Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


Bunker,
When you say that, do you mean you are descended from Lemkos and a Lemko yourself? I'm very curious about this. My grandfather and grandmother were both Lemkos. I'm hoping to connect to Lemkos who either currently live in Poland or previously did.

I have a strong desire to visit my grandparents' home villages and will do so some time in the future - I understand how someone can love a land they do not yet know.

Food / Polish head cheese [46]

My father's parents were Lemkos, and my father's friend used to bring my Dad an occasional block of "head cheese," which he loved. I don't recall any of the kids even trying it, though, simply because of the name.

As I recall, they referred to it (excuse the spelling - it's how it was pronounced) as stew-da-nin-a or stew-na-nin-a, one or the other. Does this help at all?

Food / Healthy polish food? [143]

Kapusta!

Food / Healthy polish food? [143]


Sorry - I forget how the language works against me sometime. My father made a soup he called "kapusta" with sauerkraut, beans, potatoes and maybe some pork. That's gotta be a healthy dish! I loved it.

Food / Healthy polish food? [143]


All I know is how he pronounced it, and that was "kapusta." Of course, his parents weren't true Poles - they were Carpatho-Rusyn Lemkos - so maybe there were some dialectic differences?

Genealogy / I'm polish and have a darker complexion - WHY? [78]

While traveling in the area of Poland known to Lemkos as Lemkovyna (south from Gorlice to the Slovakia border, east to the Romanian border), our tour guides pointed out the Gypsies to us as we drove past one of their communities. They told us that these people were originally from Asian descent - Indian - which explains their complexions and hair color. I met a guy at the Lemko Vatra with whom I'd corresponded over the previous two years, and was surprised to see that he had darker skin. As it turned out, he had some Gypsy blood in him. Perhaps you do, too?

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


That would be great, Miranda. I really appreciate it. I'd love to surprise my father with something that he enjoyed so much but hasn't eaten in over 70 years.


Where do you get off insulting the cherished memory of someone's long-lost baba? What the f#@* is the matter with you?

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]

On our trip to Poland earlier this year my father got to see a woman preparing it, and enjoyed it with the meal we were served. You could really tell how much it was bringing him back and meant to him.

Do you remember how to pronounce the name of this soup? The best I can phonetically spell out the way I heard it is "kes-uh-leech-uh."

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


Thanks, Lir! This might be it. Although I think he said his Mom had to ferment the stuff longer than one day - maybe 2 or 3? And I thought it was soup - this sounds like the output is basically oatmeal. Unless I'm missing something here. How does the strained, slowly cooked oatmeal become a soup? Can any cooks out there help me more with this?

Thanks again, Lir - I look forward to hearing more from you on this.

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


Interesting. This one is made with freshly milled oat flour, then strained just to remove the oat shells. Which leads me to think that if you start with oatmeal instead, you'd toss the actual oats after straining them and make the soup from the liquid. This certainly requires further investigation.

Thanks again. Lir.

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


A common misperception. Lemkos are one sub-group of Carpatho-Rusyns (see lemko.org for some more information on this). We are our own distinct nationality with our own language, culture and customs.

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]

Thank you, Lir. I have seen these woodcuts and the related text many times - they are gorgeous and informative. But within the text lies some of the controversy - are Lemkos (Rusyns) just a sub-group of Ukrainians? Regardless of where we live, I believe the answer to be "no." We are our own people. Many of us are very confused as to our true ethnicity. My own father had no idea what he was until I did the research nearly 6 years ago. That means he lived 78 years of his life not knowing his proud and tragic Rusyn ancestry. There is far too much for me to tell here - I strongly urge you to start with the website I provided in an earlier post and go on from there. That way you can come to your own conclusions. I know that my paternal ancestral roots are in Poland, but I also know that they are not Polish. Nor are they Ukrainian. I am Rusyn, and very proud of it.

Love / Do Polish Women age well? [153]

My experience - for what it's worth - I grew up in a town with a lot of Polish and other Slavic people. Now that we're all well into adulthood, the women seem to have fallen into one of two camps: either (the majority) look a lot like they did back then (and I'm STILL hot for them) or have transformed into fat loud boorish people. I traveled in Poland this year and was VERY attracted to women who were my age or very nearly there and found the old baba's I met to shine with beauty from within their withered bodies. Anyone who is fortunate enough to share their senior years with a Slavic woman with whom they have shared a lifetime should count themselves among those they consider to be truly fortunate.

Love / Do Polish Women age well? [153]


Let's not forget that these are also HER kids, clothes, food and household, so it's not just the man who benefits from the labor of the woman.

I get your point, but it's a bit harsh on males. We're not all pûrn-watching youth-chasing leches. We can't help that we're genetically programmed to be compelled to impregnate as many women as we can, and therefore attracted to young and fertile ones. However, we've also evolved to be respectful and honoring of our partners, so many of us mate for life and love our wives through thick and thin. I'm honest enough to admit when I appreciate and am even excited by a younger woman, but I'd never for a minute considering leaving or even cheating on my wife for one of them. She knows this, which makes everything much more relaxed and fun for us as we grow older.

