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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Toruń
Honey cake with pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and other spices, molded in wooden molds or cut into shapes. It has been made in Toruń without interruption since the Middle Ages and is on Poland’s national list of intangible cultural heritage.
Traditional sweet from Toruń, Cujávia-Pomerânia
Also known as: piernik toruński, pierniki z Torunia, Thorner Lebkuchen
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Pierniki toruńskie — Toruń, Poland
Pierniki toruńskie are gingerbreads made with wheat and rye flour, honey and a strong spice mix: pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, coriander, clove, nutmeg and star anise. The name comes from the old Polish pierny, which meant spicy. The dough is dense and compact and breaks into crunchy flakes. There are plain pierniki, glazed ones, chocolate-coated and filled varieties, in sizes ranging from 4 to 20 cm.
Toruń, on the Vistula’s bank, lay on trade routes that brought spices from abroad, while the region’s forests provided honey and the lands of Chełmno produced grain. The first pierniki baker in the city known by name, Niclos Czan, appears in a 1380 record. In 1556, Toruń and Nuremberg made an agreement allowing bakers from each city to use the other’s recipes. Production peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries, when Toruń’s gingerbread gained fame across Europe.
Carved wooden molds are part of the story. The oldest that survive date from the early 17th century and show Polish kings and queens, angels, St. George and carriages. Many were lost in World War II; part of the collection is exhibited in Toruń’s Old Town Hall. The katarzynka, made of six joined circles, is the best-known shape, and its origin is told in legends.
In 2021, pierniki z Torunia entered Poland’s List of Traditional Products, and in 2025 the culture of Toruń piernik was inscribed on the national list of intangible cultural heritage. The city has museums and workshops where visitors make their own piernik in wooden molds, and fairs tied to St. Catherine’s Day and gingerbread festivals.
Toruń , Cujávia-Pomerânia
Toruń has made spiced gingerbread since the Middle Ages, and the city’s piernik culture is on Poland’s national list of intangible cultural heritage.
Wheat and rye flour, honey and spices (pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, coriander, clove, nutmeg and star anise). Glazed versions, chocolate-coated or jam-filled.
In pieces, with tea or coffee. Decorated ones are also given as gifts.
All year round. Most sought after at Christmas and at St. Catherine fairs in November.
Your questions
Spiced gingerbreads made in Toruń since the Middle Ages, made with wheat and rye flour, honey, pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and other spices. They can be plain, glazed, chocolate-coated or filled.
The city lay on spice trade routes and had honey and grain nearby. A pierniki baker is recorded in 1380, and in the 17th and 18th centuries Toruń’s gingerbread was already known across Europe.
It is the best-known shape of Toruń piernik, made of six joined circles. Its origin is told in legends; today it is sold plain or chocolate-coated.
Flavors of Poland
Stew of sauerkraut and cabbage with various meats, smoked sausage and dried mushrooms, slowly cooked and reheated over days until the flavors meld. It is one of the dishes most connected to Polish identity and appears in the national poem Pan Tadeusz.
Round yeast dough pastry, fried, without a hole, filled with jam—traditionally rose petal or plum—and dusted with sugar or covered in icing. It’s the sweet of Tłusty Czwartek, the fatty Thursday before Lent, celebrated across the country.
Dumplings made from unleavened dough, boiled in water and sometimes browned in butter, with savory or sweet fillings. The ruskie, filled with potato and fresh cheese, are the most common, and the cabbage with mushrooms variety is served on Christmas Eve.
Vodka made entirely in Poland from rye, wheat, barley, oats, triticale or potatoes grown in the country. The name is a national geographical indication that applies to both neutral vodka and flavored vodkas that follow the rules.
A sour soup made with zakwas, a fermented rye-flour starter, served with white sausage, a boiled egg and horseradish. It is one of the most important dishes of the Polish Easter and is sometimes served inside a loaf of bread.
Smoked pork cooked with dried plums, pears and other fruits, served with a sweet-and-sour fruit sauce and dumplings. The name means Silesian heaven, and the dish is on the Lower Silesia Traditional Products List.
Braided bread ring first boiled in very hot water and then baked, topped with salt, poppy seeds, or sesame. It’s sold from street carts in Kraków and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
A round wheat dough disk topped with raw chopped onion and poppy seed, baked until the edge is golden. It originated in the Jewish bakeries of Lublin’s old town and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
Yeast-based cake covered with a buttery streusel, made plain or filled with white cheese, poppy seed or apple. It is the wedding cake of Opole Silesia and has a European Union protected geographical indication.
Grated raw potato cake with fried bacon, onion, eggs and a little flour, baked in a pan until the crust is golden. It’s one of the most popular dishes of Podlaskie, the northeastern region of Poland, and is on the List of Traditional Products.
Flavored vodka with bison grass that grows in the clearings of the Białowieża and Knyszyn forests in Podlaskie. It has a light green-golden color and the smell of dry hay, and the official name is a protected geographical indication of the European Union.
Croissant in a crescent shape, made from yeast-leavened puff pastry, filled with white poppy seed paste with fruit and nuts, and topped with icing and chopped nuts. It is Poznań’s Saint Martin’s pastry, eaten on November 11, and has protected geographical indication.
Beef roulade stuffed with bacon, pickled cucumber and onion, cooked in sauce and served with kluski śląskie — potato dumplings with a little indentation in the middle — and red cabbage. It’s the Sunday lunch of Upper Silesia.
Long pastry made from leavened dough, fried and usually filled with seasoned ground meat with pepper. It originated in Szczecin in the early 1970s, made on a Soviet machine from 1969, and is on Poland’s List of Traditional Products.
Two-layer chocolate sponge cake with whipped cream in the middle, covered in chocolate and often topped with a cherry. It originated in Warsaw in the late 1940s, and the name is linked to the W-Z avenue, opened during the city’s reconstruction.
A very sour sauerkraut soup with smoked pork ribs or other smoked pork, served with boiled potato on the side or with bread. It’s the dish of the highlanders of Podhale, the Zakopane region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains.
