With cream and sugar, as a topping on pancakes, as a cocktail, a supplement to cakes and desserts or straight from the bush! The Kashubian Strawberry, the fruity Pride of Pomerania. A classic regional product appreciated throughout Europe. Sweet, juicy, melting in the mouth. The only one! Best!
Strawbery, fot. PROT
There is no other way-if you visit Pomorskie in late June and July, you will be here to eat Kashubian strawberries. It is one of the finest regional products that can be enjoyed. Some say that the Kashubian strawberry is even more precious than the Baltic Amber! Yes, these little red-and-pink fruits have their big fans here!
Where did the Kashubian strawberry come from?
The history of a small red-pink Kashubian strawberry stars in the early 20th century. Then Helena Gruchała, a local farmer, started her first plantation. It was located in the Kashubian Lake District in the Długi Kierze. Local priests also encouraged to grow strawberries. They helped to establish fields and facilitated the import of seedlings.
Strawbery, fot. PROT
It is worth noting that the Kashubian strawberry does not have an easy life. The cold nights and hot days make its cultivation not very simple. However, the fruits pay for all the work. The Kashubian strawberry is incredibly juicy, supper, sweet and aromatic. It is most cultivated in the vicinity of Chmielno, Sierakowice and Stężyca, where the first crops were created more than a hundred years ago. Interestingly, Chmielno is proud to be the most strawberry region in Poland! Almost half of the cultivation carried out here is certified by the Kashubian strawberry plantations. The most popular varieties are Honeoye, Senga Sengana, Elsanta.
Strawberry Holidays and attractions
Every year in the turn of June and July, at the time when the fruit matures the fastest, Kashuby invites you to a strawberry feast. This includes the festival of Kashubian strawberry in Chmielno and the annual strawberry festival in Brodnica Górna near Kartuzy, which has been held since 1971! Those are open-air events, or even folk festivals, combined with the tasting of fruits and products produced from strawberries (cakes, desserts, preserves, as well as sweet soup).
Strawbery, fot. PROT
Also in Gdansk, the capital of Pomorskie region, during holidays the feast of the Kashubian strawberries is held. During the popular festival, various competitions with strawberries in the main role are organized. Exhibitors, processors, confectioners, but also members of the Circles of Rural Housewives are racing to show the different use of the Kashubian strawberry. The annual Strawberry Feast is a great way to promote regional customs, local traditions and the achievements of Kashubian culture.
It is also worth noting that the Kashubian strawberry, or Kashëbskô Malëna, was entered into a special statement-the European system of names and geographical indications. In 2009 the European Commission registered Kashubian Strawberry as a protected geographical indication.
Kashubian strawberry, photo: Pomorskie Travel / M.Ochocki
