Brussels, 07/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - Poland has asked the European Commission to register the drink “Trójniak” in the Community list of traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG). In line with the request published in the Official Journal C265 of Wednesday 7 November, trójniak is a mead, produced in line with an old Polish tradition, a clear drink produced by fermenting honey must and which tastes of honey. The taste of trójniak can be enriched by adding spices. Its colour ranges from pale straw to dark amber, depending on the variety of the honey used to produce it. The alcoholic content of this drink is between 12 and 15% vol.
The production of mead in Poland is a thousand-year-old tradition and is characterised by its great diversity. The production method has been developed and perfected over the centuries, which means that many different meads have seen the light of day. The origin of mead production goes back to the very beginning of the Polish state. In 966, the Spanish diplomat, a merchant and traveller Ibrahim ibn Jakub wrote that “in the country of Mieszko I, you find in abundance - along with foodstuffs, meat and arable land - mead, the name given to Slavic wines and intoxicating drinks” (Mieszko I was the first sovereign of Poland). The epic poem “Pan Tadeusz” by the author Adam Mickiewicz, in which he depicts the Polish nobility in the years 1811 and 1812, contains much information concerning the production and consumption habits of mead, and lists various types of mead in existence. (L.C.)