This episode tells the story of the city of Toruń, Poland, through the lense of its spicy gingerbread, or pierniki, from 1233 to 2021. Toruń gingerbread were at-first made with a top-secret recipe, and once prised by kings for their taste and by ordinary folk for their perceived medicinal powers. As time went on, they became a contested cultural treasure fought over by German and Polish governments through two world wars and beyond.  This is the story of a border town, through centuries of peace and conflict, and its identity as the home of Toruńskie pierniki.

The main publication used in preparing this podcast has been Małgorzata Mikulski-Wernerowic and Krzystof Lewandowski’s excellent volume, Formy Piernikarskie (Toruń, 2020).

Research presented here has been supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej), fellowship no. PPN/ULM/2019/1/00033 . 

The music, in order of play, has been:
Bartok-The Waistband Dance by the Advent Chamber Orchestra; Peace landscape by Almusic34; Horses Trot by Samuel Corwin; Ode To by Kelly Latimore; Chopin, Etude Op. 10, No. 9, performed by Leo Sirota; The War Diary by Funked Up Beyond all Recognition; Birthday Cake by Jahzzar
 All are Attribution 4.0 International  (CC BY 4.0) and available from Freemusicarchive.org.