Jump to content

Polish cuisine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 94.254.231.6 (talk) at 18:52, 11 September 2023 (→Alcoholic). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Complementary traditional Polish farmers food (bigos stew, pierogi dumplings, gołąbki cabbage rolls, skwarki cracklings)
Various kinds of Polish kielbasa. From the top down: biała, kabanos, wiejska with mustard
Oscypek, a Polish smoked cheese and traditional food of the Goral people in the Tatra Mountains
Bagels originated in Poland and became widespread during migration of Polish Jews.
Part of a series on the
Culture of Poland
History
People
Languages
Traditions
Mythology
Cuisine
Festivals
Religion
Art
Literature
Music and performing arts
Media
Sport
Monuments
Symbols

Polish cuisine (Template:Lang-pl) is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and it shares many similarities with other regional cuisines. Polish-styled cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.

Polish cuisine is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and game, in addition to a wide range of vegetables, spices, mushrooms, and herbs.[1] It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles, cereals, and grains.[2] In general, Polish cuisine is hearty and heavy in its use of butter, cream, eggs, and extensive seasoning. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. Many Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas Eve supper (Template:Lang-pl) on December 24, or Easter breakfast, both of which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

Among the well-known Polish national dishes are Template:Lang-pl [ˈbiɡɔs], Template:Lang-pl [pʲɛˈrɔɡʲi], Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl [ˈkɔtlɛt sxaˈbɔvɨ] (pork loin breaded cutlet), Template:Lang-pl [ɡɔˈwɔ̃pkʲi] (cabbage roll), Template:Lang-pl [ˈzrazɨ] (roulade), Template:Lang-pl [ˈzupa ɔɡurˈkɔva] (sour cucumber soup), Template:Lang-pl [ˈzupa ɡʐɨˈbɔva] (mushroom soup), Template:Lang-pl [ˈzupa pɔmidɔˈrɔva] (tomato soup),[3] Template:Lang-pl [ˈrɔsuw] (meat broth), Template:Lang-pl [ˈʐurɛk] (sour rye soup), Template:Lang-pl [ˈflakʲi] (tripe soup), and red beetroot soup Template:Lang-pl [barʂt͡ʂ].[4]

A traditional Polish dinner is composed of three courses, beginning with a soup like the popular Template:Lang-pl broth and tomato soup. At restaurants, the soups are followed by an appetizer such as herring (prepared in either cream, oil, or in aspic), or other cured meats and vegetable salads. The main course usually includes a serving of meat, such as roast, breaded pork cutlet, or chicken, with a coleslaw-like Template:Lang-pl ([suˈrufka]), shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac, seared beetroot), sauerkraut, or Template:Lang-pl salad. The side dishes are usually boiled potatoes, Template:Lang-pl, or less commonly, rice. Meals often conclude with a dessert including Template:Lang-pl, a poppy seed pastry, Template:Lang-pl cream pie, or Template:Lang-pl (cheesecake).

Internationally, if a Polish culinary tradition is used in other cuisines, it is referred to as à la polonaise, from French meaning 'Polish-style.' In French cooking, this term is used for techniques like using butter instead of cooking oil; frying vegetables with buttered breadcrumbs; using minced parsley and boiled eggs (Polonaise garnish); and adding horseradish, lemon juice, or sour cream to sauces like velouté.[5][6]

History

Middle Ages

Template:Lang-pl (or Template:Lang-pl) is a tripe soup, known since the Middle Ages and favourite dish of king Jogaila.

Polish cuisine in the Middle Ages was based on dishes made of agricultural produce and cereal crops (millet, rye, wheat), meats of wild and farm animals, fruits, forest berries and game, honey, herbs, and local spices. It was known above all for abundant use of salt from Wieliczka and permanent presence of groats (Template:Lang-pl). A high calorific value of dishes and drinking beer or mead as a basic drink was typical of Middle Ages Polish cuisine.

During the Middle Ages the cuisine of Poland was heavy and spicy. Two main ingredients were meat (both game and beef) and cereal. The latter consisted initially of proso millet, but later in the Middle Ages other types of cereal became widely used. Most commoners did not eat bread and instead consumed cereals in the forms of Template:Lang-pl or various types of flatbread, some of which (for instance Template:Lang-pl) are considered traditional recipes even in the 21st century. Apart from cereals, a large portion of the daily diet of mediaeval Poles consisted of beans, mostly broad beans and peas. As the territory of Poland was densely forested, usage of mushrooms, forest berries, nuts, and wild honey was also widespread. Among the delicacies of the Polish nobility were honey-braised bear paws served with horseradish-flavoured salad, smoked bear tongue, and bear bacon (bears are now protected in Poland)[citation needed].[7][8]

