Dona from Café A.Blikle in Warsaw
**Nowy Swiat is one of the most traditional streets in Warsaw **. Its neoclassical façades and its proximity to the Old City make it an emblematic point of the city that has managed to maintain its charm while adapting to the changing times of the Polish people.
Commemorative plaques on some of its palatial mansions indicate the one that was home to Joseph Conrad of the great composer Karol Szymanowski or the father of polish music Frederic Chopin . Houses that are characterized by hide a yard where are they today avant-garde shops, gyms, nightclubs or where children are simply seen playing in the secluded space.
But Nowy Swiat (or New World Street) would not be the same without the Cafe A. Blikle , a Warsaw classic whose medallion with the founder's photo Antoni Kazimierz Blikle prays A.Blikle Company in Nowy Swiat since 1869. It is one of the oldest cafes in Warsaw where the cream of Warsaw society has paraded (actors, intellectuals, politicians...) as can be seen in the photos that hang on its walls.
A cafe and pastry shop that, after the bombing of World War II, reopened its doors
GENUINE DONUTS
Of the many delicious sweets that decorate shop windows and are served inside, the most characteristic is called paczki whose floury mass to which is added butter and egg, It is kneaded with care and finally fried, reminiscent of donuts but without holes.
The characteristic and genuine filling is rose petal jam , sometimes from plum . It is said that Polish emigrants to the United States brought the original paczki which later took its form giant donut named donut.
They were also exported to Brazil where they ended up calling each other dream (sleep) . And they say that the famous donut hole comes from yesteryear, from 1847, when elizabeth gregory , Dutch-American, mother of a spice ship captain, she used some of the ones her son brought to create a fried bun similar to paczki with walnuts and hazelnuts , lemon peel, nutmeg and cinnamon. The Captain took his mother's sweet catering overseas.
However, this blunt bun was impractical for the great captain when it came to handling the ship, so he decided stick it in a hole in the rudder spokes during a storm to free both hands, creating the paczki holey led to be called donut as an abbreviation of the donut , of dough; nut, of nuts) .
What if the famous 'donuts' were born here?
A SWEET AWARD FOR PERSISTENCE
This story could be a song to the perseverance of the Blikle family . Since its foundation by the great-grandfather of Andrzej Jacek Blikle , the current owner, has been one of the few, probably the only business in Poland, that has remained open despite the wars and political changes in the country.
Antoni Kazimierz Blikle was born in Warsaw to a Swiss-German family. . His beginnings as a stage actor were interrupted when, on the death of his father, his mother sent him to Switzerland to learn a "practical" trade.
On his return he was placed in a pastry shop that he bought when the owner died. or and that soon led to the classic that it is today. Part of his secret has lain in keep original recipes to which some new products have been added fruit and chocolate.
Antoni Wieslaw continued the family business that had already turned receptacle of the political world and also of the bohemian world of Warsaw , expanding the premises and incorporating an orchestra . his successor, Jerzy Czeslaw Blikle, he had turned the Cafe into a major company with over a hundred employees and a delivery van when the war broke out.
Interior of the A. Blikle cafe
FOREVER BLIKLE
Like the rest of Warsaw, Blikle suffered the devastating effects of the war , even serving as a dining room for the insurgents during the uprising. Not for long, since shortly after its reconstruction in 1948 , the Warsawians s formed queues in front of the establishment and its famous paczki sweetened their palates once again.
The years of socialism were not his best allies but even so Blikle managed to keep making his "pralines ” and its bottle-shaped liqueur chocolates that caused queues to get them whether it was winter or summer.
In 1989 it flourished again and took its pride of place at Nowy Swiat 35 surrounded by emblematic shops of pens, gold medals, flower stalls and passers-by who usually succumb to the delicious pastries of the cafe.
Paczki, the possible origin of donuts
During the 140 years of five generations, the famous donuts or paczki of Blikle have remained faithful to its original recipe in just compensation for the fidelity of his followers. Demand for paczki always fires last thursday of carnival (or **Gluttony Thursday)** when, in anticipation of the Lenten fast, they stock up on Blikle's specialty (said to bring good luck to those who eat it on Greasy Thursday).
Jerzy's son Andrzej Blikle , is an affable man of marked elegance who talks with the customers of the cafe and jokes with his employees creating a so warm atmosphere as the classic decoration of the establishment.
Andrzej proudly reveals the meaning of the photos that cover the walls, some relatives, and others of celebrities who throughout history have sat down to chat at Café Blikle after a steaming cup of chocolate and a delicious cake. Andrzej Jacek Blikle is a renowned math teacher who makes time for, along with the representative of the fifth generation lukas blickle , run a company that already has more than two hundred employees, two cafes, ten pastry shops and a delicatessen in Warsaw , plus nine exclusive franchises in the main cities of Poland.
Paczki, the possible origin of donuts