culinary art as a creative art in its own right (“the world’s first artpiece was a piece of meat!”) and warned against the dangers posed to it by industrialization and standardization.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Prologowa gawęda
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 5–16
}}</ref> The same text was also published in ''Przekrój'', a Cracow-based cultural weekly.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1514/6
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1974
| wolumin = No. 1514
| strony = 10–11
}}</ref> This is all I’ve been able to find regarding books or papers written by Przypkowski on gastronomic topics.

[[File:Ekslibris gastronomiczny Przypkowskiego.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Przypkowski’s gastronomic bookplate]]
Przypkowski, who owed much of his gastronomic collection to Pożerski, was looking for a way to commemorate his late friend and eventually came up with the idea to establish the Order of Pomiane. I believe he got the notion to celebrate the great gastronome in this particular way from another specialist order. He was, as it happened, already an active member of the Order of the White Raven. Founded in Cracow, in 1930, the Chivalric Order of the White Raven was a society of bibliophiles. According to its charter, “the highest virtue of the Order is the love of books”.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Salon Tradycji Polskiej
| rozdział = Rycerski Zakon Białego Kruka
| adres rozdziału = https://salontradycjipolskiej.pl/rycerski-zakon-bialego-kruka/
| data = 8 May 2022
}}</ref> Its monastic rule, patterned on those of medieval orders of knights, the exclusivity and secrecy, the hierachy and titles, the symbols and rituals – all of this must have captured Przypkowski’s imagination and inspired him to found a similar organization, only in the realm of gastronomy.

[[File:Herb i Ekslibrys Pomiana.png|thumb|left|Left: armorial achievement of Clan Pomian, featuring, in a golden field, a black buffalo head pierced diagonally with a silver sword. Right: Edouard Pożerski de Pomiane’s bookplate, designed by Tadeusz Przypkowski.]]
He started by recruiting his friend, Tadeusz Gronowski,{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} for the project. Gronowski was an artist, known, among other things, for designing the logo of {{small|LOT}}, Poland’s national airline. It fell to him to design the order badge, which he modelled on a bookplate Przypkowski had created for Pomiane. The bookplate was based on the historical coat of arms of Clan Pomian, which features, in a golden field, a black water buffalo head (although one medieval source says it was a bison head instead, with a nose ring at that) pierced diagonally with a silver sword.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kulikowski
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Wielki herbarz rodów polskich
| wydawca = Świat Książki
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2005
| strony = 270–271
}}</ref> Przypkowski only replaced the sword with a table knife crossed with a fork. The chalice-shaped shield which bears this armorial achievement was designed to be used as a sort of rest to be put under a plate for the sauce to flow to one side.

And the silver buckle for fastening the order ribbon was designed in the shape of a kind of dumpling known as ''kołdun'' “in order to commemorate a fact of historic importance, namely that Pomiane loved to eat ''kołduny''”.{{czyt|kołduny}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 36
}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Second Course: Divine Dumplings ==
[[File:Kołduny 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''Kołduny'', or Lithuanian dumplings – Edouard de Pomiane’s favourite dish]]
''Kołduny'' (singular: ''kołdun'') is the Polish term for a kind of Lithuanian dumplings (similar to ''pierogi'') filled with raw forcemeat and cooked in boiling water. They are typically served in soup or at least in the water in which they were boiled. Naturally, Pomiane included a recipë for his favourite dish in the cookbook he wrote to familiarize the French with Polish cuisine (or rather Lithuanian in this case). He even added a legend about the divine origin of ''kołduny'' (or ''koldūnai'' in Lithuanian), which mortals came to know thanks to a simple Lithuanian peasant who married the pagan goddess Milda.

And here’s the recipë:

{{ Cytat
| Kołduny: pierogi whose filling consists of equal parts raw beef tenderloin and beef kidney suet, chopped and mixed together. Season with salt, pepper, fried onion and, obligatorily, dried and powdered marjoram (Origanum majorana). Boil in the same way as you would pierogi. Ladle onto hot plates and serve doused with the cooking water. Kołduny are eaten with a spoon. Never cut them open on the plate. They are meant to open inside your mouth, flooding it with aromatic and scorching fat. The kidney suet may be advantageously replaced with beef bone marrow.
| oryg = Koldouny : Piérogui dont la farce consiste en un hachis composé de parties égales de filet de bœuf crû et de graisse de rognon de bœuf. Sel, poivre, oignon cuit et, obligatoirement, marjolaine sèche (Origanum majorana) en poudre. Pocher comme les piérogui. Servir dans l’eau de cuisson. Ceuillir à l’écumoire. Poser sur assiettes chaudes. Les coldouny se mangent à la cuillère. Ne jamais les ouvrir dans l’assiette. Ils s’ouvrent dans la bouche et l’inondent de graisse parfumée et brûlante. Cette graisse de rognon est avantageusement remplacée par de la moëlle d’os de bœuf.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Edouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
| strony = 52
}}, own translation }}

== Caviar and Champagne vs Sausage and Vodka ==
While the Order of the White Raven had always been shrouded in a cloud of Masonic-style secrecy, Przypkowski assumed from the start that the chief purpose of the Order of Pomiane would be to advertize Polish cuisine (as well as himself and his museum). And for this to work, he knew he had to get the national authorities on board. But how do you sell an idea rooted in the feudal tradition of chivalric orders to a communist government? Przypkowski decided to present his project as a way to improve the state of Polish gastronomy, which under communist rule had become only a shadow of its former self. Everybody agreed that the food in People’s Poland had become monotonous, bland and grey. Przypkowski claimed that the Order could be used to promote “the improvement of public catering without changing the system of government”. There remained the question, however, of who among the authorities would be the best person to reach out to. So allow me now to write a few words about what kind of people ruled Poland at the time.

[[File:Cyrankiewicz i Gomułka.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz (1911–1989), left, with First Secretary Władysław Gomułka (1905–1982)]]
Throughout the 1960s, the People’s Republic of Poland was run by the same two men. The man number one was Władysław Gomułka,{{czyt|Władysław Gomułka}} also known as Comrade Wiesław, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party. The man number two was Józef Cyrankiewicz,{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} the longest-serving prime minister in Polish history. But even though they stood at the helm together, they remained quite different from one another. Gomułka came from a working-class background and had been a genuine communist even before the Second World War. He was, in fact, one of the few pre-war Polish communists to survive a Stalinist purge of 1937–38; Comrade Wiesław failed to appear at the invitation to Moscow at the time, as he was lucky enough to be serving time in a Polish prison. Cyrankiewicz, on the other hand, was a socialist intellectual who only decided to coöperate with the Soviet-imposed communist regime after the war, because he would rather do that than go to prison or into exile.

[[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz z kieliszkiem.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Józef Cyrankiewicz served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1947 to 1952 and from 1954 to 1970.]]
The two politicians were also as different as night and day when it came to their attitudes towards the finer things in life. Gomułka was known for his modest, almost ascetic lifestyle and morbid frugality, while Cyrankiewicz loved to indulge in refined foods, expensive drinks and beautiful women. Gomułka tolerated his decadence to some extent, on account of the Prime Minister being an Auschwitz survivor. “In my opinion, Cyrankiewicz was broken by the camp,” the First Secretary explained. “He got out of Auschwitz with his moral and political backbone shattered and with one desire only: to enjoy his life.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}</ref> Sumptuous feasts hosted by “Comrade Cyrano” were the stuff of legends:

{{ Cytat
| It is said that during one of the Prime Minister’s stays at a government retreat in Łańsk [on the Masurian Lakes], Gomułka made a sudden visit as well. Cyrankiewicz had all of the delicacies, like caviar, salmon and French cognac, immediately hidden away, with blood sausages, cheese and cereal coffee brought out instead. And it wasn’t the only time when the Prime Minister had to conceal his sybaritic inclinations from the First Secretary.
| oryg = Podobno podczas jednego z pobytów Cyrankiewicza w rządowym ośrodku w Łańsku zjechał tam również Gomułka. Cyrankiewicz natychmiast kazał ukryć frykasy: zniknęły kawior, łosoś i francuski koniak, a pojawiły się kaszanka, ser i kawa zbożowa. I to niejedyny wypadek, kiedy premier maskował przed pierwszym sekretarzem swoje sybaryckie upodobania.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klim
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Jak w kabarecie: Obrazki z życia PRL
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2016
}}, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Ciekawostki Historyczne
| nazwisko r = Miklasz
| imię r = Adam
| rozdział = Luksus w PRL-u: Jak naprawdę żyła wtedy władza?
| adres rozdziału = https://ciekawostkihistoryczne.pl/2016/06/21/luksus-w-prl-u-jak-naprawde-zyla-wtedy-wladza/
| rok = 21 June 2016
}}, own translation }}

In another version of this anecdote, the staff replaced caviar, prawns and champagne with wieners, ''bigos'' (meat-and-sauerkraut stew) and vodka.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rozkoszny
| nazwisko r = Michał
| imię r = Korkosz
| rozdział = Dieta reżimowa – Realia PRL-u a Kuchnia Polska; Część VI: Kulinaria centralnie sterowane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.rozkoszny.pl/dieta-rezimowa-realia-prl-u-a-kuchnia-polska-czesc-vi-kulinaria-centralnie-sterowane/
| rok = 10 January 2018
}}</ref> In yet another variant, they took away caviar, roasted quails and wine, and in their place whipped out bread with jam and farmer’s cheese.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Dzieje.pl
| nazwisko r = S.
| imię r = P.
| rozdział = Byłem gorylem Gomułki i Gierka
| adres rozdziału = https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/bylem-gorylem-gomulki-i-gierka
| wydawca = Muzeum Historii Polski, Polska Agencja Prasowa
| rok = 3 November 2019
}}</ref>

==Third Course: Cuper’s Super Carp ==
When travelling between Warsaw and his family home in Cracow, Cyrankiewicz would often make a stop at the ''Ratuszowa''{{czyt|Ratuszowa}} (“Townhall”) restaurant in the town of Szydłowiec, drawn by the carp in cream that the place was famous for. Eventually, the “Eternal Premier” had a new, bigger restaurant, called ''Biesiada''{{czyt|Biesiada}} (“Banquet”), opened inside a local department store, featuring a little {{small|VIP}} room upstairs, commonly known as ''Cyrankiewiczówka''.{{czyt|Cyrankiewiczówka}} Stanisław Cuper,{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} who had previously cooked at ''Ratuszowa'', was quickly employed as the head chef at ''Biesiada''.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Szydłowiec dla turystów
| rozdział = Karp w śmietanie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid02WesvEVBesPK9K5jmLN53ZKYr6EaWjoZ5dfmTrJ2netJ9N9HVpikFE81gv2wTGn6Zl
| wydawca = Facebook
| rok = 21 November 2017
}}</ref> In 1970, Cuper was even sent to a culinary competition in Venice, where he won a cup for his signature carp.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Spod znaku Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/20085
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1970
| wolumin = No. 1307
| strony = 9
}}</ref>

[[File:Karp w śmietanie.jpg|thumb|Carp in cream ''à la'' Cuper, as served at [https://www.facebook.com/visitszydlowiec/posts/pfbid0UVcbKYV1wcdNRmYvi6qAd4tsCv2ACQUTsT4f213GUnpN5kdurr7qe2m4GTeXGjdFl Hotel Primagor in Szydłowiec]]]
{{ Cytat
| 1,500 g carp fillets, 50 g each of butter and lard, 50 g flour, 1,000 g potatoes, 100 g Parmesan, breadcrumbs, butter for basting, [parsley] greens. Divide the carp into 100 g portions, fry in lard, then remove the lard, add butter and place in an oven. For the sauce, take melted butter, browned onion, sprinkle with flour and douse with sour cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the carp on a heated platter, surround with boiled potatoes and cover with the cream sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan and greens before casseroling. Serve on heated plates with the sauce piping hot.
| oryg = Karpia filetowanego 1500 g, masła i smalcu po 50 g, mąki 50 g, ziemniaków 1000 g, parmezanu 100 g oraz bułeczka tarta, masło do podlewania i zielenina. Karpia porcjować po 100 g, smażyć na smalcu, po którego odlaniu podłożyć masło i wstawić do piecyka. Wykonać sos: masło z patelni, cebula przyrumieniona, oprószyć mąką i zalać kwaśną śmietaną, solić i pieprzyć do smaku. Wyłożyć karpia na grzany półmisek, obłożyć drążonymi ziemniakami i zalać sosem śmietanowym. Całość posypać parmezanem i zieleniną, i zapiec. Wydawać na gorące talerze z wrzącym sosem śmietanowym.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 85
}}, own translation }}

== The Chapter ==
It was obvious that Cyrankiewicz made a perfect candidate to join the chapter, or governing body, of the new gastronomic order. On the other hand, it would have been best, if Gomułka never heard about the whole thing. Przypkowski and Gronowski must have thought that the best way to get to Cyrankiewicz was through Lucjan Motyka,{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} the Minister of Culture and a personal friend of the Prime Minister’s. In order to strengthen their position when talking with the ministry, they first recruited a few well known writers (who were looked on favourably by the government), such as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz,{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} Jan Brzechwa{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} and Mirosław Żuławski.{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} From the cabinet, they eventually managed to enlist not only Motyka, but also Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} and Internal Trade Minister Edward Sznajder.{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}}

Przypkowski planned to hold the Chapter’s inaugural meeting on 26 January 1965, the first anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death. In the invitation letter he sent to Minister Rapacki, he made it a point to mention that the Party Regional Committee for Kielce had already agreed to introduce traditional aristocratic specialities into local restaurant menus.

{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, beef olives à la Radziwiłł and blancmange à la Sobieski are going to be introduced first. The Regional Committee has already instructed local bakeries to bake the kind of wholemeal rye bread that the beef olives and the soup require.
| oryg = Na początek poszła zupa cebulowa przypkowska, zrazy radziwiłłowskie i blamanże Sobieskiego! Komitet Wojewódzki dał dyspozycję pieczenia chleba razowego piekarniom kieleckim. Chleba takiego rodzaju, jakiego zrazy i zupa wymagają.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Adam Rapacki, between 16 July 1964 and 26 January 1965; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35
}} }}

In the end, Rapacki had a scheduling conflict and the meeting didn’t come to pass. Przypkowski, being Przypkowski, however, started acting as if the Order had already been instituted and proceeded to send letters to France – all typed on special Order-of-Pomiane letterhead stationery printed on handmade watermarked paper – informing prospective awardees of this new establishment.

[[File:Order Pomiana - Polska.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Dinner of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death.
Seated with his back to the camera, wearing a visible order ribbon around his neck, is Grand Master Tadeusz Gronowski – facing Chancellor Tadeusz Przypkowski at the opposite end of the table.]]
The Chapter only met for the first time on the second anniversary of Pomiane’s death. The gathering was hosted by Tadeusz Gronowski in his Warsaw flat. The government was represented by Minister Motyka and his Deputy Minister, Zygmunt Garstecki. Gronowski was elected the Grand Master of the Chapter, while Przypkowski became its Chancellor. The Chapter also adopted a special resolution, written in a language that was an obvious parody of Gomułka’s speeches. It read as follows:

{{ Cytat
| A unanimous decision has been taken to strive for bringing Polish Cuisine, as a signal branch of Polish Culture, back to its former glory through precise definition and realization, upon a new systemic base, of its notion as an art founded on scientific, empirical and research-based groundwork, contrariwise to its heretofore treatment as a bureaucratized craft or industry, which has led to its universally discussed downfall. It is the foremost task standing before the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane.
| oryg = Jednogłośnie‎ ‎postanowiono‎ ‎dążyć‎ ‎do‎ ‎przywrócenia dawnej‎ ‎sławy‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kuchni, jako‎ ‎wybitnemu‎ ‎działowi‎ ‎Polskiej‎ ‎Kultury,‎ ‎przez‎ ‎sprecyzowanie‎ ‎i‎ ‎na‎ ‎podstawie‎ ‎nowej‎ ‎bazy‎ ‎ustrojowej‎ ‎wprowadzenie‎ ‎w życie‎ ‎jej‎ ‎pojęcia‎ ‎jako‎ ‎sztuki‎ ‎na naukowym‎ ‎podkładzie‎ ‎empirycznym‎ ‎czy‎ ‎badawczym,‎ ‎w przeciwieństwie‎ ‎do‎ ‎dotychczasowego‎ ‎jej‎ ‎traktowania‎ ‎jako zbiurokratyzowanego‎ ‎rzemiosła i‎ ‎przemysłu,‎ ‎co‎ ‎doprowadziło‎ ‎do jej‎ ‎tak‎ ‎powszechnie‎ ‎dyskutowanego‎ ‎upadku.‎ Jest to zadaniem głównym Kapituły Orderu Pomiana.
| źródło = Resolution adopted by the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane on the second anniversary of Edouard de Pomiane’s death; quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}} }}

The Chapter’s first meeting, even if belated, was still a success. Przypkowski was glowing with optimism and was already making big plans for the future. Four days later he wrote to the Grand Master about the idea of recreating the famous Thursday Dinners, originally hosted by King Stanislas Augustus for Poland’s leading Enlightenment-era intellectuals at his summer residence known as the Royal Baths.