Template:Lang-pl (Polish gingerbread) from Toruń, 14th-century recipe

Thanks to close trade relations with Turkey and the countries in the Caucasus, the price of spices (such as black pepper and nutmeg) was much lower in Poland than the rest of Europe, hence spicy sauces became popular. The usage of two basic sauces, the Template:Lang-pl and Template:Lang-pl (meaning "red" and "gray blood" in Old Polish), remained widespread at least until the 18th century.[9]

The daily beverages included milk, whey, buttermilk, and various herb infusions. The most popular alcoholic beverages were beer and mead; however, in the 16th century, upper classes began to import Hungarian and Silesian wines. Mead was so widespread that in the 13th century Prince Leszek I the White explained to the Pope that Polish knights could not participate in a crusade as there was no mead in the Holy Land.[10] Also, vodka became popular, possibly among the lower classes first. There is written evidence suggesting that vodka originated in Poland. The word "vodka" was recorded for the first time ever in 1405 in Template:Lang-pl,[11] the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland.[11] At that time, the word Template:Lang-pl (vodka) referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetic cleansers, while the popular beverage was called Template:Lang-pl [ɡɔˈʐawka] (from the Old Polish Template:Lang-pl).

Renaissance

Along with the Italian Queen Bona Sforza (second wife of Sigismund I of Poland), many Italian cooks came to Poland after 1518. Although native vegetable foods were an ancient and intrinsic part of Polish cuisine, this began a period in which vegetables like lettuce, leeks, celeriac, and cabbage were more widely used. Even today, some of those vegetables are referred to in Polish as Template:Lang-pl, a word derived from Template:Lang-pl, the Polish name of Italy. During this period, the use of spices—which arrived in Poland via Western Asian trade routes was common among those who could afford them, and dishes considered elegant could be very spicy. However, the idea that Queen Bona was the first to introduce vegetables to Poland is false. While her southern cooks may have helped elevate and expand the role of various vegetables in royal Polish cuisine, records show that the court of king Jogaila (Template:Lang-pl, who died in 1434, over 80 years before her reign) enjoyed a variety of vegetables including lettuce, beets, cabbage, turnip, carrots, peas, and cauliflower.

Template:Lang-pl (brine-pickled cucumbers)

Polish-style pickled cucumber (Template:Lang-pl) is a variety developed in the northern part of Central Europe. It has been exported worldwide and is found in the cuisines of many countries. It is usually preserved in wooden barrels. A cucumber only pickled for a few days is different in taste (less sour) than one pickled for a longer time and is called Template:Lang-pl (lit. 'lightly salted cucumber'). Another kind of pickled cucumber popular in Poland is Template:Lang-pl (lit. 'preserved cucumber'), which is preserved with vinegar rather than pickled and uses different spices creating a sweet and sour taste.

The only indisputable fact is that the court of Queen Bona was fed in an Italian fashion, because she exclusively employed Italian cooks, some of whom were originally hired to prepare parties for aristocratic families but who were soon serving typical Italian dishes as part of the court's daily menus. Court records show that Queen Bona imported large volumes of southern European, American, and Western Asian fruits (oranges, lemons, pomegranates, olives, figs, tomatoes), vegetables (potatoes and corn), nuts (chestnuts, raisins, and almonds, including marzipan), along with grains (such as rice), cane sugar, and Italian olive oil. The court also imported various herbs and spices including black pepper, fennel, saffron, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.[12]

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Compendium ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw ("Collection of Dishes") is the oldest extant Polish cookbook, from 1682.

Until the Partitions perpetrated by the neighboring empires, Poland was one of the largest countries in the world, and encompassed many regions with its own, distinctive culinary traditions.[12] Two consecutive Polish kings, Władysław IV and John II Casimir (Template:Lang-pl) married the same French Duchess, Marie Louise Gonzaga (Template:Lang-pl), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua; she was persecuted by King Louis XIII of France for her affiance to his opponent Gaston, Duke of Orléans. Marie Louise arrived in Warsaw in 1646, was widowed, and married again in 1649.[relevant?] Ludwika brought along with her a court full of Frenchmen including courtiers, secretaries, army officers, physicians, merchants, craftsmen, as well as many cooks.[13]

Records show that her visiting guests were entertained with forest game, fowl (waxwings, fieldfares, snow bunting, hazel grouse, partridges, black grouse, capercaillies), fish and mollusks (loach, various trout, grayling, fresh and smoked salmon, flounder, salted herring, lampreys in vinegar, oysters, snails), and Genoese pâté, not to mention fresh fruit and chestnuts. French and Italian wines were served, as well as mead and local beers. The dishes were made only according to French recipes. The royal court, with all its innovations, exerted a broad influence over the rest of aristocratic residences and noble palaces across Poland. French cuisine was in fashion and many families willingly employed French cooks and pâté makers. In the mid-18th century, French champagne appeared on Polish tables.[12]

Among the most influential cuisines under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were Lithuanian, Jewish, German, and Hungarian cuisine, as well as Armenian cuisine, which arrived in Poland before the 17th century along with many settlers, especially in the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth.[12] Signature dishes of the Western Asia reached Polish tables thanks to the Armenian trade and cultural exchange with Poland's neighbor: the Ottoman Empire. Rare delicacies were brought to royal court as gifts from sultans and royal envoys. The strongest influences were noted in the cities of Lwów, Kraków, Kamieniec Podolski, and Zamość due to many Armenians living there permanently.[12] Also, because of the close contact with the Ottoman Empire, coffee (Template:Lang-pl) and boza became popular.

