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
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
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)
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
