April 18 is a great day for remembering the heroes of Poland. On April 18 1025, for example, Boleslaus the Brave, Duke of Bohemia, declared himself to be the first King of Poland. Boleslaus, for the first time, unified all the provinces that subsequently came to comprise the traditional territory of Poland. At his coronation feast (although Kings of Poland had no crown, so post-aggrandisement party might be a better term), Boleslaus served the top Polish meal of the age - Flaki and barszcz (tripe and beetroot). Despite this culinary extravaganza, Polish cuisine was famously execrable until on 18 April 1518 Bona Sforza was crowned as Queen of Poland and married Sigismund I of Poland. She was considered the mother of modern Polish cuisine and was famous for the introduction of Italian vegetables to Polish tables - Even today, such vegetables as leeks, carrots and cabbage are known in Polish as wtoszczyzna, which refers to Wtochy, the Polish name for Italy. Nowadays, of course, if you want a good plate of cabbage, Poland is the place to go. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the 19th Century that the waiting world saw the creation of the first Polish cook-book, by Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, which was published on 18 April 1874. She based her work on the 18th Century diaries of the szlachta (Polish nobility) who, apparently, spent a great deal of time writing about food.
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