Since we are what we eat, more and more of us pay attention to where our food comes from and how it is prepared. On a daily basis, it is not easy to spot valuable culinary delights among the myriad foods on offer. As every year though, you can count on Poznań's National Festival of Good Taste to provide you with good hints.
This year's edition of the popular event will take place on August 15-19, with Stary Rynek (the Old Market Square) serving as its main venue. As always, stalls will overflow with regional delights from around the world. You will be able to enjoy the foods and drinks on the spot or take them with you.
One of this year's leading culinary themes are the Balkans. The food and culture of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Greece and Bulgaria will be featured in many festival venues. Balkan food will be offered in both the Old Market Square and Poznań's restaurants. You will then have an opportunity to dance the calories away to the music of Balkan orchestras.
Every year, Poznań restaurateurs join competitions in a specific dish category. In recent years, the dishes of choice included czernina (blood soup) and tatar (steak tartare). For this year, the organisers selected chłodnik (cold soup), not only in the traditional borscht version. After all, chłodnik is a perfect soup for hot spells and one that assumes different forms in different parts of the world. Gazpacho, Thai cold soup with mango and coconut milk, watermelon soup with mint, an avocado variety, corn cream with shrimp, or the exotic Korean naengmyun (resembling a cold-served ramen). The possibilities and challenges are endless. The contestants are free to go for the classic local types, attempt an exotic variety or even invent their own. To be eligible, the soups need to be cold, refreshing and, of course, tasty. As in the case of czernina last year, the competing soups will be available for tasting in the Old Market Square. Once there, you can also support the Bone Marrow Team. The competition is organised in cooperation with Poznańska Spiżarnia Biesiadników.
Good Taste Festival would not be complete without the Polish Nalewka of the Year tournament (nalewka being home-made liquor, also known as cordial). The event is open to liqueur makers from all over the country. Some of the past winners, whose best cordials have won the title of Poland's Nalewka of the Year, are legends of Polish liqueur-making. Others have only just begun producing the drink and have demonstrated huge talent. The organisers are confident there are scores of real treasures waiting to be discovered and distinguished in people's home cellars and cupboards.
First held in Poznań in 2007, the Festival has since upheld a consistently high standard, attracting all those who crave for an exquisite taste. It has again been proclaimed one of Poland's most captivating culinary events by the prestigious Gault & Millau restaurant guide.
Mateusz Malinowski
translation: Krzysztof Kotkowski
National Good Taste Festival
Stary Rynek (Old Market Square)
15-18 August
for more, see ofds.pl
© Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania 2019