{{ Cytat
| At the next dinner, I think we can expect that, in place of the ailing Jan Brzechwa, we shall be eventually joined by Cyrankiewicz and that we shall discuss with him the possibility, already raised by Motyka and Garstecki, of the Chapter having Thursday dinners at the Royal Baths.
| oryg = Myślę, że już na tym następnym obiedzie, zamiast chorego Jana Brzechwy, wejdzie Cyrankiewicz i z nim przedyskutujemy podniesioną przez Motykę i Garsteckiego możliwość czwartkowych obiadów Kapituły w Łazienkach.
| źródło = Tadeusz Przypkowski in a letter to Tadeusz Gronowski, 30 January 1966; quoted in: Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.''
}}
Ultimately, over a dozen people were inducted into the Chapter. Most of its members had no particular connection to gastronomy, other than having a taste for good food (but then, who doesn’t?). Below is a full list (at least as full as I’ve been able to ascertain) of the members of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Members of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those inducted later, including S. Bratkowski and A. Hanftwurcel, nor does it include J. Brzechwa, who had died before that year. Information about their membership in the Chapter comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Notes
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Gronowski.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Gronowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Gronowski Tadeusz Gronowski]'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Gronowski}} (1894–1990) || Painter and printmaker.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Varsavianista
| nazwisko r = Sobieszczański
| imię r = Adrian
| rozdział = Twórczość Tadeusza Gronowskiego w latach 20. na przykładzie wybranych realizacji
| adres rozdziału = https://varsavianista.pl/index.php/2022/08/28/tworczosc-tadeusza-gronowskiego-w-latach-20-na-przykladzie-wybranych-realizacji/
| wydawca = Fundacja Hereditas
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 12 May 2024
}}</ref> Grand Master of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Tadeusz Przypkowski 2.jpg|100px|Tadeusz Przypkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Tadeusz Przypkowski'''{{czyt|Tadeusz Przypkowski}} (1905–1977) || Gnomonist, historian of science and art. Chancellor of the Chapter.
|-
| [[File:Anatol Hanftwurcel.jpg|100px|Anatol Hanftwurcel]] || style=text-align:left | '''Anatol Hanftwurcel'''{{czyt|Anatol Hanftwurcel}} (1921–2006) || Food-processing technician, editor-in-chief of several trade magazines, translator, amateur cook, gourmet and author of cookery books and articles. Secretary of the Chapter.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Techniczny
| nazwisko r = Rathman
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Pożegnania: Anatol Hanftwurcel
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2007
| wolumin = 3
| strony = 30
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Józef Cyrankiewicz.jpg|100px|Józef Cyrankiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Józef_Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz]'''{{czyt|Józef Cyrankiewicz}} (1911–1989) || Prime Minister
|-
| [[File:Lucjan Motyka 1.jpg|100px|Lucjan Motyka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Lucjan Motyka'''{{czyt|Lucjan Motyka}} (1915–2006) || Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Adam Rapacki 1.jpg|100px|Adam Rapacki]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Rapacki Adam Rapacki]'''{{czyt|Adam Rapacki}} (1909–1970) || Minister of Foreign Affairs
|-
| [[File:Edward Sznajder.png|100px|Edward Sznajder]] || style=text-align:left | '''Edward Sznajder'''{{czyt|Edward Sznajder}} (1920–1978) || Minister of Internal Trade
|-
| [[File:Zygmunt Garstecki.jpg|x100px|center|Zygmunt Garstecki]] || style=text-align:left | '''Zygmunt Garstecki'''{{czyt|Zygmunt Garstecki}} (1912–1988) || Deputy Minister of Culture and Arts
|-
| [[File:Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz 1.jpg|100px|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarosław_Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]'''{{czyt|Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz}} (1894–1980) || Poet and writer, diplomat, member of parliament
|-
| [[File:Stefan Bratkowski.jpg|100px|Stefan Bratkowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Bratkowski Stefan Bratkowski]'''{{czyt|Stefan Bratkowski}} (1934–2021) || Journalist, co-author of a book about the Przypkowski family<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.oai-journals-pan-pl-119483/c/oai-journals-pan-pl-119483_full-text_2020-01-WNUM-15-Sniezko.pdf-2
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Jan Brzechwa 1.jpg|100px|Jan Brzechwa]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brzechwa Jan Brzechwa]'''{{czyt|Jan Brzechwa}} (1898–1966) || Poet and writer, intellectual-property lawyer. Died within two years from the founding of the Order.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Urbanek
| imię = Mariusz
| tytuł = Brzechwa nie dla dzieci
| url = https://pdf-x.pl/api/document/5b1d8db14e16ab1e21b399e1/download
| wydawca = Iskry
| rok = 2023
| rodział = Umierać trzeba z taktem…
}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Konopka 1.jpg|100px|Stanisław Konopka]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Konopka'''{{czyt|Stanisław Konopka}} (1896–1982) || Historian of medicine, founder of the National Medical Library in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Andrzej Michałowski.JPG|100px|Andrzej Michałowski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Andrzej Michałowski'''{{czyt|Andrzej Michałowski}} (b. 1934) || Regional Heritage Conservation Officer for Kielce
|-
| [[File:Aleksander Szczygieł 1.jpg|100px|Aleksander Szczygieł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Aleksander Szczygieł'''{{czyt|Aleksander Szczygieł}} (1906–1983) || Physiologist, founder of the Food and Nutrition Institute (''Instytut Żywności i Żywienia'') in Warsaw
|-
| [[File:Damazy Tilgner.jpg|100px|Damazy Tilgner]] || style=text-align:left | '''Damazy Jerzy Tilgner'''{{czyt|Damazy Jerzy Tilgner}} (1904–1997) || Agricultural engineer, professor of meat-processing technology
|-
| [[File:Mirosław Żuławski.jpg|100px|Mirosław Żuławski]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirosław_Żuławski Mirosław Żuławski]'''{{czyt|Mirosław Żuławski}} (1913–1995) || Writer, diplomat, Poland’s representative to Unesco
|}

== Fourth Course: Lobster in the Polish Style ==
[[File:Tadeusz Gronowski w kuchni.jpg|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski in his kitchen]]
The menu of that delayed inauguration dinner at Gronowski’s included onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski, roast duck with peaches, a “vegetable bouquet” ''à la'' Gronowski on the side and an orange torte for dessert.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref> We’ll get back to the onion soup in a while. As for the vegetable bouquet, sadly, I haven’t been able to find a recipë.

What I have found, however, is a recipë for another dish which was the pride of the Gronowski household and which may have been served at some of the subsequent meetings of the Chapter. It’s a typical example of Communist-era Polish cookery, a seemingly exquisite dish made from those simple ingredients which happened to be available in the poorly stocked grocery shops of the time. The name of the dish was “lobster in the Polish style” (''“homar po polsku”'').

[[File:Homar po polsku.jpg|thumb|Lobster in the Polish style {{small|The picture comes from the blog ''[https://www.krolestwogarow.pl/2020/03/homar-po-polsku.html Królestwo garów]'' (''The Kingdom of Pots'').}}]]
{{ Cytat |
* 500 g smoked cod
* 2 carrots (100 g)
* Half a lemon
* Parsley leaves
* 100 g mayonnaise
Divide the cod into small pieces, removing all of the bones. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Mix the fish and the carrots together with mayonnaise and sprinkle with lemon juice. Decorate with parsley leaves. If you really wish to make an impression, you can add some authentic tinned lobster or crab meat, but even without it, no one will be any the wiser as the dish will be just as pink as real lobster meat and equally tasty, while not as fattening. This cheap, yet elegant and delicious appetizer is the speciality of the household of Prof. Tadeusz Gronowski, who is not only a famous graphic artist, but also a knight of the Order of Pomiane (an award for gourmets).
| oryg = <div>
* 50 dag wędzonego dorsza
* 2 marchewki (10 dag)
* Połowa cytryny i natka pietruszki
* 10 dag majonezu</div>
Obrać dorsza tak, aby nie została ani jedna ość, i podzielić na cząstki. Marchewki obrać i zetrzeć na drobnej tarce. Skropić wszystko cytryną i razem wymieszać, dodając majonez. Przystroić natką pietruszki, a jeśli koniecznie chce się zaimponować potrawą, to można jeszcze domieszać oryginalnego homara lub kraby z puszki. I tak nikt się nie pozna, bo dorsz będzie różowy – jak homar – i równie smaczny, a przy tym nie tuczący. Ta świetna przystawka do obiadu – tania, elegancka i smaczna – jest specjalnością domu prof. Tadeusza Gronowskiego, nie tylko słynnego plastyka, ale i Kawalera Orderu Pomiana (odznaka dla smakoszy).
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gumowska
| imię = Irena
| tytuł = Obiad w pół godziny
| wydawca = Watra
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1980
| strony = 135
}}, own translation }}
{{clear}}

== The Recipients ==
[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja 2.JPG|thumb|left|Przypkowski, right, handing Order-of-Pomiane diplomas to Roger Topolinski, left, and Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi (Paris, 1965)]]

The Order of Pomiane was a very exclusive award. So exclusive, in fact, that the number of recipients is comparable to the headcount of the Chapter which gave it out.

Przypkowski intended from the beginning to award the decoration primarily to foreigners, his protestations that the purpose of the Order was to promote Polish cuisine notwithstanding. The first people he nominated for the Order were two Frenchmen: Parisian restaurateur Roger Topolinski{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} and food writer Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} The Foreign Ministry instructed the Polish ambassador in Paris to provide a venue for the ceremony, along with customary toasting tipples. Przypkowski, as Chancellor of the Chapter, decorated both awardees personally.

In order to help him in his role as Poland’s gastronomic ambassador of sorts, the ministry supplied him even with hard currency for his travels across the Iron Curtain. And whenever ministry officials hesitated to give him as much as he said he needed, he would threaten them with his connections to Rapacki, Cyrankiewicz or even the Central Committee.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Rzeczpospolita
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Na początek – zupa cebulowa przypkowska
| adres rozdziału = https://archiwum.rp.pl/artykul/221765-Na-poczatek–-zupa-cebulowa-przypkowska.html
| data = 3 April 1999
}} </ref>

During the ceremony, each knight of the Order of Pomiane would have the order badge hung upon a ribbon around his neck and receive an ornate diploma, written in French, which read as follows:

[[File:Order Pomiana - Francja.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Przypkowski among members of the French college of the Order of Pomiane (Paris, 1971)]]
{{ Cytat
| The Chapter of the Polish Gastronomic Order of Pomiane certifies that [recipient’s name] has merited, by a unanimous decision of the Chapter, the distinction of Pomiane in recognition of his great achievements for gastronomic culture.
| oryg = Chapitre de l’Ordre des Gastronomes Pomiane de Pologne certifie que {{...}} a merité par decision unanime du Chapitre la distinction du Pomiane en reconaissance de ses grandes œuvres sur la culture gastronome.
| źródło = Diploma of the Order of Pomiane, as found in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}; own translation
}}

[[File:Odznaczenie Kalkowskiego.jpg|thumb|left|Tadeusz Gronowski and Tadeusz Przypkowski decorating Jan Kalkowski as a representative of the ''Przekrój'' editorial board (Jędrzejów, 1969)]]
Chefs and restaurateurs decorated with this exotic order would then invite Przypkowski to their restaurants and everyone was happy.

The order was only awarded to a few Polish people who either lived and worked abroad (Stanisław Kozioł{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} in London, Grzegorz Tomaszewski{{czyt|Grzegorz Tomaszewski}} near Copenhagen) or who were most likely nominated by other members of the Chapter. I believe that the elderly chef Władysław Kucharski{{czyt|Władysław Kucharski}} may have been nominated by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, for whom Kucharski had cooked before the war while Iwaszkiewicz served as a secretary at the Polish embassy in Denmark. As for Stanisław Cuper, he may have been nominated by Premier Cyrankiewicz.

In 1969, the Chapter also awarded two legal persons, both from Poland. The order was bestowed on Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company and on the ''Przekrój'' editorial board.

