Mushrooms, Folklore and the Polish Diaspora in Britain: Foraged Feasts and Festivities in Polish Communities

When looking into Polish cuisine it is impossible to ignore the mushroom. Unlike many Western European countries who often have dubious feelings about any mushroom not cleaned, shrink wrapped and found on the shelves of the local Tesco, forest mushrooms are a trademark of Poland's national culinary heritage¹.

Men selling mushrooms in 1931.
Photo: szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl 3/1/0/8/5654

For the Polish migrants, moving to a new country without access or the financial means to access their local food and culinary traditions can add to feelings of isolation as Brown and Paszkiewicz discovered in their 2017 study on the role of food in the adjustment journey for recent Polish migrants coming to Britain since the expansion of the EU in 2004². Finding familiar food and ingredients in the local Polish shop can bring with it a sense of comfort and a link to home. Polish shops and access to familiar food are more than just a business opportunity for new migrants, they are a vital part of embedding communities in their new lives and a visual representation of home³.

‘I miss the Polish cuisine, I mean my mother’s cuisine. I have to cook myself and it is not the same’. (Rabikowska & Burrell, 2009)

Jars of pickled mushrooms in my local Polish shop. 
©Folking Funghi 2020

As discussed in my previous blog, accessing one of Poland's most loved foods, the wild forest mushroom, becomes more complicated in Britain with legal issues as well as cultural differences surrounding the pastime of mushroom picking. However, many Polish migrants still take to the forest and find themselves engaging with the cherished Polish traditions of drying and pickling their bounties. At one time almost all Polish households would have contained jars of pickled Chanterelles and necklaces of dried Boletes¹. Mushroom picking would often lead to a party atmosphere where families would get together to cook, eat and help to prepare mushrooms for preservation. 

"You have mushroom picking parties???????????? That's almost as eccentric as lawn-mower racing in the UK" (Dulciana, polishforums.com ⁴)

For those who don't wish to run around the British woodlands hunting for fungal treasures and risk legal implications, most Polish shops provide the opportunity to purchase a variety of mushrooms to be used in everything from pierogi to pizzas. My local shop had 4 types of pickled wild mushrooms and 3 dried, all of which were varieties that could not have been commercially grown like Shiitakes or Oysters. These preserved mushrooms are not cheap for new migrants settling into the country, and may not accurately reflect the tastes and experiences that they would eat when in Poland⁵. However, they do provide the opportunity to take part in cooking traditional meals that may not be commonly available in Britain and create that comforting link to home even if it is an imitation of the experiences they would have in Poland. 

My Christmas Eve attempt at uszka.
No judgement at my wonky little ears please. 
©Folking Funghi 2020

Mushrooms play an especially important role in Christmas festivities for Polish communities with mushroom soup (commonly made from Cep/Penny Bun mushrooms), wild mushroom pierogi and uszka (very small mushroom dumplings roughly translated to little ears) which are served in barszcz (a beetroot soup) often being found on the festive menu, although dishes vary from region to region. 

The Christmas Eve or Wigilia dinner is one of the most important family events in the Polish calendar for communities in Poland and in Britain and is heavily based on Catholic and folk customs⁶. A traditional Wigilia dinner features 12 dishes, representing the 12 apostles. Diners, usually consisting of the closest family, are expected to taste a little of each. All dishes are vegetarian or fish-based as Christmas was traditionally a time of fasting and abstinence. In the past this rule was Church mandated although rules have relaxed in recent years and some less religious households do enjoy meat and alcohol as part of their own family traditions⁷. Of course, some British Poles find themselves enjoying turkey and trimmings on Christmas Day as communities and their traditions integrate⁸. 

Christmas in Warsaw 1926
Photo: szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl 3/1/0/15/268 

  "We have turkey with all the trimmings as everyone loves something different. The food, all on a plate, mostly meat and roasted vegetables, complements the smaller, staggered courses of Baltic cuisine from the night before, and so the two celebrations are an ideal marriage." (Klimowski, 2020)

The Wigilia dinner provides an opportunity to look at the mushroom for both its meaning and its meaningfulness to Polish migrants. Just as the mushroom grows from a network of mycelium deep underground, all interconnected in some way, migrants' experiences and their own personal customs, traditions and memories of home will be connected with their individual journeys. For some, a bowl of mushroom soup may bring with it thoughts of a tactile, intimate relationship with wild food brought on through memories of a childhood mushroom picking and preserving with their grandparents in the forests of Poland⁹. For others, it may stir up sadder emotions of loss and home or family that aren't accessible on a special day. Universally the mushroom will be linked to the meaning of Christmas and the customs and traditions that go with it and to the national pastime that so many Polish people enjoy. 

 

References

¹ Kasprzyk-Chevriaux, M. (2014) Polish Food 101- Mushrooms. Culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/work/polish-food-101-mushrooms

² Brown, L. &  Paszkiewicz, I. (2017) TI Appetite, Vol 109, pp 57-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2016.11.024

³ Rabikowska, M. & Burrell, K. (2009)  The Material Worlds of Recent Polish Migrants: Transnationalism, Food, Shops and Home in Polish Migration to the UK in the 'New' European Union (ed. Burrell, K. & Kershen, A).Ashgate Publishing Ltd: Farnham. 

⁴ Z, Irena. (2006) Mushroom Picking Parties (Polish Tradition). Polish Forums. https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/food/poland-mushroom-picking-parties-2191/ 

⁵ Coakley, L. (2012) Polish Encounters with the Irish Foodscape: An Examination of the Losses and Gains of Migrant Foodways. Food and Foodways, Vol 20, No 3/4, pp 307-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2012.715968 

⁶ Kasprzyk-Chevriaux, M. (2013) The 12 Dishes of Polish Christmas. Culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/article/the-12-dishes-of-polish-christmas

⁷ Polish American Centre. (2020) Wigilia. Polish American Centre Website http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Wigilia.htm

⁸ Klimowski, D. (2020) Polish-British Christmas. Tydzien Polski. http://www.tydzien.co.uk/artykuly/2020/12/24/polish-british-christmas-by-dominik-klimowski/

⁹ Radwanska-Williams, J. (2017) The People in the Forest: Personal Memory as a Locus of Culture. Intercultural Communication Studies, Vol 26 No 2, pp 7-12. https://web.uri.edu/iaics/files/Joanna-Radwa%C5%84ska-Williams.pdf