Among the figures gloriously inscribed in the history of Polish cuisine, the figure of Jan Szyttler is certainly a strong accent. He is a remarkable figure who, apart from his cooking talents, has a considerable body of work to his credit as a writer, written mainly in Vilnius. Szyttler was probably born in 1778 in Warsaw and soon took his first steps in the cooking career as a cook at the court of Hetmaness Oginska in Siedlce; later, according to the information available in bibliographies and biographies, he was to work at the court of King Stanisław August Poniatowski under the supervision of the famous cook Paul Tremo. An interesting (and not the only one contradicting the usual notes about Szyttler) is the issue raised by Bogdan Gałązka in his doctoral dissertation on Szyttler - the author, after numerous searches, found no evidence that Szyttler actually apprenticed at the court of Stanisław August. Instead, he was said to have cooked for starosta Joanna Piaskowska, Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki and the Przeździeckis, with whom he moved to Lithuania. The second issue that criticises known biographies of Szyttler is the question of his move to Vilnius - it is assumed that he lived there from 1820, but... documents can be found that it was in Vilnius that he baptised his children almost a decade earlier.

So much for Szyttler's biography - and why was he, as we say, a kitchen democrat? For the earlier written sources on (old)Polish cuisine were burdened with a high entry threshold - Stanisław Czerniecki, the author of what is often regarded as the first cookery book, was a chef whose work, "Compendium Ferculorum", is addressed to other specialists - hence it is in vain to look in it for details on grammar or details, or even advice on the preparation of any particular dish, as well as general ones. Against this backdrop, it is Szyttler who begins the arduous process of introducing the cuisine to outsiders as well, a process whose apogee would appear in the publications of Lucyna Ćwierczakewiczowa. Szyttler is guided by

a not inconsiderable goal: to present culinary secrets to ordinary people. He himself mentions in the introduction to "Kucharz dobrze usposobionego" that precisely because of the lack of grammar despite culinary publications, they are of little use to people without proper education or great technical competence.

With the exception of his debut guide, Szyttler changed the optics of his writing very quickly - and not without reason. In the meantime, since his debut, there had been the November Uprising and then the increasingly difficult economic existence of ordinary people. On the other hand, cooking guides and books were gaining popularity, so it is not difficult to guess that this 'democratisation' of cuisine by Szyttler was multifaceted.

Firstly, it was, in a way, a testimony to the time and enormous changes that affected the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Szyttler's books, published by Vilnius publishing houses, were eagerly read - and even plagiarised! - in other areas of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Warsaw. Secondly, Szyttler, fascinated by French cuisine and moving away from the heavy, fatty dishes native to Old Polish cuisine, generally advocated the use of fresh, locally available products and in a spirit of frugality. It is not without reason that one of his earlier publications was The Thrifty Cook, published shortly after the fall of the November Rising. This change in the culinary paradigm was linked both to the impoverishment of society and to the influence of French cuisine, which he was beginning to introduce, as it were, from the Poniatowski court into the home. The change in tastes was therefore correlated with European fashion - including that of Johann Jacob Rousseau and vegetarianism - rather than a rigid adherence to tradition, as in the days of Rej, who criticised the "greens" imported by the Italian courtiers of Bona Sforza. When we take a closer look at the Vilnius publications of Szyttler, we see a beautiful and thoughtful combination of the philosophy of light cuisine from France and Vilnius local products. It is this second component in Szyttler's recipes that is of no small importance - he takes advantage of the benefits of

He even writes a book on hunting cuisine, but at the same time points out that there should be a slight change in the approach to food; that fresh, seasonal products should be used and, finally, that the kitchen should be local rather than thinking only about importing expensive "overseas herbs".

The aforementioned thatchers were also not the poorest homes, where basic ingredients were hard to come by, but still the more affluent amateur cooks. Having debuted mainly for the elite, Szyttler nevertheless took a huge step towards gastronomy and teaching about cuisine and cooking compared to the hermeticism that prevailed in the Old Polish period. He directed his works primarily to the landed gentry and petty bourgeoisie. And his direct extension were the subsequent Vilnius publications, which found their place around the Polish table, while the crowning achievement of these efforts was the immense popularity of the already urban cuisine under the sign of Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa in the second half of the 19th century. Finally, a selection of recipes from Jan Szyttler's books, which can be easily reconstructed even today, thanks to the author's educational skills. So, below - a Szyttler menu for one full contemporary dinner (soup, main course, dessert), compiled on the basis of his various books. It's only worth reducing the proportions slightly....

Soup:

Polish chłodnik soup

(proportions e.g. for 20 persons)

Take a quart of sour cream and a quart of cucumber broth; strain ten hard-boiled yolks into a sieve, and strain this together into a tureen; to which you should add some coarsely cut sorrel, young beetroots, cauliflower, crayfish necks, all of which should be previously boiled separately, also some fresh cut cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, asparagus, and for better taste you can pour in half a quart of sour fish broth, and some dill and chervil mashed with salt; and a piece of ice.

Main course:

Capon with juniper

Take a spoonful of juniper berries, chop them up, add four spoonfuls of breadcrumbs, two spoonfuls of butter, three spoonfuls of eggs, mix them together, put them in the capon; chop up some juniper berries, put them in the melted butter, pour them over the capon and wrap it in paper, bake it, take off the paper, pour some butter over it, sprinkle it with breadcrumbs, brown it, sprinkle some juniper berries over it and put it on the table.

(It can be served with potatoes, as Szyttler describes several ways to serve this "vegetable").

Dessert

Watermelon or pumpkin legumina

Take half a pint of cream, add to it a quarter pound of butter, a piece of sugar, boil with it a cup of crumbs or rice, watermelon grated in a sieve, less a pint, then add ten egg yolks, raisins, egg white foam, mixing well, put into a mould or saucepan, prepared in a known way.

NB. The watermelon is prepared in the following way: the top is cut into pieces, the rind and the centre with the seeds and topping are discarded, and only the yellow flesh is boiled in water or milk, after which it is pressed through a sieve when cool. If there is a shortage of raisins, sour cherries may be used for the logumin after the pips have been removed.