And here’s the full list (again, to the extent I’ve been able gather) of those decorated with the Order of Pomiane:
{{clear}}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Knights of the Order of Pomiane<ref>According to a list located in the archive of Przypkowski the Museum in Jędrzejów. The list, most likely made in 1969, does not include the names of those awarded later, including S. Cuper, K. Jaroszyński and R. Roucou. Information about their decoration with the order comes from other sources.</ref>
! Image !! Name (born – died) !! Country of residence[[#uwaga|*]] !! Notes
|- <!––––ANG KIM KHOAN––––->
| [[File:Ang Kim Khoan.JPG|100px|Ang Kim Khoan]] || style=text-align:left | '''Ang Kim Khoan'''{{czyt|Ang Kim Khoan}} (1910–1978) || [[File:KHM.png|23px|]] {{small|Cambodia}} || Hotel manager, Cambodian Minister of Tourism,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Abdoul-Carime
| imię = Nasir
| tytuł = Association d’échanges et de formation pour les études khmères
| rozdział = Ang Kim Khoan (1910–1978?)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.aefek.fr/wa_files/ang_kim_khoan_2.pdf
}}</ref> Director General of the Khmer Company of Royal Inns (''Société khmère des Auberges royales'', a hotel network).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Monde diplomatique
| rozdział = La société khmère des auberges royales : Un équipement touristique de grande classe
| adres rozdziału = https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1963/10/A/25614
| miejsce = Paris
| data = October 1963
| strony = 15
}}</ref> The decoration took place in Paris.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Przypkowski
| imię r = Tadeusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski dekoruje
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/33718
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 12 January 1969
| wolumin = no. 1240
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––ARNABOLDI––––->
| [[File:Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi.JPG|100px|Caricature of Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi]] || style=text-align:left | '''Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi'''{{czyt|Jean-Dominique Arnaboldi}} (1919–1974)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Généafrance
| rozdział = Jean Dominique Arnaboldi : Base de données des décès de l’insee
| adres rozdziału = https://geneafrance.com/france/deces/?deces=37892347
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Gastronomic journalist, one of the jurors in the Golden Pan (''Poêle d’or'') tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kapandji
| imię = Ghislaine
| nazwisko2= Morhange
| imię2 = Élie
| tytuł = Vente aux enchères gastronomique sous les auspices de Bacchus et de Comus…
| url = https://cdn.drouot.com/d/catalogue?path=22/34883/20160918catDP.pdf
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 2016
| strony = 50–51
}}</ref>
|- <!––––BRENNA––––->
| [[File:Gian Giuseppe Brenna.jpg|100px|Gian Giuseppe Brenna]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gian Giuseppe Brenna'''{{czyt|Gian Giuseppe Brenna}} (1920–2006) || [[File:ITA.png|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Dentist by trade, gastronome by hobby, representative of the province of Como (Lombardy) at the Italian Culinary Academy (''Accademia Italiana della Cucina'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Espansione TV
| nazwisko r = Bambace
| imię r = Andrea
| rozdział = Campo di Tremezzina, una piazza dedicata a Gian Giuseppe Brenna
| adres rozdziału = https://www.espansionetv.it/2018/09/27/campo-di-tremezzina-una-piazza-dedicata-a-gian-giuseppe-brenna/
| miejsce = Como
| data = 27 September 2018
}}</ref>
|- <!––––CLOS-JOUVE––––->
| [[File:Henry Clos-Jouve.png|100px|Henry Clos-Jouve]] || '''Henry Clos-Jouve'''{{czyt|Henry Clos-Jouve}} (1908–1981) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Co-founder of ''Académie Rabelais'',<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Académie Rabelais
| rozdział = Membres
| adres rozdziału = https://academie-rabelais.fr/membres/
}}</ref> President of the Society of Chroniclers of Gastronomy and Tourism (''Chroniqueurs de la Gastronomie et du Tourisme''), first organizer of a competition for the best sommelier in France,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des sommerliers de Paris Ile-de-France
| rozdział = 1907–1969 Les origines des l’association
| adres rozdziału = https://www.sommelier-paris.org/les_origines_de_lassociation/
}}</ref> co-founder of the Friendly Association of Authentic Andouillette Sausage Lovers (''Association Amicale des Amateurs d’Andouillette Authentique'', or ''AAAAA'')<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomiac
| rozdział = Clos-Jouve (Henri Belin, known as Henry)
| adres rozdziału = https://en.gastronomiac.com/chefs_metiers_bouche/clos-jouve-henri-belin-dit-henry/
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––CUPER––––->
| [[File:Stanisław Cuper.jpg|100px|Stanisław Cuper]] || '''Stanisław Cuper'''{{czyt|Stanisław Cuper}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} ||
Chef at the ''Biesiada'' restaurant in Szydłowiec, best known for his carp in cream, one of Józef Cyrankiewicz’s favourite dishes<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––HURTREL––––->
| [[File:Andre Hurtrel.JPG|100px|André Hurtrel]] || style=text-align:left | '''André Hurtrel'''{{czyt|André Hurtrel}} (1917–1995) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, founder of the National Trade Union of Press Officers, President of the National Gastronomic Committee (''Comité National de la Gastronomie''), head of the jury in the Golden Pan tournament.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> He, in turn, decorated Przypkowski with a necklet of the Golden Pan in recognition of his work on Polish-French culinary relations.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = no. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}</ref>
|- <!––––JAROSZYŃSKI––––->
| [[File:Kazimierz Jaroszyński.jpg|100px|Kazimierz Jaroszyński]] || '''Kazimierz Jaroszyński'''{{czyt|Kazimierz Jaroszyński}} (1931–2013) || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Chef at ''Hotel Europejski'' and ''Spatif'' (actors’ club) in Warsaw<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|-
| [[File:Stanisław Kozioł.JPG|100px|Stanisław Kozioł]] || style=text-align:left | '''Stanisław Kozioł'''{{czyt|Stanisław Kozioł}} (1899–1974) || [[File:GBR.png|23px|]] {{small|Britain}} || Polish ''émigré'', owner of the ''Lucullus'' restaurant in London<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wschodni Rocznik Humanistyczny
| nazwisko r = Kaczorowski
| imię r = Andrzej W.
| rozdział = Służba Bezpieczeństwa na tropach Tola z Łyczakowa
| adres rozdziału = http://wrh.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/06_Kaczorowski_WRH_10_2014.pdf
| rok = 2014
| tom = X
| strony = 80–81 (footnote 45)
}}</ref>
|- <!––––KUCHARSKI––––->
| [[File:Władysław Kucharski 1.jpg|100px|Władysław Edward Kucharski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Władysław Edward Kucharski'''{{czyt|Władysław Edward Kucharski}} (1879–1973) || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || True to his surname, which comes from the Polish word for a cook, he was an accomplished chef, as were his grandfather, father, brother and son. He cooked for monarchs, aristocrats and diplomats (including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz).<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Polskie Radio Czwórka
| nazwisko r = Kuś
| imię r = Agnieszka
| rozdział = Pawłowa i Kucharski: Kto serwował Iwaszkiewiczom kurę po literacku?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.polskieradio.pl/10/5374/artykul/2831015,pawlowa-i-kucharski-kto-serwowal-iwaszkiewiczom-kure-po-literacku
| data = 25 October 2021
}}</ref> After World War 2, he worked as a chef at the Grand Hotel in Sopot and at a conference and recreation centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Jabłonna.<ref>Biographic note attached to the list of the Order of Pomiane awardees, Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów</ref><ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta Powiatowa
| nazwisko r = Degiel
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Nasza Historia: Władysław Kucharski (1879-1973) – dzierżawca kasyna oficerskiego w Legionowie, kuchmistrz w pałacu w Jabłonnie
| adres rozdziału = https://gazetapowiatowa.pl/poradniki/nasza-historia/nasza-historia-wladyslaw-kucharski-1879-1973-dzierzawca-kasyna-oficerskiego-legionowie-kuchmistrz-palacu-jablonnie/
| wydawca = Agencja Reklamowo-Wydawnicza Błękitne Centrum
| miejsce = Legionowo
| rok = 26 November 2020
}}</ref>
|- <!––––LONGUE––––->
| [[File:Edouard Longue 1.jpg|100px|link=|]] || style=text-align:left | '''Édouard Longue'''{{czyt|Édouard Longue}} (1908–1989)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acte Décès
| rozdział = Acte de décès à Paris 18e arrondissement (75018) pour l’année 1989
| adres rozdziału = https://www.acte-deces.fr/acte-de-deces-paris-18e-arrondissement-1989
}}</ref> || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Journalist, writer, culinary critic, founder of the French Association of Gastronomic and Tourist Press (''Association française de la Presse gastronomique et touristique''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Souillas.net
| rozdział = Le Souillagais Pierre Arnal « Poêle d’Or » 1969
| adres rozdziału = http://www.souillac.net/le-souillagais-pierre-arnal-poele-dor-1969
}}</ref> President of the French Union of Gastronome Journalists, Writers and Editors (''Union française des journalistes, écrivains et éditeurs gastronomes''),<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Feuille d’Avis du Valais
| url = https://doc.rero.ch/record/175903/files/1968-01-23.pdf
| nazwisko r = Longue
| imię r = Édouard
| rozdział = Respect du goût d’autrui en gastronome
| miejsce = Sion
| data = 23 January 1968
| wolumin = No. 19
| strony = 9
}}</ref> Vice President of the International Gastronomic Press Federation (''Fédération internationale de la Presse gastronomique''),<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Cracknell
| imię = H. L.
| nazwisko2= Nobis
| imię2 = G.
| tytuł = Practical Professional Gastronomy
| rozdział = Gastronomy and Gastronomes
| adres rozdziału = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17876-6_12
| wydawca = Palgrave
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1985
| strony = 330
}}</ref> awarded in 1980 with a Golden Feather ([https://www.gastronomische-akademie.de/aktivitaeten/literarischer-wettbewerb/buecher-archiv/ergebnisse-nach-jahren/buecher-goldene-feder.html ''Goldene Feder'']) by the Gastronomic Academy of Germany (''Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands''). Edouard de Pomiane’s nephew.<ref>''Curriculum vitae d’Édouard Camille Longue'', Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie, manuscript MPJ/G/329, after 1967</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 203
}}</ref>
|- <!––––MANTERO––––->
| [[File:Gianni Mantero.jpg|100px|Gianni Mantero]] || style=text-align:left | '''Gianni Mantero'''{{czyt|Gianni Mantero}} (1897–1985) || [[File:ITA.png|23px|]] {{small|Italy}} || Architect, printmaker, bookplate collector.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = British Museum
| rozdział = Gianni Mantero
| adres rozdziału = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG37108
}}</ref> No ties to gastronomy established.
|- <!––––ROUCOU––––->
| [[File:Roger Roucou.jpg|100px|Roger Roucou]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Roucou'''{{czyt|Roger Roucou}} (1921–2012) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Mère Guy'' restaurant in Lyons, President of the White Hats of Lyons (''Toques Blanches Lyonnaises'', 1983–87),<ref>{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Hervé Bal
| tytuł = Guide Toques Blanches Lyonnaises 2021
| url = https://issuu.com/toques-blanches-lyonnaises/docs/guide_2021_compresse_
| wydawca = France Médias Internationnal
| rok = 2021
| strony = 26
}}</ref> President of the Master Chefs of France (''Maîtres Cuisiniers de France'', 1988–91)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France
| rozdział = Notre histoire
| adres rozdziału = https://maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/fr/notre-histoire/
| miejsce = Paris
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TERRAIL––––->
| [[File:Claude Terrail.jpg|100px|Claude Terrail]] || style=text-align:left | '''Claude Terrail'''{{czyt|Claude Terrail}} (1918–2006) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''La Tour d’Argent'' restaurant in Paris<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = The New York Times
| nazwisko r = Prial
| imię r = Frank J.
| rozdział = Claude Terrail, 88, Model of a Restaurateur, Dies
| adres rozdziału = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/world/europe/07terrail.html?ex=1307332800&en=5b6cfa83074578f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
| rok = 7 June 2006
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOMASZEWSKI––––->
| [[File:Grzegorz Tomaszewski.JPG|100px|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski'''{{czyt|Grzegorz Stanisław Tomaszewski}} (1927–1999)<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Kendtes Gravsted
| rozdział = Grzegorz Stanisław Georges ’Georg’ Tomaszewski
| adres rozdziału = https://gravsted.dk/person.php?navn=georgsstomaszewski
}}</ref> || [[File:DNK.png|23px|]] {{small|Denmark}} || Polish Danish chef, co-founder of ''Jensens Konserves'', a Danish canned-soup company.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jensen
| imię = Bjarne
| tytuł = Bogen om Jensen
| rozdział = Polsk kok fyldte Jensen på dåse
| wydawca = Turbine
| rok = 2017
}}</ref> He would later set up the Gastronomic Institute (''Gastronomisk Institut''), a gastronomic consulting company, in Hørsholm near Copenhagen.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Samling af anmeldelser til handelsregistrene
| url = https://tidsskrift.dk/Handelsregistrene/article/download/77734/112477/164004
| wydawca = Handelsministeriet
| rok = 1968
| wolumin = No. 5
| strony = 89
}}</ref> In Denmark he was known as Georges, a pseudonym he had used during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Dwa Pomiany
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/29793
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1268
| strony = 1–2
}}</ref>
|- <!––––TOPOLINSKI––––->
| [[File:Roger Topolinski.JPG|100px|Roger Topolinski]] || style=text-align:left | '''Roger Topolinski'''{{czyt|Roger Topolinski}} (1905–1994) || [[File:FRA.png|23px|]] {{small|France}} || Owner of the ''Lapérouse'' restaurant in Paris,<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = È molto goloso
| rozdział = Roger Topolinski : restaurant Lapérouse à Paris (France)
| adres rozdziału = https://emoltogoloso.fr/2021/05/02/roger-topolinski-restaurant-laperouse-a-paris-france
| wydawca = WordPress
| data = 2 May 2021
}}</ref> President of the Union of Parisian Restaurateurs. Said to be a descendant of a Polish court chef to King Stanislas Leszczyński at Lunéville.<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 13</ref>
|- <!––––PRZEKRÓJ––––->
| [[File:Przekrój.png|100px|Przekrój masthead]] || style=text-align:left | '''''[https://przekroj.pl/ Przekrój]'''''{{czyt|Przekrój}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || Przypkowski and his journalist friends often wrote of his activities on the pages of ''Przekrój'' (''Cut Open''), a weekly cultural magazine. The decoration was received by Deputy Editor Jan Kalkowski{{czyt|Jan Kalkowski}}<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Z przyjemnością informujemy Czytelników, że…
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/39950
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1969
| wolumin = No. 1285
| strony = 9
}}</ref> (1922–1989), author of books and articles on culinary topics.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Klominek
| imię = Andrzej
| tytuł = Życie w Przekroju
| wydawca = Oficyna Wydawnicza Most
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1995
| strony = 324–325
}}</ref>
|- <!––––PUDLISZKI––––->
| [[File:Pudliszki.png|100px|Pudliszki logo]] || style=text-align:left | '''[https://www.pudliszki.pl/o-nas/historia-firmy Pudliszki]'''{{czyt|Pudliszki}} || [[File:POL.png|23px|]] {{small|Poland}} || I touched on the pioneering role of the Pudliszki fruit-and-vegetable-processing company in my post about [[Ketchup_vs_Mustard#Ketchup, “Something Akin to Kabul”|the history of ketchup]]. The decoration was received by Executive Director Zbyszko Trzeciakowski{{czyt|Zbyszko Trzeciakowski}}<ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', p. 15</ref><ref>{{Cyt
| inni = reż. Wiesław Karaś
| tytuł = Ludzie z pierwszych stron gazet
| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmAh8vvsk0M
| wydawca = Telewizja Polska, Oddział we Wrocławiu
| rok = 10 April 1976
}}</ref> (1913–1989).
|-
|}
‎*)‎ {{small|At the moment of being awarded the Order of Pomiane}}

== Good Spirits at the Stove ==
[[File:Gronowscy.JPG|thumb|Tadeusz Gronowski (right) and his wife, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska]]
You may have noticed by now that the Order of Pomiane was strictly a men-only affair. The Order had its knights – but not a single dame. Where were the ladies then? Well, knowing the social norms still prevailing in the 1960s, I suppose the answer is simple: the women were in the kitchen! After all, someone had to cook for all these gourmet gentlemen.

Journalist Janusz Miliszkiewicz wrote of “Gronowski’s wife and accomplished translator, Maria Erhardt-Gronowska,” as “the good spirit” of the Chapter meetings held in the Grand Master’s apartment.<ref>J. Miliszkiewicz, ''op. cit.'', p. 36</ref> Like a true ghost, however, she is nowhere to be seen in any of the pictures taken at these meetings. I’d bet that while the members of the Chapter were busy with their banquets and erudite conversations, it fell to her to prepare all those vegetable bouquets and mock-lobster salads.
When it comes to dinners held in Jędrzejów, we need not even guess. Tadeusz Przypkowski’s son had this to say about his father’s culinary prowess:
{{clear}}
[[File:Witold i Stefania Hulewiczowie, Stefania Przypkowska.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Left: Stefania Ossowska, future wife of Tadeusz Przypkowski, with her first husband, Witold Hulewicz (later executed by the German occupiers). Right: Elżebieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska, Tadeusz Przypkowski’s daughter-in-law.]]

{{ Cytat
| My father never cooked. He didn’t have the skill. He never even made any attempts in this matter. He was simply a gourmet. He knew his food, he would write about it and he would talk about it most of all. And he would, of course, eat.
| oryg = Ojciec nigdy niczego nie ugotował. Nie potrafił. Nawet nie czynił w tej mierze żadnych prób. On był po prostu smakoszem. Znał się na dobrym jadle, pisał o nim i przede wszystkim mówił. No i oczywiście jadł.
| źródło = Piotr Maciej Przypkowski, quoted in: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}, own translation }}

Most likely the only thing Tadeusz Przypkowski ever produced himself that was fit for human consumption was his homemade angelica (wild celery) liqueur.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
| strony = 32
}}</ref> He shared his gastronomic and historiosophical reflections in the foreword to the aforementioned ''A Spoon in the Boot Leg'', but it was his wife Stefania who added a practical chapter at the end of the same book. Next to recipës for Pomiane’s ''kołduny'' or Cuper’s carp in cream, she also divulged directions for preparing family specialities which had been tested by all the housewives faithfully catering to three generations of Przypkowski men.

{{ Cytat
| A handful of Polish culinary recipës tried out multiple times over the last one hundred years or more in the Przypkowski, Ossowski and Gawroński families by: Mrs. Feliks Przypkowski, née Zofia Horst {{...}}; Mrs. Józef Ostrowski, née Zenobia Gawrońska; Mrs. Tadeusz Przypkowski, née Stefania Ossowska, first married to Witold Hulewicz; and Mrs. Maciej Przypkowski, née Elżbieta Chodkiewicz; all currently served at the seat of the Chapter of the Gastronomic Order of Pomiane, at the Przypkowski Museum in Jędrzejów.
| oryg = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów wypróbowanych wielokrotnie w ostatnich co najmniej stu latach w rodzinach Przypkowskich, Ossowskich i Gawrońskich przez: Zofię z Horstów Feliksową Przypkowską {{...}}, Zenobię z Gawrońskich Józefową Ossowską {{...}} oraz Stefanię z Ossowskich, 1° voto Witoldową Hulewiczową, 2° voto Tadeuszową Przypkowską, i Elżbietę z Chodkiewiczów Maciejową Przypkowską, a podawanych obecnie w siedzibie Kapituły Gastronomicznego Orderu Pomiana w Jędrzejowie (kieleckim) przy Muzeum im. Przypkowskich.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| nazwisko r = Przypkowska
| imię r = Stefania
| rozdział = Garść kulinarnych polskich przepisów
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
| strony = 79
}}, own translation }}

== Fifth Course: Good King Stanislas and Przypkowski Onion Soup ==
One recipë that could not have been omitted from the book was for a dish which was the absolute ''pièce de résistance'' in the Przypkowski household, the culinary pride of the family, served at all important gatherings in their Jędrzejów home (and now also in local restaurants): the onion soup ''à la'' Przypkowski. Yes, I know, onion soup is typically associated with French cuisine. Its Przypkowski version is a little different, though, as it’s thickened with crumbled wholemeal rye bread and seasoned in the Old Polish manner with ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

[[File:Zupa cebulowa przypkowska.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Artwork from an invitation for onion soup at Tadeusz Przypkowski’s house {{small|By Tadeusz Przypkowski}}]]
{{ Cytat
| Onion soup à la Przypkowski, which, under this name, has already gained popularity among Parisian gourmets and is even served at the best restaurant in Madrid, has been an heirloom of the Przypkowski family for generations. While it possesses all the features of Old Polish cuisine, it is not listed in any printed cookbooks. Take one and a half litres of lean beef stock, 6 large sweet onions (if the onions are too sharp, the soup may require a little sweetening), 6 slices of dark wholemeal rye bread, 30 to 40 g butter, and to taste: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, black pepper and salt, and if possible, some curry, which is at last becoming available in Poland! Fry the finely sliced onions in butter until golden, separately fry the bread slices until crispy, crumble them and cook together with the onions in the stock, then strain through a fine sieve and add the seasonings to taste. If it has cooled down, heat it before serving in deep bowls with crispy cookies. Alexandre Dumas, in his gastronomic musings, recounts an anecdote about Stanislas Leszczyński arriving two days late for his daughter’s banquet in Versailles because he was busy seasoning, in the Polish manner, this excellent onion soup, which had been served to him at an inn along the way.}}
{{ Cytat
| Crispy cookies for the onion soup. Take 3 cups of wheat flour, half a cup of milk, 40 g yeast, 250 g butter, 1 egg for brushing, 2 teaspoons very finely ground caraway seeds, salt to taste. Knead the dough together with the caraway powder and roll into finger-thick sticks. (For special celebrations, the dough used to be rolled out very thinly and shaped, with special moulds, into the guests’ armorial devices. In our time, when one is more likely to entertain non-armigerous visitors, it is safer to cut out Zodiac signs for each guest to pick according to their own date of birth.) Brush with egg and bake in a well-heated oven.
| oryg = Przypkowska zupa cebulowa (pod tą nazwą spopularyzowana już wśród smakoszy Paryża, a nawet serwowana w najlepszej restauracji Madrytu, od pokoleń tradycyjnie podawana w rodzinie Przypkowskich. Posiadając wszelkie cechy staropolskiej kuchni, nie figuruje jednak w drukowanych książkach kucharskich). Półtora litra chudego rosołu wołowego, 6 dużych słodkich cebul (jeżeli cebule zbyt ostre, zupa wymaga lekkiego przysłodzenia), 6 kromek żytniego ciemnego razowego chleba, 30 do 40 g masła i do smaku: gałka muszkatołowa, imbir, goździki korzenne, pieprz, sól i o ile można curry, która przecież wreszcie do Polski dociera! Cebule w cienkich plastrach przysmażyć na maśle na złoto, kromki chleba zaś osobno przysmażyć na chrupiąco, pokruszyć i razem z cebulą rozgotować w rosole, przetrzeć przez gęste sito, dodać korzeni do smaku indywidualnego i o ile przy tym ostygła – podgrzać przed podaniem w głębokich czarkach, z kruchymi ciasteczkami. Aleksander Dumas w swych gastronomicznych rozważaniach podaje anegdotę, jak Stanisław Leszczyński spóźnił się o dwa dni na przyjęcie do królowej córki w Wersalu, przyrządzając na ten polski sposób doskonałą francuską zupę cebulową, jaką mu w gospodzie po drodze podali.

