The latest, eighth volume “Collection for the chef” has been published by the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace in Warsaw’s Wilanów as part of the “Monumenta Poloniae Culinaria” series devoted to the oldest Polish recipes from the 16th and 17th centuries, found in the National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv.

The collection of recipes and advice from various sources was written for Rozalia Pociejowa née Zahorowska, the owner of Uściług in Wołyń, and Strzyżów, Włodawa and Różanka, located in Poland of today.

The text, edited in 1757, includes a copy of the lost Kuchmistrzostwo (arts of culinary) from around 1540, the recipe of the Crown’s chefs from 1633 and recipes from the neighbors, friends and doctors of the Zahorowski ladies. Descriptions of the healing properties of food and home remedies are accompanied by various types of farm advice on animal welfare, gardening, horticulture and beekeeping.

The manuscript from the collection of the National Library of Ukraine was published thanks to the cooperation of researchers and Polish and Ukrainian institutions. Recipes written for the heirs of the Ruthenian families of Zahorowski and Pociej are part of common heritage with stories not only about food but also about aesthetics, knowledge, religion and identity.

The recipes included in the publication were developed by Dr Switlana Bułatowa from the National Library of Ukraine in Kyiv and Prof. Jarosław Dumanowski from the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów.

The publication contains over a thousand recipes and covers all sections of the culinary arts, including game, fish, sweets, cakes and even dietary dishes.

Adrian Andrzejewski