Polish Food Overview

Traditional polish food is mostly a huge calory bomb, nevertheless polish dishes are worth trying. Polish kitchen specializes in meat dishes, which are prepared in various ways. Special place hold dishes like: Bigos, Kotel Schabowy, Pierogi or Gołąbki. Courses take their unique taste from specially selected spices, such as: marjoram, fennel, caraway, pepper. For the typical polish feast a shot of vodka is advisible to help with digesting.

SOUPS

Żurek

Traditional żurek is based on sourdough made from flour, which makes the soup to hold a characteristic sour taste. Soup is served most often with boiled kiełbasa, smoked bacon and boiled egg. In some restaurants they serve it in hollow bread in shape of a bowl.

Rosół - Broth

This soup is based on stock and most ofter served with noodles. Rosół was primarely a result of long time boiling of meat in water, which in the old times was preserved with salting and drying up. Stock was called rozsół (or rozsol - desalt) which led to todays name of the dish. In Poland this soup, as a tradition, starts each decent wedding.

Flaki Wołowe - Beef Guts

It is a traditional  meat course served in form of thick soup. Its name derives from its mail ingredient, which is purified and sliced beef guts. This meal is most often served hot and spicy, with pepper, nutmeg or ginger.

STARTERS

Śledź w śmietanie - Herring in Cream

Aka "śledź po staropolsku". Salted herring fillet served in cream souce with pickled cucumber, marinated mushrooms, olives and onions.

Befsztyk Tatarski - Tartar Beefsteak

Dish, which shortly called 'tatar' is prepared from minced beef meat, eggs and spices. Dish is to be eaten raw, ussually with onions or pickled cucumber added. Oftn before mixing meat with eggs and the rest of ingredients you pour some oil on it.

MAIN DISHES - MEAT

Zrazy - Chops

This meal was characteristic for exclusive kitchen of gentry. Chops, according to Old Polish recipes should be prepared with pieces of minced meat, fried and stewed with added vegetables and spices. Most often it is made of different kinds of meat, usually sliced first and then minced together.

Kotlet schabowy - Pork Cutlet

One of national dishes. Consisted of beaten slice of pork, which before it is put on frying pan is coated in eggs and breadcrumbs.

Bigos

Traditional polish dish, which main ingredients are: cabbage and meat. There are many ways to prepare bigos and its varieties. All of them are based on the same primary ingredients, and differ only in some additions, f. ex. dryed mushrooms, proons or onions. The whole deal needs to be stew as long as possible (longer = better), the best is a few days old one, heated many times. According to the tradition its good to add a splash of sweet aromatic wine to it.

Gołąbki

It is a half-meat meal, made of stuffing which consists of minced meat, rice or groats. Stuffing is rolled into packages with help of leaves of white cabbage. There are also other variations on how to prepare stuffing, f. ex. some people add onions and mushrooms to it. After rolling the whole thing it is cooked in a closed glass or ceramic container in a stove, most often dipped in a tomato sauce.

Pierogi - Dumplings

It is made of dough, which is filled with a stuffing, and then boiled, cooked or fried in deep oil. Traditional Old Polish stuffing was of meat (pierogi z mięsem) or vegeterian (pierogi z kapustą i grzybami - with cabbage and mushrooms). In Poland people like also ruskie pierogi, which have potato-white cheese stuffing with onions added. This type of pierogi is most often served with skwarki (pork scratchings), fried onions or thick cream.