Foraging is older then that. Forest mushrooms are important part of cousine since +- XVII- XVII c. Peasantry in Poland were poor in XVII - XX c so it is older custom. Nobility also valued mushrooms on the table.
Yes, it is a much older tradition and a big part of our culture, especially in the Slavic countries. For example, the first known phrase written in Slovak language says "I will go pick mushrooms to the forest" (Pôjdem na huby do lesa) and it was written in the 14th century.
ESC Lucia Slovakia - haha, great one with this first saying in Slovak :) never knew it. Interesting that the first written statement in Polish is from a man telling his wife to rest while he will do the work :) so anti-feminist! ;) greetings from Poland
@@ESCLuciaSlovakia The Polish sentence goes more or less like this (perhaps we'll see how similar our Slavic languages are): (phonetically) "Day ut ia pobrusa, a ti poziwai", or (more contemporary spelling): "Daj, ać ja pobruszę, a ty poczywaj", meaning "Let me grind (i.e. turn the mill-stones/quern) while you take rest" (some sources say the last part should be "while you watch", meaning it's a kind of camouflaged rebuke towards the wife, as if she were doing that job not competently enough :-).
@@SlawekM. - the suggestion of "comouflaged rebuke" is total BS of postmodern critical theory or whatever. This statement is clearly about helping and resting and this was always the traditional understanding.
Let's make it clear: using plastic bags as a single item is an incredibly primitive habit; really disgusting. In my town in UK plastic bags are banned so the Polish get it right so it sounds like Americans should get a grip.
People in Poland aren't reusing plastig bags becouse shops are charging for them. I remember people doing it way before it was introduced. Its also not exactly to save the planet etc. Its mostly becouse people there dont like wasting stuff that isnt destroyed and can be used again. Many of us are also using them as bags in small trash cans under the sink, even if trash bags are cheap af.
Lol. That's so true. My grandma folds them nicely and organises them by colour. :D Anyway, if it's not broken it is still valuable to keep and use again. ;)
straight up i moved back to Poland not even 2 months ago and one of my favourite past times is just going into the forest (getting high) and just foraging, especially for deer antlers but you also have a bunch of history inside those forests, like abandoned homes from who knows when, trenches from the war and just a buncha stuff like that, it's amazing
@@adrian29811 on Wikimapia you can sometimes find info about historical landmarks found in such places. And there are all sorts of maps and aerial photos in Geoportal :-) Good luck!
@@januszstrzelecki4440 thanks bro ive Been using a metal detector out there and wikimapia seems like the Perfect tool to help me find more treasure I appreciate it
@@adrian29811 Remember that it's not exactly legal to do that here in Poland.. now having said that you should hook up with these guys facebook.com/SEHSzaniec/
@@adrian29811 but you know that to use the metal detector in Poland you have to have allowance of both "konserwator zabytków" (something like an office responsible for historical buildings) and the owner of the place where you are serching? Also when you find something that has a historical, artistic or scientific value than you're not the owner of this thing but Poland is and you are obligated to give it to "the nearest administration office". Otherwise you will have to explain in court why did you steal it. :P How can you tell if something has this kind of values? I have no idea.
Sometimes my father (hungarian) village man from a place with about 20-30 houses in total goes Foraging and he cooks mushroom "stew" as we say it here. 😅 Full of mushrooms and spices and that's all. You can eat with pasta or anything you want. 😅
tbh my father works around 75 hours per week so we can pay off debts my mom works around 45 hours per week they always do their best for me and my younger brother to not get affected by their past mistakes i dont know how it is in us but many polish teenagers that still go to school have a part time job for various reasons i work on weekends so i can make my own money and my parents dont feel obligated to give me that much every month like they used to
@@antarktycik4550you really think many Polish teen have a part time job? When I was in high school, neither me nor my classmate/friends had it. But then I'm from small town, so there's basically nothing to do on weekends (and a few years ago, when I was a student, there were even less places to go on free time). Plus I was spending them at home (and still do, thb) so I guess I didn't need that much of pocket money then.
