Polish cuisine is hearty and satisfying, with cabbage soups and beetroot broths, pierogi dumplings and hunters’ stews, and Jewish dishes like Knyshe. Game meat is favoured in mains, while cabbage is the preferred vegetable. You will never find a dish lacking flavour in the many rich meals that form part of the staple diet here – though you might have trouble cleaning the plate! Pair your meal with any one of the myriad locally-produced vegetables, such as a Lech beer or Miodowka honey vodka, for the ultimate Polish experience.

 

Soup:

Barszcz czerwony (beetroot broth)

Cucumber soup, cabbage soup

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Entrée:

Ryezapiekanka open baguettes with mushrooms and cheese

Pierogi dumplings

Cottage cheese

Gołąbki stuffed cabbage rolls

 

Mains:

Duck, Bison

Freshwater Lake Fish, Carp

Pickled herring

Jellied Meats

Bigos ‘hunter’s stew’ with sauerkraut

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Vegetables:

Wild mushrooms, asparagus, potato pancakes

 

Jewish cuisine:

Czulent (bean casserole)

Knyshe dumplings and stuffed gooseneck

 

Dessert:

Paczki Polish doughnut

Susz compote dessert

Lody ice cream

Kashubian strawberries

Gingerbread

Oscypek hard cheese, bryndza soft cheese (both with sheep’s milk)

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Beer:

Żywiec, Tyskie, Okocim, Lech

 

Wine:

Grzaniec mulled wine

Mead

 

Spirits:

Wódka (vodka)

Zubrówka vodka with bison grass

Miodówka honey vodka

Belvedere rye wódka (high end)

Flavoured beer and vodka (e.g. cherry or blackcurrant)


 

Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC

 

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