History of the 'Silesian Tastes' Festival

Realizing the immense popularity of Silesian cuisine, its visibility, and above all its extraordinary diversity, the Silesian Tourist Organisation decided to organize an annual celebration of regional cuisine. Promotion of regional dishes was to become a motive encouraging tourists to visit the Silesian Provice. This form of promotion of regional cuisine ensures caring for the culinary and cultural heritage of the region. Each time the 'Silesian Tastes' Festival is held in a different part of the region, which gives an opportunity to discover local delicacies. Each Festival is accompanied by a culinary contest in which the participants, divided into categories, compete for the title of 'Silesian Tastes' Expert and a Gold, Silver or Bronze Colander.

Cuisine experts stress that dishes prepared by the Farmer's Wives' Association are an example of a truly traditional, often already forgotten cuisine. The winning restaurants are happy to hang the received diplomas and the winning dishes often appear in their menu. The fact that students of gastronomic schools also challenge themselves with the preparation of traditional regional dishes fills with joy as well. Each time the event is accompanied by numerous shows, cabaret performances, workshops for children, and the entire event is crowned by a concert of Śląsk Song and Dance Ensemble. The festival is very popular and is the largest culinary event in the region.

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The first two events under the name 'Silesian Cuisine Festival' were held in Ogrodzieniec in 2006 and a year later in Cieszyn.

In the scenery of Ogrodzieniec Castle in 2006 the first place in the category of amateurs was taken by Ornontowice Farmer's Wives' Association with ciaper cabbage (boiled sauerkraut) with ribs and kopa (sweet dessert with dried fruits and alcohol). The first place among professionals was won by 'Rycerka' Recreation Center from Tychy for żur (sour rye soup), dumplings with mushrooms and cabbage with peas.

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On the Cieszyn market square in 2007 the hearts of the jury were won over by chachor szałot (potato salad with eggs, pickles and smoked bacon), cutlet and pumpkin compote prepared by Ornontowice Farmer's Wives' Association as well as beer soup with cream cheese, stewed pigeon and majoneziki rybne (fish in mayonnaise) on vegetable salad prepared by Karczma pod Lotniskiem (Airport Inn) from Bielsko-Biała.

In 2007, the festival received the Certificate of the Polish Tourist Organization for the Best Tourist Product of the year. The plebiscite, organized every year, selects products that are characterized by exceptional tourist attractiveness.

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Since 2008 the event has been held under the name of the 'Silesian Tastes' Festival and has also gained a new

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The third 'Silesian Tastes' Festival took place on the market square in Racibórz in 2008. Again the Ornontowice Farmer's Wives' Association gained the title of Silesian Tastes Expert and a Golden Colander. This time the ladies prepared cherry szpajza, guineafowl broth with noodles and stewed guineafowl with patties, colerape, cauliflower and lettuce. In the category of professionals, the School of Economics from Wodzisław Śląski won, whose students prepared a rabbit pate with plum sauce and cranberries, rabbit sour rye soup with potatoes and roasted pigeons with bacon, czarne kluski (potato dumplings) and red cabbage.

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The fourth 'Silesian Tastes' Festival was held in the castle park in Pszczyna and attracted a real crowd. This time the winning dish were croissants 'Niebo w gębie' ('the taste that rocks one's face'), kwaśnicorka (sauerkraut soup) with smoked bacon and stuffed duck, gray-white dumpling and red cabbage prepared by Farmer's Wives' Association from Kobiernice. The Gold Colander in the category of professionals went to Kilerów Dwóch from Myslowice for hekele on wholemeal toasts, agrest w maclu na mioduli (gooseberries in caramel and honey spirit), sour lungs and knuckle with sauerkraut and Silesian szałot (vegetable salad). The jury included Mrs. Lidia Szary, representative of the Ornontowice Farmer's Wives' Association, three-time winner of the Festival.

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The 5th Festival "Silesian Tastes" took place in 2010 near the Pond of the Americans in Zloty Potok. The winner was the team from the other end of the region: Family Team from Czarkowa for potato pancakes with deer goulash, broth with black duck dumplings and quail in a homemade sauce with rose purée and asparagus in a cream sauce. Among the professionals again led the Kilers Two from the Qubus Hotel from Katowice with a smoked goose's breast with Silesian salad, rhubarb dessert, cream soup with pumpkin and nettles and a duck leg with dumplings and sour apples.

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In 2011 a marketing strategy was created for 'Silesian Tastes' and a new logo for the Festival.

It debuted at the sixth 'Silesian Tastes' Festival, which took place in Chopin Park in Gliwice. This time the appreciation of the jury was gained by Farmer's Wives' Association from Wisła Wielka for the sum of Goczałkowickie Lake sirloin in mustard-honey sauce with toasted bread, duck soup with a homely thick-cut pasta and livers dumplings, and duck drumsticks with fusiaste kluski (potato dumplings) and beetroot with horseradish. Among the professionals again a gastronomic school triumphed: this time the Vocational School from Żarki for cheesecake with cranberry sauce, Silesian onion soup and duck with apples and cranberries, toasted hulled barley and red cabbage.