Kruche ciasteczka do zupy cebulowej. 3 szklanki mąki pszennej, pół szklanki mleka, 40 g drożdży, 250 g masła, jajko do smarowania, 2 łyżeczki bardzo drobno zmielonego kminku, sól do smaku. Ciasto ugnieść wraz z proszkiem kminku i robić paluszki grubości palca (dla przyjęć bardziej uroczystych rozwałkowywano ciasto cienko i odpowiednimi foremkami wycinano z niego herby gości. Teraz, ponieważ coraz częściej zdarza się przyjmować także i nieherbowych gości, bezpieczniej wycinać znaki zodiaku, które goście według swego urodzenia sobie wybierają). Smarować jajkiem i piec w dobrze rozgrzanym piecu.
| źródło = ''Ibid.'', s. 82–83, own translation }}

[[File:Maja Berezowska, Stanisław Leszczyński gotuje zupę.JPG|thumb|left|King Stanislas Leszczyński seasoning onion soup with ginger and nutmeg {{small|By Maja Berezowska (1970)}}]]
So apparently, while the soup bears the name of the Przypkowski family, it dates back all the way to King Stanislas Leszczyński in the 18th century! Provided, of course, that it’s really the same kind of soup. And provided the anecdote about a soup cooked personally by the monarch is true. Which it most likely isn’t. The author of ''The Three Musketeers'' and ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' was undoubtedly blessed with a vivid imagination. And Przypkowski certainly wouldn’t have minded if the anecdote didn’t really square with historical truth.

Alexandre Dumas, while best known as a great swashbuckling novelist, is also the author of the ''Great Culinary Dictionary'' (''Grand dictionnaire de cuisine'') which he penned toward the end of his life. Many of the delicacies he described in his work are supposedly linked to Stanisław Leszczyński or his entourage. The former Polish monarch and Louis XV’s father-in-law was responsible, according to Dumas, not only for introducing the rich yeast cake known as [[Good King Stanislas and the Forty Thieves|“baba”]] or the buttery shell-shaped cookies called madeleines, but he was also involved in inventing turkey wings ''à la Stanislas'' and the rack of lamb in gooseberry sauce, the latter credited to Leszczyński’s cook. He adds that it was the Poles at the Lunéville court who taught the French to gather and appreciate king bolete mushrooms. Generally speaking, if any element of French cuisine had even the slightest connection to Poland or Lorraine, Dumas could not imagine King Stanislas not having had his plump fingers in the pie when it came to bringing that dish to France.

As for the onion-soup anecdote, it goes like this:

{{ Cytat
| On his journeys from Lunéville to Paris each year to visit his daughter the Queen, ex-King Stanislaus of Poland stopped at the inn in Châlons, where he was served such a fine, delicate onion soup that he refused to continue on his way without learning how to make it. His Majesty, wrapped in his dressing gown, went down to the kitchen and insisted that the chef perform before his eyes. Neither the smoke nor the onion fumes that made his eyes tear distracted his attention. He observed carefully, took notes, and went on his way only when he was certain he had mastered the art of making excellent onion soup.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = translated by Louis Colman
| tytuł = Dictionary of Cuisine
| wydawca = Routledge
| miejsce = London and New York
| rok = 2013
| strony = 176
}}
| oryg = Dans un de ses voyages de Lunéville à Versailles, où il allait tous les ans visiter la reine sa fille, l’ex-roi de Pologne, Stanislas, s’arrêta dans une auberge de Châlons où on lui servit une soupe à l’oignon si délicate et si soignée, qu’il ne voulut pas continuer sa route sans avoir appris à en préparer une semblable. Enveloppé de sa robe de chambre, Sa Majesté descendit à la cuisine et voulut absolument que le chef opérât sous ses yeux. Ni la fumée ni l’odeur de l’oignon, qui lui arrachait de grosses larmes, ne purent le distraire de son attention. Il observa tout, en prit note et ne remonta en voiture qu’après être certain de posséder l’art de faire une excellente soupe à l’oignon.
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumas
| imię = Alexandre
| inni = ed. Denis-Joseph Vuillemot
| tytuł = Grand dictionnaire de cuisine
| url = https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADumas.-_Grand_dictionnaire_de_cuisine%2C_1873.djvu/787
| wydawca = Alphonse Lemerre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1873
| strony = 764
}}
}}

The recipë given by Dumas, however, differs from Przypkowski’s: it contains no spicy, exotic spices — not even pepper, let alone ginger. Moreover, Dumas does not even allow bouillon to be added to the soup, as in his view such an addition would make it too nourishing and less delicate.

== Moving On ==
After Tadeusz Przypkowski’s death in 1977, his son Piotr Maciej Przypkowski took over as the new museum director. The Chapter, however, now without its original driving force, found it was unable to function anymore and decided to put their activities on hold – for an unspecified period of time.

[[File:Reaktywacja Orderu Pomiana 1.jpg|thumb|left|The first (and probably last) meeting of the Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane (Jędrzejów, 1998)]]
There was an attempt to reactivate the Chapter two decades later, after the fall of Communism. It was started by two of the few people in Poland who had been somehow connected to the Order (either as member of the Chapter or as an awardee) and were still alive at the time: Andrzej Michałowski and Kazimierz Jaroszyński. The two veterans of the project met in 1998, in the Jędrzejów museum at Piotr Maciej Przypkowski’s{{czyt|Piotr Maciej Przypkowski}} invitation, with several other people who expressed interest in reviving the Order. They discussed, over herring salad and walnut-and-chocolate torte among other delicacies, the need to resume the Chapter’s activities “as a means to foster the art of Polish cuisine in the new economic and political realities of the Third Polish Commonwealth.” To this end, an Organizing Committee for the Reëstablishment of the Chapter of the Order of Pomiane was created. And this time, there were even a few women among its members: Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska,{{czyt|Elżbieta Chodkiewicz-Przypkowska}} head of the Przypkowski Museum publishing house; Krystyna Kaszuba,{{czyt|Krystyna Kaszuba}} editor-in-chief of ''Twój Styl'' (''Your Style''), a lifestyle magazine; and Magdalena Nieżychowska{{czyt|Magdalena Nieżychowska}} who co-authored, together with her husband, a book about the eating habits of Old Polish landed gentry.<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Szczeciner
| nazwisko r = Stefański
| imię r = Antoni
| rozdział = Nieżychowski mniej i bardziej prywatnie
| adres rozdziału = https://szczeciner.pl/niezychowski-mniej-i-bardziej-prywatnie/25875/
| rok = 22 maja 2024
}}</ref><ref>Z.T. Nowicki, ''op. cit.'', s. 15</ref>

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any information regarding whether a second meeting of this committee ever took place. It seems that this noble initiative came to nothing, and that the Order of Pomiane was never awarded again.

{{Przypisy}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Polityka
| nazwisko r = Adamczewski
| imię r = Piotr
| rozdział = Mistrz propagandy
| adres rozdziału = https://adamczewski.blog.polityka.pl/2006/11/03/mistrz-propagandy/
| data = 3 November 2006
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Berezowska
| imię = Maja
| nazwisko2= Przypkowska
| imię2 = Stefania
| nazwisko3= Przypkowski
| imię3 = Tadeusz
| nazwisko4= Samozwaniec
| imię4 = Magdalena
| tytuł = Łyżka za cholewą, a widelec na stole: mała kulinarna silva rerum
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Literackie
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1977
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Internetowy Polski Słownik Biograficzny
| wydawca = Instytut Historii PAN
| miejsce = Warszawa
}}
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Brzozowski
| imię r = Stanisław Marian
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/tadeusz-konrad-przypkowski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXIX
** {{Cyt
| tytuł = IPSB
| nazwisko r = Ostrowska
| imię r = Teresa
| rozdział = Edward Aleksander Pożerski
| adres rozdziału = https://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-aleksander-pozerski?print
}}, entry published in Polish Biographical Dictionary, volume XXVIII
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Kalkowski
| imię r = Jan
| rozdział = Order Pomiana
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/61924
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1966
| wolumin = No. 1095–96
| strony = 8
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture.pl
| nazwisko r = Kasprzyk-Chevriaux
| imię r = Magdalena
| rozdział = O Alibabie i Pomianie, czyli Polakach, którzy mieszali we francuskiej gastronomii
| adres rozdziału = https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/o-alibabie-i-pomianie-czyli-polakach-ktorzy-mieszali-we-francuskiej-gastronomii
| wydawca = Instytut Adama Mickiewicza
| data = 14 July 2017
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Gastronomica
| nazwisko r = McArthur
| imię r = Margaret
| rozdział = Desperately Seeking Edouard: A Passion for de Pomiane
| adres rozdziału = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2004.4.4.62
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2004
| wolumin = Vol. 4, No. 4
| strony = 62–65
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Spotkania z Zabytkami
| nazwisko r = Miliszkiewicz
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowski i PRL
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/3bea1f8d-7c87-4b94-afbd-48b53b61861b?page=36
| wydawca = Ministerstwo Kultury i Sztuki, Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1996
| wolumin = 116
| strony = 35–37
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko =
| imię =
| tytuł = Przegląd Gastronomiczny
| nazwisko r = Nowicki
| imię r = Zdzisław T.
| rozdział = Powrót Orderu Pomiana
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Czasopism i Książek Technicznych {{small|SIGMA-NOT}}
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = November 1998
| strony = 12–15
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Polonijne
| nazwisko r = Pietrzkiewicz
| imię r = Dorota
| rozdział = Francusko-polskie życie Edwarda Aleksandra Pożerskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/sp/article/download/14408/14078/
| wydawca = Towarzystwo Naukowe {{small|KUL}} i Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
| rok = 2020
| tom = 41
| strony = 75–93
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = Bien manger pour bien vivre : Essai de gastronomie théorique
| wydawca = Editions Albin Michel
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1948
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Pomiane
| imię = Édouard de
| tytuł = La cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine
| wydawca = Société Polonaise des Amis du Livre
| miejsce = Paris
| rok = 1952
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Przypkowski
| imię = Piotr Maciej
| nazwisko2= Zaczkowski
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Zbiory Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| wydawca = Muzeum im. Przypkowskich w Jędrzejowie
| rok = 2012
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Roszko
| imię = Janusz
| nazwisko2= Bratkowski
| imię2 = Stefan
| tytuł = Ostatki staropolskie
| url = https://studioopinii.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ostatki-staropolskie.pdf
| wydawca = Czytelnik
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1966
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Ostatni szlachcic Rzeczypospolitej
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/numery/1374/3
| rok = 1971
| wolumin = No. 1374
| strony = 4–5
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Przekrój
| nazwisko r = Roszko
| imię r = Janusz
| rozdział = Przypkowskiemu panegiryk ostatni
| adres rozdziału = https://przekroj.pl/archiwum/artykuly/72969
| rok = 1978
| wolumin = No. 1711
| strony = 11
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Culture Avenue
| nazwisko r = Sokołowska-Gwizdka
| imię r = Joanna
| rozdział = Na straży rodzinnej kolekcji (wywiad z Janem Przypkowskim)
| adres rozdziału = https://www.cultureave.com/na-strazy-rodzinnej-kolekcji/
| data = 30 July 2021
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Sciences des aliments
| nazwisko r = This
| imię r = Hervé
| rozdział = Pourquoi la cuisine n’est pas une science ?
| adres rozdziału = https://docplayer.fr/210415603-Pourquoi-la-cuisine-n-est-pas-une-science.html
| wydawca = Lavoisier
| rok = 2006
| wolumin = 26
| strony = 201–210
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Studia Historiae Scientiarum
| nazwisko r = Zaczkowski
| imię r = Rafał
| rozdział = Tadeusz Konrad Przypkowski (1905–1977) – gnomonik z Jędrzejowa
| adres rozdziału = https://pau.krakow.pl/SHS/shs-19-2020-5.pdf
| wydawca = Polska Akademia Umiejętności
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 2020
| wolumin = 19
| strony = 75–130
}}

{{Nawigacja|poprz=Even Older Polish Cookery for Complete Beginners|nast=Italian Greens from Italian Queens}}

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[[pl:Gastronomiczny Order Pomiana]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-30T10:16:48Z

Kpalion:

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”.

During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

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[[Category: Ravioli]]
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[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-30T10:13:33Z

Kpalion:

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved
are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. In the English-speaking world they're known simply as “potato-and-cheese pierogi”, but in Poland they are called ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which is often translated as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
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[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
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[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-29T21:21:39Z

Kpalion: /* Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved is ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. The name is often rendered into English as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as fair and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
[[Category: Marcin Bielski]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Czerniecki]]
[[Category: Ivan Franko]]
[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Napoleon I]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Eliza Orzeszkowa]]
[[Category: Peter I, the Great]]
[[Category: Marco Polo]]
[[Category: Sigismund II Augustus]]
[[Category: Vasily III]]
[[Category: Vladimir the Great]]
[[Category: Wojciech Wielądko]]
[[Category: Yaroslav the Wise]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Ukraine]]
[[Category: Kyiv]]
[[Category: Lviv]]
[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
[[Category: Pasztecik szczeciński]]
[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-29T21:19:10Z

Kpalion: /* Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved is ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. The name is often rendered into English as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked ''“pirożki”'' with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as good and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
[[Category: Marcin Bielski]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Czerniecki]]
[[Category: Ivan Franko]]
[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Napoleon I]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Eliza Orzeszkowa]]
[[Category: Peter I, the Great]]
[[Category: Marco Polo]]
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[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
[[Category: Pasztecik szczeciński]]
[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-29T21:17:52Z

Kpalion: /* Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved is ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. The name is often rendered into English as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but producing them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked “pirożki” with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as good and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
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[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
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[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
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[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
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[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-29T21:15:51Z

Kpalion: /* Potato Vareniki */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved is ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. The name is often rendered into English as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but making them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked “pirożki” with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as good and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

[[Category: Benedict of Poland]]
[[Category: Marcin Bielski]]
[[Category: Bona Sforza]]
[[Category: Chinghis Khan]]
[[Category: Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa]]
[[Category: Stanisław Czerniecki]]
[[Category: Ivan Franko]]
[[Category: Ivan III, the Great]]
[[Category: Ivan IV, the Terrible]]
[[Category: Adam Mickiewicz]]
[[Category: Napoleon I]]
[[Category: Jacek Odrowąż]]
[[Category: Eliza Orzeszkowa]]
[[Category: Peter I, the Great]]
[[Category: Marco Polo]]
[[Category: Sigismund II Augustus]]
[[Category: Vasily III]]
[[Category: Vladimir the Great]]
[[Category: Wojciech Wielądko]]
[[Category: Yaroslav the Wise]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Ukraine]]
[[Category: Kyiv]]
[[Category: Lviv]]
[[Category: French fries]]
[[Category: Hamburger]]
[[Category: Kołduny]]
[[Category: Mustard]]
[[Category: Pasztecik szczeciński]]
[[Category: Pie]]
[[Category: Pierogi leniwe]]
[[Category: Pierogi ruskie]]
[[Category: Ravioli]]
[[Category: Middle Ages]]
[[Category: Early Modern Period]]
[[Category: 19th century]]
[[Category: 20th century]]
[[Category: 21st century]]
[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]

Who Asked for the Ruskies?

2026-05-29T21:12:37Z

Kpalion: /* Potato Vareniki */

{{data|29 May 2026}}
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Pierogi ruskie.png}}|thumb|''Pierogi ruskie'' topped with pork cracklings. Who doesn’t salivate just looking at them?]]
Pierogi{{czyt|pierogi}} – pockets of unleavened dough wrapped around a savoury or sweet filling and then boiled – are among the best known Polish dishes. Some would even say that Poland’s cuisine suffers from a “pierogi problem” as foreigners often associate local cookery with the mundane, unsophisticated dumplings and little else.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Parasecoli
| imię = Fabio
| nazwisko2= Bachórz
| imię2 = Agata
| nazwisko3= Halawa
| imię3 = Mateusz
| tytuł = The Pierogi Problem: Cosmopolitan Appetites and the Reinvention of Polish Food
| wydawca = University of California Press
| miejsce = Oakland
| rok = 2025
| strony = 7
}}</ref> Most people don’t seem to mind, though, and see pierogi as the nation’s perfect comfort food. The scrumptious dumplings are a staple of Polish home cooking, but can also be found anywhere from milk bars (self-service cafeterias) to upscale restaurants.

Pierogi come in multiple varieties; one of the most beloved is ''pierogi ruskie'',{{czyt|pierogi ruskie}} which are filled with a simple, yet mouth-watering, mixture of ''twaróg''{{czyt|twaróg}} (farmer cheese), boiled potatoes and fried onion. The name is often rendered into English as “Russian pierogi”. During the Cold War, while Poland languished inside the Soviet sphere of influence, people told a joke about a milk-bar attendant announcing that an order of pierogi was ready for pickup.

{{Cytat
| “Who asked for the Ruskies?” asked the lady. “No one did,” replied a patron. “They came uninvited!”
| oryg = – Kto prosił ruskie? – Nikt, same przyszli!
| źródło = Polish-language joke, second half of the 20th century, quoted from memory
}}

In February 2022, when Vladimir Putin – seeking to resurrect the Soviet empire – suddenly escalated Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (which had already been ongoing for eight years), Polish outpouring of sympathy for their bravely resisting neighbours revived that old unsavoury association in the public mind. Practically overnight, ''pierogi ruskie'' vanished from restaurants, milk bars and deli counters, replaced by “Ukrainian pierogi” (''pierogi ukraińskie''), “Galician pierogi” (''pierogi galicyjskie''), “pierogi from across the eastern hedgerow” (''pierogi zza wschodniej miedzy'') or simply “potato-and-cheese pierogi” (''pierogi z serem i ziemniakami''). A similar fate befell “Russian mustard” (''musztarda rosyjska'',{{czyt|musztarda rosyjska}} produced in Poland), which was swiftly rebranded more descriptively as “hot” or “extra hot mustard” (''musztarda bardzo ostra'').

