“Mennonite Route of Taste – Wine, Zest and Herbs”

On 17 July 2022 the National Research Institute of Animal Production organized, in partnership with the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Tourist Organization, a study trip “Mennonite Route of Taste – Wine, Zest and Herbs”, realized as part of the operation “Choose Food and Trip on the ‘Niech Cię Zakole’ Route”. The trip was attended by 15 participants from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Mazowieckie Voivodeships, who are active in the field of tourism and cuisine.

Travel programme

1. Organic cheese-making farm Malinowy Chruśniak – visit and tasting of goat and sheep cheeses. The farm is located on the outskirts of Bydgoszcz, in the Lower Vistula Valley Landscape Park, at the entrance to Strzelecka Dolina. The visit to the pioneering farm goat cheese dairy was combined with cheese tasting. The owner, Piotr Jarecki, is a pioneer in the marketing of organic and regional products.
2. Agritourism farm Śliwkowy Sad of Anna and Jan Iwanowski – visit and tasting of plum stew and presentation of the farm owned by the creators of the annual “Plum Feast” in Strzelce Dolne (held since 2000 every first Saturday and Sunday of September). The plum stew from Strzelce Dolne is a local product, the first from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship to be included in the List of Traditional Products as Plum Stew from the Lower Vistula Valley.
3. Nadwiślańska Chata in Luszkowo with the Mennonite Pantry – visit and tasting of delicacies. The cottage is situated in a charming spot with a view of the Vistula River Valley and Chełmno. The restored farmhouse consists of an old thatched cottage from 1800 with a kitchen, living room and guest rooms; a small ethnographic museum with farming equipment placed in a converted shed with a storey; count Ostrowski’s barn, where special events are organized. A separate facility in the farmhouse is a new kitchen, which was built thanks to co-financing from the European Union funds.
4. Visit to Mennonite Wooden House in Chrystkowo – a spontaneous botanical walk with an expert herbalist, explaining the secret charm and rich vegetation of the Lower Vistula Valley.
5. Winnica przy Talerzyku in Gruczno – presentation of the vineyard and tasting of wine, curd cheese and cheeses made on the Adamczyks’ farm from unpasteurized cow milk. The owners boast the main prize in dairy processing at the “Festival of Taste” in Gruczno – “Taste of 2015″ for the “Pielgrzym” cheese, as well as two distinctions for the fenugreek and wild garlic cheese. A year later, they received the next two distinctions at the same festival: “Taste of 2016″ for the “Szwajcar Farmerski” cheese and Grand Prize for “Gouda Farmerska” cheese. During the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Fair, they won the “Brown Delicacy” for the wild garlic cheese.