Povna Banka jam workshop, Mukachevo

Povna Banka (“Full Jar”) is a small family workshop in Mukachevo that cooks jam from wild Carpathian berries. The wife works her magic in the kitchen, her husband handles design and photography, and together they head to the mountains for tea herbs. The brand's motto is “Take the Carpathians home”, and every lid says the product is made with heart and hands. The brand is listed among Zakarpattia's craft producers on the region's official tourism portal.

How to buy and why to try it

The producer does not advertise tours or sales at the workshop, so Povna Banka is above all a gift you order via the brand's Instagram and Facebook pages or by phone. The jars are easy to spot: the lid is covered with kraft paper and tied with jute twine, and the label is hand-lettered. It is worth trying for the honest method alone: the berries are picked on Carpathian pastures by the workshop's own team of foragers, who are deliberately paid a fair price — for many mountain families the summer berry harvest is an important income. In the evening, straight after picking, the berries reach the workshop and are cooked in small batches in a copper pan with minimal sugar, some with honey instead. A short boil keeps the natural flavour and colour, and jam is made only in summer, in season.

What's in the jars

• wild-berry jams — “Carpathian bilberry”, “Wild raspberry”, “Wild blackberry”, lingonberry, highbush blueberry;
• flower jams — “Dandelion and apple” and sakura jam;
• honey mousses with berries and herbs;
• “Shchyryi chai” herbal teas — Carpathian bilberry, willowherb (Ivan-chai), “Blooming forest”, wild mint: the herbs are picked, hand-fermented and dried in the shade;
• gift sets of several jars in a kraft box lined with hay.

Bilberries — called yafyny in Transcarpathia — and lingonberries have long been both a treat and a source of income for mountain villages: in summer whole families go up to the pastures with berry combs. A jar of this jam is a taste of the Carpathian summer that is easy to take with you. The jam is lovely with curd pancakes, crêpes and banosh, with hot tea or straight from the spoon, while a Carpathian herbal tea brings back the mountains on a cold winter evening. The kraft-box sets make a genuine Transcarpathian gift for friends and colleagues.

Practical information

• Production address: 21 Yaroslava Mudroho St, Mukachevo. Visits are not confirmed — be sure to call before going.
• Phone: +380953461660; e-mail [email protected].
• Social media: Instagram povnabanka and a Facebook page, where orders are taken.
• Season: jam is cooked in summer, in berry season; check availability and prices when ordering.
• Getting there: Mukachevo is a major transport hub: a railway station with trains from Lviv and Kyiv, the M-06 Kyiv–Chop highway, and buses from Uzhhorod (about 40 km).

Please confirm by phone before your trip.

Website and social media: povnabanka.com · instagram.com · facebook.com

Photos: povnabanka.com; zaktour.gov.ua.