Renaming food products in response to national sympathies or antipathies is nothing new. Americans have excelled at it for a long time: during the First World War, they rechristened hamburgers as “liberty sandwiches” just to spite the Germans; and in 2003, in retaliation for France’s refusal to support the U.S. aggression against Iraq, they renamed French fries to “freedom fries”. These changes proved short-lived – in both cases, the traditional names returned within a few years.

[[File:Musztarda rosyjska bardzo ostra.jpg|thumb|left|upright|”Russian” mustard in Poland before and after February 2022]]
In Poland, “extra hot mustard” also turned out to be a temporary fix and “Russian mustard” has already made its way back onto store shelves. Will the same happen with “Ukrainian pierogi”? Time will tell. In the meantime, I’d like to point out one key difference: while the word ''“rosyjska”'' in the mustard’s name leaves little doubt that its recipë (at least in theory) hails from Russia, the adjective ''“ruskie”''{{czyt|ruskie}} in the traditional name for the potato-and-cheese pierogi is far less clear-cut – because it doesn’t derive explicitly from Russia, but from some nebulous Rus.

So what exactly is – or was – this “Rus”? What does it have to do with those dumplings made from such humble ingredients as potatoes, farmer cheese and onions, and yet so delicious? And how much sense does it really make to boycott their long-established name?
{{clear}}

== The Roots of Rus ==
[[File:Mapa Rusi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of medieval Rus superimposed on modern-day national borders
{{Legenda|#88c3ec|Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (8th–12th centuries)}}
{{Legenda|#6075bd|Parts of Rus either conquered by the Mongols (13th c.) or left relatively independent}}
{{Legenda|#d5df5b|Parts of Rus conquered by Lithuania (13th–14th c.)}}
{{Legenda|#db7356|Parts of Rus conquered by Poland (14th c.)}}
]]

Let us begin with where the name “Rus” came from in the first place and what it actually means. The history of Rus reaches back to the 9th century CE. And who were the biggest troublemakers in 9th-century Europe? That’s right: the Vikings. The Scandinavians at the time were famous for building long, swift boats in which they sailed to various parts of the world in search of wealth. Those from what is now Denmark and Norway crossed open seas to plunder a dilapidated England or to settle the previously uninhabited Iceland, whereas the Vikings from Sweden, known as Varangians, navigated eastwards – across the Baltic and then up the rivers to find an inland route to the Black Sea and further still, all the way to Constantinople, the largest and richest city in Europe at the time. And they travelled there not just to plunder it once or twice, but to establish a regular trade route and strike trade agreements on terms favourable to themselves: we give you furs and slaves, you give us wine, spices and gold. Next, in order to secure a monopoly on that trade corridor – which went up the Volkhov and the Lovat, and then down the Dnieper – they proceeded to found new cities along the way, the most important of which were Veliky Novgorod on the Volkhov and Kyiv on the Dnieper. Soon these cities became the main centres of a whole new civilization that grew around the river route leading “from the Varangians to the Greeks”. And since the founders of this civilization were freshwater Vikings who probably rowed more often than they set sail, it came to be known as “Ros”, from the Old Norse word ''“róðr”'',{{czyt|róðr}} meaning “oar” (the same root gave rise to ''“Ruotsi”'', the Finnish name for Sweden). The local Slavic population, with whom the ruling Varangians quickly assimilated, adapted this name into “Rus”.{{czyt|Русь}} Or so one etymological hypothesis claims.

This Rus (called “Kievan” or “Kyivan” by modern historians) was ruled by the princes of the Rurikid dynasty – Vikings with Slavic names whose deeds are praised even in Icelandic sagas and who managed to create a vast, powerful state on the lowlands of eastern Europe. Vladimir the Great (Waldemar in Old Norse; reigned 980–1015) considered all the advantages and disadvantages of Judaism, Islam, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, then chose the last of these as the state religion. Under the rule of his son, Yaroslav the Wise (Jarisleif; reigned 1016–1054), the Rus civilization reached its peak. The latter’s daughter, Princess Anna Yaroslavna, who was married off to King Henry I of France, arrived in Paris only to find it a dreadful backwater and wanted at once to return to the prosperous and beautiful Kyiv (it’s worth noting that the site of today’s Moscow was still covered by dense boreal forest at the time).

After Yaroslav’s death the realm fragmented into several principalities, as was quite common in that era. For over a hundred years various Rus principalities existed side by side until, one after another, they were conquered by pagan barbarians: the eastern part of Rus fell under Mongol-Tatar rule and the western part was soon taken by the Lithuanians. Exceptions remained: the Novgorodian Republic in the far north managed to maintain relative independence and its assembly-based democracy, while the Principality of Halych in the southwest was contested by the Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. Catholic officials writing in Latin used Latinized names for Halychian Rus: the Hungarians called it ''Galicia'', and for the Poles it was ''Russia'' or ''Ruthenia''. In everyday speech it was known as “Red Rus” (alongside “Black Rus” and “White Rus” further north) or simply “Rus”. In the 14th century the Poles ultimately prevailed over the Hungarians, and the “Russian” Palatinate (''Palatinatus Russiæ, Województwo Ruskie'') became part of the Kingdom of Poland. From then on, for several centuries, the Polish adjective ''“ruskie”'' referred specifically to this Polish-held fragment of the former Kyivan Rus, located in what is now western Ukraine and southwestern Poland.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gloger
| imię = Zygmunt
| tytuł = Geografia historyczna ziem dawnej Polski
| url = http://www.bibliotekacyfrowa.eu/dlibra/show-content/publication/47646/edition/42020/
| wydawca = Spółka Wydawnicza Polska
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1900
| strony = 211–223
}}</ref> And if you look at early modern Latin-language maps of Europe, you’re going to find a ''“Russia”'' centred around Lviv, not Moscow.

== A Doughy Empire ==
[[File:Pierogi Eurazji EN.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Various kinds of filled dumplings on a map of the Mongol Empire {{small|Source: {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}; based on: {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} }} ]]
Let us return for a moment to those invaders from the east. According to Ms. Rachel Laudan – who wrote a book on the influence of large civilizations on regional cuisines – stuffed dumplings were a Chinese invention, the recipë for which the armies of Chinghis Khan and his descendants spread across the entire Mongol Empire. As evidence she plotted the places where various dumpling traditions exist today onto a map of the 13th‑century Mongol realm, which at the height of its territorial expansion stretched from Rus to Korea and from Siberia to Iran.<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony = 145
}} </ref>

Are you convinced by this map? I am not, because – first of all – there are countries that were never under Mongol rule and yet have their own varieties of stuffed dumplings. You can see this partly on the map itself, where Italian ravioli are marked, even though Italy was never conquered by the Mongols. The same goes for Polish pierogi, because although the Mongol hordes did, indeed, reach Poland several times, they never established any lasting rule over it.

Someone might say that Polish and Italian merchants – beginning with Benedict of Poland and Marco Polo – travelled to Mongol territories and could have brought back a recipë for something that later evolved into Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli. But here we run into another problem: the dumplings on the map differ not only in that they have different names in different languages. They also differ in their filling (raw or cooked meat, vegetables, cheese), shape (circles, half‑moons, triangles, squares, little ears, pouches), method of cooking (boiling, steaming) and serving style (topped with melted fat, smothered with sauce, drowned in soup and so on). Ultimately all they have in common is the fact that something has been wrapped in unleavened dough and then cooked. And that idea is so generic and simple that cooks in different places and times could easily have come up with it independently. There is no reason to assume that all the world’s ''kołduny'', vareniki, pelmeni, kreplachs, ravioli, manty, khinkali, momos, samosas, sambosaks, chuchvaras or gyozas descend from one common proto‑dumpling. Anyone with wheat flour to hand could have invented, without copying from anyone else, the idea of wrapping a bit of food in dough and dropping it into boiling water. And that, in turn, would explain such enormous dumpling diversity.

That Polish pierogi and Ukrainian vareniki descend from a common ancestor I am far more inclined to believe, because the two differ essentially in name only. If we trust the legend I wrote about in my [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|first post on this blog]], pierogi were brought from Rus to Poland by the Dominican missionary Saint Hyacinth. And that was still a decade before the first Mongol invasion of Poland. So if he imported the dumplings from Rus, does it already mean that they were ''pierogi ruskie''?

== Encrusted Power ==
{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPl_P2FbzA|szer=350|poz=right|opis=Ivan the Terrible: Feeding the Evil Russian Tsar, ''Tasting History'' with Max Miller}}
In the 14th century, the northeastern Rus principalities in Zalesia, or Lands Beyond the Forests, began to rebel ever more effectively against their Mongol-Tatar overlords. The Grand Duchy of Muscovy (centred around Moscow) proved the most successful in this endeavour and began conquering its neighbouring principalities as soon as it had thrown off the Mongol-Tatar yoke. This came to pass under the last three grand princes of Muscovy from the Rurikid dynasty, namely: Ivan III, the Great (r. 1462–1505), Vasily III (r. 1505–1533) and Ivan IV, the Terrible (r. 1533–1547). The first of them already provided an appropriate ideology for this expansion. Firstly, with Constantinople captured by the Ottoman Turks, Moscow was to become the “Third Rome”: the successor of Roman civilization, especially the Eastern Roman one – or Greek in practice. Just as Catholics used Latinized forms of “Rus” (''Russia, Ruthenia''), so Orthodox officials Hellenized it as “Ρωσσία” (''Rhōssía''{{czyt|Ρωσσία}}), and from there it was only a short step to the new Muscovite name of Rus: “Россия” (''Rossiya''{{czyt|Россия}}) – which to this day is the Russian word for what we now know as “Russia”. Secondly, the rulers of Muscovy wished to unite all possible fragments of the old Rus under their boot, so they began styling themselves “Tsars of All Russia”.

Ivan the Terrible accelerated this expansion in every geographical direction, also attempting to extend his rule over those Rus lands that still remained under Lithuanian control. Sigismund Augustus, Grand Duke of Lithuania (r. 1548–1572), knew that Lithuanians would be unable to defend these territories against the Muscovites without Poland’s help. But as luck would have it, Sigismund Augustus was also simultaneously King of Poland, and so he decided to unite Poland and Lithuania into a single powerful state capable of resisting the Muscovite onslaught. It turned out, however, that Lithuanian boyars (nobles) were not so easily persuaded. Therefore Sigismund Augustus convened a joint Polish-Lithuanian assembly in Lublin, during which, wearing his Lithuanian grand-ducal cap, he began detaching pieces of Lithuanian Rus – only to put on his Polish crown and add them, one by one, to the Kingdom of Poland. This way he enlarged Poland with the regions of Podlachia, Volynia, Podolia, the Dnieper Ukraine… And only then did the boyars realize that at this rate the whole of Lithuania might soon be absorbed into Poland, so they finally agreed to the political union. And thus, in 1569, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was born, with the Polish part now including vast, fertile and sparsely populated territories stretching as far as Chernihiv and Zaporizhia (which quickly became an area of Polish colonization), while the smaller, northern section of the Rus lands – mainly forests and marshes – remained in the Lithuanian part. The East Slavic populations on the two sides of this new internal border would gradually evolve into two separate nations: Ukrainians in the Polish part of the Commonwealth and Belarusians (White Rusians) in the Lithuanian part.

Let us return to the court of Ivan the Terrible. One of his advisers, Archpriest Silvester, wrote a household‑and‑moral handbook entitled ''Domostroy'' (''Domestic Order''). It’s in this book that the earliest mentions of pierogi – or rather of ''pirogi'' – can be found. Except that they bore little resemblance to what the Polish language calls “pierogi” today: a ''pirog'' was a large four‑sided loaf of baked dough with a meat, vegetable or sweet filling. If one were to seek an analogy in Italian cuisine, then it was more like calzone than ravioli.

{{ Cytat
| And when they are baking bread, one should take some of the same dough and make '''pirogi''': {{...}} on non-fasting days with whatever rich filling happens to be at hand, and on fasting days with buckwheat or with peas, or fruit juice, or turnip, or mushrooms, or saffron milk caps, or cabbage – whatever God provides will make the household happy.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Электронные публикации Института русской литературы
| rozdział = Домострой
| adres rozdziału = http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=5145
| wydawca = Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский Дом) РАН
}}, own translation
| oryg = А коли хлебы пекутъ, ино того же тѣста вѣлети отняти и '''пироговъ''' начинити, {{...}} в скоромные дни скоромною начинкою, какая лучится, а в посные дни с кашею или з горохомъ, или с сокомъ, или рѣпа, или грибы, или рыжики, или капуста – что Богъ лучит, ино семъе потешенье.
}}

[[File:Kurnik.jpg|thumb|A modern Russian ''kurnik'', or chicken-filled ''pirog'']]
It must have been this very kind of ''pirogi'' that the Slovenian-born Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein sampled in Moscow during the reign of Vasily III. Yet when describing this local delicacy in the first extensive account of the Muscovite state to be read in Europe, he didn’t use the word ''“pirog”'' at all, but simply called it “bread”. He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to comment on the despotic political system that prevailed in Moscow – then as now.

{{ Cytat
| I may, moreover, state that the loaves, which are made in the form of a horse’s collar, seem in my opinion to serve as emblems of the hard yoke and perpetual servitude of those who eat them.
| oryg = Panes præterea formam helcii equini habentes, mea opinione omnibus iis vescentibus, durum iugum et perpetuam servitutem designat.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = von Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Notes Upon Russia
| innie = transl. R.H. Major
| url = https://archive.org/details/notesuponrussiab02herbuoft/page/128/mode/2up
| wydawca = Hakluyt Society
| miejsce = London
| rok = 1852
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
| źródło-oryg = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Herberstein
| imię = Sigismund
| tytuł = Rerum Moscoviticarum commentarii
| url = https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN335446205?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B140%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
| wydawca = Oporinus
| miejsce = Basilea
| rok = 1571
| strony = 128
}} }}

It was only the Polish chronicler Marcin Bielski{{czyt|Marcin Bielski}} who, when translating Herberstein’s Latin account into Polish in the 1560s, identified the Muscovite “bread” as a ''pirog'' and used precisely that word in his rendering. Evidently the term must already have been familiar in Poland at the time. It also happens to be the earliest surviving instance of this word in the Polish language.

{{ Cytat
| [The Grand Duke of Muscovy] sent us from his table a four-sided '''pirog''' (Herberstein writes that it resembled the cushion that lies at the breast of a horse where the harness sits) {{...}}
| oryg = Posłał nam [wielki kniaź moskiewski] z swego stołu '''pirog''' na cztery grani (pisze Herbersztyn, iż jakoby owa poduszka, co u szlej bywa na końskich piersiach) {{...}}
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Bielski
| imię = Marcin
| tytuł = Kronika, to jest Historia świata
| url = https://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publication/2202/edition/2245/content
| wydawca = Mateusz Siebeneicher
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1564
| strony = 435
}}, own translation }}

== Putting the Pie in Pierogi ==
[[File:Pieter Claesz. - Stilleven met kalkoenpastei (1627).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Pies in the 18th-century Netherlands {{small|By Pieter Claesz (1627)}}]]
The type of dish in which a filling is enclosed in baked dough – or a pie, to put it simply – is hardly an invention unique to Russia. In Poland, the word ''“pirog”'' seems to have been used for the kind of pies prepared in the east, but western-style pies – known as ''“pasztety”'' – were not only familiar but very much in vogue.

The word ''“pasztet”''{{czyt|pasztet}} itself comes from the German ''“Pastete”'', which in turn derives from the Old French ''“pasté”'' (modern French ''“pâté”''). Both ''“pâté”'' and ''“pasztet”'' would eventually evolve to mean the filling alone, with the crust becoming merely optional (''“pasztecik”'', on the other hand, has retained its original meaning of small, hand-held pie; a notable exception being ''[[A Fried Pie and a Fish Dish#PS1 (pasztecik szczeciński)|pasztecik szczeciński]]'',{{czyt|pasztecik szczeciński}} which is more like a savoury doughnut).

Back in early modern Poland, pastrycooks – preferably French – who specialized in the demanding art of baking pies and tarts were highly valued and often paid more than regular master chefs. While the Polish nobility used ''“pasztet”'' to refer to this refined work of culinary art, the term ''“pirog”'' was applied to what was essentially the same dish, only in its folk version, associated mostly with the eastern parts of the Commonwealth. Which doesn’t mean that recipës for ''pierogi'' and the smaller ''pierożki''{{czyt|pierożki}} did not appear (alongside recipës for ''pasztety'') in noble cookbooks. They did, however, quickly diversify into an entire range of flour‑based dishes – with a surprising variety of both doughs and fillings. Old Polish sources provide a wide array, from baked yeast-dough pierogi to puff-pastry pierogi, fried yeast pierogi and pierogi made from unleavened dough that were either fried or boiled in water or in milk. As for the fillings, they could already be either savoury or sweet. The savoury ones could be meat‑based, often with offal, or meatless – for example with beetroot. Sweet pierogi might be filled with fruit preserves or a poppy‑and‑almond mixture, with farmer cheese being the most common filling.

For example, in ''[[Old Polish Cookery for Beginners#A Collection of Dishes|Compendium Ferculorum]]'', a 1682 cookbook by Stanisław Czerniecki,{{czyt|Stanisław Czerniecki}} small offal-filled ''pierożki'' appear not as a dish in their own right but rather as a garnish to roast meat.

