Pork in the Crown of Poland in the Early Modern Period. A Meat Held in Contempt?

Abstract

On the basis of varied sources from the 16th–18th centuries (kitchen and pantry accounts, economic treatises, testaments, probate inventories) and numerous previous studies the author presents the role of pork in Old-Polish cuisine. Pigs were commonly bred in Poland, in the country and in towns, in magnate, gentry and Church estates, by peasants and burghers, for personal consumption or for sale. Nevertheless, the share of pork in overall meat consumption was lower than that of beef. This was conditioned by the attitude of gentry and burgher elites to pork – in those circles pork fat was treated as indispensable for roasting and frying, but pork dishes considered worthy of a noble or royal palate were only roasted piglets, ham, brawn, jellied pig’s feet or sausages with exotic spices. Other dishes, never served during luxurious feasts, such as roasted pork, cabbage or peas with pork fat or fatty meat, were eaten on weekdays, during family meals. Such dishes, as well as soups with pork fat and sausages spiced with garlic or caraway seed, were typical of the diet of plebeians, physical workers, well-off craftsmen and peasants.
For poorer peasants and town dwellers, on the other hand, cabbage or dumplings with pork fat or a piece of pork were associated with the festive table. Thus, aside from pork fat, which was generally valued, pork was a food sought by but for economic reasons not easily accessible to plebeians, while nutritious and tasty but not particularly prestigious for the elites, which were major meat consumers. In the 18th c., refined cuisine inspired by French models used only the most exquisite pieces of pork and substituted pork fat with butter. The situation in Poland in this respect was analogous to that in Bohemia and Germany, where in the 18th c. the elites also started to adopt “new French cuisine”, which was gaining popularity throughout Europe.