Bryjka

Bryjka is a traditional dish that encompasses a number of dishes based on flour that is cooked in boiling water and typically served with some melted fat or butter in the center. Other ingredients are added to the porridge-like mixture to make it either savory or sweet, such as pork cracklings, pork fat, mushrooms, salt, herbs, chopped fruits, honey, sugar, and nuts. This dish is often associated with the Podhale region, where it is considered a traditional highlander soup that is believed to date back to the 19th century. The Podhale variant of bryjka was made by boiling flour in salted water until thick, then rubbing the flour mixture into wooden or earthenware bowls and serving it with pork fat, linseed oil, or lard, and sometimes buttermilk or milk whey. Proto-Polish Slavic tribes had their own version of bryjka that consisted of mashed bruised grains such as oats, millet, barley, or wheat, which was consumed either as a sweet dish or a savory one. This traditional flour dish is also considered a regional specialty of Stary Sącz, where the official name of the humble preparation is cyr, but it is generally called bryjka or highland pudding.