Pierniki - the gingerbread of Toruń

If you happen to spend your Erasmus in Toruń you are more than likely to travel around Poland and this for sure will make you meet more people. So brace yourself! For them you will be considered a toruniak, at least in some ways, and as one of us you’re bound to face two inevitable questions:

1. Do you listen to Radio Maryja?

2. Do you eat pierniki all the time?

Well, when it comes to the first question there is only one possible answer:

Yes, I do it everyday. I sing along Bogurodzica to great the day, and I go to bed only after standing with a hand on my heart throughout the whole Mazurek Dąbrowskiego at midnight.

Trust me, that’s the only answer you need.

When it comes to the second question, you do need some empirical experience before answering. First of all, you will simply enjoy trying all those different types of pierniki. Second of all, it is a must do thing while staying in Toruń.

This city has been all about pierniki literally for ages. It is so deeply associated with gingerbread, that it has developed its very own kind of these little wonders full of spicy flavour. It is true that the idea for Toruńskie Pierniki has been brought here by merchants all the way from Nuremberg, but it has been reshaped and readapted so many times, that they truly are extraordinary. I tested it on my German friends, and they confirmed.

Which is a recommendation good enough to give it a go, isn’t it?

Hence, accept my humble invitation to a guide around different tastes of toruńskie pierniki. Please keep your eyes open and the taste buds ready. *Try to read it with Willy Wonka’s voice*

Kopernik Wonka tour!

We start by entering theKopernik™toruńskie piernikiconfectionery shop. Have I told you that this is one of the oldest producers of sweets in Europe? It’s been running for more than 250 years!

Come on! Grab this little chocolate waffle bar! This is wafel teatralny! Look closely at the packaging. What do you see, son? Nothing? Oh, look closer! Don’t you see any faces on it? Whoa… I know. It’s taken me 18 years to realise it.\

Oh, excellent idea sweetheart! Glazed Hearts! This is a very conservative choice. Somebody here likes the old-school gingerbread… Oh don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong in being boring. It’s simply that if you were me, and of course you’d like to be me luv, you would have gone for the white chocolate Piernikowa Nuta. The taste stolen from gods, and given to you peasants, to sooth your simple palates with this exquisite mix of black currant jam, gingerbread and white chocolate! And here...here I’ve got little Katarzynki… one of the oldest types of gingerbread in the world!

And it’s name is after a girl called Katarzyna, Katie if you like, and its shape has been designed to worship her curvaceous…

Sorry!!

I got carried away with this whole Willy Wonka guide tour. Sorry again. It is that in Toruń, we’re really proud of our pierniki. It is not that we eat it everyday, or that the gingerbread consumption here is astronomical, but they really are unique and every time you see the characteristic Kopernik™toruńskie pierniki logo, regardless whether in Poland or abroad, they will bring back the memories of Torun.

And you’ll see it yourself.
Each little packet of Kopernik™toruńskie pierniki will trigger some of the best memories till the rest of your life.

Fun facts

Pierniki are so emblematic to Toruń, that there is even a gingerbread museum, where you can check your cooking skills against the centuries-old recipes. You can read more about it and book a visit there below

http://www.muzeum.torun.pl/strona-38.html

Also, it is so emblematic that it was a matter of days that someone would come up with an idea to mix gingerbread and alcohol, and here you are in Toruń you will find a gingerbread flavoured vodka http://torunskiewodki.pl/en/products/torunska-gingerbread/ and a gingerbread flavoured beer, served in Jan Olbracht brewery in Toruń http://browar-olbracht.pl/en/old-town-brewery where you can also eat quite good traditional Polish food. You can read more about Polish vodka here https://erasmusu.com/en/erasmus-blog/main/vodka-polish-style-101-the-ultimate-guide-625782 

As with many emblematic things, toruńskie pierniki have got their legends, some try to convince you that the ideas for toruńskie pierniki came from everywhere but bakers. So some legends will tell you that the recipe came from a broken heart, from talking bees or from a poor girl who tried to impress a king. Katarzynki in fact inherited their name from a girl called Katarzyna (Catherine), who probably was involved in developing the recipe. My idea of creating a sexual connotation with this type of gingerbread is inspired by a brilliant book by Tomasz Szendlak “Leven. Opowieść o toruńskim kupcu, krwawych zbrodniach, śpiewających żabach i czupurnej piekareczce”. I can genuinely think it is one of the most witted and fun books I have read in my life. Sadly, I am not sure it has ever been translated.

The most emblematic Kopernik™toruńskie pierniki shop is inDwór Artusa (Artus Court).You can see it below.\

Glossary, or what the hell is Radio Maryja?!

Radio Maryja is a Toruń-based catholic radio, run by Tadeusz Rydzyk. A person widely considered greedy, who according to many very often uses political sentiments to create comotion. The radio has got a very loyal audience and promotes very conservative and religious views.

Bogurodzica is a medieval religious song, that was considered the first Polish anthem.

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego is the actual Polish Anthem.

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