User:Krystian55/Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine is known for its hearty dishes, numerous soups and of course pierogis, though it is not limited only to those. As fine dining booms and old recipes and traditions resurface, face of Polish cuisine remains changing.

As Poles are people of fields it is no surprise that Polish cuisine revolves around cereals and to a lesser extent vegetables with some little side of meat. More meaty dishes were introduced later as rich people sought more tastes and found them in foreign (usually German and French) cuisines.

As such many traditional dishes are made from various doughs for example pierogi, placki. Other important part of Polish cuisine are its various soups where meat is usually used merely for the broth, focusing on various vegetables instead. Culturally bread is also very important as component of sandwiches, but also a side to other dishes (especially soups).

Śniadanie is first meal served usually between 07:00-10:00. It consists of sandwich (eaten open with bread only on the bottom), sometimes oatmeal or eggs may be present. Coffee is the beverage of choice.

Obiad main meal of the day, traditionally served on 14:00 as a two-course meal with soup and main dish, though these days many people will skip on soup. Typical dishes on traditional Sunday lunch are Rosół or Chłodnik (in summer) as soup and Kotlet schabowy with beetroot/salad and potatoes as main dish.

Podwieczorek optional meal, usually served on weekends 1-2 hours after lunch. A coffee and slice of cake is typical for this meal.

Kolacja optional small meal similar to breakfast eaten at 18:00-19:00, some families prefer to eat their lunch at this time. This meal is much more important during parties and celebrations (especially Christmas Eve) where it will probably turn into dinner.

Poland is quite easy for vegetarians and most restaurants these days have dishes for vegetarians marked on menu. There are many traditional dishes which are vegetarian or even vegan safe like pierogi ruskie and will be readily available even in deep countryside however they are often on sweet side and very low in protein as they are cereal-based. It may be tougher for vegans as often veganism is conflated with vegetarianism in Poland and may be better to ask some additional questions while ordering food (e.g. ask for milk and eggs in recipe).

• Pork is the main meat of Polish cuisine, often eaten fried, roasted or stewed, however it is most important as base ingredient of many sausages and hams. Polish cuisine uses pretty much every part of a pig and its fat used to be widespread as a cooking fat.
• Duck/Goose traditional meat of upper class, served on special occasions, often stuffed with fruits, usually roasted or stewed. Blood of these animals is often used as ingredient in Czernina.
• Chicken often used as replacement of pork, however on its own it is important part of Rosół.

• Bread eaten on breakfast and rarely also on lunch (usually as a side to a soup) and dinner. Usually based on rye dough, rarely on wheat.
• Potatoes usual side served to main dish. Eaten boiled or roasted, sometimes served puree. Replaced buckwheat and other cereals in most dishes in 19th century.
• Buckwheat similar role to potatoes, often preferred if meat is shattered in parts.
• Twaróg similar to cottage cheese, but not really as it is a bit harder, usually used for sweeter dishes, including pierogi, but also in cakes and for breakfast.
• Cabbage part of many dishes and most salads, often pickled. Sometimes replaced by red cabbage.
• Apple often found in cakes, pies, but also as part of salads and certain meat dishes. Huge plantations are located to the south of Warsaw near town of Grójec.

• Mushrooms sprinkled into many dishes, usually for stronger, savoury taste. Indispensable in meaty sauces and hunter's stew
• Dairy, especially smetana, butter and yoghurt - common addition to pierogis and placki.

Polish cuisine is not so heavy on mayonnaise as more Eastern Slavic cuisines tend to be. Mayonnaise is used sparingly, usually on eggs or as part of Olivier salad.

Polish cuisine traditionally discerns dishes on meat, half-meat and non-meat (usually sweet) for main dishes. Soups, sides and confectionery are treated separately.

Soups are the highlight of Polish cuisine and you definitely should not skip on them. They make the bulk of Polish national dishes and most of them you will not find anywhere else. If you were to try anything from Polish cuisine, then soups should be your first choice.

Rosół is a soup based on chicken or rarely beef meat (never pork). This slowly cooked broth with carrot, parsley and pasta is a staple of Sunday lunches and is often served in restaurants on this day. Known since at least 17th century, its name derives from salt leeching of preserved meat (sól is Polish for salt). It is usually first serving before the main course (which typically is kotlet schabowy) and it is unlikely to fill you up on its own.