With the subsequent decline of Poland, and the grain production crisis that followed The Deluge, potatoes began to replace the traditional use of cereal. The oldest surviving Polish cookbook, Compendium ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw ("Collection of Dishes") by Stanisław Czerniecki was published in Kraków in 1682.[14][15] Under the Partitions, the cuisine of Poland became heavily influenced by cuisines of the surrounding empires. This included Russian and German cuisines, but also the culinary traditions of most nations of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The 19th century also saw the creation of many Polish cookbooks, by Jan Szyttler, Anna Ciundziewicka, Wincenta Zawadzka, Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, and others.[16][17]

After World War II

Most enduring of Polish culinary traditions are the pierogi, a national dish of Poland, originating in the ancient culinary traditions of the former Polish eastern territories (Kresy).[18]

After the end of World War II, Poland became a communist country which joined the Warsaw Pact. Some restaurants were nationalized. The communists envisioned a net of lunch rooms called "bufet" for the workers at various companies, and milk bars for the public. The majority of restaurants that survived the 1940s and 1950s were state-owned. Workplace lunch rooms promoted mostly inexpensive meals, including many soups, meatballs and pork chops, and staples such as Template:Lang-pl / Template:Lang-pl (potato pancakes), Template:Lang-pl (apple pancakes), Template:Lang-pl (potato gnocchi), Template:Lang-pl (farmer's cheese gnocchi served sweet), and pierogi. A typical second course consisted of meat cutlet served with potatoes or buckwheat and Template:Lang-pl (raw, julienned vegetables). The popular Polish Template:Lang-pl is a breaded cutlet similar to the Austrian Wiener schnitzel and the Italian and Spanish Milanesa.[19][20]

With time, the shortage economy led to scarcity of meat, coffee, tea, and other basic ingredients. Many products like chocolate, sugar, and meat were rationed, with a specific limit depending on social class and health requirements. Physical workers and pregnant women were generally entitled to more food products. Imports were restricted, so much of the food supply was domestic. Cuisine became homogeneous, to be a chef was no longer a prestigious profession, and for decades the country became basically disconnected from any foreign cuisine.[21] Tropical fruits (such as citrus, banana, and pineapple) were available during holidays, while local fruits and vegetables were mostly seasonal but were available at private stands. For most of the year, people had to get by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, plums, currants, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables, and frozen products. Other food products (of foreign origins) were available at markets at high prices.

This situation led in turn to gradual replacement of traditional Polish cuisine with food prepared from anything available at the moment. Among the popular dishes introduced by the public restaurants was Template:Lang-pl (meatball), a sort of a hamburger often served with beet puree and fresh carrots. The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the Template:Lang-pl feast (Christmas Eve), for which many families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.[22]

A popular form of fish dish was, and still is, the paprikash (Template:Lang-pl) from the port city of Szczecin, usually added to sandwiches as a spread.[23]

Template:Lang-pl, a baguette with melted cheese, meat, mushrooms, onions, and ketchup. A popular street food to this day which originated in the 1970s.

Modern era

With the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, a wave of new restaurants opened, and the basic foodstuffs were once again easily obtainable. This led to a gradual return of rich traditional Polish cuisine, both in home cooking and in restaurants. At the same time, restaurants and supermarkets promoted the use of ingredients typical of other cuisines of the world. Among the most notable foods that started to become common in Poland were cucurbits, zucchini, and many kinds of fish. During communist times, fresh fish was available essentially only in the seaside regions.

Recent years have seen the advent of a slow food movement, and a number of TV programs devoted to cuisine, both traditional and otherwise, have gained popularity. In 2011, a nostalgic cookbook (written in English) combining a child's memories growing up in the Gierek era with traditional Polish recipes was published in London.[24][25]

American food in Poland, most commonly McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut, are declining in popularity as Polish people prefer their own cuisine, including fast food.[citation needed] Meanwhile, doner kebabs are gaining popularity. Nonetheless, in most of Poland one can still get traditional and very popular Polish street food such as the Template:Lang-pl, a pizza-like baguette with cheese, mushrooms, onion, ketchup, and sometimes meat. There are also many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which serve kebabs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and Polish Template:Lang-pl (sausage). In the southern mountainous region, Template:Lang-pl served with cranberry jam is a popular street food.