Mushroom foraging is one of the ways to spend free time with friends and family. The alternative of going with kids to the Zoo. It's fun and not so much about getting food but rather being in nature and being engaged in fun activity.
We have very difrent definiction of "fun" I dare too say ;) But also my family doing that. For mi it was never fun. I not into nature that much I think. But I definitly use reusable bag like always :)
We forage here in the US a lot too, but I think it just depends on exposure, what part of the country you live in and for what. I was born in the US but have Polish roots. I have been drawn to foraging, cooking and most all of the things that you mentioned in your video, since I was young. Unfortunately, I wasn't really taught or raised with any of those cultural experiences, but the more I delve into them, the more I recognize are instinctual to me, which makes me wonder about nurture vs nature in regards to our heritage.
Me, my grandma, and my cousins used to go up into the mountains near my grandmas ranch down in Mexico in order to forage mushrooms. It was about a 4 mile walk each way, but it was fun, and the mushrooms were good!
Who doesn't reuse bags??? What do you do with them after you get a new one? I'm confused...every person I have ever met - Polish, English, anyone European does this
(For Walmart bags). I'd say the most common use is using them for the bathroom trashcan liner. Other than that I use them to put my boots in if I don't want to get mud on stuff and I'm transporting them. The issue is, they aren't like your bags that you get at H&M which are of a nice quality, Instead they're extremely cheap and will rip easily.
@@jagodam5837 i must say that i mostly use them to collect plastic waste and for cats litter, but to be more eco i don't buy them i go to the shop with large bacpack and cloth bag
@@diooverheaven6561 Yes I totally get you - most of the time I use the big reusable bags meant for food shopping or a tote bag whenever I go somewhere, but every now and then a plastic one happens to turn up at the house so I have to go out of my way to get the most use out of those cheaper, thinner ones
Yeah I use them in the trash cans, for kitchen scraps that I dont want in the big grabage, for wet cloths after swimming, and if im taking something to someone where I want to leave it.
I wonder how much of your subscribers are actually outisde of Poland. I feel like we, Poles, are watching you just because of our curiosity about what outsiders, so called "zagraniczniaki", think about us.
Much of it has to do with our Polish immigrant grandparents refusing to speak to us in Polish. I had to wait for them to get vodka drunk, and then intentionally mispronouncing Polish words to get them to speak to us in Polish. I still feel chills from the stare I got mispronouncing "smacznego."
I remember when I was little girl, we have english lesson, techer try to tell us about this "Hi, have are you" things. Childrens used to tell that "I understend your question but I don't know enought english to give you the answer" and our techer said that we should say "I fine, thank you". It dosen't make any sense to us. And I remember that she said "I don't need to have a sense they just do that" ;)
I hate this question and all the small talk, especially at work. I always feel that my "I'm fine" answer is fake :P and I am usually irritated by people starting the conversation like this- just get to the point already, I just wanna know what the hell you want from me, not lying to you that I'm fine! :D
i grew up in australia and i still hate this question - am overseas, met an aussie, and they said "how are you" and my brain shut down. they laughed at that, "how can you be an english teacher when you don't know the most obvious answer!?" ..... because it's a stoopid question and i hate it :T hmph. so normally, I go with "alive" - because it's true. however i actually feel, i am in fact alive. if they don't care much, they'll think i'm a weirdo - well, they'll realize that sooner or later anyway so no problem. if they care about me a bit more, they then have freedom to check if i'm actually okay.
Foraging is waaaay, waaaaaaay older than communism, electricity and more. We always lived from the forest. Mushrooms, herbs, berries, meat etc. I think it's common thing in Slavic nations. Many our gods ware tied with forest. Now it's recreational foraging or a way for poor people to get some extra money if they live close to forest. Another nice vid. Regards, Trev!
Thank you for saying that. Of course there are some people who make extra money from it, but it's a side hustle. Most of my family and friends are keeping a tradition of mushroom foraging, it's a hobby, personally I don't often eat mushrooms, my dad doesn't like them at all, but in season we spend hours and hours of our time in forests picking up mushrooms.
