There are many ways to discover a country and its culture. This time, our group of volunteers learnt something more about Krakow through food. We prepared obwarzanki!

Whenever we walk through the city, we can observe Krakow’s mediaeval roots. In Rynek Glówny, the Market Square, or Kazimierz, the Jewish district, or Wawel Castle, this heritage is impossible not to notice. All around the city there are also smaller things which tell us something about the history of the city. One of these are blue carts where you can buy obwarzanki.

Our teacher at the workshop, showed us which the ingredients are and she gave a little piece of dough to each volunteer. We had to divide it into two smaller pieces of the same size and we had to roll it on the table until we obtained two long and cylindrical pieces. Then, we had to shape them into a circle and stick them with a wooden pin. We could choose our dressings. The traditional dressing is salt, but nowadays it’s possible to choose more, such as sesame or poppy seeds. Finally, our obwarzanki were finally baked.

After preparing obwarzanki, our group of volunteers learnt something more about their history, which is actually not very clear. However, it is certain that in 1496 King John Albert gave the monopoly for the production of bread, including obwarzanki, to the bakers’ guild in Kraków. Today, only few bakeries produce the true ones, recognised by official European certifications. The real obwarzanki are sold at the blue carts, they are easy to spot. They are a tradinional snack, loved both by tourists and locals. Plus, they are very cheap! If you are hungry, they are always a great option.