Holiday meals

Christmas dishes

See also: Wigilia
Template:Lang-pl, one of the traditional Template:Lang-pl dishes

Traditional Christmas Eve supper called Template:Lang-pl is meatless (except for fish) and usually consists of Template:Lang-pl (borscht) with uszka (small dumplings)—a classic Polish Christmas Eve starter—followed by dishes such as fried carp, carp or cod with apple and leeks, fresh salad, or carp in aspic. Traditionally, carp (fried or Jewish style) provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland. Other popular dishes, eaten the next day, include pickled matjas herring, rollmops, pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms, fish soup, kielbasa, hams, bigos (savory stew of cabbage and meat), and vegetable salads. Among popular desserts are gingerbread, cheesecake, various fruits such as oranges, poppy seed cake, Template:Lang-pl (Template:Lang-pl in Silesia), fruit kompot, and Template:Lang-pl with poppyseed and gingerbread. Regional dishes include Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl (in Silesia), and Template:Lang-pl, stuffed dumplings with mushrooms or meat from the eastern regions.[26]

Fat Thursday

Template:Lang-pl or Template:Lang-pl, filled doughnut

Template:Lang-pl, or "Fat Thursday", is a Polish culinary custom on the last Thursday before Lent, equivalent to Pancake Day. Traditionally, it is an occasion to enjoy sweets and cakes before the forty days of abstinence expected of Catholics until Easter Day.[27]

The most popular sweetmeats on Fat Thursday are Template:Lang-pl, Polish doughnuts, and Template:Lang-pl (sometimes called Template:Lang-pl), equivalent to the French beignet. Traditional Polish doughnuts are filled with rose petal jam, plum jam, or apple and covered with icing with orange peel or powdered with icing sugar. Fat Thursday used to mark the beginning of a "Fat Week", a period of great gluttony during which Polish ancestors consumed dishes served with Template:Lang-pl (lard), bacon, and all kinds of meat.[citation needed]

The original doughnuts, popular until the 16th century, were made of the same dough as bread, would be filled with pork and fried on Template:Lang-pl. Only later were they made as patisserie.[citation needed]

Easter breakfast

See also: Święconka

A typical Easter breakfast often consists of cold-cuts served with horseradish sauce and beet salads, breads, bigos, żurek, kiełbasa, smoked salmon or herring, marinated vegetable salads, Easter salad (chopped boiled eggs, green peas, ćwikła, carrot, apple, potato, parsley, and mayonnaise), coffee, tea and cakes (such as chocolate cake), Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl, and Template:Lang-pl.

Regional cuisines

Poland has a number of unique regional cuisines with regional differences in preparations and ingredients. For an extensive list of the dishes typical to Galicia, Kresy, Podlachia, Masovia (including Warsaw), Masuria, Pomerania, Silesia, Lesser Poland, the Tatra mountains, and Greater Poland, see the List of Polish cuisine dishes.

Greater Poland

Typical for Greater Poland are various dishes from potatoes – especially pyry z gzikiem (potatoes with quark cheese mixed with sour cream, onions and chieves). Popular are also poultry dishes like kaczka po poznańsku (duck meat with red cabbage and steam-cooked dumplings), czernina (duck blood soup) and goose meat eaten on the Saint Martin's Day.

Other famous products include also rogale świętomarcińskie (croissants filled with white poppy seeds), fried cheese and a beer Grodziskie/Grätzer (made from oak-smoked wheat malt and with a low alcohol content).

Lesser Poland

The city of Kraków is famous for its sausage kiełbasa krakowska and meat sandwich maczanka krakowska. Typical are also some Austrian influences due to the fact, that the city belonged in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century to Austria-Hungary. They include Pischinger cake and pork cutlet kotlet schabowy (today popular in the whole Poland). Popular street foods are bagels obwarzanki and baked sandwiches zapiekanki sold on the Plac Nowy square.

The area near Nowy Sącz and Limanowa is rich in quality plums; popular are dried ones called suska sechlońska and plum brandy slivovitz.

The mountain areas of Lesser Poland, especially Podhale, are famous for its sheep milk cheeses like bundz, creamy bryndza or smoked oscypek. Other popular dishes include a milk drink żętyca, a sauerkraut soup kwaśnica, placek po zbójnicku (potato pancakes with goulash on top) and a góral tea (tea with alcohol).

Lubelszczyzna

Many dishes in Lublin cuisine have Jewish roots, like cebularz (flatbread topped with onion and poppy seads) and forszmak (soup with various types of meat).

Important local ingredient is groat – typical dish consisting of it is a pie called pieróg biłgorajski.

Kashubia and Pomerania

Because of the proximity to the sea, typical for the region are various forms of fish dishes like śledź po kaszubsku (herring in tomato marinade with onion) and fried cod or flounder.

