Bread in Poland
Polish history of bread
The first references to Polish bread date back to the time when the king Bolesław I Chrobry lived. The legend says that “While Bolesław I Chrobry was travelling to the meeting with Otto III, suddenly he felt a nice smell. The landlord of the habitation from where the smell was coming, offered him the bread. The kind to commemorate this event, called this village Piekary.” During the Middle Ages Poland was a great power in grain cultivation. It was exported to the majority of European countries and was characterized by the best quality. At that time they baked bread out of grain, which was ground with the use of quern.
Since the 12th century first mills together with baker’s cooperatives have started to appear. The oldest baker’s cooperatives in Poland were founded (by virtue of the privilege of Bolesław V the Chaste) in Kraków in 1260. Defending their values in 1637 they issued an order, which was: “The emblem of baker’s cooperatives is a pretzel with a crown in the middle, which is hold by griffins.” In this way, the bakers tried to strengthen their position as compared to their competition beyond the baker’s cooperatives. Putting the emblem on the seals of baker’s cooperatives they built their brand.
“Give us this day our daily bread…”- imagery and customs Bread through the ages became not only the symbol of food but also the symbol of life. The lack of it signifies hunger and death. It’s said to be a gift from God and it’s treated with special reverence. Many people don’t get rid of bread and this what drops is immediately picked up from the floor and kissed with due respect. Before each loaf was cut, we used to make the sign of cross on it. According to the ancient tradition people believed that they couldn’t cut the first loaf which was taken out from the oven. They could only break it as otherwise it signified that they wouldn’t be able to bake another bread for the next seven times.
The bread was broken, not cut, also while greeting the guests and newlyweds. When it comes to the enemies it was a symbol of reconciliation. They also believed that if someone put the bread on the opposite side he would have an argument in a family. What is more, no one could get rid of it, also even when animals didn’t want to eat it. In such circumstances people burnt it in a (holy fire). Among traditions which survived to this day. We should also mention about the tradition of blessing the food. On Holy Saturday apart from an egg which is a symbol of reviving life, in our Easter basket we could also put the bread which guarantees us well-being and prosperity.
Many people treat bread with special honours and they don’t get rid of the bread which hasn’t been eaten entirely. On the other hand, we don’t treat the rest of product in the same manner. In different parts of Poland there are organized various events to celebrate bread. They are called “The Festival of bread.” It is celebrated i.a. in Kraków.
Dozhinki (harvest festival) It also hard to imagine the annual festival dozhinki, without the special baked loaves. To this day, on different occasions we greet our guests with bread and salt. “We won’t have bread out of this flour” (it won’t be effective), “Working hard for a piece of bread” (working very hard), “A hungry person has bread in mind” (a slip of the tongue which reveals our true thoughts), “Have money for bread”(be able to cope financially), “Daily bread”(something usual), “An ordinary bread’s eater” (someone usual)- these are the most popular sayings concerning the bread which were domesticated in our language. Bread is also treated as a symbol of dignity and the value of human work.
“Give us this day our daily bread…”- civilization community Poland is a country which is associated with a deep faith. Particularly, because on its ground Pope John Paul II was born and grew up here –a patron of our school. Without any doubts, our deep faith distinguishes us from other European countriesalthough our civilization roots our common. Bread constitutes an important symbol for the whole Judeo- Christian world, especially for the Europe. It’s identified with Christ. In the New Testament books of the Bible it is written “I am live bread, which has come down from heaven.”
Bread appears in our prayers. In The Lord’s Prayer we pray “Give us this day our daily bread.” In this way, we ask God for earthly advantages. Because of that the bread becomes meaningful because we learn, that we should be good as bread and be willing to share it. A tradition which is associated with Christmas Eve is to share the Christmas wafer with others. This tradition comes from the times when the first Christians were sharing with the holy bread. A bread wafer is a symbol of reconciliation, kindness and mutual forgiveness.
Bread and salt- hospitality and openness of Poles Poles are the nation of open and hospitable people. We are friendly by nature (maybe even more towards foreigners than to our compatriots) and we greet the foreigners with the open arms, according to our tradition with bread and salt.
Back to tradition.