CULTURE

THE WILNO HERITAGE SOCIETY
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Agatha DombroskieThe Wilno Heritage Society with the help of Agatha Dombroskie collected a number of recipes for a Canadian Kashub Cook Book. This book is available at our Heritage Store.

CLICK HERE for a story from the Barry's Bay This Week newspaper on the Cookbook project. (Photo left courtesy of Barry's Bay This Week.)


FOOD OF THE KASHUB PEOPLE

By Martin Szulist

In 1858, our Polish ancestors brought to Canada, not only their Kashubian language, their music, but also their Kashub food recipes. In the last 50 years, we have changed our recipes to the Polish menu.  Wilno Chicken SupperSince the arrival of the Polish people after WWII, we have been introduced to Polish cuisine, cabbage rolls and perogies, Polish sausage just to name a few.  This, however, is not the food of our Polish ancestors.  The food of our ancestors is the same that is served at the annual Chicken Supper held at St. Mary's Church in Wilno.  Preparing plates at the Wilno Chicken SupperThis famous supper is over 65 years old and getting to be known world wide . Approximately 2200 people are served on Labour Day Weekend, with people coming to taste real Kashubian cuisine.  Boiled chicken, with lots of potatoes and vegetables is one of the main diets of our Kashub people.  Delicious pies are served at the Chicken SupperChicken soup with potato dumplings is another favourite. Chicken and rice soup was also very popular.  The Kashubs also prepared many dishes with pork, such as hog jowls , salty pork & pork hocks.  Another delicious dish is blood sausages, which is a bi-product of pork.  Sour cabbage or sauerkraut, & salty herring are also something that all the Kashub people loved; it being a strong tasting fish that could be added to any meal they prepared.  The Polish Kashubs, having lived so close to the Baltic Sea, depended on food from the sea, and therefore when arriving to Canada, salty herring was made just like in Poland.The closest place we could import our herring was from Newfoundland.

Boiling water for potatoes

The Kashub region in Poland has many lakes just like we have here in Canada so there was no change to the diet as far as a fish dishes were concerned. Adding dill pickles, potato pancake, and dried apples to  some of their meals produced a full tummy and a smile on their face.

My visit to Kaszuby, Poland in 2000, found that their diet was exactly as our ancestors: lots of chicken & pork.  When I would ask for cabbage rolls & perogies, most Kashubs, like the Etmanskies, Yaskolskies, Chapeskies & Olsheskies said that it was not part of their diet.  If we wanted some, we could find some in Warsaw & in south & central Poland, where the Polish culture is strong.

We are very fortunate to have two different cultures from the country of Poland in this area.  Since 1858 to the 1950s, the Kashub culture was dominant.  In the next 50 years, a new culture was added, that being the Polish culture - adding a new flavour to our menu.

For more information on the Wilno Heritage Society e-mail:
heritage@wilno.org