@@wild__6799 The most important rule of foraging: do not pick up stuff you are not trained to recognize. There are so many poisonous mushrooms that look very similar to edible ones, it's insane. This, btw is a form of mimicry, and far more widespread than only mushrooms.
Our "sincerenity" is usually mentioned as a flaw. You know, when you ask anyone from outside Poland how they feel, they'll respond with something like "I'm fine, and you?", and if you ask a Pole how they feel, they'll respond with "It's horrible! My aunt's ill, my dog just died and my boss is driving me crazy! And oh, I forgot to mention how little money I currently have! It seems my children will have to learn how to live without food next month! And my oldest one has so much trouble in school, this bitch-like teacher is messaging me almost every day about him! I have feeling she's sleeping with my dumbass husband... Oh yeah, have I told you, we're getting divorced? You better prepare a tomb for me, I don't think I'm gonna come out of this mess alive!"
A plastic bag was designed to be used multiple times. That's the way they are more ekologic, the same as an accumulator is more ekologic when used multiple times.
Mushrooms in Polish cuisine are a tradition of several hundred years. Recipes for dishes with mushrooms can be found in medieval writings. So it has nothing to do with communism :)
Im suprised you listed sincerity as something good. Because a lot of polish people think other nations see us as grumpy when asked "how are you?" we answers "not so well" 🤣
HARD WORKING: Eight hours a day are full time working hours so 40 hours a week is a typical working time. FORAGING: Forest mushrooms are delicious. I have eaten white truffle once and it was not half as good as, for example, parasol mushroom cutlet. And self foraging makes it tastes even better! SINCERITY: Oh boy, you really start to sound Polish. Your Slav genes must have been activated through contact with foreign culture! It's a bit funny to watch your awakening but nice at the same time. Please just don't start to complain all the time :D
The interesting thing about Polish hospitality is that in Poland guests arę very important. When they come we provide him as Good food as we can and we treat someone as Good as we can. This is our culture. You can find reference to this in Polish book written by Aleksander Fredro called 'revenge' - you are my enemy but in this moment you are my guest and as long as you are my guest i won't do anything to you.
HARD WORKING: 40 hrs per week is standard full time job time, in some cases ppl take "overhours" to get paid more in scale of month (we are mostly paid monthly not weekly) FORAGING: i asked my father about it and he replied "nie, to tradycja, zawsze się zbierało grzyby" [no, its a tradition, always mushrooms were foraged], i think its very fun activity for most polish ppl, it might be even more about walking in forest than foraging PA PA: cześć [best word for welcoming someone or saying goodbye, but sometimes shouldnt be used, like for example towards uknown or elder people]
do you know the differences between mushroom and "pieczarka"? I think it is the same in the USA :) walking in the woods with the family and picking mushrooms is very pleasant .. it's not poor
Sincerity is very important to me, and I always loved it in my country. Year ago I moved to UK, because I fell in love with a British and moved here to be with him, and sometimes I really struggle, because here (similar to US) also everybody is nice. And I can never say, what they really think about me. I had a situation, when girlfriend of my boyfriend's cousine was really nice to me, and I thought we really got along, and then after they left our place, I completely lost contact with her. And then I got the information from wife of my boyfriend's brother, who have a lot of contact with her, that for some reason she really doesn't like me. And I find it really confusing abroad, because I have no idea, who I can trust, with who I can make friends, and who I should avoid, because this person doesn't like me. So although I understand it is me, who moved to other country, so obviously I can't expect people to behave like they are from Poland, but I think it would make everything easier if only people would be more sincere with each other.
Wielu Polaków po wizycie w USA lub UK jest zachwyconych takim zachowaniem i narzekają na Polaków. Na krótką metę to może być miłe wrażenie, kiedy ale każdy się do ciebie uśmiecha, ale na dłuższą metę rzeczywiście trudno budować trwalsze relacje, kiedy wszyscy noszą tę samą maskę.
