The highlanders warn that redykołki and oscypek may become more expensive due to the decision of the city authorities

Zakopane's “Gazeta Wyborcza” informs that the Zakopane authorities have increased the stand rental prices for oscypek cheese sellers from Krupówki and Gubałówka by as much as 20%. And this arouses a lot of emotions among both traders and tourists. Starting prices on Krupówki will start from PLN 5,000. PLN and they will end up with PLN 10,000. PLN 296 per month, and on Gubałówka it will be even more expensive: for one stand you will have to pay from PLN 5,800 to PLN 15,000. PLN 101.

Highlanders will pay more for the lease of stands

Differences in prices are caused by the location of individual trading points – the more crowded the place, the more expensive.

– You need to spend one hundred thousand zlotys to start this business. When I started, I paid double the rent. This is how officials protect themselves: if I suddenly went bankrupt, I would lose my money – explained Mrs. Iwona, who has been trading in Zakopane for years, in an interview with “GW”. – How to survive after these increases? You will have to work hard, save money on everything and give up hiring employees. Otherwise we won't earn anything.

Not all mountain cheese is oscypek

Another way to make money is to increase the price of goods – especially cheese. The stands in Zakopane are dominated by redykołki – small cheeses, often smoked on the grill and served with cranberries. This is a traditional cheese from Podhale and some parts of the Beskid Mountains, which is not oscypek, but is popularly called that. Moreover, “oscypek” is a kind of code word used to describe all cheeses sold in the mountains, regardless of the fact that individual cheeses differ significantly from each other and a real highlander will determine with his eyes closed what kind of cheese he is dealing with. However, tourists want oscypek cheese, so bryndza, bundz and korbacze are sold under this name. However, it is worth being aware of the differences.

What is redykołka, the cheese that dominates on Krupówki? On the Wędrówki po Kuchni website we read that it is the “younger sister of oscypek” protected by a trademark. The authors explain that it is made, like oscypek, from sheep's milk. “It may contain cow's milk, but no more than 40 percent. However, there are no guidelines as precise as in the case of oscypek regarding weight and shape. There remains freedom here, because the tradition of this cheese is associated with it. They are made only in the summer, from May to September, just like oscypek cheese. The shapes are impressed in wooden molds, thanks to which they take on various forms. Often animals or hearts,” it was explained.

How much does redykołek and oscypek cost?

In the capital of Podhale, you will pay about PLN 3 for a cheese resembling redykołek – but there is a risk that it will be a fake cheese made entirely of cow's milk. The original redykołkas are more expensive and have therefore been replaced by cheaper copies.

Oscypek is a hard cheese produced in Podhale. The original oscypek is a smoked cheese made from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep and cow's milk, which must contain at least: 70 percent sheep's milk. Oscypek cheese is also often faked – it is not smoked or comes from a mixture of cow's milk or 100 percent milk. from cow's milk. For 600 g of certified oscypek we will pay from PLN 75 to even PLN 100 – different shepherd's huts have different prices. To make sure that we are not overpaying, it is worth making sure that the cheese comes from a certified shepherd's hut.

The highlanders warn that redykołki and oscypek may become more expensive due to the decision of the city authorities