Kvass made with honey from the village of Grębków

The Healthy Drink of our Ancestors

 t was invented by the Slavs over a thousand years ago. The first documents to mention the kvass are dated to the year 989. During the Middle Ages it was being drunk throughout Europe. In Russia and in Ukraine, the kvass has the status of a national drink since the 16th century. In the two countries it is being sold on street corners, by a glass. The home-made beverage tastes best though, especially if it is prepared on the basis of the home-made bread.

Such is the kvass made with honey in the village of Grąbków, listed on the List of Traditional Products of the Mazowieckie Voivodship. It is healthy, but also quite simple and inexpensive to make. Great thirst quencher on the hot summer days. It is made of the wholemeal sourdough bread. Mr Zbigniew Pachnik, the owner of the Beekeeping Farm “Pachniczówka,” bakes the bread by himself, using the recipe passed over by his ancestors.

In the old days the village bread baking event took place just once a week. The women took turns, and every week one woman had been appointed to bake the fresh and fragrant loaves. Some of the baked bread was handed over to the neighbours, and the rest had been left in the house. A week later, the roles would change.

In the beverage production process, the bread needs to be cut into slices, which would go into the oven – to dry somewhat. The dried slices are then soaked in water and some honey is added. The leaven substance is left for a few days to mature, then it is poured into bottles. The kvass is not too sweet, its taste is much different from the beverage that is mass produced. An excellent alternative to the sweetened, artificially coloured drinks. It is light brown in colour and in the bottle it seems to be rather cloudy. At the bottom, a natural sediment may form but it quickly dissolves as soon as you shake the bottle. Some raisins may also be added to the drink. The kvass is a fully natural product, it may be stored in the bottle for a very long time without the risk of it going bad.

The Beekeeping Farm “Pachniczówka” is well-known in the region, not only for its production of kvass. You can also buy there an excellent honey, which the Pachnik family has been producing for five generations. Mr Zbigniew Pachnik, the farmer and beekeeper not only by passion but also by education, presents his products at various fairs, exhibitions and festivals. He currently runs a movable apiary of about 200 beehives. Doing so, he can produce various types of honey: buckwheat, lime, rape and many others. The “Pachniczówka” honey remains unrivaled. It has outstanding culinary, medicinal and cosmetic properties. Zbigniew Pachnik remains faithful to the traditional ways of the production of honey and the other bee products, and he promotes the natural and ecological way of life.

Mr Pachnik has many ideas on how to use not only the beneficial properties of the honey, but also the bees themselves. One of his ideas is the “bee-therapy,” based on his belief that interacting with bees brings about the positive effects to the human health.