@@jula5417 Dokładnie. Bylam i w stanach i w anglii, troche widziałam na wlasne oczy takich zachowan a jeszcze wiecej sie o nich nasłuchałam od róznych osób. Niby mili a potem sie okazuje co tak naprawde mysla. Szczegolnie anglicy tacy sa. W pracy usmiech do kolegi a za chwile leci na skarge do przelozonego;p
W Stanach ludzie udają szczęśliwych, a my często udajemy nieszczęśliwych. Szczerość jest najważniejsza, jak nauczysz się ją udawać, reszta jest prosta.
It is part of point 5. We are sincere and honest in telling what we feel about everything. If we have some problems we just spill it out and complain a lot. We do not suppress our pain and problems, so they do not toxicate us from within, at least not as much as if we keep them inside. And it is always a chance that someone who heard our complaints has some solution to our problem or at least a legit advice.
Yeah, i hate this poker face you talk about, when ive been in UK some guy at work every time when he saw me ask "how are u?", it was about 5-8 times per day, so finally i give up and said "in fact, i fell horrible today! I have a period, headache, feel sad cuz my bf is so far from me and im here alone" he never ask me again how am i. In Poland here we really ask you, we want to know, we wanna talk about it, exchange some emotions, it is nice and hopefull. And about mushrooms, we love walk with family at autumn (fall) to forrest (wood) and collect mushrooms, we made faboulous dinner of it, especially at xmas. About taking guest at house, i always have fresh towels and bedsheets for guest at my house, even one matress more for someone, if there will be more guest than i have beds.
Mushroom foraging is not really about food supply as they are not really nutritious and can't work as staple food. They just add to the flavor and variety, sort of like non-exotic spices from before global food market existed. Old customs, traditional cuisine
And it is so relaxing to go out there in the wild and pick stuff that mother nature serves to us. Me, myself dont like the mushrooms but I still enjoy picking.
@@uceee1 Yes, most of people are doing it for relaxing, some people are fishing and some people are mushrooming, I don't understand what is weird about that. Honestly, fishing is weirdest for me, many of people are fishing as sport and not for food and I think it's stupid, they should eat that fishes or let them be.
Ooo mylisz sie bardzo, grzyby maja bardzo duzo wartosci odzywczych, glownie mineralow (wszak rosna na lesnym podszyciu) ale i witamin jak rowniez maja duzo bialka dlatego sa tak popularnym zamiennikiem miesa. To mit powielany od lat, ze nic w sobie nie maja wiec nie ma sensu ich jesc...
Picking mushrooms is polish National Sport like a football in Brazil :) Nowadays more like a hobby, or hang out with friends&family doing something useful, over all we love mushrooms - pickled, fried, dried mushrooms to add them into many dishes such as Bigos ( jumble cabbage ) and many many more :)
Just try polish mushrooms in cream, bigos with mushrooms, forest berries in dessert or cake, pierogi - dumplings with mushrooms or blueberries... Not communism but Polish tradition, a nice time in nature and it is out of passion for unique and good taste. Greetings from Poland
Lukasz Anonim This culture is a blessing and a curse. Curse for me bc I absolutely despise mushrooms in all shape and form and our cuisine tries to implement mushrooms in every single dish. So each time in restaurant or in family meeting I have to ask for a mushroom free dish.
When you said about sincerity.. My bf is from asian country and at the beginning I told him that being honest with emotions is really important to me, even if it means "being mean". Well.. at first it seemed to be very unusal for him as well, now I think he kinda used to that, but sometimes he's still shocked about the thing how much honest I can be 😅
Mnie to zawsze nurtuje jak w innych krajach ludzie mogą żyć ze sobą i słodzić sobie w twarz a za plecami być totalnie obojętnymi albo wrogimi. Nie mam nawet pojęcia jak to działa....
History of polish cooking is cusine from forest. In history we were living so close to forest and we use more than now some forest rich goodies. Also in forest was living the old lady who help people with herbs from forest for the people who were living in village.
