Sun in a Jar

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an independent reporter, born in 1987. She works alongside Szymon Opryszek, with whom she published the books “Tańczymy już tylko w Zaduszki” [We Only Dance on All Soul’s Day Now] (2016) and “Wyhoduj sobie wolność. Reportaże z Urugwaju” [Grow Yourself Some Freedom: Reportage from Uruguay] (2018). A lover of Latin America and life in the countryside.

I’ve got a new housemate; it’s growing and fermenting. When it’s ready, I’ll get kombucha and a chance for a new, healthier life.

It arrives in an elegant packet with a drawing of the sun and the concentric lines of the solar system. Instead of leading to the planets, the lines promise energy, harmony, probiotics, strength, immunity and antioxidants. I open the box, there’s an instruction manual at the top. It says that the kombucha will peak between day 10 and 14, and that I can decide myself when I like it the best. The jar should be stored at a constant temperature of 20–25°C. It’s mid-May and I’m in the mountains; the weather outside feels like March, during the night the temperature drops to zero. I decide to hold the brewing off until June.

Meanwhile, I’ve learned from the user’s manual that I should not worry about the slurry and the whitish and brownish efflorescence (it’s yeast, during the pandemic a lot of us have learned how to work with it). I’ve also learned that what I am about to grow is called a SCOBY (it brings Scooby-Doo to mind). This acronym stands for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’. In Poland, it is traditionally called ‘tea fungus’. Apparently, before the war and

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Maria Hawranek:

an independent reporter, born in 1987. She works alongside Szymon Opryszek, with whom she published the books “Tańczymy już tylko w Zaduszki” [We Only Dance on All Soul’s Day Now] (2016) and “Wyhoduj sobie wolność. Reportaże z Urugwaju” [Grow Yourself Some Freedom: Reportage from Uruguay] (2018). A lover of Latin America and life in the countryside.

Translation: Adam Zdrodowski

Publish date: 18.09.2020

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Monika Kucia:

is a journalist and culinary superintendent at sialababamak.pl. Monika likes to bring words, flavours and people together. She helps foreigners learn about Poland from the tastiest side. She also creates culinary spectacles in which she encourages participants to eat leftovers, breathe in the smells of the basement, and sprinkle food with golden dust.

Craft production is cheap and the regular consumption of fermented products seems to have enormous health benefits.

Kombucha

Kombucha, which can be bought in nearly every New York bar or corner shop, is now becoming more available in Poland. It is young vinegar obtained from sweetened fermented tea, wonderfully refreshing and good for our health. You can brew it yourself by adding SCOBY (a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to sugared tea. The best idea is to get the SCOBY, also known as the ‘mother’, from someone who has brewed kombucha before. SCOBY looks a bit like a brain. It can be sliced and safely shared with others who are ready to grow bacteria cultures. Bacteria multiply superfast, but it takes a few weeks before kombucha fully develops. It then becomes a ‘living’ kombucha, which changes its taste every day, eventually turning into vinegar. The kombuchas widely available on the market are usually pasteurized, which means that they can last longer on the shelf, but their taste remains the same and they lack the health benefits.

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Home Fermentation

Kombucha

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