In October we wrapped up our Warsaw theme month. Tuptuś, the little dwarf-guide, announced then that in November he was taking the Krasnoludki to Pyrandia — an imagined land where the potato (pyra) rules, where everyone speaks the Greater Poland dialect, where dumplings are baked and where we meet the Poznań goats. And he kept his word. The November Poznań was one of the most beautiful “journeys” we have managed to organize for preschoolers. In this article, which is our memory (“the spell of memories…”), we tell you what that month looked like and what the Krasnoludki took from it.
Why Poznań — and why “Pyrandia”
Poznań is, for a five-year-old, an extraordinary city to get to know, because it differs from Warsaw as much as two Polish metropolises can differ. It has its own dialect. Its own symbols. Its own tastes. Its own legend. It has within it that Poznań thrift, accuracy, “potato” character — which for a Warsaw child is exotic and fascinating.
“Pyrandia” — this is our own, in-house term. It comes from the Poznań word pyra, meaning potato. In Poznań they say pyry instead of ziemniaki, and Poznań potatoes with sour cream, with cracklings, with gzik (which the child experiences for the first time in their life) — are a culinary phenomenon that deserves its own land. Hence Pyrandia. An imagined land that is at the same time the real Poznań.
What actually happened
Week one: the Poznań dialect. The first November week was an immersion in the speech. “Tej, wiara!” — that was the first Poznań greeting the Krasnoludki learned to repeat. “Fest dobrze!” — the second. Typical Poznań words also appeared: pyra (potato), gzik (a paste of white cheese with onion and radishes), bimba (tram), ryczka (stool). Each day the Krasnoludki learned one new Poznań word, and “who remembers more” contests caused great laughter. Some Mędrki in the evenings asked their parents to talk “Poznań-style” — which the parents tried with greater or lesser success.
What is happening here is much more than “learning words”. A five-year-old learning a dialect is making the first life experience with the fact that not everyone speaks the same way. Polish in Kraków sounds different from Poznań, different from Warsaw, different from Silesia. This is the foundation for later linguistic tolerance and openness to diversity.
Week two: the merchant houses. A classic element of the old Poznań market square — colourful pastel townhouses. The Krasnoludki received gypsum models of the merchant houses to paint. Each Krasnoludek painted in a different colour, each added their own decorations. A colourful, child’s version of the Poznań market was created. These models then sat for weeks on a shelf in the room — reminding the Krasnoludki of their “journey”.
Week three: the Poznań goats. Legend has it that on the town hall in Poznań there live two goats which every day at noon come out and butt their horns twelve times. The Krasnoludki listened to this legend with open mouths. “Miss, really?”. “Really. But these are mechanical goats, not living ones. People made them so that they would remind us of themselves every day”. Some Krasnoludki then drew these goats at home and brought the drawings to preschool.
Week four: the kitchen. Potatoes “in jackets” with gzik. Here the cooking begins. Each Krasnoludek personally took a potato, washed it (with its “jacket”, the skin), wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven. We made the gzik together — white cheese, sour cream, finely diced onion, herbs. Mixing everything into a uniform mass took the Krasnoludki several minutes of engagement. And then — a potato on a plate, decorated with gzik, served with butter. Some Krasnoludki, who had never in their lives touched white cheese, ate it for the first time — because “I made it myself”.
The climax: St Martin’s croissants. This was work for the older groups. St Martin’s croissants — the most traditional Poznań delicacy — are baked in Poznań on St Martin’s Day (11 November). They have a characteristic shape, a generous filling of white poppy seed, are sprinkled with icing and nuts. Baking them requires patience — the half-puff dough is folded and rolled out several times. The Mędrki took on this work with real professionalism. The croissants came out beautiful. And — perhaps most importantly — they smelled. For the entire afternoon our preschool smelled like a real Poznań bakery.
What is built in a Krasnoludek’s head after a month in Pyrandia
Understanding cultural diversity. A five-year-old who has spent the whole of November in “Poznań” learns that Poland is a mosaic. A different language, different dishes, different legends, different monuments. This is not just “another Poznań” — this is “a different culture within the same country”. From such first observations, an adult respect for regional varieties of Polishness is later built.
Openness to new tastes. Gzik, croissants, dumplings with cracklings — for many Krasnoludki these were first life encounters with these tastes. Some were surprised that gzik is salty and slightly sharp. Others fell in love with the croissants from the first bite. Each child enriched their inner taste map with three or four new entries. This is a process that psychologists call expanding the sensory palette — and it is extraordinarily important for the child’s later culinary life.
First concepts about dialects and languages. “We all speak Polish, but in Poznań they speak a little differently”. This is, for a five-year-old, a deep discovery. From it later comes the ability to learn foreign languages — because a child who understands that there are different ways of speaking is open to them.
Rooting in Polish tradition. St Martin’s croissants have been baked in Poznań for centuries. A Krasnoludek who has baked a croissant and learned that it is a traditional Poznań product gets a first lesson in Polish regional gastronomy. From this first lesson grows the adult love of Polish cuisine and its diversity.
What a parent can do at home
A home Pyrandia is fairly easy to organize, if you have Poznań roots or like Poznań culture. A few ideas:
— Bake potatoes in jackets. The simplest Poznań dish. A potato with the skin, in foil, into the oven for 45 minutes. Served with butter or gzik. The Krasnoludek will eat it with appetite in the evening — because “I have something from Poznań”.
— Make gzik. Curd cheese + sour cream + onion + salt + a little pepper. Mix. Krasnoludki love mixing — and when they prepare gzik themselves, they have a completely different taste relationship with it afterwards.
— Take a trip to Poznań. By train from Warsaw it’s two and a half hours. The Old Market with the goats butting at noon — that is an attraction that stays in the child’s memory for years.
— Read about the Poznań goats together. There are plenty of children’s books about this legend. Some have beautiful illustrations. It makes a good evening read before sleep.
— Try Poznań words. “Tej, wiara, fest dobrze!”. This is great fun for a Krasnoludek — especially when you use these words in a natural context. “What’s for dinner today?” — “Pyry z gzikiem!”.
What stayed after Pyrandia
Pyrandia was our second journey into an imagined-but-real world of Polish regional culture. The first was Warsaw, but Warsaw was our own city — that was more rooting than journey. Poznań was the first real expedition — where everything was different. And that is why Poznań left an especially deep trace in the Krasnoludki’s heads.
For weeks after Pyrandia the Krasnoludki still said “tej, wiara!” among themselves. Some families took their children to Poznań for a December weekend. They returned with photos in front of the merchant houses, with stories about the butting goats, with packets of croissants. Each such family trip closed the pedagogical loop — the child saw with their own eyes what they had got to know at preschool.
The next journey awaited in February — Toruń, as we know. And then more cities will come: Gdańsk with amber, Wrocław with dwarves and the Centennial Hall, perhaps Zakopane with mountains and shepherds’ huts. Poland is large, colourful, tasty. And our Krasnoludki still have three years of preschool education to get to know it.
Tej, wiara — that’s what one calls a fest dobry idea for life.