Foraging is fun. I went once with my colleagues from work. We pick up like 8 mushrooms only but we spent time together in the forest. It is great. It is true it is a very, very long tradition. Over 20 years ago I visited my friend in the UK. She took me to the forest for picking up mushrooms. It was a course with a man who explained which one is safe and which one is deadly. And afterwards I saw people throwing all of them away. Even those edible. Well I thought when you are used to pick up mushrooms from the supermarket you will not appreciate the staff nature gives you☺
About foreging, I think it's about homemade food. Many Poles likes to make their own jams, alcohol, kiełbasa and many more just to show off. I might be wrong but I love to make jams (I have a large garden) and share them with my friends, talking about adventures in forest, how many mushrooms I've found and how big they were and they'll envy me because they live somewhere in a big city in a flat and can't do the same ^^ I love that I can make something delicious by myself and I know it's best quality. And this mystic knowladge of which mushrooms are good to eat and which can make you ill is satisfactory too.
It's not about showing off. If you make your own shit, you know what you eat. There is no chemical crap in it unless you put it there yourself, and generally it's much more delicious. Find someone who's making his own sausages or vegetables in a traditional way and you'll notice the difference between real food and that crap we are being fed by the industry.
@@beckypetersen2680 lolz sure, you can stretch it like this but it will be you that envy others. Pole will take out what they have the best and they will serve it to their guests, talk about process, how it was made and with what ingridients. It is called "being proud of hard work". Its not only about making someone envy.
foraging mushrooms isn't about food or beeing poor. It's our tradition. I still remember when I was little girl (I'm 30 now) I was waking up in the morning and my whole family go to the forest looking for mushrooms etc. I was so excited, now my Goddaughter is 10 and she is also excited every time we go to the forest, she always has fun, this is also a walk, it's fresh air, smell of trees, grass, smell of the forest. Mushrooms we use them usually for dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms, it's our traditional christmas dish.
40 hours a week is pretty standard full time job here, and it's established by "work code / law of work" that full time = around 160h/month. Many people work more than that tho as overtime or just they have second part time job. There are few reason why people do that, but most common is that there are many low paid jobs so they have to get more hours just to meet their ends, or they have mortgage on their house that they want to pay as quickly as possible. But speaking of work we have to speak about prices as well, and those are getting closer and closer to euro zone while payment is still about 4 times lower. For example cars and almost all electronics is just 1:1 ratio from euro, and while in for example Germany average net salary is ~2.5k euro which is about 10k zloty, in Poland average net is about 3.5k zloty which is 780 euro. So basically we earn 3 times less than in western Europe while still having similar expenses.
yes - about the expenses and costs. I see that international companies pay 1/3 of the salaries to people here than what they would pay for another country farther west. And the products aren't cheaper to buy (Thinking about companies like the juice companies, Coca Cola, other international companies. When I first came to Poland I assumed that things like Levi jeans would be cheaper here because wages were so much less. However, it was OPPOSITE. Levi 501 cost more than double here than what I could walk into a Levi store in the USA and find (back in 1994). I was so surprised. Then I saw that something like Orange Juice cost about what it cost in the USA and people made a pittance. Electric bills - higher than in the states and employees make so much less. Where is the money going???????????
Foraging for mushrooms and blueberries is much more than looking for food. It's basically fun. It's something we do from time to time during summer and fall, I think it's a mild form of hunting and contact with nature. I love to go to the forest very early in the morning, when it's almost dark. To look at it, to see all the fantastic forms of trees, ferns and moss, to watch the sunrise, to listen to waking birds, to smell all the aromas of the forest. And to find my own mushroom hidden somewhere under the moss or leaves. And to go back to the city, cook the mushrooms and eat it. Polish people can make them taste like heaven. Champignon mushrooms bought in a store vs boletus fresh from the forest is like bicycle vs Harley Davidson.