Other famous products include kashubian strawberry (kaszëbskô malëna), gingerbreads from Toruń and alcohol beverages from Gdańsk: Goldwasser (herbal liqueur with flakes of gold leaf) and machandel (juniper vodka).

In Szczecin, typical regional products are paszteciki (pastries with meat or vegetarian filling) and fish spread paprykarz szczeciński. Besides, in the resort towns along the westpomeranian Baltic coast, popular street foods are sandwiches with herring, similar to German Fischbrötchen.

Masovia

Modern Warsaw, as a capital, has a very cosmopolitan cuisine combining various international foods. However, there are also some typical traditional dishes like Warsaw tripe, pyzy z mięsem (potato dumpling with meat) and pork knuckles in jelly (popular as a vodka chaser).

Famous are many desserts of Warsaw origin, like chocolate cream cake wuzetka (probably named after the Warsaw W-Z Route), ptasie mleczko (chocolate covered marshmallows) and pańska skórka (candies sold traditionally at cemeteries during the All Saints' Day).

Out of Warsaw, typical regional products include apples from Grójec and piwo kozicowe from Kurpie region (low-alcohol juniper beverage).

Podlachia

Podlachian cuisine has many Lithuanian, Belarusian and Tatar influences. Popular dishes, also known from the aforementioned cuisines, include kartacze (potato dumplings with meat), babka ziemniaczana (potato pie) and pierekaczewnik (meat pie).

Besides, famous are cold beet or cucumber soup chłodnik, cheese koryciński and desserts: sękacz (spit cake) and marcinek [pl] (layer cake with cream).

Podlasie is also known from high-quality alcoholic beverages like vodka with bison grass żubrówka and home-made strong vodka duch puszczy.

Silesia

Silesian cuisine combines Polish, German, Czech and Austrian influences. The most iconic dish is rolada – rolled beef patty usually served with silesian dumplings and red cabbage. Other popular foods are sourdough soup żur śląski, meatballs karminadle and blood sausage krupniok.

Typical desserts are cake kołocz śląski, candies kopalnioki and wafers oblaty śląskie.

Traditional dishes from Lower Silesia include śląskie niebo (pork with dried fruits and spices), herbal liqueur Echt Stonsdorfer (today produced in Germany, but similar product known as Likier Karkonoski is produced in Poland) and modern fast-food from Wrocław – knysza.

Warmia–Masuria

Cuisine of Warmia–Masuria connects German and Eastern influences (especially from the former Eastern Borderlands; thus it has some similarities to the Podlachian cuisine). Due to many lakes and forests, it is also rich in fishes, mushrooms, and honey. Typical traditional dishes include kartacze (potato dumplings with meat), dzyndzałki (dumplings filled with buckwheat groats), klopsy królewieckie (metaballs with caper sauce), sękacz (spit cake) and a honey liqueur niedźwiedziówka.

Soups

All soups have fresh stock—made from chicken, beef, pork ribs, vegetables, or a combination of several—combined with root vegetables. Meat is either chopped and eaten with soup, used to make the next dish, or eaten alone with bread. It is common to eat two dishes during dinner: (1) a soup, and (2) a starch (potato, rice, groats, pasta) with meat, stews, or sweet dishes. Although cream or purée soups are not common or traditional in Poland, they are still prepared because of the influence of other countries' cuisine. Often soups are whitened by adding a splash of sour or double cream.

