In the cottages of old Sącz no one was fussy at table. People cooked with what their own fields and their own cowshed provided, and a feast day was known by the bacon or the great wheaten kukiełka brought to the table. Yet that humble kitchen has left behind a good many flavours, which housewives from the surrounding villages still proudly carry out onto the Market Square of Stary Sącz to this day. These are not dishes “exclusive to Stary Sącz” – this is the cuisine of the whole Sącz region, and of the Sącz Lachy in particular – but in Stary Sącz you can taste it as in few other places.
The cuisine of the Sącz Lachy
The Sącz Lachy are an ethnographic group of the Sącz Basin, settled between the highlanders and lowland Małopolska. Etnoportal writes that the centre of their region was formed by the prosperous villages around Podegrodzie and the towns of Stary and Nowy Sącz. Stary Sącz was famed for its furriers, shoemakers and potters, and for centuries the spiritual heart of the land was the Poor Clares’ convent.
From day to day the Lachy ate modestly. The Ministry of Agriculture, describing Podegrodzie bacon from the List of Traditional Products, recalls that the Lachy diet was mostly meatless, and that serving bacon to a guest was a mark of respect. Cured meats were therefore made for feast days and important occasions.
What people cooked with
The basis was flour – wholemeal for everyday bryjka, white wheat flour for festive baking. In the “Heritage of the Sącz Lachy” room of the Stary Sącz Regional Museum we see implements for baking bread and making butter and cheese, strainers, spoon racks and coffee grinders – the whole workshop of a home kitchen. Among the dishes presented by the villages of the municipality, cabbage keeps coming back: in kwaśnica, in gołąbki, as cabbage with meatballs or lamb in cabbage. And not far away, in Łącko near Nowy Sącz, lies the fruit-growing heartland of Małopolska – “jabłka łąckie” (Łącko apples) carry the EU’s protected geographical indication, and the autumn Fruit Harvest Festival is all about apples and plums.
What to try
The dishes below are listed by Stary Sącz municipality among those prepared by the villages and housewives for the “Lachowska Micha” festival (2019), unless stated otherwise.
- Kwaśnica – a sour cabbage soup; at the festival it was served by the housewives of Popowice, and by those of Moszczenica Wyżna in a version with spare ribs.
- Sodziaki – flatbreads made with soda, brought by the housewives of Moszczenica Wyżna.
- Proziaki – close cousins of sodziaki; on the tables of Mostki (together with cabbage with meatballs) and of Moszczenica Niżna.
- Podpłomyki – flat cakes shown by Skrudzina, alongside żurek with sausage and egg.
- Kukiełka – according to Etnoportal, a delicacy of Lachy cooking: a sweet yeast-dough loaf decorated with plaits and patterns of dough.
- Bryjka, or cyr – a thick soup of wholemeal flour, topped with crackling. Radio Kraków writes that its official name is cyr, while the locals call it bryjka or “highlander’s pudding”; the recipe was revealed by the village head of Mostki at a regional picnic in Stary Sącz. It is from this dish that Bryjów got its name.
- Wola bigos and shepherd’s cake – specialities of Wola Krogulecka.
- Pierogi – a “vegetable and meat pieróg” was prepared by the town housewives of Stary Sącz.
- Yeast cakes – from Gaboń, together with pickled mushrooms.
- Gołąbki and pea soup – gołąbki from Myślec and Łazy Biegonickie, “Old Polish” pea soup from Myślec and “village head’s” pea soup from Przysietnica.
- Podegrodzie bacon – smoked bacon from the List of Traditional Products, made to the old recipes of the Sącz Lachy.
Where to find regional flavours
The surest opportunity is “Lachowska Micha” – a one-day festival of folklore, food and music on the Market Square of Stary Sącz, held, according to the municipality, most often in May or September. The housewives of the villages and the Association of Town Housewives then set out their delicacies, while children’s and youth ensembles perform on stage. Check the date of the next edition before you travel with the municipality or the tourist information office.
Outside the festival, it is worth asking about the rural housewives’ associations of the surrounding villages – they know the home recipes best and know when they will next be cooking for guests. In restaurants, regional dishes appear in various guises – before you order, ask what is on today. You will find a list of places in the Where to eat section.