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In 2012, in the Silesian Park in Chorzów during the seventh 'Silesian Tastes' Festival culinary competition participants were first divided into three categories: amateurs, gastronomic schools' students and professionals.

First places and Golden Colanders went to:

In the category of amateurs - Family Team from Czarków (smoked pork, liver sausage, brawn and bread, broth of pheasant and beef with noodles of quail eggs and meatballs of beef and pheasant and deer meat roulade, two kinds of Silesian dumplings, Silesian white and red cabbage and pumpkin compote)
In the category of catering schools - The Gastronomic School from Katowice (herring trio, pumpkin soup and porkshank confit served on panczkraut (sour cabbage with potatoes) with beer sauce)
In the category of professionals - 'EM' Restaurant from Koziegłowy (carrot cake, kurzina (nettle soup) and rabbit roulade with sauce, beetroot and cimorajda)

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Thousands of people came in 2013 to the Town Hall Square in Bielsko-Biała during the VIII 'Silesian Tastes' Festival.

First places and Golden Colanders went to:

In the category of amateurs - Family Team from Czarków (volcano with a vegetable salad, mushroom soup and pork cutlet with new cabbage and potatoes)
In the category of catering schools - Girls from Gastronomic School and Commerce in Bielsko-Biała (wuszt (sausage) with red sauce, zupa na beztydniu (bread soup) and Sunday ribs with potatoes from grandma's piekarok (stone oven) with beet)
In the category of professionals - Stara Piekarnia (Old Bakery) Restaurant from Pszczyna (prince's pantry preserves: goose lard with apple and onion accompanied by semi-pickled cucumber, goose pate with pear-cherry-plum confit, alder wood-smoked goose breast with marinated mushrooms and cold soup of young beet leaves with quail eggs and veal sweetbread with penny buns and shallots served with pear pancakes with blackcurrant and quince sauce)

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The 9th edition of 'Ślaskie Smaki' took place in Zawiercie in 2014. Real crowds visited the square near the Municipal Cultural Center. This time it was also extremely tasty.

The first places and statuettes of the golden colanders were awarded to:

In the category of amateurs - Kostkowianki (Jaglak in the Jurassic, cream soup with roasted celery accompanied by crispy bacon, lamb chops on potatoes in the spit accompanied by rhubarb mousse and stewed nettle)
In the category of catering schools - School of Gastronomy and Commerce in Bielsko-Biała (Grilled zucchini stuffed with colorful vegetables accompanied by potato chips, Velvet cheesecake with spicy aromas, covered with white chocolate, Pork tenderloin in a yeast dough, stuffed with mushrooms and plums in a sauce, with the addition of colored puree and parsley mousse coated with beetroot)
In the category of professionals - Kapias Restaurant (Marinated in nettles Polish roasted beef with the addition of lavender salt, Zucchini flowers stuffed with cottage cheese served with a fillet, parsley root soup with pumpkin oil, hare sorrel, catnip flower, Goose goczałkowicka cooked in fat with pearl barley, sunflower seeds and sprinkled flower salad syrup from dandelion)

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The 10th "Silesian Tases" Festival took place in Wisła. Many people came there to take part in the most tasty festival in all over the region. Thete was also the possibility to taste dishes served by restaurants belonging to the Silesian Tastes Culinary Trail. After culinary competition, there was a culinary battle between Remigiusz Rączka and Helena Legierska from Wisła. They both had to prepare soup made of cabbage. Traditionally, the Festival ended with the "Śląsk" Song and Dance Assembly concert.

First places and Golden Colanders went to:

In the category of amateurs - "Ośrodek Carina" from Wisła (Kołocza wiślański with sweets and tea with conceived herbs, Bryndzula with potatoes, Żebroczka wiślańska)
In the category of catering schools - Paula i Dima Gastronomy from School from Bielsko-Biała (Cream of beetroot, Rostbef with red cabbage and dumplings, Szpajza)
In the category of professionals - Laskowo Hotel Spa Restaurant in Jankowice (Smoked bacon served with bread with roasted hay, sour cream soup in buttermilk, quail with young potatoes)

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The 11th Silesian Tastes Festival took place on June 4, 2016 at Rynek Square in Katowice. It was at that time that we were looking for Experts of Silesian Tastes on the Katowice market. 23 teams took part in the competition - amateurs, professional cooks and students of catering schools. The jurors had a really difficult choice. Because how to compare the saddle of a rabbit with popcorn from porridge? Or herring in buttermilk foam with oscypek with rhubarb, raspberry and pork fat? There were many flavors, their aroma was not just above the market, attracting crowds of people. However, the culinary competition is not the only attraction of the 11th Silesian Tastes Festival.