Maybe do it the other way now ? You can talk about some American habits that are not really known outside of the US but popular there. Idk I just like hearing out your opinions on our country and comparing it to yours
@@ZanHellish It is true. The US is about the size of the whole continent of Europe -so how does one compare a whole country to the equivalent of a state? We could choose say, NY to Poland.
Brilliant channel! Wondering about how good you do your research, i think 100% of the reasons of some stuff about you talk are guessed correctly. Good luck and please i would like to watch more stuff about comparing US cars and trucks to our little vehicles, take care Trev
Most of the ideas come to me randomly. I usually will talk to a few people and get their opinions as well. Sometimes people will comment and request a video and that's also how. This one touches the surface: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HVmtE7A3HJM.html
As a Polish guy, l enjoy forging mushrooms when I'm in the woods because of a few reasons. First, I normally live in a big city and don't have the opportunity to eat fresh, wild food. Second, forging mushrooms is a really challenging task because they're not that easy to find, so it feels like a mission and once you find them it's like a reward. And third, when I eat something I've just freshly picked it feels a thousand times more healthy than anything from a store :)
About last one: I remember when I was learning English language, I could not fathom the "How are you doing?". If you're asking, why don't you want to know...? I was really confused about that one.
Ah yes, the hospitality. The greates offense my parents commit when we go to visit my grandma is not calling when we are getting closer to her town, and we always hear "why didn't you call, I haven't prepared the dinner yet!"
On my Polish lesson my teacher talked about this what we say when someone's asking us how are you(for example stara bieda) and said that in her opinion it's not great that we're so ,,mad on everything" . I personaly think it's good that we don't act that everyhing's perfect when it isn't
Also we have names for different mushrooms, use them in a variety of dishes and in some dishes we use a specific kind of mushroom which cannot be replaced by any other, because it is "traditional" in this dish
As a developer I work about 50 hours per week sometimes on weekends if there is a lot of job. It's mostly because of additional money but sometimes it's just deadlines.
I'm a polish transplant. I like outdoors, homesteading and foraging. I learned a lot a about native plants ( and mushrooms) from American people I met in the woods. It is natural to surround yourself with people like you, mushroom pickings is part of every culture but disappearing knowledge because we are living in convenience oriented society- I bet McDonald's, not a wild mushroom stew, is first choice for average young person in Poland.
I was going to say that I think that the mushroom picking is going by the wayside. We live right by the woods and in the fall, it is mostly older people who are heading to pick (60 years old and up) heading to the woods with their baskets.
my teacher told me that in the 1980s she was lucky and went to East Germany. One of the things she praised her friends when she returned was a plastic bag
We pick not only mushroms. My family tradition is that in Autumn my family members go to visit others and we ara all going to forest for mushroms, bilberies (way better then bluberries), cranberies and even herbs. I recommend you to try wild strawberry (Polish "poziomka") if you have chance. You can get the breeding or rather domestic version of them but not even close to the forest one.
You should watch "Szczęśliwego Nowego Jorku" ("Happy New York" by Janusz Zaorski), and brilliant scene with Polish immigrants in NY learning a lesson on keep smiling in the US and stop showing emotions. Mushroom foraging for me is more about contact with the forest, which calms me down and heals me.
Many of us - Poles - treats foraging mushrooms or berries in a forest as a way of relaxation. It soothes us. I do love it - prize is just an add. About surface layers of happines - it is weak in most of Europe, esp. in former eastern countries.
May I ask where did you take the statistics from? About number of working hours in PL and US? I Would be really grateful for this info. Thank you PS. You are doing grate stuff, the only chanel about Poland where someone really really gets our culture :) very in depth view, good job.
mushrooms & stuff has more to do with just form of spending spare time/ hobby and also has some touch of self-sufficiency in it; the feeling that you control what you eat is a thing, I guess
Nice to hear out of someone from abroad having such an opinion. At the same time I believe it also are lucky to have such really nice and genuine friends in Poland from what you are saying. Tradition of foraging is going back to several centuries back and "dary lasu" are inherent part of our cuisine such as "pierogi z jagodami" or "pierogi z grzybami" (with berries and mushrooms consecutively). Similar activities were also practiced in the U.S. as wall a hundred years ago thou. But I guess you know all that already well sir 🙂
About mushrooms - even in our (I totally don't know how to say it in English - epopeja narodowa) the most important polish book "Pan Tadeusz" is is part about mushrooms picking. It's a old tradition and in my opinion very nice way to spend free time.