There are another two soups which are based on Rosół broth. Krupnik also traditional and a bit more hearty dish which includes barley groats, pork meat and dried mushrooms, and the infamous pomidorowa which is a simple tomato soup and often follows on Monday, as a way to deal with soup leftovers.

Żurek

Barszcz czerwony

Chłodnik litewski

Czernina also known as the black soup is made from duck/goose blood with some noodles sprinkled inside. Traditionally made when bride's parents wanted to refuse giving hand of their daughter. Savoury, usually very bitter, many prefer to put some sugar inside to counter the taste.

Flaki

Grochówka

Kapuśniak

• Pierogi ruskie
• Kartacze (cepelins)

• Golonka
• Gołąbki - meat (usually chicken) with buckwheat or rice rolled in cabbage leaf and dipped in tomato sauce.
• Goulash
• Stuffed duck/goose
• Rolada/Zraz (wołowy) - small pieces of meat (usually beef, rarely pork) rolled over bread, pickled cucumbers and ham.
• Kotlet schabowy - pork cutlet similar to Wiener schnitzel, usually served with potatoes and sauerkraut. Known since 19th century, however it was greatly popularized during 1970s as part of bar mleczny subsidized menu.
• Kotlet mielony - typically made from worse quality minced pork meat. A round, reasonably large portion of fried minced meat, typical stay of everyday Polish lunch.
• Kaszanka - blood sausage made with pork organ meat (usually liver), blood and buckwheat. Often served with sauerkraut or onions. Quite savoury, some may even consider it bitter.

• Carp
• Roasted trout

• Kotlet de'volaille - (aka Chicken Kiev) Piece of chicken wrapped around butter with herbs is a staple of Polish restaurants and often a proxy for quality of dining with good chicken Kiev being indicator of overall good service.

• Crepes
• Mizeria - salted and dried cucumbers in yoghurt/smetana, dish from French cuisine
• Vegetables a la polonaise - any vegetable sprinkled with roasted butter with bread crumbs. Fat.
• Placki ziemniaczane - milled potatoes fried on a pan, usually served sweet with smetana or sugar.
• Pampuchy - round steamed dough, replacement of potatoes typically on pork dishes
• Racuchy

Pretty much every region of Poland has its own sausage and there are dozens of different types available depending on your location. Sausages are typically added to soups or eated for breakfast.

• Kabanosy

• Drożdżówka
• Faworki
• Makowiec
• Pączek - fried yeast dough in roughly round shape filled with rose or marmelade and glazed on the outside. Common on various celebrations and often used for eating contests, especially on Fat Thursday.
• Piernik - hard pastry typically made using flour, honey and spices (especially cinnamon). There is significant regional variety and various regions have their own piernik, with the most famous being those from Toruń.

• Oscypek
• Kwaśnica
• Cebularz
• Krakow pretzels
• St. Martin's Croissant
• Kartacze
• Golonka po wielkopolsku
• Silesian dumplings

• Coffee - Poland is a coffee nation, tradition attested to great victory in the battle of Vienna in 1683, during which many nobles reportedly took coffee beans as their war loot establishing first coffee houses in Vienna and later, Poland. Coffee is typically drinked with milk and rarely sugar.

• Kompot - as usual with Slavic nations, in Poland kompot also has its place. Drink made by cooking fruits, typically apples, cranberries, strawberries, or rhubarb and preserved with lots of sugar. Common home drink.

• Buttermilk - locally known as maślanka is pretty easy to find in most shops, if you ever wish to drink one. Sometimes drinked to lunch.

• Beer -

• Vodka - as the beaten trope goes, Poland is a vodka country and you can find vodka in every store and restaurant (gas stations included). These days less potent, aromatic vodkas are more common, especially cytrynówka (lemon) and pigwówka (quince). However the full 40% spirit remains staple of parties. And if you find yourself on one it is quite probable you will take a drink or two too. Poles rarely chug full glasses of vodka, opting for small 20-50 ml size glasses. If your Polish acquaintances like you enough maybe you will get to taste the home-made moonshine bimber, which many believe tastes better than store-bought vodka.

• Grzaniec -

• Mead -

There is not much of a going out culture in Poland and people prefer to party at home, however there are still many options for eating outside and some events, especially family gatherings can happen in a restaurant.

