Any attempt to argue that cuisine is an insignificant part of life, on the grounds of the widespread availability of food and the growing prosperity of societies, is nonsensical. Of course, the belief that cuisine is the most essential element of human life – because one must eat to live – has been consigned to oblivion, but issues concerning a balanced diet tailored to the specific circumstances of an individual’s life have become very important. A diet that excludes unhealthy elements from the vast food industry in favour of products sourced from the relatively immediate local area. Of course, chefs will say that aesthetic presentation is no less important.
The rapid development of media technology has made it hard to find a media channel that doesn’t feature programmes in which presenters (and often even chefs) who are more or less smitten with one another attempt to set new standards for national or regional cuisine. Unfortunately, there is all too often a tendency to stray drastically from traditional regional cuisine in favour of adding catch-all terms to dish names, which leads to the creation of such monstrosities as ‘halibut straight from a Kashubian fishing boat’, even though the nearest halibut can be caught in Norwegian waters.
Media personalities and the variety of cookery programmes
Media personalities and culinary celebrities often regard themselves as ambassadors of Polish flavour, but they very often turn their backs on our heritage, encouraging culinary experimentation rather than seeking to highlight what has been valuable in our culinary history over the centuries.
Cookery programmes are aimed at a variety of audiences — from inexperienced people just starting out on their cooking journey, to those who cook for their families on a daily basis, right through to those who aren’t afraid to take on more serious challenges, and even professional chefs. I fear that none of these groups is provided with tried-and-tested, reliable material enabling them to cook in a way that allows them to say, ‘I cook in a trendy way’, because it is in keeping with the principle of drawing on local heritage and using produce from the immediate vicinity.
That is precisely what we will be discussing during the meeting: the culinary heritage of Kashubia and Pomerania.
Rafał Nowakowski – an expert on the cuisine of Kashubia and Pomerania. Author of numerous newspaper articles. In recent years, he has compiled the *Lexicon of Kashubian Cuisine* and *Taste Kartuzy*. He is currently working on an expanded edition of the lexicon and on a *Culinary Guide to the Glincz Region*.