Domowość ciasta
The Hominess of Cake

Summary/Abstract: The article expands on several topics from ethnographic research on the baking of homemade cakes, conducted in the area of Dąbrowa Białostocka. It focuses on the specific category of the taste of a homemade cake, mine as opposed to purchased, as well as the separate category of simple. Although the homemade cakes my interviewees baked were usually comprised of mass-produced components, and often contained artificial dyes and chemical additives (in spite of their living in the country and having their own farms), in their opinion, they were homemade, and much healthier than those available in shops, which were accused of being products of chemistry. This shows how the “hominess” of a cake is constructed. Applying the category of “hominess” shows how women try to meet the expectations of their children by creating homemade versions of popular sweets. Cakes described as simple, like yeast cakes, poppy seed cakes, etc., are used pragmatically in relation to relatives and friends from the city who expect something “traditional” when they visit, maintaining the view that the village is supposed to maintain tradition and authenticity, as well as tastes and recipes.

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