It was recognised from afar: two small loaves joined together, a crisp golden crust, caraway and nigella seeds. Kulykiv bread was baked at 23 Dzherelna Street, in his “Kulykiv Bakery”, by Natan Schwarz – a Jewish baker from the town of Kulykiv, north of Lviv. The bread was named after the baker’s home town, and the bread from Dzherelna made that name famous throughout the city. Whether anyone other than Schwarz baked Kulykiv bread is unknown.
It was sold as “Chleb żytni Kulikoski”. Memoirs describe it as a remarkably light and fluffy rye bread, a true delicacy. People bought it as a gift when leaving Lviv, and it was even served in cafés and confectioneries.
Kulykiv bread was famous from the end of the 19th century until the Second World War. Marian Hemar wrote poems about it, Kazimierz Wajda and Włada Majewska of the “Merry Lwów Wave” radio show joked about it, and street singers composed a ballad about it. For many people in Lviv it became as much a symbol of the city as coffee or Baczewski’s drinks. Here on Dzherelna Street, the chain of our route – grain, market, mill – becomes bread.