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


It sure sounds like it. Do you have a recipe that you can share?

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]

Thanks, Piorun,
I have a few questions on this:


What is this? Is it the equivalent of yeast?


When you strain it, do you save the water you've strained? Do you save the solids? Is this the "starter" you later refer to?

I seem to recall my father's description of this soup containing potatoes - does anyone have anything to say about that?
Thanks again!
Rakky

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]

Wow - this is interesting.


What happens to the oatmeal, and whatever else is left in the sieve?


Sorry to be so dense, but I'm American - what can I say? What's a "dag?' What might that translate to in our outdated system here?

Thanks!

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]


Here's another option - you are of Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. The above reference is at best an over-simplification and at worst an outright attempt to deceive. Many (if not most) "Ruthenians"were actually Carpatho-Rusyns. For much more on the topic, see lemko.org

Genealogy / Zelem family - Southeast poland [73]

wozzy

I highly recommend you contact these people before you travel to the Gorlice district: lemkotour.com

Tell them their American Lemko friend Shtefan sent you. If you do not receive a prompt response, give it a few days - they are not on their computer each day.

They live in Gorlice and are thoroughly immersed in the Rusyn culture in southeast Poland. Through them you will learn more than you can imagine right now. Enjoy the adventure. I sure did. And it continues to this day.

Rakky

Genealogy / Zelem family - Southeast poland [73]


Me, too. And I was there last year! Let me know what villages you'll be visiting - we can compare notes.

Genealogy / Polish Gypsy Roots & Roma ancestors in their families [205]


Would you share those websites with us?

Genealogy / Zelem family - Southeast poland [73]

wozzy - we never heard about your trip. How about telling us about it?

Food / Bigos Recipe [183]


That DOES sound good!
Another idea - instead of rinsing away all the vitamins, why not let the water evaporate with some pre-cooking of the sauerkraut? If you need to you can then add more water and let THAT evaporate as well? Just a thought.

Food / Bigos Recipe [183]


I've NEVER heard of anyone doing this before. Amazing. How the heck do I get to be this age and not know something like this? It's so simple - and such a great idea. Diakuju.

Genealogy / Zelem family - Southeast poland [73]


Not necessarily Jewish. Possibly Rusyn (Lemko or Boyko) - hundreds of these families were relocated to these territories during Akcja Wisla in 1947.

Genealogy / Polish Gypsy Roots & Roma ancestors in their families [205]


So true. I was speaking with a friend the other day who had just picked up and started reading James Michener's novel "Poland." He said he had to put it down after a few chapters because each one described another era, another invasion, another round of raping, pillaging and murdering his Polish ancestors. It was just too depressing for him. It really make you think, though. I'm a 2nd-generation American who is of Carpatho-Rusyn, German and French-Canadian ancestry. But peak behind the curtains and who knows what kind of blood truly flows through my veins? Mongol? Nordic? African? Peel away a few layers of skin and we're all exactly the same underneath. We are all brothers and sisters. I hope we someday learn to act like it.

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]


Ditto. I was there in July 2008 for the same reason - visiting my father's parents' home villages of Wola Cieklinkska (20 minutes east of Gorlice) and Wysowa/Blechnarka (on the border with Slovakia). We had nothing but clouds flying in to Warsaw, but as we approached Krakow I started seeing the land as depicted in works by Lemko artists and it was unlike anything else I'd experienced in my entire life. When I finally arrived in my baba's home village I felt like I was finally at home. I can't explain it and don't care if anyone else understands it - I know what I felt.

Travel / Why do you visit Poland? [223]


You are not alone. It was odd for me because I thought that my connection to my homeland came through my grandfather, who grew up in Wola Cieklinska. We visited there on the third day of our trip and I was disappointed that I did not have a more visceral reaction to the place. I could tell that it was the same for my father. Several days later we drove through the Beskidy's, seeing Lemko villages on our way to Wysowa, where I felt something serious happening. The next day friends brought us into the neighboring village of Blechnarka, where my grandmother's house had truly stood. Boom. I was home. I mentioned this to my friend - the whole story. An hour later we met an elderly woman who told me I looked just like my mother's nephew. Not an hour after I'd had this epiphany - it was confirmed. So be careful of pre-conceived notions. My connection to Lemkovyna ran directly from my baba through my tato to me. By the way - we soon discovered that the woman was a distant relative of my father's. A few months later I also discovered that her son is married to my father's first cousin and her daughter lives very nearby to me. So as a result of this trip I am connected to close Lemko relatives. It's like a friend of mine said when I first discovered where we were from - "you gotta go there."

Food / Fermented Oatmeal Soup from Poland - Recipe? [67]


Are you sure you're Ukrainian? Is it possible that you are descended from Carpatho-Rusyns who identify themselves as "Ukrainian" because it's simpler than explaining what Rusyns are? I thought I was Ukrainian until I discovered the truth 6 years ago.

Thanks for the recipe and the sharing of your memories around this soup. Sorry about your baba.