Template:Lang-pl (tomato soup) with rice or noodles is a popular dish as part of a Polish dinner.
Botwinka young beet leaves soup with hard-boiled egg, popular in late spring season.
Template:Lang-pl, a sour rye soup with Template:Lang-pl and egg
Dried apples, pears and plums – a traditional product of Poland, used, for example, to prepare Christmas compote.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Thin tomato soup made with tomato purée, root vegetables, and stock, usually served with pasta or rice; sour cream is often added.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Potato soup with root vegetables.
  • Template:Lang-pl (or Template:Lang-pl) – Duck soup made with duck broth or duck blood, the latter giving the soup a dark, almost black, colour. Recipes vary widely, but often sweet and sour ingredients are added, typically vinegar and often sugar, fruit juice, or fruit such as prunes or pears. It is usually served with the duck meat and Kluski-style noodles. Nowadays, it is not commonly eaten.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cold soup made of soured milk or sour cream, young beet leaves, cucumbers, and chopped fresh dill. Sometimes chives and radishes are added.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Beet leaves soup with potatoes and root vegetables, served hot.
  • Template:Lang-pl (red borscht) – Clear beetroot soup made out of stock, beetroots, and beetroot sourdough; served with uszka, krokiet made from naleśniki, pasztecik, pierogi, and rarely with white beans, red kidney beans, or mashed potatoes. It is a very important dish during Christmas Eve.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Beetroot soup with grated beetroots, cubed potatoes, and root vegetables. Sometimes it is called "red borscht", like the one cooked during Christmas Eve, even though it does not contain beetroot sourdough. It is slightly sweet but not sour.
  • Template:Lang-pl (Ukrainian borscht) – Beetroot soup with addition of sliced white cabbage, white or red kidney beans, and diced or puréed tomatoes. In Ukraine, beans are not used in this dish.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Sorrel soup made of sorrel leaves and rice, served with hard-boiled egg.
  • Template:Lang-pl (or Template:Lang-pl) – Beef or pork tripe stew with marjoram and spices. Vegetarians make this soup with oyster mushrooms.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Clear chicken soup served with noodles, usually short vermicelli. The stock is made of root vegetables and whole chicken, beef, or both.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Mushroom soup made of white or wild mushrooms with potatoes or pasta. During Christmas Eve it is instead served with łazanki pasta or uszka.
  • Template:Lang-pl – A sour cucumber soup made of sour, salted cucumbers.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Fermented cereal soup made of wholemeal rye sourdough, although oat sourdough is used in Lesser Poland and Podlachia, and buckwheat sourdough is used in Lublin Voivodeship.[28] Like Template:Lang-pl and Template:Lang-pl, it is served with mashed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cooked and smoked bacon, and biała kiełbasa (white kielbasa).
  • Template:Lang-pl – Fermented cereal soup, more delicate than Template:Lang-pl because it is made of wheat flour sourdough. Colloquially (but improperly) it is often called Template:Lang-pl (white bortscht).[28]
  • Template:Lang-pl (rye soup) – Fermented cereal soup made with sour rye. Served with sliced smoked pork sausage, cooked and smoked bacon, and separately cooked and diced potatoes.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Fermented cereal soup made with wheat flour. Traditionally, cabbage sourdough (sauerkraut juice) or cucumber sourdough (sour pickled cucumbers juice) is used. Still, they can be replaced by using citric acid.[28]
  • Template:Lang-pl – Pea soup with split peas, potato, carrot, parsley root, kielbasa or fried bacon, and marjoram.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Sauerkraut soup with potatoes, root vegetables (parsley root, carrots, celery root), bacon, and pork ribs.[29]
  • Template:Lang-pl – Sauerkraut soup with potatoes and ribs. Similar to Template:Lang-pl, but omits other vegetables and tastes sourer.[29]
  • Template:Lang-pl – Pork or beef, smoked bacon, white mushrooms, sour pickled cucumbers, red bell pepper, tomato puree, spices, onion, and garlic.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cold soup made of raw, partially blended, or cooked and chilled vegetables with yoghurt or sour cream (such as cucumber Template:Lang-pl or tomato Template:Lang-pl). Often served with cooked potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, or both.
  • Template:Lang-pl (bean soup) – Made with white beans, root vegetables, smoked sausage (kielbasa), fried bacon, and marjoram.
  • Template:Lang-pl (cabbage soup) – Made with stock, chopped white cabbage, root vegetables, tomato puree and potatoes.
  • Template:Lang-pl (vegetable soup) – Made with potatoes, green beans, root vegetables, cauliflower, peas, and sometimes brussels sprouts.
  • Template:Lang-pl (rice soup) – Made with rice, potatoes, and root vegetables with chicken.
  • Template:Lang-pl (dill soup) – Made with chicken stock, root vegetables, a big amount of dill, spring onion, potatoes or baby potatoes, and sometimes with sour or double cream.
  • Template:Lang-pl (horseradish soup) – Made with white kielbasa, smoked bacon or pork ribs, sour cream, horseradish, garlic, potatoes, and root vegetables for stock; can be served with hard-boiled eggs.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Soup with minced meat, cabbage, tomato puree, tomatoes, rice, and spices.
  • Template:Lang-pl (cauliflower soup) – Made with stock, potatoes, cauliflower florets, and root vegetables.
  • Template:Lang-pl (broccoli soup) – Made with stock, potatoes, broccoli florets, and root vegetables.
  • Template:Lang-pl (goulash soup) – Made with pork, beef, potatoes, onion or leek, passata, tomato puree, paprika, and red bell pepper. It is similar to Hungarian goulash, whilst Polish goulash is similar to Template:Lang-hu.
  • Template:Lang-pl (or Template:Lang-pl) (lentil soup) – Made with green or red lentils, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, onion, and double or sour cream. May be served with pasta or potatoes.
  • Template:Lang-pl (fruit soup) – Served cold with different fruits and pasta during hot summer.

Meat and fish

A typical Polish meal: Template:Lang-pl (minced pork cutlet), potatoes, beets and tea with lemon
Template:Lang-pl (rollmops), rolled pickled herring fillets, served during Christmas. Traditional to Polish, German and Jewish cuisines.