{{ Cytat
| '''Dish with pierożki''' 
{{...}} Make the pierożki as follows: take eggs and flour, knead the dough and roll it out. Chop a veal kidney with suet very finely, adding herbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill the pierożki, fold them up, and boil them in water. And when you serve a capon or whatever you are cooking to accompany the pierożki, first place the meat in the dish, arrange the pierożki around it, pour broth over the whole and send it hot to the table.
| oryg = '''Potrawa z pierożkami''' 
{{...}} Pierożki zrób tak: weźmij jajec, mąki, zarobiwszy ciasto roztocz, nerkę cielęcą z łojem usiekaj drobno, przydawszy zieloności, soli, pieprzu i gałki, nakładaj pierożki, zawijaj, a uwarz w wodzie. A gdy będziesz dawał kapłona albo to, co gotujesz do pierożków, włożywszy wprzód materią mięsną, obłóż pierożkami, zalej rosołem, a daj gorąco na stół.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Czerniecki
| imię = Stanisław
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Magdalena Spychaj
| tytuł = Compendium ferculorum albo Zebranie potraw
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 111
}}, own translation }}

In a manuscript cookbook from the same period we can find several recipës for pierogi filled with farmer cheese. At first glance, these “boiled pierogi with ''twaróg''“ might seem like the ancestors of today’s ''pierogi ruskie'' – after all, they were boiled pierogi made from unleavened dough and filled with a cheese mixture – but they still contained no salt, no onion and certainly no potatoes. The latter were still entirely unknown in 17th‑century Poland. They were in fact closer to modern sweet cheese pierogi; they contained no sugar, but the delicate flavour of fresh curd and wheat flour could easily have been perceived by early modern diners, who were far less accustomed to an overabundance of sweetening agents than we are, as sweet in and of itself.

{{ Cytat
| '''Boiled pierogi with fresh cheese''' 
Take fresh cheese and grind it. Add four egg yolks, making sure not to make the cheese too thin. Take fine flour, add a spoon or two of butter, a couple of eggs with the whites and a little water or cream. Work this into a dough, roll it out and make small rounds. Put some cheese on each, then fold them up. When you are ready to serve, set good water on the fire; when it comes to the boil, put in the pierogi and let them cook. Lay them out on a dish, pour melted butter on top and send them to the table.
| oryg = '''Pierogi warzone z twarogiem''' 
Weź twarogu słodkiego, rozwierć go, wbij żółtków cztery, tylko żeby nie rzadko twaróg był. Mąki weź pięknej, włóż masła łyżkę albo dwie, jajec parę z białkami, trochę wody albo śmietany, uróbże to i rozwałkuj, i małe placki urób, kładźże twarogu w nie, zawijajże potem. Kiedy jeść będziesz dawał, wody wstaw pięknej; kiedy wezwre, kładźże pierogi, niech uwreją. Wyłóż je na półmisek, polejże je rozpuszczonym masłem, dajże do stołu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Rafał Jankowski
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 153–154
}}, own translation }}

Early modern sources prior to the Partitions of Poland (late 18th century) make no mention whatsoever of a dish called ''pierogi ruskie''. The only pierogi from that period with a geographical designation in their name that I’ve been able to find are ''pierogi kurlandzkie'', or Courlandic pierogi (Courland was a Polish fief where the nobility spoke German and the peasantry Latvian). The recipë, however, says nothing about the filling for these pierogi; it only notes that they were pies or loaves made from yeast dough and baked in an oven.

{{ Cytat
| '''Courlandic pierogi''' 
Set milk on the fire to boil. Take buckwheat flour and divide it into two parts. Mix one half with the hot milk to a thick consistency, as for porridge, cover it and let it cool for two hours or so. Then loosen it with warm milk, add the other half of the flour and some yeast. When it rises, weave small baskets from tree bark, line the bottom of each with a leaf, pour in the dough and put them in the oven.
| oryg = '''Kurlandzkie pierogi''' 
Mleko nastawić, żeby zawrzało, mąki gryczanej po połowie, połowę mąki tem mlekiem gęsto zamieszać jak na kaszę i, nakryta, niech stodnieje [tj. ostygnie] godzin ze dwie, potem ciepłem mlekiem rozwodzić i drugą połowę mąki tamże sypać, i drożdży. Jak się wyruszy, to z łubu krobecki usyć, na spód list, a wlawszy ciasto, do pieca.
| źródło = Various poems and notes from the turn of 17th/18th centuries, manuscript 1125, Biblioteka Kórnicka Polskiej Akademii Nauk, folio 85, quoted in:
{{Cyt
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Dorota Dias-Lewandowska, Marta Sikorska
| tytuł = Staropolskie przepisy kulinarne: Receptury rozporoszone z XVI–XVIII w.: Źródła rękopiśmienne
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2017
| strony = 121
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Napoleon Wagram Chabord 1810 (Detail).jpg|thumb|upright|Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, wearing a ''“pieróg”'' on his head {{small|By Joseph Chabord (1810)}}]]
All these various pierogi must also have come in diverse shapes. Already in pre‑partition times the four‑sided horse‑collar form seems to have begun giving way to the half‑moon shape created by folding a round sheet of dough in half. And the best evidence for this is the fact that the bicorne, a two‑cornered military hat popular throughout Napoleonic-era Europe, was dubbed ''“pieróg”'' in Poland.

== Polish-Lithuanian Dumplings ==
The first half of the nineteenth century brings mentions of various filled dumplings – similar to modern pierogi, but called different names. One of them was ''[[The Gastronomic Order of Pomiane#Second Course: Divine Dumplings|kołduny]]''.{{czyt|kołduny}} These were small dumplings filled with raw meat and then boiled, served in the broth in which they were cooked. Their name was borrowed from Lithuanian ''“koldūnai”'', which in turn probably derives from the Tatar ''“kundum”'' with a similar sense of boiled meat dumplings. But whether this means that the Tatars taught the Lithuanians how to make their ''koldūnai'', or that the Lithuanians adopted only a Tatar name for a dish they had already known, is impossible to say.

In Lithuanian Polish, dumplings with a sweet filling were known under the name ''“szołtonosy”''.{{czyt|szołtonosy}} They differed from ''kołduny'' in both filling and serving style, but they shared the same half‑moon shape with a crimped edge and the same type of dough – unleavened and boiled in water. ''Szołtonosy'' are best known from the account of Edward Odyniec, who accompanied Adam Mickiewicz,{{czyt|Adam Mickiewicz}} the great romantic-era poet, on his journey through Italy and left the following colourful anecdote:

{{ Cytat
| My first teacher [of the Italian language] was indeed a ragazza, but alas, not very bella; and though her name was Angelica, by reason of her excessive plumpness she resembled more the cherubs of Rubens. She was a serving girl in the inn at the first Italian hamlet, Campodolcino, to which we had descended. “Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (“have you anything to eat?”) was my first question, which, as a prudent man, I had first learned from Adam. “Niente,” that is, “nothing,” was the first ominous word of reply; happily she soon added: “oltre (except) di ravioli.” But what are these ravioli? Since surely they were not rats or cats (for though Italians are said to eat such things, it was Friday after all), we asked for ravioli. Then the doors of the kitchen open, and there appears a huge tin dish closed with a matching cover, which by its two great handles Angelica carries before her. She sets it upon the table – I uncover it – and what a surprise! – these are none other than our very own szołtonosy!

<poem>A half‑moon shape, frilled like kołduny,
With cheese, well‑sweetened, filled;
Our favourite treat back in Boruny,
And Nowogródek as well!</poem>

Adam blushed with joy – ten years, he said, since he had last seen szołtonosy! He grew animated and began recalling where he had last sampled them. From the [fellow diner] Englishman’s face I guessed that this sudden excitement took him somewhat aback. I explained the cause to him. Adam too joined in the conversation. And since this dish was unknown in England, the conclusion was that it must have been [[Italian Greens from Italian Queens|Queen Bona who brought it to us along with her Italian vegetables]]. As for the etymology of the name “szołtonosy”, Adam suggested I compose a ballad, the content of which he himself supplied: Lady Palatiness, a friend of Queen Bona’s, arrives at her country estate and gives a great dinner for her neighbours. The dishes include those which Her Ladyship’s cook had learned from the Queen’s own master chef. At one point, ravioli are served; the lady herself pronounces their name. Suddenly, Lord Underpantler, a facetious old fellow, cries out: “But surely, my gracious lady, these are Tatars’ yellow noses [żółtonosy]!”
| oryg = Pierwszą nauczycielką moją podług tej metody była wprawdzie ragazza, ale, niestety, nie bella i choć się nazywa Angelika, ze zbytniej swej chyba pulchności do aniołków Rubensa podobna. Była to służąca w oberży w pierwszej włoskiej wioszczynie Campodolcino, do którejśmy {{...}} zjechali. „Avete qualche cosa da mangiare?” (czy macie co do jedzenia?), było pierwsze moje pytanie, którego też jako człowiek przezorny najpierwej się od Adama nauczyłem. „Niente,” to znaczy: nic, było pierwsze złowrogie słowo odpowiedzi; szczęściem, że wnet dodała: „oltre (prócz) di ravioli.” Ale cóż to są te ravioli? Że jednak pewnie nie szczury ani koty (bo choć Włosi pono to jedzą, ależ dziś przecie piątek), więc prosimy o ravioli. {{...}} Wtem otwierają się podwoje od kuchni i ukazuje się ogromna misa cynowa zamknięta takąż pokrywą, którą za wielkie dwa ucha Angelika dźwiga przed sobą. Stawi na stole – odkrywam – o siurpryzo! – to najprawdziwsze nasze szołtonosy!

<poem>Kształt pół miesiąca, rąbek jak w kołdunach
I słodki twaróg we środku.
Nasz arcy-przysmak studencki w Borunach,
Zarówno jak w Nowogródku!</poem>

Adam aż się zaczerwienił z radości – dziesięć lat, jak powiada, szołtonosów nie widział! Ożywił się i zaczął przypominać, gdzie jadał je po raz ostatni. Z twarzy Anglika odgadłem, że go to nagłe ożywienie zdziwiło. Wytłumaczyłem mu więc przyczynę. Adam także wdał się w rozmowę. A że w Anglii tej potrawy nie znają, więc wniosek, że ją do nas królowa Bona razem z włoszczyzną przywiozła. Co zaś do etymologii nazwy szołtonosów, Adam, mówiąc o tym, zaproponował mi napisać balladę, której treść sam mi podaje. Pani wojewodzina, przyjaciółka Bony, przyjeżdża do dóbr swych na wieś i daje wielki obiad dla sąsiadów. Figurują na nim potrawy, których się kucharz Jejmości od kuchmistrza królowej nauczył. Z kolei podają ravioli; sama pani mówi ich nazwę. Wtem pan Podstoli, stary facetus, zawołał: „A toć to żółtonosy tatarskie, Mościa Dobrodziejko!”
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Odyniec
| imię = Edward
| tytuł = Listy z podróży Antoniego Edwarda Odyńca
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Listy_z_podr%C3%B3%C5%BCy_Antoniego_Edwarda_Ody/frtFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA76
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1875
| tom = II: Z Warszawy do Rzymu
| strony = 76–78
}}, own translation }}

Mickiewicz was mistaken, however, about the etymology of ''“szołtonosy”''. They had nothing to do with the yellow noses of the Tatars. ''“Šalta nosis”'' is simply Lithuanian for “cold nose”. The name probably referred originally to dumplings filled with bilberries, which can indeed resemble noses turned blue from cold; in time the meaning expanded to other kinds of dumplings with sweet fillings, including fresh cheese.

But whereas the small dumplings known as ''kołduny'' are still a thing today, the name ''szołtonosy'' has fallen almost completely out of use.

== ''Pierogi Ruskie'': Cabbage or Fruit Filling? ==
Let us focus back on ''pierogi ruskie''. This is all the more justified at this point as in the 19th century we finally encounter the first source references to a dish of that name. The oldest example of the expression ''“pierogi ruskie”'' in Polish that I’ve been able to find comes from a novel published in 1827:

{{ Cytat
| A supper was served which, it being Friday, included stockfish in the Capuchin style, '''pierogi ruskie''', carp with honey-cake sauce and plain croutons with olive oil and beer, which made up all of the fasting host’s supper that day.
| oryg = Dano‎ ‎wieczerzę, na‎ której ‎były, przy‎ ‎piątku, ‎stokfisz‎ ‎po‎ ‎kapucyńsku, '''pierogi‎ ‎ruskie''', ‎karp‎ ‎z‎ ‎miodownikiem i‎ ‎grzanki‎ ‎postne‎ ‎do‎ ‎oliwy‎ ‎i‎ ‎piwa,‎ ‎które‎ jedyną‎ ‎suszącego‎ ‎gospodarza‎ ‎były wieczerzą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Jaraczewska
| imię = Elżbieta
| tytuł = Zofia i Emilia: powieść narodowa
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/45adaaaa-1b74-47b2-a7b5-78b1cd93a63f?page=124
| wydawca = w drukarni przy Mazowieckiej ulicy nr 1352
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1827
| tom = I
| strony = 125–126
}}, own translation }}

From this quotation alone we still can’t tell whether these were in fact the same ''pierogi ruskie'' as the ones we know today. All we see is that they were regarded as a fasting dish. We can learn some more from advertisements placed in newspapers of the time by Warsaw restaurants; below is a selection of such notices from the early 1830s.

{{ Cytat
| Tonight at Lorenc’s, No. 538, Chapter Street, for supper: '''pierogi ruskie with cheese and plum butter''' at 20 pence per serving. And tomorrow for breakfast: tripe, Lithuanian kołduny, roast beef from the spit, hussar‑style and veal roasts, pork loin at 15 pence per serving. Beefsteak and veal cutlets at 20 pence per serving. One can also obtain dinner for 1 zloty. Monthly, the same for 24 pence apiece.
| oryg = Dziś u Lorenca przy ul. Kapitulnej, pod Nr 538, na kolację: '''pierogi ruskie z serem i powidłami''' po gr 20 porcja; oraz jutro na śniadanie: flaki, kołduny litewskie, pieczeń wołowa z rożna, huzarska i cielęca, schab po gr 15 porcja; befsztyk, kotlety cielęce, po gr 20 porcja; przy tym dostać można obiad za zł 1. Miesięcznie tenże sam groszy 24.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/eeeeb464-c8ab-453a-aac5-d2d40c946966?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 8 February 1830
| wolumin = No. 37
| strony = 178
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| At No. 625, Goat Street, next to the post office, at Dębicki’s Restaurant, five-course dinners are served for 2 zlotys apiece, or monthly for 50 zlotys. Breakfasts and suppers of various dishes are also available at the most moderate prices. On Sundays and Thursdays puff-pastry pies, on Saturdays '''pierogi ruskie topped with genuine country cream''', and every day fish lovers may have various kinds at any time, cold or hot, at 1 zloty 10 pence per serving.
| oryg = Przy ulicy Koziej obok poczty, Nr 625, w Restauracji Dębickiego, dają się obiady z 5-ciu potraw złożone za złp 2, miesięcznie za zł 50, tudzież śniadania i kolacje z różnych potraw za najpomierniejszą cenę, w niedziele i czwartki paszteciki francuskie lub pasztet, w sobotę '''pierogi ruskie ze śmietaną prawdziwą wiejską''', a codziennie amatorowie ryb mogą mieć różne w każdym czasie na zimno i na gorąco, porcja zł 1 gr 10.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f4477103-b8be-4815-9e0a-5950495c611b?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 29 February 1832
| wolumin = No. 58
| strony = 295–296
}}, own translation }}
{{ Cytat
| The undersigned has the honour to inform esteemed lovers of fine dining that beginning tomorrow, next to his shop at Cooper Street {{...}} he will be serving breakfasts composed each day of different dishes, well prepared, at the most moderate price, that is, 15 pence. At this price tripe will be served on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, as well as stuffed fish, which last year received much praise. '''Oven-baked pierogi ruskie''' will be served on Fridays and Saturdays.
| oryg = Podpisany ma honor donieść łaskawym amatorom smacznego jedzenia, iż z dniem jutrzejszym obok handlu swego przy ulicy Bednarskiej {{...}} otwiera śniadania ze wszelkich potraw każdodziennie innych składających się, smacznie urządzonych, po cenie najumiarkowańszej, to jest: po gr 15, gdzie po tej cenie dawane będą i flaki we wtorki, czwartki i niedziele; oraz ryby tak nadziewane, które w zeszłym roku uzyskały pochwałę, '''pierogi ruskie z pieca''' w piątki i soboty dawanymi będą.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Kurier Warszawski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/95930b08-7aca-4984-be77-24e1e7d2c571?page=3
| wydawca = Ludwik Adam Dmuszewski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 October 1832
| wolumin = No. 273
| strony = 1444
}}, own translation }}

And now that’s a real surprise! For while the fact that ''pierogi ruskie'' were served with cream is hardly unexpected, the detail that they were sweet – filled with cheese and plum butter – and moreover baked in the oven, runs completely counter to our modern idea of what ''pierogi ruskie'' should be.

Yet this understanding of the term is confirmed by 19th‑century cookbooks. The ''Polish Court Cook'' (''Nadworny kucharz polski'') of 1847, in its recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'', instructs the reader to “take the dough, flatten it, mark the centre with cheese or plum butter, then wrap it in paper, and when it has risen, slide it on baking sheets into the oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Nadworny kuchmistrz polski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Henryk Hirszel
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 187–188
}}</ref> ''The Culinary Guide'' (''Poradnik kucharski'') from the same year gives similar advice: “butter a quarter‑sheet of paper, spoon some dough onto it, fill it with plum butter or cheese, set it on a baking sheet, let it rise a little, then put it in a slow oven.”<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = D.
| imię = A.
| tytuł = Poradnik kucharski
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/9597ae92-d8e8-4dbd-9efc-9aabab80d3b7?page=200
| wydawca = Stanisław Strąbski
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1847
| strony = 71
}}</ref>

In later years the range of possible fillings expands considerably and it becomes clear that ''pierogi ruskie'' do not have to be sweet after all.