• It is rare to split a bill, especially if there are less than 6 people at the table. And you have to tell waiter in advance.
• There is not much of a culture around who should pay for dining. Usually host pays for food, however in larger gatherings multiple family heads may pay for their part.
• Tip is either 10% or rounded to next large number usually related to banknote nominals (eg. if you have to pay 238 zł you give 250 zł).
• Restaurant owners will usually appreciate if you pay with cash though card payment is also possible. Bad establishments will often pity you into paying cash or have sudden card terminal failure which will magically resolve when you say that you have no cash.
• Restaurant visit will often be followed by home visit for afternoon coffee.

• Bar mleczny a dying type of eating place, probably the cheapest place to eat something if you are on very tight budget. There are very few of these remaining and generally offer poor quality of food due to low customer turnover. However the prices tend to be low, especially for subsidized non-meat dishes (usually various pierogi and placki).
• Bistro is a successor of bar mleczny, a little bit more expensive, but pretty much ubiquitous in entire Poland. Other names include bar and kuchnia. These serve okay quality and generally cheap Polish food. Most common in suburbs and office parks, but may not be present in large city centres.
• Fast food sold in Poland include: kebab, pizza (these two absolutely dominate), burgers and all the usual chains like McDonald's or KFC. Typically on cheaper side, but may be prepared in unhygenic conditions. Sushi rolls are also common but have so-so quality and are expensive.
• Food stall often a truck or caravan located somewhere on street or parking lot serving fast-food or confectionery. Usually rather cheap and not too great quality. Typical foods include grochówka, roasted chicken or zapiekanka on savoury side and ice cream, waffles, kołacz on sweet.
• Pol-Viet thanks to large Vietnamese diaspora there are a lot of establishments where you can eat Polonized Vietnamese food. Expect rice with vegetables and spring rolls. Usually very large portions and cheap, also simliar to kebab often unhygenic with dirty kitchens.
• Restaurant typical location for going out. Most Polish restaurant gravitate towards rustical, highlander style with lots of wood making for a cozy vibe. Another common variant is renovated manor which usually is more high-end and cater to weddings and other expensive parties. You can expect to have waiter service and many dishes from Polish cuisine. Most expensive of the bunch. Restaurants in larger cities may serve foreign cuisine.
• Smażalnia ryb restaurant usually serving roasted trout from local pond with chips and sometimes a salad. If it is located on coast it may serve more types of fish, though note that these will be frozen fish, not fresh. On expensive side, however you can expect large portions. Prices will often be shown per 100g which can create a feeling of being cheap when it's actually not.

• Be aware that Polish hosts tend to be overly modest and will often tell/allow you to do stuff they do not really want as a hospitality gesture. Some of these gestures you need to look out for:
  • it is customary to take off shoes when entering house. There is usually separate room or space on hall for these. Host will customarily tell you to not take shoes off which you are expected to refuse (often several times).
  • when leaving you should offer to help your host, take whatever dishes you used and bring them to kitchen or other place for cleaning.

• Host usually takes care of the party (except for alcohol) and you are expected to either provide a gift or host another party in the future of reasonable value. If you fail to do so, you may be not invited next time and host is unlikely to tell you the real reason.
• If you drink alcohol you should bring some with you. Bring amount you expect to drink or more so that other party members do not feel cheated on.
• It is in good taste to be a little (5-10 minutes, not 15 or more minutes) late to the party (especially informal one) to allow host to finish preparations on time. However closest guests/relatives should arrive first, preferably in time.
• If you arrive early, try to help your host, usual activities are bringing plates and cutlery to the table, moving tables, chairs and other heavy furniture or finishing decorations
• In formal setting (family meeting, major celebrations) host begins eating and you should never start before. If party members are more religious it may be also preceded by a prayer. Try to not hurry up with eating as you will be usually eating all night.
• Nobody is going to cut your head, don't worry. Gesture of beating neck with edge of a palm, which may resemble cutting head is actually a pretty harmless invitation to drink alcohol (usually vodka).
• Polish weddings tend to be very heavy on alcohol, however guests are typically provided with bus to both arrive and depart from the site. Remember drinking limit for car drivers is very low in Poland. Don't even think about it.

• German cuisine
• Russian cuisine