Mushroom foraging is actually quite popular all over Europe. I've seen people doing it Germany and most of the Slavic countries. I also think than in Italy you can do that only after paying some kind of a fee to the state.
Hi. thank you for a nice show. Forging is old! Everybody has got to know about all kinds of mushrooms, my grandma learn me in 1955, I was 5 years. Now I live in Sweden and my grandchildren here know a lot about it. It`is tratidion, we have a big forest even right outside the Warsaw. Everybody loves mushrooms !
As You said - Polish people need to be creative. I still remember how my Dad was working at the garage to fix our or neighbour car, motorcycle etc. or how we went to wood to collect mushrooms every autumn season. Or making stuff like Cucumber in jars to keep them for Winter. Like American Pioneers ;)
And One thing you didn't mention - slippers and taking off shoes. That is something that Poland and Japan has in common :D Foraging goes back to pre-kingdom times. Slavic people were always close to nature and it is not about gathering food, but also spending time with people and relaxing. I know people who finalize business contracts during foraging or fishing. It is also a tradition of making preserves after harvesting season - meat, mushrooms, vegetables, fruits. During food shortages people were acquiring quality food from countryside, from farmers and breeders. Countryside always has food to offer.
In amateur picking of wild strawberries (in spring), blueberries, wild raspberries, wild blackberries (in summer) and mushrooms (in autumn), the most important thing is a walk in the forest. Some do it professionally. The last rate I know is up to PLN 10 for one kilogram (about two pounds) of blueberries, PLN 18 for boletus (Boletus edulis), PLN 5 for boletus (Xerocomus badius), PLN 20. for chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius). In the store, these flavors are at least four more expensive. You can also picking red saffron (Lactarius deliciosus), honey fungus (Armillaria mellea), goose (Tricholoma flavovirens), kite (Macrolepiota procera) and many other mushrooms. All these mushrooms "are waiting" for people in the autumn forest. Each species has a slightly different flavor. The wild fruits are smaller, but more aromatic than their garden brothers. You do not pay to enter the forest, and you do not pay for berries and mushrooms. Almost like a sale, only combined with a walk in the woods. Pleasant, healthy and useful.
And on Christmas, on the first day of December 24, we have a traditional Christmas Eve dinner, where the plate is always waiting for an unexpected, lost, lonely guest. We often invite single people to dinner and organize dinner parties for people who are lonely, homeless or poor. For dinner consisting of 12 traditional fasting dishes, we also eat dishes with mushrooms from the forest. And on the first day of Christmas on December 25, mushroom soup is very often for dinner, in addition to other traditional dishes. Greetings ❤💋
Gathering mushrooms is a very popular way of getting additional or extra money particularly in the North-East during summertime.There are places where you sell your picked up mushrooms later.If you want to earn some extra money you go to the forest very early i.e.3 or 4am and return home between 9-11am.This is an old school approach of our grand and great-grandparents.
Regarding the working time in Poland, it is officially regulated, that if you are employed on regular basis, your working week consists 40 hours, so 8 hours daily, and it is a standard for most office or factory jobs here. In building or construction, and also services, it might be different.