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
In a small pan scald a cup of wheat flour with half a quart of boiling fresh milk, away from the fire, as the flour will thicken from the boiling milk alone. Mix well and set in a cool place. When the dough has cooled, add half a cup of good yeast, move it to a warm place, mix and let it rise. Meanwhile beat vigorously 6 whole eggs and 4 yolks. When the leavened dough begins to rise, pour in the eggs, salt it, add enough flour to make a dough that is not too thick, add a couple of spoonfuls of clarified butter, mix well and let it rise again. Grease quarter‑sheets of clean paper. Taking a little of the dough, flatten it on the paper to the thickness of a finger, '''place on it fruit preserves, plum butter, marmalade, cheese as for pierogi, likewise rice, or even mushrooms, fried fish, salmon or cooked cabbage, fresh or sour'''. Fold the edges of the dough, then of the paper, and having set them on a baking sheet, slide them into a medium‑fire oven for a short half‑hour. Then remove them, discard the paper and serve the pierogi on a platter with clarified butter, fruit juice or cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' 
Kwaterkę mąki pszennej zaparzyć w rądelku pół kwartą mleka słodkiego wrzącego, nie na ogniu, gdyż mąka sama od wrzącego mleka zgęstnieje; wymieszawszy dobrze, postawić w chłodzie; gdy ciasto wystygnie, przydać półkwaterek dobrych drożdży, przenieść do ciepła, wymieszać, niech rośnie. Tymczasem ubić mocno 6 całych jajek i 4 żółtka; gdy rozczynione ciasto ruszy, wlać jaja, posolić, dodać jeszcze mąki tyle, aby się zrobiło ciasto nie bardzo gęste, dolać parę łyżek klarowanego masła, wymieszać dobrze, niech jeszcze rośnie. Zająć się smarowaniem ćwiartek czystego papieru; biorąc po troszę ciasta, rozpłaszczyć je na papierze grubo na palec, '''nakłaść konfiturami, powidłami, marmeladą, serem jak na pierogi, podobnymże ryżem, a nawet grzybkami, smażoną rybą, łososiem albo kapustą gotowaną słodką lub kwaszoną'''; zawinąć brzegi ciasta, następnie papieru, ułożywszy na blasze, wsunąć w umiarkowany piec na małe pół godziny; po czym wyjąć, papier odrzucić, pierogi wydać na półmisku z masłem klarowanym, sokiem lub śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = L[eśniew]ska
| imię = Bronisława
| tytuł = Kucharz polski jaki być powinien
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/f22adfba-a111-4546-9e8b-2c28eae4b1d8?page=277
| wydawca = S.H. Merzbach
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1856
| strony = 272–273
}}, own translation }}

Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa,{{czyt|Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa}} the most famous Polish cookbook writer of the 19th century, is no less expansive, giving recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' filled with plum butter, fruit preserves or farmer cheese mixed with egg yolks, sugar and raisins,<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Ćwierczakiewiczowa
| imię = Lucyna
| tytuł = 365 obiadów za pięć złotych
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/5b43bcde-90d4-4601-b7ea-7cb5b9c12486?page=193
| wydawca = self-published
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1866
| strony = 196–197}}</ref> but also with roast beef, with raw or fried fish, with fresh cabbage, with sauerkraut and mushrooms, with rice or with buckwheat groats (she also advises adding chopped hard‑boiled eggs to any of the savoury fillings).<ref>''Idem.'', p. 124–128</ref>

So if ''pierogi ruskie'' could be made with practically anything, then what exactly distinguished them from other kinds of pierogi? Let’s see if the definitions given by 19th‑century dictionaries and encyclopaedias offer any clarity.

{{ Cytat
| Our common folk uses the word '''pierogi''' for any kind of yeast-raised baked goods. Old Polish cookery divided them into several kinds. There were those made of rolled‑out dough, in which cheese or minced cooked meat was enclosed; among the latter, the '''Tatar kołduny''' were famous, in which raw minced mutton with a piece of suet was wrapped in raw dough and cooked so skilfully that the meat inside became properly done while the unbroken dough held within the filling, the meat juices and the melted suet. There were also '''lazy pierogi''' made of cheese and flour with little raisins, without any dough casing. Great renown was enjoyed by '''pierogi ruskie''', where yeast dough of an oblong shape, nearly a quarter of an ell long, had inside a filling of plum butter or cheese, as well as the '''Lithuanian pierogi''', filled with sauerkraut instead. Pierogi in all these varieties belong to modern Polish cuisine.
| oryg = Lud nasz każde ciasto na drożdzach pieczone nazywa w ogóle '''pierogiem'''. W kuchni staropolskiej dzielono go na kilka gatunków. Były z ciasta wałkowanego, w które zawijano ser lub mięso siekane gotowane; pomiędzy ostatnimi słynęły '''kołduny tatarskie''', w których [w] surowe ciasto zawijano surową siekaną baraninę z kawałkiem sadła i tak umiejętnie są gotowane, że mięso wewnątrz się należycie ugotuje, a ciasto nietknięte wewnątrz nadzienie, sos mięsny i rozpuszczone sadło utrzymuje. '''Pierogi leniwe''' z sera i mąki z drobnymi rodzynkami, bez powłoki ciastowej. Wielkiego rozgłosu używały '''pierogi ruskie''', gdzie ciasto na drożdżach podłużnego kształtu na ćwierć blisko łokcia ma wewnątrz powidła lub z sera nadzienie, jak i '''pierogi litewskie''', w miejsce sera lub powideł nadziane kwaśną kapustą. Pierogi w tych wszystkich gatunkach należą do dzisiejszej kuchni polskiej.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Encyklopedyja powszechna
| nazwisko r = Wójcicki
| imię r = Kazimierz Władysław
| rozdział = Pieróg
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Encyklopedyja_powszechna/aGpCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Samuel Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1863
| tom = XX
| strony = 670
}}, own translation }}

And here’s another definition from the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 
1. A large bread roll of wheat flour. 
2. As a dish, a certain kind of cakes baked or boiled in water, filled with cheese or minced meat. '''Lazy pirogi''', made with sweet cheese. '''Pirogi ruskie''', filled with cabbage, fish or meat, a sort of small pies. Little pirożki filled with raw minced meat and then boiled are known as '''kołduny'''. '''Italian pirogi, or ravioli''', are small pasties filled with spinach. 
“To a healthy man even pirogi do no harm”, a proverb.
| oryg = '''Pirog, pierog, pirożek, pierożek''' 1. pewien rodzaj pieczonego ciasta, mian[owicie] z mąki pszennej, wielka bułka pszenna, chleb biały. 2. Potrawa, pewien rodzaj upieczonych [albo] ugotowanych w wodzie ciastek nadziewanych serem [albo] mięsem siekanym. '''Pirogi leniwe''', z serem słodkim. '''Pirogi ruskie''' robią się z kapustą lub z rybą albo też i po naszemu z mięsem, zwać je można pasztetami. Pirożki surowym siekanym mięsem nadziane a potem gotowane zwą się '''kołdunami'''. '''Pirogi włoskie albo rawioły''' są to paszteciki nadziewane szpinakiem. „Zdrowemu i pirogi {{...}} nie szkodzą”, przysł[owie].
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Słownik języka polskiego
| nazwisko r = Zdanowicz
| imię r = Aleksander
| rozdział = Pirog
| adres rozdziału = https://books.google.pl/books?id=beRbAAAAcAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=%22pirogi%20ruskie%22&pg=PA1012#v=onepage&f=false
| wydawca = Maurycy Orgelbrand
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 1861
| tom = I
| strony = 1012
}}, own translation }}

It would follow that ''pierogi ruskie'' were simply small baked pies made from yeast dough, with a filling that could be practically anything. In other words, they most closely resembled the original ''pirogi'' we know from the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It goes to show that the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie”'' should indeed be translated as “Russian”. But this is only true for the ''pierogi ruskie'' in the 19th-century sense. What about the ones we know today?

== Russians Great and Little ==
[[File:Mapa zaborów EN.png|thumb|upright=1.5|'''Political and linguistic situation in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries''' 
In the Russian Empire, the lands acquired during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1795) were known semi-officially as the “Western Territory”, while name “Vistula Territory” was applied to the lands of the former Congress Kingdom of Poland annexed in 1832. 
{| width=100%
|-
| width=50% | '''West Slavic languages''' || '''East Slavic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f7f971ff|cs – Czech}} || {{legenda|#eeca68|be – Belarusian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#d7d50b|csb – Cassubian}} || {{legenda|#f8d59e|ru – Russian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#f3dc19|pl – Polish}} || {{legenda|#dbc962|rue – Carpatho-Rusyn}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e9de38ff|sk – Slovak}} || {{legenda|#eedf8d|uk – Ukrainian}}
|-
| {{legenda|#edbf0c|szl – Silesian}} ||
|-
| '''Baltic languages''' || '''Germanic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#fd9c00|lt – Lithuanian}} || {{legenda|#6bf2ba|de – German}}
|-
| {{legenda|#e0900f|lv – Latvian}} || {{legenda|#6feadb|sv – Swedish}}
|-
| '''Romance languages''' || '''Uralic languages'''
|-
| {{legenda|#f18fb6|ro – Romanian}} || {{legenda|#800000|hu – Hungarian}}
|}
]]

By the end of the 18th century, in the event known as the Partitions of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was carved up among its neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria. As a result, most of the lands of historical Rus which had still remained under Polish-Lithuanian rule, finally found themselves within the borders of the Russian Empire. The sole exception was that part of the Rus lands which fell into Austrian hands and which the Habsburgs, reviving medieval Hungarian claims to the area, named Galicia (even though this “Galicia” also included non-Rus lands south of the Vistula). In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, which reorganized Europe’s borders in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, Russia additionally received a portion of non-Rus, ethnically Polish territory, dubbed the “Congress Kingdom”; later, as its autonomy was gradually curtailed, it was renamed “Vistula Territory”.

Ever since 1721, when Tsar Peter the Great of Muscovy rebranded himself as Emperor of Russia, the Russian language has had two different adjectives, both meaning “Russian”. On the one hand there’s ''русское'' (''“russkoye”''{{czyt|русское}}), which refers to anything connected with Russians as an ethnic group, including the Russian language itself. And on the other hand, there’s ''российское'' (''“rossiyskoye”''{{czyt|российское}}) which applies to ''“Rossiya”'', the entire multi‑ethnic Russian state. Authorities in the Russian-held parts of Poland tried to make the Poles adopt the same dichotomy in their own language. However, inconsistent application of this policy coupled with defiance of the Polish population resulted in the Polish words ''“ruskie”'' and ''“rosyjskie”'' being used quite interchangeably. Eventually, ''“rosyjskie”'' became the official adjective meaning “Russian” in both the ethnic and political sense, while ''“ruskie”'' evolved into an ethnic slur.

In the Austrian partition things were entirely different. Here Polish speakers used the adjective ''“ruskie”'' in relation to the Ruthenians, or the native inhabitants of eastern Galicia. In Russia, members of the same ethnic group were officially known as “Little Russians” and effectively treated as an inferior subset of ethnic Russians, or “Great Russians”. In the 19th century the Ruthenians and Little Russians on both sides of the Austro-Russian border began to develop a shared ethnic identity and to call themselves “Ukrainians” (after “the Ukraine”, an old name for the vast borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Yet at least until the First World War this terminology remained considerably fluid. Eliza Orzeszkowa,{{czyt|Eliza Orzeszkowa}} a Polish writer living in Russian Poland who was fascinated by Ukrainian literature, corresponded with Ivan Franko, a Ukrainian poet living in Galicia; what’s striking in her letters is that, despite all her affinity for Ukrainians, she had no idea what to call them – Ruthenians, Little Russians or Ukrainians – and eventually had to ask Franko himself which option she ought to choose.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Wikiźródła
| nazwisko r = Orzeszkowa
| imię r = Eliza
| rozdział = List do Iwana Franki
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Listy_Orzeszkowej_do_Iwana_Franki
| miejsce = Grodno
| data = 8 April 1886
}}</ref>

Thus, throughout the long 19th century, we find a situation in which the same Polish word – ''“ruskie”'' – referred to Russians in the Russian part of Poland and to Ukrainians in the Austrian part. And this raises the question: were ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Ukrainian sense in any way different from ''pierogi ruskie'' in the Russian sense?

== Potato Vareniki ==
In an 18th-century Russian-language description of the Kharkiv Governorate (an area now cut by the front line of the Russo-Ukrainian war), we can read the following account of the local population’s culinary habits:

{{Cytat
| In the evening they usually prepare a kind of piroshki, called “'''vareniki'''”, which have a casing made of wheat or buckwheat flour and a filling of fresh cheese, which they call “syr”. And these are not baked, but boiled in water, from which they received their name.
| oryg = Къ вечеру же по большой части готовятъ пирошки, называемыя '''вареники''', которыхъ корка изъ пшеничнаго или гречишнаго тҍста, а начинка изъ свежаго тварагу, которой называется сыром; и ихъ не пекутъ, а варятъ въ водҍ, отъ чего уповательно они и званіе свое получили.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. П.С. Сохань, В.А. Смолій, Ф.П. Шевченко, Г.Б. Боряк
| tytuł = Описи Харківського намісництва кінця XVIII ст.
| url = http://archeos.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%A5%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA.-%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%BC.pdf
| imię r =
| rozdział = Топографичний опис Харківського намісництва 1785 р.
| wydawca = Наукова Думка
| miejsce = Київ
| rok = 1991
| strony = 68
}}, own translation }}

These ''vareniki'' (''вареники'',{{czyt|вареники}} from Ukrainian ''vareni, варені'', meaning “boiled”) are exactly the same thing as modern Polish unleavened, boiled pierogi, only under a Ukrainian name. As we can see in the quotation above, Ukrainian peasants were already filling their vareniki with farmer cheese more than two hundred years ago – but not yet with potatoes. Source evidence for vareniki filled with both farmer cheese and potatoes only begins to appear a century later. Here’s one example – from a Polish-language ethnographic work about the lives of the inhabitants of a Galician village near Drohobych:

{{ Cytat
| For this [wedding] feast they serve borscht, broth, cabbage, buckwheat and millet or barley groats (or rice in wealthier homes), stewed meat and aspics, and sometimes also '''buckwheat pierogi filled with potatoes and cheese''', topped with sour cream.
| oryg = Na tę ucztę podają na stół barszcz, rosół, kapustę, kaszę hreczanną i jaglaną lub jęczmienną (w zamożniejszych domach ryż), mięso duszone i studenycię [tj. galaretę], a czasem i '''pierogi hreczane z kartoflami i serem''' ze śmietaną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Tomaszewska
| imię = Michalina
| tytuł = Obrzędy weselne ludu ruskiego we wsi Winnikach powiatu drohobyckiego
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Obrzedy_weselne_ludu_ruskiego_we_wsi_Win/LNSzVTGaDM8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA14&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1887
| strony = 14
}}, own translation }}

The following example from Lviv also dates back to the same period:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi with cheese and potatoes''' are tastier than with spuds alone.
| oryg = Smaczniej jeść '''pierogi z serem i kartoflami''', aniżeli z samej tylko bulby.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Niedziela: pismo tygodniowe dla ludu
| inni = ed. Albert Wilczyński
| rozdział = Sprawy gospodarskie
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Niedziela/SIu_eP9dvmsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA38&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = nakładem redaktora
| miejsce = Lwów
| data = 3 February 1884
| wolumin = No 5
| strony = 47
}}, own translation }}

By the end of the 19th century, the idea of saving on the cheese by extending it with boiled potatoes had begun to spread from the Ukrainian countryside into the bourgeois cookbooks of western Galicia.

{{ Cytat
| '''Potato pierogi''' Knead the dough as usual, roll out thinly and fill with little heaps of potatoes – previously mashed with a quarter of a pound of butter, a quarter of a pound of good bryndza [mature sheep’s-milk cheese], pepper and salt. Drop into boiling water. Once they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon, arrange on a platter, drizzle with browned butter and serve with sour cream.
| oryg = '''Pierogi z ziemniakami''' Zagnieść ciasto jak zwykle, rozwałkować cienko, nakładać kupkami ziemniaki – roztarte poprzednio z ćwierć funtem masła, ćwierć funtem dobrej bryndzy, pieprzem i solą. Rzucać na wrzącą wodę, gdy spłyną, wyjmować durszlakową łyżką, ułożyć na półmisku, polać rumianem masłem i podać na stół. Do nich podaje się kwaśna śmietana.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Gruszecka
| imię = Maria
| tytuł = Kucharz krakowski dla oszczędnych gospodyń
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/39e20e9a-2319-48f1-b18e-a98275eb3d8e?page=266
| wydawca = J.M. Himmelblau
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = [1892]
| strony = 239
}}, own translation }}

But so far, we’ve got no example of such boiled pierogi with a cheese-and-potato filling being called ''“pierogi ruskie”''. We’ve traced the evolution of both the dish itself and its name – but at what point did these two evolutionary lines finally converge, uniting the dish with the word? Quite recently, as it turns out! The earliest printed sources in which I have found recipës for ''pierogi ruskie'' as we know them today date back only to the Second World War.

Here’s a recipë from a cookbook published in Cracow under German occupation:

{{ Cytat
| '''Pierogi ruskie''' Pass cooked potatoes through a meat grinder and add a little cow’s-milk cheese. Brown a sliced onion in 100 g of butter, mix with the potatoes and cheese, add one egg and season with salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the dumpling dough as usual, roll it out, cut out the pockets with an upturned glass and shape them into dumplings. Cook them in salted water and drizzle with melted butter or rendered lard.
| oryg = '''Pierogi ruskie''' Ugotowane kartofle przepuścić przez maszynkę dodając trochę krowiego sera. 10 dkg masła zrumienić z pokrajaną w talarki cebulą, wymieszać z kartoflami i serem, wbić jedno jajko, posolić i popieprzyć do smaku. Zrobić normalnie ciasto jak na kluski, rozwałkować, wycinać szklanką i lepić pierożki, które ugotowawszy w osolonej wodzie polać masłem lub roztopioną słoninką.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = F.
| imię = H.
| tytuł = Gotuj tanio, szybko i zdrowo
| url = https://polona.pl/item-view/d208c8b8-137d-48a7-93ea-e8eb9efd17b6?page=46
| wydawca = Gebethner i Wolff
| miejsce = Kraków
| rok = 1940
| strony = 41–42
}}, own translation }}

The following quotation comes from a dietary handbook from the same period. It’s clear that its author already took it for granted that ''pierogi ruskie'' were filled with a cheese-and-potato mixture.