Flour or potato-based

  • Template:Lang-pl – Half-moon-shaped dumplings with various fillings. Savoury pierogi may be filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms, potato, quark and fried onion (Template:Lang-pl, Ruthenian Template:Lang-pl), minced meat, or buckwheat groats and quark or mushrooms. Sweet pierogi can be made with sweet quark or with fruits such as blueberries, strawberries, cherries, plums, raspberries, apples, or even chocolate.[30]
  • Template:Lang-pl – Tiny dumplings traditionally filled only with mushrooms and onions. Other fillings used are mushrooms with sauerkraut or rarely cooked[clarification needed] and minced meat with onions. When filled with meat, they are served with clear borscht, clear mushroom soup, or broth.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Stuffed dumplings with raw minced beef and mutton, beef dripping, fried onions, and spices. Potato Template:Lang-pl is a different dish from Subcarpathia made from potato dough filled with Template:Lang-pl (quark), potatoes, and onions.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Potato pancakes with grated potatoes, onions, eggs, wheat flour, and marjoram.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Potato dumplings made with raw, grated potatoes, egg, flour, and sometimes filled with minced meat; then cooked.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Potato dumplings made with cooked potatoes and starch. Usually filled with fruits, most popular being plums and strawberries.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Hoof-shaped potato dumplings made of cooked potatoes, egg, and flour. Often served with breadcrumbs, sugar, and melted butter or fried bacon.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Hoof-shaped dumplings made of flour or potatoes, eggs, and quark.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Dumplings in small donut-like shape made with boiled potatoes and potato starch. Often served with gravy or meat stew.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Dumplings black or gray in colour, made of raw grated potatoes and potato starch.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Steamed yeast wheat flour dumplings served with fruit yoghurt or jam. They can be also served savoury with gravy or filled with chocolate.
  • Template:Lang-pl (laid dumplings) – Dumplings made of thick batter with flour and eggs laid in boiling water.
  • Template:Lang-pl (poured dumplings) – Dumplings made of thin batter with flour, milk, and eggs, usually poured straight into soup.
  • Template:Lang-pl (grated dumplings) – Grated or chopped dough into tiny balls and cooked.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Thicker and plumper version of crêpes, served with sweet or savoury filling.
  • Template:Lang-pl (croquettes) – In Poland, they are made of Template:Lang-pl, often filled with either sauerkraut and mushrooms or ham and cheese, then folded like a burrito, breaded, and fried. Commonly served with clear borscht.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Yeast pancakes often stuffed with apples and served with powdered sugar or jam.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Pasta shaped like small squares. This Polish version is served with sauerkraut, onion, and fried kielbasa or fried bacon.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Open faced sandwich made from a veka roll sliced in half and topped with tomato sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. Template:Lang-pl can also be anything baked in casserole dish with added egg and cream mixture, so it holds together when removed. It usually involves meats, vegetables with potatoes or pasta, and melted cheese on top. A baked Polish fast food.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Polish fast food with yeast bread roll filled with red and white cabbage, tomato, cucumber, pickled cucumber, onion, fried onion, corn, and sometimes fried chicken with garlic mayonnaise sauce. It originated in Wrocław.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Fried slices of potatoes (often previously cooked) usually (1) eaten with a fried egg, (2) mixed in scrambled eggs, onions, and grilled, or (3) mixed with fried, sliced kielbasa. Whole dish and serving with eggs (Template:Lang-de) or sausage (Template:Lang-de) comes from Germany. In Poland, it is often eaten with a glass of sour buttermilk or kefir.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Fried (cooked) pasta with fried onions, scrambled eggs, and butter; sometimes cheese, bacon, or ham can be added. It is a version of Italian spaghetti carbonara (Template:Lang-it).

