Next: about 23 Apr 2027
Redyk, the shepherds' season in Podhale
Around St Wojciech's day, Polish highland shepherds bless their flocks and lead them up to the summer pastures.
Cheeses for Redyk, the shepherds' season in Podhale
In Podhale, below the Tatra mountains, the shepherding season traditionally runs from around St Wojciech's day, 23 April, to around Michaelmas at the end of September. Before the sheep go up, the baca, the head shepherd, brings his flock to be blessed; at Ludźmierz the gathering is held on the Sunday before the saint's day, with highland fiddles and holy water for the huts. Through the summer the shepherds make oscypek, a smoked, spindle-shaped sheep's-milk cheese, fresh bundz, bryndza, and the small figures of redykołka. The cheese is sold from the huts and at mountain markets.
The cheeses
Also part of it, and being written: Bryndza Podhalańska (Soft, salty sheep's cheese for spreading.).
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Podhale" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Redykołka: MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oscypek: Pawel Swiegoda ( Paberu ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Bundz: Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source