{{ Cytat
| Proteins are also found in cheaper plant-based products, especially legumes, potatoes, flour and groats. These proteins are of inferior quality, less readily absorbed by the human body. We should therefore compose dishes that supplement the low-quality plant proteins with full-value animal proteins, such as '''pierogi ruskie''', in which the inferior potato protein is supplemented with the superior cheese protein.
| oryg = Białko zawarte jest również w tańszych produktach pochodzenia roślinnego, zwłaszcza w strączkowych, w ziemniakach, mące, kaszach. Jest to białko pośledniego gatunku, gorzej przyswajalne przez organizm ludzki. Otóż kombinujemy potrawy, w których niepełnowartościowe białko roślinne dopełniamy pełnowartościowym zwierzęcym, np. '''pierogi ruskie''', w których poślednie białko ziemniaka zostało dopełnione wyborowym białkiem twarogu.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| inni = red. Tadeusz Janczyk
| tytuł = Informator dla spółdzielni spożywców
| rozdział = Jadłodajnia przy spółdzielni
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/f493e2bb-d570-40e0-9697-5e4bb065b15e?page=8
| wydawca = „Społem” Związek Spółdzielni Spożywców
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 25 February 1941
| wolumin = 2/4
| strony = 7
}}, own translation }}

[[File:Pomnik warenika w Czerkasach.jpg|thumb|Statue of a giant varenik in Cherkasy]]
Meanwhile, Polish-Ukrainian-Russian relations had become significantly complicated – to put it mildly. As a result of the First World War, Russia went through two revolutions in one year, while the Poles and the Ukrainians each declared their independence. In 1920, Poland and Bolshevik Russia fought a war that ended with a joint partition of Ukraine and Belarus. The Soviet Union was then created from Russia and the eastern parts of Ukraine and Belarus it had seized. The Second World War, which began with a joint German-Soviet aggression against Poland, brought about mutual Polish-Ukrainian ethnic cleansing and ended with shifting borders, forced resettlements and the descent of the Iron Curtain across Europe. Poland found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, while Ukraine and Belarus – now in their entirety – within the Soviet Union itself. Ivan III’s dream of uniting all of the Rus lands under Moscow’s control had finally come true. Under these new circumstances, the word ''“ruskie”'' had essentially only one meaning in colloquial Polish: it became a negative term for all Soviet citizens – and for the Soviet government and military in particular. It didn’t matter whether they were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians or even Kalmyks. What did matter was that Poland was effectively under their control, even though no one really wanted them here.

And yet, despite that negative connotation, ''pierogi ruskie'' became a staple of Polish cuisine for good.

== Can We Sub Lazies for the Ruskies? ==
Pierogi are delicious, but making them is quite time-consuming. They take hours to make, yet are eaten in a matter of minutes. It’s no wonder that some cooks have long preferred to take shortcuts: why bother wrapping cheese in a pocket of dough when you can simply work the cheese into the dough? Such simple dumplings can then be baked, fried or boiled without fear of the casing opening and the filling leaking out. Recipës for this type of dish date back as far as the late 17th century, such as the one below – in this case, for sweet baked “pirożki” with sheep’s-milk cheese.

{{ Cytat
| Take fresh sheep’s-milk cheese, grind it as fine as possible, add eggs, mix in just enough flour so that it doesn’t stick to your hands, add cinnamon, sugar and small raisins, then grease a pan or baking sheet with butter, spread the dough flat in it, baste with eggs, put it in the oven and bake.
| oryg = Wziąć sera świeżego owczego, roztrzeć go jako najlepiej, jajec wbić, niewiele mąką zamieszać, żeby do rąk nie by[ło], cynamonu, cukru, rodzynków drobnych w to wmieszać, dopiero brać, masłem patelnię smarować, rozpła[sz]czywszy, jajcami posmarować lubo i na blachach, i w piec włożyć, i piec.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dumanowski
| imię = Jarosław
| nazwisko2 = Jankowski (eds.)
| imię2 = Rafał
| tytuł = Moda bardzo dobra smażenia różnych konfektów
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2011
| strony = 196
}}, own translation }}

From the second half of the 18th century we already have evidence that this lazy version of cheese pierogi was simply called ''“pierogi leniwe”'',{{czyt|pierogi leniwe}} or “lazy pierogi”. When Wojciech Wielądko{{czyt|Wojciech Wielądko}} translated the French cookbook ''La cuisinière bourgeoise'' (''The City Cook'') into Polish, he decided to supplement it with a glossary of Polish culinary terms. It includes the following definition of pierogi:

{{ Cytat
| Pierogi are made in diverse ways: '''lazy pierogi''' from sweet cheese; others wrapped in dough and baked in the oven, filled with pork or fatty beef, finely chopped and well seasoned.
| oryg = Rozmaitym sposobem pirogi robią się: z sera słodkiego '''pirogi leniwe''', inne w cieście zawijane alboli też w piecu pieczone lub z mięsa wieprzowego, wołowego tłustego siekanego, dobrze zaprawne.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Wielądko
| imię = Wojciech
| inni = ed. Jarosław Dumanowski, Aleksandra Kleśta-Nawrocka
| tytuł = Kucharz doskonały pożyteczny dla zatrudniających się gospodarstwem
| rozdział = Słownik kuchenny i spiżarniany
| wydawca = Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2012
| strony = 295
}}, own translation }}

In the 19th century, lazy pierogi had even made their way into ''belles‑lettres'', as in this deliciously dreamy poem about an “island of every felicity”:

[[File:Pierogi leniwe 3538.jpg|thumb|A plate of modern ''pierogi leniwe'', or lazy pierogi]]
{{ Cytat
| <poem>Almost as good and lovely as Adam’s paradise,
It is an isle of pleasures, the home of pure delights. {{...}}
All houses have two storeys; in every single one
Each window is a noodle, each stair a rich sweet bun. {{...}}
The curtains are of pancakes, the tassels macaroni,
The locks are made of gammon, the key-rings of baloney. {{...}}
In flowerpots grows [[Epic Cooking: The Wondrous Taste of Bigos|bigos]] or tasty chicken stew,
Depending on the soil and on the seeds you strew.
For this island’s farmland has a wondrous quality:
Sow cutlet bones, and cutlets will sprout in quantity. {{...}}
The mud is jam and ice-cream, while the paving stones you tread
Are '''lazy pierogi''' right underfoot instead.
Nobody minds a slip here, even if he falls outright,
For though he hits the ground, he always gets a bite. {{...}}
</poem>
| oryg = <poem>Ledwie‎ ‎co‎ ‎niepiękniejsza‎ ‎od‎ ‎raju‎ ‎Adama,
Jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎kraj‎ ‎delicji,‎ ‎jest‎ ‎to‎ ‎rozkosz‎ ‎sama. {{...}}
Domy‎ ‎są‎ ‎o‎ ‎dwóch‎ ‎piętrach,‎ ‎w‎ ‎każdym‎ ‎oknie‎ ‎ganek,
Schody‎ ‎z bułek‎ ‎siedleckich,‎ ‎a‎ ‎okna‎ ‎z‎ ‎łazanek; {{...}}
Firanki‎ ‎z‎ naleśników,‎ ‎frędzle‎ ‎z‎ makaronów,
Zamki‎ ‎z szynek,‎ ‎półgęsków,‎ ‎klucze‎ ‎z‎ salcesonów. {{...}}
W‎ ‎doniczkach‎ ‎rośnie‎ bigos ‎lub‎ ‎potrawka ‎z‎ ‎kury‎,
Podług‎ ‎uprawy‎ ‎ziemi‎ ‎i‎ ‎nasion natury.
Bowiem‎ ‎ziemia‎ ‎tej‎ ‎wyspy‎ ‎jest‎ ‎cudnej‎ ‎zalety:
Posiać‎ ‎kostki‎ ‎z‎ ‎kotletów,‎ ‎zrodzą‎ ‎się‎ ‎kotlety. {{...}}
‎Błoto‎ ‎z‎ konfitur,‎ ‎lodów,‎ ‎a‎ ‎bruk‎ ‎tego‎ ‎miasta
Jest‎ ‎w‎ '''‎pierogi‎ ‎leniwe'''‎ ‎i‎ ‎francuskie‎ ‎ciasta.
Nie żałuje‎ ‎tam‎ ‎człowiek,‎ ‎chociaż‎ ‎się‎ ‎pośliźnie,
Bo‎ ‎choć‎ ‎czasem‎ ‎upadnie‎, ‎zawsze‎ ‎czegoś‎ ‎liźnie. {{...}}
</poem>
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Żółkowski]
| imię = [Fortunat
| tytuł = Momus
| rozdział = Wyspa wszelkiej pomyślności
| adres rozdziału = https://polona.pl/item-view/72e521a1-3b39-4b45-b742-c5aefda4e31e?page=3
| wydawca =
| miejsce = Warszawa
| data = 10 June 1820
| wolumin = No. 2
| strony = 12–15
}}, own translation }}

[[File:W barze mlecznym.jpg|thumb|In a milk bar {{small|By Józefa Wnukowa (1954)}}]]
After the Second World War, ''pierogi leniwe'' rivalled ''pierogi ruskie'' in popularity. Together they became fixed points on the menus of canteens and milk bars across the country, brightening – if only a little – the drabness of everyday life in the People’s Republic of Poland.

{{ Cytat
| <poem>The buzz and bustle of big-city life:
A milk bar aglow in loud neon light.
I down '''lazy pierogi''' à la fourchette;
Well-fed and content, now I’m all set! </poem>
| oryg = <poem>Światowe życie, szum i gwar:
Feerią neonów błyszczy mleczny bar.
Porcję '''leniwych''' zjadam à la fourchette
I syty, i szczęśliwy, czuję się wnet! </poem>
| źródło = Wojciech Młynarski, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSkLmQXOFU Światowe życie]'' (1966)<ref> {{Cyt
| tytuł = Acta Universitatis Lodziensis: Folia Litteraria Polonica
| nazwisko r = Wiśniewski
| imię r = Jerzy
| rozdział = Polacy przy jedzeniu i za stołem w piosenkach Wojciecha Młynarskiego
| adres rozdziału = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394796762_Polacy_przy_jedzeniu_i_za_stolem_w_piosenkach_Wojciecha_Mlynarskiego
| wydawca = Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
| rok = 2010
| wolumin = 13
| strony = 273
}}</ref>, own translation
}}

In 1978, the joke I quoted at the beginning was told on Polish television. Except that the character in the satirical show ''Olga Lipińska’s Cabaret'' (''Kabaret Olgi Lipińskiej'') who was meant to tell it made a very visible last-minute substitution: he swapped ''pierogi ruskie'' for ''pierogi leniwe''. Of course, the punchline – “Who asked for the lazies?” “No one did. They came uninvited!” – no longer made any sense. But the joke landed anyway, as the audience instantly recognized this act of self-censorship. Unfortunately, the Soviet embassy recognized it just as well and, as a result, the show was taken off the air for half a year.<ref>{{Cyt
| tytuł = Gazeta.pl
| nazwisko r = Bryczkowska
| imię r = Justyna
| rozdział = Kobuszewski rzucił żart o pierogach: Sześć słów wystarczyło, by ruszyła lawina
| adres rozdziału = https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,127222,29935467,kobuszewski-rzucil-zart-o-pierogach-szesc-slow-wystarczylo.html
| miejsce = 5 July 2025
}}</ref>

== My Grandma’s Pierogi ==
I wrote above that the earliest printed recipës I’ve been able to track down in which pierogi called ''“ruskie”'' already match the ''pierogi ruskie'' we know today date only from the Second World War. But what about handwritten recipës? As it turns out, I’ve found only one manuscript recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' in the modern sense that predates the war – and, to my surprise, it surfaced in my own family archive.

They’re notes my Grandma Zosia made when she was nineteen, while attending a course for young housewives, around 1935. She was born in Jaworzno, in the Austrian partition – but about as far from the Rus lands as one could be while still living within the borders of Galicia. Which suggests that already in the 1930s the word ''“ruskie”'' in ''“pierogi ruskie''“ referred – at least across former Galicia – to the Ukrainian, not the Russian, way of filling and shaping pierogi.

When I compare Grandma Zosia’s handwritten recipës with what I remember from watching her cook, I can see how faithfully she kept to the techniques she learned as a young woman. Her recipë for ''pierogi ruskie'' is given below. The photographs show each stage of making the pierogi with my Mom’s hands – she learned these very techniques from my Grandmother, her mother‑in‑law.

{{ Cytat
| Make the pierogi dough, roll it out, spoon on the filling, cut out the shapes and seal the edges. Filling: boil the potatoes in their skins, then peel and grind them in a meat grinder. Add 250 g of ground farmer cheese (per 1 kg of potatoes), an onion browned in fat, salt and pepper to taste, one or two eggs, and a little grated nutmeg. After shaping the pierogi, cook them in boiling salted water, and once lifted out, drizzle with browned lard.
| oryg = Zrobić ciasto na pierogi, rozwałkować, nakładać farszem, wycinać i zlepiać. 
Farsz: ziemniaki ugotować w łupie, a po obraniu zemleć na maszynce. Dodać 25 dkg sera przetartego (na 1 kg ziemniaków), cebulę przyrumienioną na tłuszczu, soli, pieprzu do smaku, 1 lub 2 jaja i utartej gałki muszkatołowej. Po ulepieniu gotować na wrzącej posolonej wodzie, a po wyjęciu polać przyrumienioną słoniną.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Palion
| imię = Zofia
| tytuł = handwritten recipës
| miejsce = Jaworzno
| rok = ca. 1935
}}, family archive, own translation }}

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Pierogi preparation 04.JPG | Kneading
File:Pierogi preparation 06.JPG | Rolling
File:Pierogi preparation 07.JPG | Cutting out the pockets of dough
File:Pierogi preparation 02.JPG | Grinding farmer cheese and potatoes
File:Pierogi preparation 09.JPG | Filling
File:Pierogi preparation 11.JPG | Sealing
File:Pierogi preparation 15.JPG | Boiling
File:Pierogi frying.jpg | Sautéing (optional)
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = McWilliams
| imię = Mark
| tytuł = Wrapped & Stuffed Foods: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012
| nazwisko r = Guttman
| imię r = Naomi
| nazwisko2 r = Sciacca
| imię2 r = Franklin
| rozdział = The Magic of Dumplings: Bringing Pierogi into the (New) World
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Wrapped_Stuffed_Foods/MD0QDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT187
| wydawca = Prospect Books
| rok = 2013
| strony = 188–198
}}
* {{Cyt
| inni = ed. Хведір Кіндратович Вовк
| tytuł = Матеріали до українсько-руської етнольоґії
| nazwisko r = Гнатюк
| imię r = Володимир Михайлович
| rozdział = Народня пожива і спосіб її приправи у східній Галичині
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/etmol0gi/page/96/mode/1up
| wydawca = Друкарня Наукового товариства ім. Шевченка
| miejsce = Львів
| rok = 1899
| tom = I
| strony = 96–110
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Tygodnik Powszechny
| nazwisko r = Kuźmiński
| imię r = Michał
| rozdział = Lepienie świata
| adres rozdziału = https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/lepienie-swiata-170072
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = 13 December 2021
| wolumin = No. 51–52
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Laudan
| imię = Rachel
| tytuł = Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Cuisine_and_Empire/LawwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA145
| wydawca = University of California Press
| rok = 2013
| strony =
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Moczulski
| imię = Leszek
| tytuł = Geopolityka
| url = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/Geopolityka/yuhbHn6zZCgC?gbpv=1
| wydawca = Bellona
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2010
}}
* {{Cyt
| tytuł = Język Polski
| nazwisko r = Nitsch
| imię r = Kazimierz
| rozdział = O nazwy naszych słowiańskich sąsiadów: I. Rusini czy Ukraińcy?
| adres rozdziału = https://www.google.pl/books/edition/J%C4%99zyk_polski/waw4AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover
| wydawca = Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
| miejsce = Kraków
| data = May–June 1927
| wolumin = XII
| tom = 3
| strony = 65–72
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Онацький
| imię = Євген Дометійович
| tytuł = Українська Мала Енциклопедія
| rozdział = Вареники
| adres rozdziału = https://archive.org/details/UkrMalaEn/kn_02_В-Г/page/n9/mode/1up
| wydawca = Адміністратура Української автокефальної православної церкви в Аргентині
| miejsce = Буенос-Айрес
| rok = 1967
| tom = 2
| strony = 128
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Making of Modern Ukraine
| wydawca = Yale Courses
| rok = 2022
}} – series of lectures available on [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNewfxO7LhBoz_1Mx1MaO6sw_ Youtube] and [https://open.spotify.com/show/0gwIT6SlDmPVdjAnN6NHft Spotify]
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Snyder
| imię = Timothy
| tytuł = The Reconstruction of Nations
| wydawca = Yale University Press
| rok = 2003
}}
* {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Szymanderska
| imię = Hanna
| tytuł = Pierogi świata
| wydawca = Hachette Polska
| miejsce = Warszawa
| rok = 2009
}}

{{Przypisy}}
{{Nawigacja|poprz=Use the Forks, Henry}}

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[[Category: Recipës]]

[[pl:Kto prosił ruskie?]]