The shop is situated on ul. Woźna 9 and is owned by Andrzej Katulski, a graduate of Polish philology at the Adam Mickiewicz University. ?I?ve been dreaming for years about a place where one could find delicacies of Polish regional cuisine. I was raised in a family which made its own cheese, sausages, bread and pâtés. So these are the childhood flavours I have longed for,? says Andrzej Katulski, owner of Smakownia.

?I decided to sell the goods listed on the List of Traditional Products, which is developed by Polish Ministry of Agriculture. It is a guarantee of original recipes and a showpiece of Polish regions,? elucidates Katulski.

Andrzej not only discovered but has also tasted almost all the delicacies offered by Smakownia. ?It is just amazing how many treasures one can find in Polish cuisine. Before I decide to buy anything I browse the Internet, I visit regional fairs,? he says. Katulski also sought to meet the manufacturers of these unusual goods in person. ?They all know each other and there is no competition between them, but collaboration. The bakers buy such products as milk and honey from ecological farms and, similarly, butchers buy meat only from ecological farms,? Katulski says.

Smakownia?s shelves are groaning with refined, traditional delicacies no housewife would scorn. One of such delicacies is natural seasonal juice pressed with a special wicker press, made by Kalisz-based company Teso.

One should also note the plum jam and preserves made in accordance with a 150-year-old recipe.

Pickle mushrooms, horseradish and sweat and sour pears are additions to meats and cured meats once gorged on by Polish aristocracy.

The back of the store hides aromatic traditional cured meats. Other worthwhile specialties include Lisiecka kielbasa, sausage made of the best bits of meat ? the loin of pork, ham and sirloin ? as per a 300 year-old recipe. The sausage owes its taste and aroma to its being smoked in alder and beech wood.

Polish cuisine is also full of fine varieties of cheese, the best ones including white goat cheese and smoked cheese from the village of Mszany in Beskid Niski.

A period wood counter displays wholemeal breads, German wheat flour breads and 100-percent rye breads. The best is traditional Prądnicki bread prepared in accordance with a 600-year-old recipe, throughout centuries gorged on by Polish kings. It is enormous, round loaves of bread retaining freshness for several weeks.

Smakownia also offers sour-dough bread, made uninterruptedly for the last 80 years. Smakownia?s merchandise includes a pitch-black pumpernickel. Intensively aromatic and made of sweetish and slightly sour flour, Pumpernickel originates from Westphalia, where local peasants began to bake this delicacy at the turn of 16^th and 17^th centuries. At the beginning of the 20^th century, the recipe was imported to Poland by Józef Adam from the village of Rakoniewice in Wielkopolska. Nowadays, a rectangular slice of dark bread is an indispensable part of the regional cuisine.

Besides cured meats and preserves, Smakownia offers sweets, including tree cakes. The latter is a royal cake with a characteristic cone shape and flavour bringing to mind a sponge cake, but at the same time having a perceptible lemon note,  which has been baked in Podlasie for ages.

From the same region Andrzej imports another delicacy ? Mrowisko (Anthill), a delicacy named for its anthill-like shape. Mrowisko is made of thin, irregularly-shaped cenci poured over with honey and sprinkled with black poppy seeds and raisins.

Andrzej is constantly extending his selection of goods. ?For St. Martin?s Day I will definitely have traditional croissants. Just before Christmas, Smakownia will offer gingerbread and poppy-seed cakes, and during the carnival ? cenci. And around Easter, a shortcrust tart,? asserts Smakownia?s owner.