First places and Golden Colanders went to:

In the category of amateurs - Beskid Family from Bielsko-Biała (Parzybroda z Gronia - sourdough beans with beans and potatoes, dumpling mix in lard: dumplings with lamb, cheese and sorrel, Rhubarb cake served with roasted sugar sauce and cream)
In the category of catering schools - Gastronomic Schools in Katowice (Herring in buttermilk foam with marinated vegetables, crunchy wholemeal bread chip and mustard sauce with mint, horseradish cream with roasted nuts, quail egg and dill oil, pork knuckle with roasted buckwheat groats, caramelized onions, brussel sprouts, mini carrots, beetroot gel , a parsley root and a reduced glace demi sauce)
In the category of professionals - Kameralna Restaurant, Hotel Piaskowy from Pszczyna (cream of pepper/smoked tout/tomato, Sztygar/dumplings/carrot with peas, Szpajza/ currants confit/berries/sprinkles)

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The XII Festival "Silesian Tastes" took place on June 11, 2017 in Koszęcin. The next edition of the largest culinary event in the region was particularly popular. To the headquarters of the Song and Dance Ensemble "Śląsk", co-organizer of the Festival, came to nearly 5,000 people!

Twenty two teams competed in the competition: 9 amateur teams, 8 professional teams and 5 catering schools. Some were inspired by the Festival and prepared dishes from mushrooms, others went into a modern form like the Qubus Hotel Bielsko-Biała, and others like the Circle of Country Housewives in Wygoda drew from nature in the full sense of the word. Ladies have prepared an acacia cake. Emotions, however, accompanied not only participants of the culinary competition. Remigiusz Rączka and Sebastian Humski during the Battle of Taste with a perverse title: Kurka vs goose, prepared dishes from mushrooms that delighted the audience so much that she announced a draw. The whole event was accompanied by an excellent musical setting prepared especially for the Silesian Tastes by the artists of the "Śląsk" Ensemble, as well as the band Kola & Jula and Kabaret Rak. The Festival ended with the gala performance of the "Śląsk" band as every year. There were also local food producers and attractions for children. Certainly, no one who appeared in Koszęcin is disappointed.

First places and Golden Colanders went to:

In the category of amateurs - Circle of Country Housewives in Wygoda (Pancakes with apples and powdered sugar, Zalewajka on smoked meat, Pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms)
In the category of catering schools - Kacper and Wiktoria from ZSE in Wodzisław Śląski (Gołąbek with spelled groats and mushrooms and mushroom sauce, cream soup with scallions on duck decoction with meatballs in herbal batter and a scallop with pancakes, Pork cheeks with purére with roasted garlic, rhubarb sauce, sweet peas, parsley, vegetable chips, herb crumble and tulle)
In the category of professionals - Zagłębie Smaku Restaurant, Holiday Inn Hotel from Dąbrowa Górnicza (Szpajza lemon-cocoa, rhubarb hutney, tuile with strawberries and chili, kogel-mogel sauce, chocolate soil, Silesian żur, crispy bacon, mushroom dumplings, horseradish foam, Rolada Śląska, blueberry cabbage, rice paper, Silesian dumplings, young carrots)

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The 13th Festival "Silesian Tastes" took place on June 17, 2018 in Pszczyna.

The 13th Silesian Tastes Festival is behind us! This year, the event took place in the beautiful Castle Park in Pszczyna. Eighteen teams took part in the culinary competition, and Remigiusz Rączka - chairman of the competition Jury - repeated several times that this is the most delicious edition of the event so far. The competition was really fierce, and the team's results differed only by a few points.

The first places and statuettes of the golden colanders were awarded to:

In the category of amateurs - KGW in Ćwiklicach (Goose breast and goose battered goulash, goose leg stuffed with buckwheat groats and liver, goose pips - goulash soup)
In the category of catering schools - Girls from Silesia - School of Gastronomy and Hotel Restaurants in Tarnowskie Góry (Cheesecake after ours, Grzybionka, Tarnogórski boar)
In the Professionals category - Zagłębie Smaku Restaurant, Holiday Inn Hotel in Dąbrowa Górnicza (Hekele/szałot/peach puree, Wodzionka/grated parmesan cheese/yolk/garlic/ marjoram/wafer, Beef rib/peritoneum/krupniok/red cabbage/coconut/pear/scolding)

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The 14th Festival "Silesian Tastes" took place on June 16, 2019 in Rudy. Behind us, the 14th Silesian Tastes Festival! This year, the event took place in a beautiful park by the Pocysterski Klasztorno-Pałacowe complex in Rudy. Fifteen teams took part in the culinary competition. Remigiusz Rączka - chairman of the competition Jury emphasized that the competition was really fierce, and the team's results differed only by a few points. So - get to know this year's finalists! Gold, Silver and Bronze Strainers, as well as the title of Expert of Silesian Flavors 2019, won:

The first places and statuettes of the golden colanders were awarded to:

In the category of amateurs - Rudzanki from Rudy (Kreple with potatoes, Żur, Karminadle with filung and sauce from forest mushrooms, young potatoes, red beetroots)
In the category of catering schools - School of Economics in Wodzisław Śląski - Team I (Bear garlic soup, Quail stuffed with sauerkraut and blood sausage, mushroom kaszotto, beer sauce, caramelized vegetables, surprise cake with additions)
In the professional category - Leśna Perła restaurant from Rudziniec (Fortified bacon with horseradish hauskyzy, Botwinka with a quail egg, Breast and roast of pheasant with potato dumplings and krupniok and red cabbage)

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