Andruty kaliskie

Appearance & taste

The wafer is a thin, round disc with even edges and a smooth, slightly glossy surface, 15 to 17 cm in diameter and 0.8 to 1.5 mm thick. Its colour is uneven and ranges from light cream through straw-coloured to golden brown. It is lightly sweetened, crisp, dry and smooth.

Production

For the batter, 10 l of water, 470 to 1,000 g of sugar, 5 to 6 kg of wheat flour and 150 to 200 ml of rapeseed oil are carefully mixed into a homogeneous, viscous and smooth batter, which rests for 30 minutes. The closed wafer iron is heated to about 180 °C, at most to 220 °C. A portion of batter goes onto the greased lower plate, both plates are pressed together, and after about 30 to 45 seconds the wafer is baked.

The wafers are stacked, faulty ones are sorted out and the edges are trimmed round with a knife or a rasp. Straight after baking they are sealed airtight in clear film, with a band or label, or in boxes or cardboard sleeves; the packaging states the number of wafers. All of this work is done by hand. Because the wafers are fragile and readily absorb moisture, they are packed where they are made. The packaging was specially designed by the local tourist association Ziemia Kaliska, which has it printed centrally and distributes it to the producers.

Origin & history

The area is the town of Kalisz within the administrative boundaries of the district of Kalisz in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. According to the specification, Kalisz can boast the oldest documentary mention in Poland and has been a melting pot of peoples and cultures since the Middle Ages; the wafers are regarded there as a product of several cultures.

Where the word “andruty” comes from is unclear; the name is already recorded in the 18th century. According to the historian and ethnographer Zygmunt Gloger, the wafers were served as a dessert at that time. Their production in Kalisz is documented from the middle of the 19th century and, according to the specification, became established around 1850, when families went for Sunday walks in the town park on the Prosna and wafers were sold there. They were baked in bakeries, households, on country estates and in shops; most are still sold in the town park today. As the most important evidence, the specification names surviving wafer irons from the 19th century, two round, smooth iron plates with a hinge, made by blacksmiths and later by local craftsmen. Like the town’s coat of arms and the town hall, the wafer is regarded, according to the specification, as a symbol of the town.