Gingerbread Capital of Poland (with recipe)
Image: Gingerbread decorated with images of the solar system, the home of Mikołaj Kopernik (Copernicus), and an angel.
Of the places my dad and I visited during our July Poland trip, Toruń captured my imagination the most. We stayed a few doors down from the home of Mikołaj Kopernik (Copernicus), who proposed that the sun is the center of the universe rather than Earth. I loved finding celestial images woven into the work of local artist Nikodem Pręgowski around town.
Toruń's Teutonic castle was built in the 1200s, and my dad and I visited the ruins. The living historical attractions were most eye-catching to me: native European plants that monk-knights likely relied upon.
Nourishing stinging nettle stood guard along a defensive wall.
Yarrow--known for its wound-healing, blood-stanching, and antimicrobial properties--was probably used after battle. Its aromatics and pleasant bitterness were traditionally enjoyed in beer brewing (which castle residents did plenty of!)
Throughout Europe, elder (elderberry) is known as a shrub not to be messed with. It's traditionally planted near homes to ward off illness and intruders. At the castle, elder joined nettle as a sentinel along the wall and within the ruins.
Images, clockwise from top left: elderberry, yarrow, and stinging nettle at Toruń’s Teutonic castle.
For an herbalist and folktale lover, Toruń’s Gingerbread Museum was my favorite stop. Toruń became a gingerbread hub in Medieval times. In the town’s Soft Breads Guild, gingerbread makers were esteemed for their unique expertise. They didn’t just perfect a spiced bread recipe; they also carved elaborate molds for their gingerbread.
The wood of pear trees was used for carving gingerbread molds. Pear wood “strikes a balance between being firm enough to hold intricate details and being relatively easy to carve…The wood cuts cleanly and easily, allowing for smooth carving strokes and precise shaping” (source).
When gingerbread makers journeyed in search of a new employer, these “wandermeisters” brought their molds with them as a sort of résumé. Sometimes they sold molds to gingerbread shop owners before moving on.
Images: most of the molds I saw were carved in the 17th-19th centuries.
The museum spotlights the history, uses, and medicinal properties of traditional gingerbread spices: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, and candied orange peel. The exhibit gave me ideas for gingerbread spice combinations! Perhaps Cardamom-Orange Zest Gingerbread is in order this year…
Properties of Ginger
I wasn’t thrilled with ginger’s flavor as a child, but it’s become one of my favorite herbs. I love its spicy-sweet bite in winter teas, soups, stir-fries, and hot chocolate.
I often have cold hands and feet, and my joints and muscles get achier in the winter as I tense against the cold. I welcome the circulatory stimulation ginger’s warming oils offer. In one study, ingesting ginger daily was found to relieve muscle discomfort after workouts. In larger doses, it’s a trusted remedy at migraine onset (de la Forêt, 2017).
Those aromatic oils also support the digestive system by easing bloating and nausea, and boosting circulation and nutrient absorption.
Ginger's antiviral properties are a bonus this time of year. Like other spicy herbs, ginger thins mucus and can help with expectoration. If you’ve ever needed to blow your nose after a spicy meal, you know what I’m talking about!
Brewing a cup of hot ginger tea is the best way to use it during cold and flu season. The warmth and steam from the water also help to thin mucus. I use about a Tbsp of fresh ginger per mug of water. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes for a stronger brew. A long steep (at least 30 minutes) extracts quite a bit of flavor as well.
Lucky for gardeners in temperate climates the world over, ginger is easy to grow where we live. It thrives in moist soil and part-sun in the summer months, and it can be harvested in the fall as leaves die back. Potted ginger can be moved indoors for the winter. Bring it back out to part-sun in late spring.
I took home a carved rolling pin from a shop in Kraków called Wooden Corner. I look forward to using the pin and recipe below to share a taste of Poland with loved ones.
