Recently I was to write a story about preserves. But the story had to be written so, that even men would be keen on reading it. You know, jams and marmelades are more girly/granny/mummy thing. Not a man thing. But as I was making my research I found out a whole new world of preserves. Tangy orange marmalade from England (in Poland marmelade is a terribly sweet thing from no-name fruit), cherry confiture with a kick from Polish monks living in Tyniec near Cracow (check this site for more information), wonderful jams preserves with spices, nuts and other surprises from Spizarnia, created by Beata Martynowska or the preserves form forgotten fruit like sea-buckthorns berries or rowan berries from Fungopol. Really, there is a whole universe of original , exotic tastes which are rooted in Polish culinary tradition. Just waiting to be discovered and eaten with morning toasts.

More on strange preserves here (in Polish) in the story published in Rzeczpospolita: Konfitury z innej beczki

And here’s an interview with wonderful Ms Hanna Szymanderska, the person who knows everything about Polish culinary tradition.