Statistically, it looks like we work a lot but in reality, we have a lot of national holidays. This year we have 13 days off as national holidays and if a national holiday happens to be during the weekend you have the right to an additional day off during the week. And the jobs have to be done at some point, so we work a lot but also have a lot of time off. So it's not that bad :) And about foraging, it's very popular and you can see a lot of people selling what they found in the forest by the side of the road so it's kinda a side hustle for some people. I personally like it because I hate foraging in the forest myself :)
Hey man thanks for the video, I am actually American and I live in Poznan Poland, I’ve been here for over five years now and some of the things that you said are true. First off the friendliness was because you are a foreigner and they want to give their best impression, that wears off after a while especially if you talk about the way things are in United States compared to Poland. And the part about the not smiling it’s not because they are more genuine with their feelings it’s because they are genuinely really not that happy. You have to understand that Poland is not that far removed from communism and there still a sense of self-preservation, so that kind of goes with what you said about them stretching the budget. But all in all Polish people do work a lot because they don’t make a lot, and if you live in one of the bigger cities or close to it things could be pretty expensive if you’re local. For example average salary here is only about $6000 a year. And here in Poland people are very much trying to keep up with each other. A lot of people here have a lot of debt and buy most of their expensive items on credit, so they have to work a lot. Also there are a lot of holidays here so they have to get their money when they can. All in all I really love living here, it’s very inexpensive and the quality of the food here is second to none! Probably the only thing that I don’t like about Poland is that they haven’t really figured out how customer service works, it is very difficult to be able to find someone who’s willing to help you especially if you’re not speaking Polish. And these are just not my opinions these are things that I talk to my close Polish friends about, I try to run everything by them so I don’t jump to conclusions and make assumptions that are incorrect. But all these things are improving and I think it’s a wonderful place to live!
Agree with your comments about the hospitality thing. Guest, boyfriend, new to Poland, and American. Who wouldn't be friendly? When people think you have money, or you family has money - they are friendly - the world over.
Thank you. We appreciate all u have said. Unfortunately we don't work that much just to work, the answer is the rent, the credits and bills. Wish you all the best and feel this welcome every time in our country.👍🏼
There is something else related to mashroms and berries picking. Many people still makes preserves for winter time like sauerkraut, gherkins, pickles, jams etc. It's because they more rely on their own recipes rather than on idustrial products from shops.
Picking mushrooms and blueberries was a past time not necessary a replacement for shortages of food. It is a great pleasure to be in the woods and find blueberries and mushrooms.
One thing, that's not often mentioned. We can make alkocolic beverages from everything :) Apple wine, black currant wine, cherry wine. It's very popular hobby.
People go mushrooming because it is fun and provides them with free mushrooms they can dry at home and use for cooking throughout the year. Mushroom soup, sauerkraut with mushrooms, pierogis with mushrooms, "uszka" in borshcht, mushroom sauce and pickled mushrooms to go with vodka!
I think we work so much because we are just used to do this. If you have regullar payment (17 złotych /hour) you actually have to work 8 hours a day to keep your apartament and a full fridge. But I think it sometimes lowers morale in work. And about Poles being sincere about how they feel it's nice to know we are actually sincere and free to say that we don't feel fine but sometimes it leads to being super annoying saying you feel soooo bad all the time
It"s really nice, that you like my people.We also like the Americans a lot! As far as blueberries are concerned.. They just don't grow enywhere else but in forests! Only last 10 years we have American blueberries from plantations in every supermarket.
Yes...jagody are ONLY in the forest. Same in the USA. When I was first married, I picked wild blueberries in the wilds of Alaska. That's where they grow. They are much more flavorful than borowki.
I started collecting mushrooms as an adult with two kindergarten age kids. There's no better activity that running around the forest and have than daughter prive to tour son that we directly descendd from gatherers and hunters. 😂 But seriously, it's immense fun - and thise mushrooms are such a great addition to a stew or a soup.
In terms of working, I guess it has a lot to do with the purchasing power of the zloty. As most people monthly make the money that is enough to make them survive a week it's understandable. I myself have always had 2-3 jobs (I've always had a teaching position and as a full-time job I assume 18-20 lessons per week). Cool channel. Keep up the good work! :) Greetings from Wielkopolska.
In Sweden foraging is something common due to cold weather conditions and need to stock up food for hard times. Perhaps it is one of the reasons behind doing this in Poland. Nowadays weather is much warmer than it used to be in 80s etc
