Nesnovna kulturna dediščina

MEAD AND HONEY

območje : Podkarpackie
kategorija : oral traditions
Bee yards have been present in rural landscape of the region for centuries, so it\'s hardly surprising that they had significant impact on its culture, both in its material and intangible aspect. Beekeeping is connected with some kind of ritual, but in fact it is quite similar in all parts of Europe. And not just Europe - after all, the world’s largest honey producers are Argentina, Brazil and China. However, honey made in these countries is not always produced according to traditional recipes.
Honey and especially mead, called in Polish miód pitny meaning \"drinkable honey\", used to be very popular in the Carpathians, Poland and Lithuania, unlike the west of the continent where it was rather rare. Mead is known from many sources of ancient history as the oldest alcoholic beverage, produced even 10 thousand years ago. It can be regarded as an ancestor of all fermented drinks. In the Middle Ages, in Western Europe, mead production was a strong tradition, however, in the modern era it has been replaced by other liquors. In Polish culture mead has always had many enthusiasts. It is not a light drink, also in terms of alcohol content, but has always been regarded as beneficial to one\'s health. A sixteenth-century author Jakub Haur wrote about mead: \"not so harmful to the head and the stomach, yet refreshing, it strengthens health if moderately enjoyed\".

Depending on local traditions and specific recipes, mead used to be flavored with juices, spices, herbs and roots. Mead produced from honey collected in July, called lipiec (a polish word for July) was especially valued. It was produced with pure linden honey. There were also other like: spiced meads, meads with cinnamon, cloves, juniper, and even pepper. People would also make honey liqueur with herbs and roots, called Krupnik in the Lithuanian language.

Moreover, meads are not always sweet in taste, as one might think. There is a wide range of products of that kind. The main types of this drink may be differentiated depending on the alcoholic content – the strongest and the sweetest ones are called Półtoraki in Polish (the name comes from Polish word pół meaning half and indicates that this type of mead contains one unit of mead for each half a unit of water) and dwójniaki (made using equal amounts of water and honey, one unit of honey and one unit of water). Similarly, trójniaki (made using two units of water for each unit of honey) and czwórniaki are made. However czwórniaki, in which there is one unit of mead and three units of water, are considered to be less vintage. Półtoraki and dwójniaki are obviously the best ones, also because they need up to four years to age, and sometimes even a decade according to the most vintage recipes.
Podkarpacie Province is one of the places where beekeeping is still thriving. The region is pure and unpolluted, which creates favorable conditions for “bee families”. In fact, beekeeping has been cultivated in the area for centuries. In the sixteenth century, Marcin Kromer from Biecz wrote: \"Mead brewed with hops and water is in common use, particularly in Rus and Podolia, where there is an abundance of bees and where honey is collected from fragrant grasses and flowers, and where it is exceptionally delicious.\"

Today in Podkarpacie there are about 3000 registered beekeepers, most of them still reach for traditional recipes, handed down from generation to generation. This characteristic is really valuable as honey extracted by means of traditional methods is very healthy. There is also a wide range of products to choose from: acacia honey, which is very bright and very sweet, buckwheat honey, dark brown and of distinctive flavor, lime honey, having the largest group of lovers as well as very rare European goldenrod honey, obtained from goldenrod flowers, slightly sour in taste. Finally, the most popular one: rape honey, which depending on time of year can be light and sweet (from the nectar of spring flowers) or dark and slightly bitter (from autumn flowers).

The specialty of the region is, however, honeydew honey, which has been officially registered on the list of regional and traditional products. It is produced by honeybees who collect honeydew from the silver fir, common in Subcarphatian woods. Honeydew honey is characterized by dark color, sometimes it is almost black. It is slightly sweet, with a strong taste of resin and spicy scent. Although this honey is among the most traditional kinds, it is still quite expensive.

Honeydew honey has been used for centuries for respiratory problems, it has antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and expectorant properties, it helps to cure colds and more serious diseases such as pneumonia. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on the heart and the circulatory system due to its anti-atherosclerosis effect. Therefore it is really worth buying. You can apply it either in its traditional form or enjoy it as a delicious liquor. And of course, make sure that you choose honeydew honey from the Subcarpathian region, a mainstay of the fir tree, where fir trees are protected in two national parks and several reserves.

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