A Taste of Poland: A Recipe for Polish Raisin Kulich Bread

This overview of Poland was prepared by Alise Duszynski while a Business Administration Major Student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Introduction

Poland is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, to the north. Another interesting fact is that the literacy rate in Poland is over 98 percent. My great-grandfather was an immigrant from Poland (my last name of Duszynski).
The recipe that I am making is a traditional bread of Poland. In America, we eat cinnamon raisin bread, but in Poland, it is customary to eat this “Kulich” Bread, which is cinnamon raisin bread without the cinnamon.


Country Information
· Geographic Facts
Here are three geographic facts about Poland:
1. Poland is the 69th largest country in the world as well as the 9th largest country in Europe.
2. The official name of Poland is the ‘Republic of Poland’.
3. The population of Poland is about 38,000,000 people.


· 3 “Serious” Facts
Here are three serious facts about Poland:
1. The year 1989 saw Poland holding its first free elections, in more than 40 years.
2. 90% of Poles have completed at least secondary education.
3. Polish born astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was the first person to propose that the earth was not the center of the universe.

· 3 “Fun” Facts
Here are three serious facts about Poland:
1. Most of the Poles consider their name day more important than their birthday.
2. Pizza in Poland does not contain tomato sauce. The waiters bring sauce to the table in a pitcher, and you pour it on top. Sometimes the sauce is just ketchup.
3. In Poland, bananas are peeled from the blossom end, not from the stem end.

· A “Potpourri” Item
Here is an unusual fact (or two or three) about Poland:
1. Poles have won 17 Nobel prizes till date, including four Peace Prizes and five in Literature. Another interesting fact is Marzenna. Marzenna is a tradition where people weave straw dolls and decorate them with ribbons. These represent the end of winter, and the beginning of spring. When the snow starts to melt, they proclaim the beginning of spring and chuck the Marzennas into the river or stream, symbolically ‘killing’ the winter.


Food Information

· Recipe
1 pkg. yeast
2 tbsp warm water
¾ cups scalded milk
3 cups plain flour
2 egg yolks
½ cups butter
½ cups sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ cups chopped raisins

Dissolve yeast in warm water in small bowl. Pour scalded milk over butter, sugar, and raisins. When cool, combine some flour into the yeast mixture (about one ½ cups of flour). Add egg yolks, beaten well. Mix rest of flour and salt. Mix dough well.
Knead lightly on floured cloth to round up dough. Put back into bowl and cover. Let rise for about 1 ½ hours or until it doubles in bulk. Shape dough into a round bun or other shape. Fit into well-greased pan (8 or 9 inch tube pan). Let rise in a warm place for 50-60 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
Courtesy of Cooks.com (www.cooks.com/red/doc/0,174,14469-234196,00.html)

· My Kitchen Story

My kitchen story is very interesting; I went to the store to get my ingredients and came home to start making the bread. I have never made homemade bread before, so I knew this would be a challenge. I mix the ingredients as the recipe said, but when I got to the kneading part; my dough was so sticky that there was more dough stuck to my hands, than in the bowl. I let it rise as the directions said; I was worried that it would not rise as it was supposed to. It actually doubled in size, as the recipe said it would. I then baked it and it did not look like a normal loaf of bread you see in the store, but I was proud of myself. I was expecting it to taste awful, but it turned out better than I expected!

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Contact Info: To contact the author of “A Taste of Poland: A Recipe for Polish Raisin “Kulich” Bread,” please email Alise.Duszynski@selu.edu or Alizz_d@yahoo.com


BIOGRAPHY

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/), book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/), international foods (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/).


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A Taste of Poland: A Recipe for Polish Raisin Kulich Bread


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