Dried fish in the furnace and wild honey in Rivne region

Delicious traditions, crafts and rituals of Rivne region today: dried fish on straw and wild beekeeping (bortnytstvo)

We continue a series of publications about culinary expeditions of the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the city", which promote the culinary traditions and intangible heritage of Rivne and Rivne region. The article keeps the dialect of the region and the live language.

Cooking fish on straw in the furnace, wild beekeeping and creating a haze weaving, the tradition of honouring old trees - all of that the team of the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the city" brought from a culinary expedition from the villages of Dubrovytsia and Rokytne districts and will share with you.

Polissya is a land of centuries-old giants of oaks, ancient forests, untouched swamps and lakes rich in various fish. You can combine your vacation here with picking berries, mushrooms, medicinal plants, or fishing. And it is really worth trying the taste of traditional Polissya carp, crucian carp baked on a straw in the furnace.

Every housewife knows this recipe for cooking fish and teaches her children how to cook it. Peeled salted fish is placed on straw and baked in the furnace at low temperature during the day. So the hostess used the last heat in the furnace, and the fish there seemed to grind, and the straw gave off its aroma and did not allow the fish to burn. The cooking process is very simple, but the taste is just incredible. This fish tastes very good with beer or kvass. Modern craft producers have already taken into account this recipe for fish, so when you taste it in a bar, restaurant or buy in a store - remember that this is our regional Polissya recipe.

Polissya region is also known for its centuries-old tradition of wild beekeeping or bortnytstvo. This is a traditional type of folk craft, a forest form of beekeeping. To extract honey, beekeepers first kept bees in natural or artificial tree hollows, and later in specially made log hives, which were hung from forest trees or housed in farmsteads. The peculiarity of the taste of this honey was that it was collected by wild forest bees.

Traditionally, bortnytstvo was a male occupation. It was inherited through the male line, along with the boards and apiaries. Thus dynasties of hereditary beekeepers were formed. Today, about 100 hereditary boarders work in the Polissya region. Today, this ancient craft is included in the list of the intangible cultural heritage of Ukraine.

Honey has always been in the kitchen of housewives. It was added to porridge, pancakes, often used in making sweets with berries and nuts. Therefore, bortnytstvo honey was an integral delicacy in Polissya families.

Polissya traditions - whether culinary or craft, beliefs or rituals - are all our history, the heritage of our ancestors and generations. It is extremely rich and inexhaustible. In order for this intangible heritage not to disappear over time, it is very important to preserve it and tell the world about it.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union under the Сross-border cooperation program "Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020".
The content is the sole responsibility of the NGO "Agency for Sustainable Development of the City", and under no circumstances can be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union

Photographer Anton Trofimchuk