Side dishes and salads

  • Template:Lang-pl – Cooked groats; most popular are groats of buckwheat, barley, millet, and wheat.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Traditional Polish salad made with sliced cucumbers, sour cream, and spices; served as a side.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Carrot salad made with peeled and grated carrots, apples, oil, and lemon juice.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and oil or sour cream.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Simple boiled potatoes sprinkled with dill.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Mashed potatoes.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Salad with shredded cabbage, carrots, and spices, often with grated apples.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Salad with sauerkraut, carrots, parsley, apples, and lemon juice.
  • Template:Lang-pl or Template:Lang-pl – Salad of cooked vegetables such as parsley root, carrot, potatoes, celery root, pickled cucumbers in brine, and hard-cooked eggs in mayonnaise and mustard. Also often contains corn, peas, apple, onion, leek, or even red kidney beans. A traditional Polish side dish.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Sauerkraut or white cabbage pan-fried with onions and spices, often with fried bacon.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Braised white cabbage with onions, dill, and double cream.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Any salad made of raw vegetables with drizzle of vinegar, oil, sour cream, or yoghurt.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Any salad made of cooked vegetables, usually with mayonnaise.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cooked and grated beetroot salad; can be made warm or cold.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cooked and grated beetroots with horseradish paste and lemon juice.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Green beans with garlic and butter or oil; originated in Italy.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cooked cauliflower, green beans, or Brussels sprouts with a polonaise sauce made of fried breadcrumbs in butter.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Cooked broccoli or cauliflower with a garlic sauce.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Polish pickled cucumber, fermented in brine consisting of dill and dill flower, garlic, salt, and spices.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Pickled cucumber in vinegar, which is rather sweet and vinegary in taste.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Marinated mushrooms.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Preserved salad made with cucumbers, onions, carrots, vinegar, and spices.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Potato salad made with cooked potatoes, onions, pickled cucumbers, dill, and mayonnaise; sometimes with added smoked bacon or herring fillets marinated in oil or vinegar. Originally from Germany.
  • Template:Lang-pl – Marinated herring salad with pickled cucumbers, onions, and sour cream; sometimes eggs and apples are added.

Bread

Bread stand in Sanok, Poland

Bread (Template:Lang-pl) and bread rolls (Template:Lang-pl (bread roll), Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl) have been an essential part of Polish cuisine and tradition for centuries. Today, bread remains one of the most important foods in the Polish cuisine. The main ingredient for Polish bread is rye or wheat. Traditional bread has a crunchy crust, a soft interior, and an unforgettable aroma. Such bread is made with sourdough, which lends it a distinctive taste. It can be stored for a week or so without getting too hard and is not crumbly when cut.

In Poland, welcoming with bread and salt ("Template:Lang-pl") is often associated with the traditional hospitality ("Template:Lang-pl") of the Polish nobility (Template:Lang-pl), who prided themselves on their hospitality. A 17th-century Polish poet, Wespazjan Kochowski, wrote in 1674: "O good bread, when it is given to guests with salt and good will!" Another poet, Wacław Potocki, mentioned this custom. The custom was, however, not limited to the nobility, as Polish people of all classes observed this tradition, reflected in old Polish proverbs.[31] Nowadays, the tradition is mainly observed on wedding days, when newlyweds are greeted with bread and salt by their parents on returning from the church wedding.

Desserts and sweets

Main article: List of Polish desserts
Template:Lang-pl (poppy seed roll)
Template:Lang-pl (cheesecake)

Beverages

Template:Lang-pl beer. Poland is Europe's third largest beer producer, producing 36.9 million hectolitres.
Mead Template:Lang-pl, made from natural honey and grape fruit, 16% alc. 750 ml (26 imp fl oz; 25 US fl oz).
See also: Beer in Poland and Polmos

Alcoholic

Traditional Polish alcoholic beverages include mead, beer, vodka (Old Polish: Template:Lang-pl, Template:Lang-pl), and to a lesser extent, wine. In recent decades, beer has become very common: popular are both traditional Polish beer styles like Baltic porter and oak-smoked Grodziskie and also many other styles brewed by many small craft breweries. Wine is less frequently drunk, however, in recent years, the consumption of wine has risen along with increasing production of local grape wines in small vineyards in Lesser Poland, Subcarpathia, Silesia, and West Pomerania regions.

Among alcoholic beverages, Polish vodka—traditionally prepared from grain or potatoes—has essentially displaced the formerly widespread mead.[32]

Polish cider

Some sources suggest that the first production of vodka took place in Poland as early as the 8th century, becoming more widespread in the 11th century.[33] The world's first written mention of the drink and of the word "vodka" was in 1405 from Template:Lang-pl recorder of deeds,[11][clarification needed] the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland.[11]

Vodka production on a much larger scale began in Poland at the end of the 16th century. By the 17th and 18th centuries, Polish vodka was known in the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and the Black Sea basin.[34] Vodka was the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland until 1998, when it was surpassed by beer.[32]

Besides clear vodkas, flavoured vodka (known as nalewka) and liqueurs are also popular. The most important are Żubrówka (vodka with bison grass from Podlasie), herbal Żołądkowa Gorzka, aged Template:Lang-pl, plum brandy Template:Lang-pl (especially from Łącko), honey liqueur Template:Lang-pl, as well as Goldwasser (herbal liqueur with flakes of gold leaf) and juniper vodka Template:Lang-pl, both originating from Gdańsk.

Non-alcoholic

See also: Kvass § Poland, and Kefir

Traditionally, kvass (Template:Lang-pl) was a fermented beverage first popular among the peasantry, but it later spread to the szlachta and become a universal Polish drink by the 14th-15th centuries.[35] It is typically made from rye bread, usually known as black bread, and is not classified as an alcoholic beverage in Poland, as its alcohol content usually ranges from 0% to 2%.[35] There are many commercial and family variations of the beverage; however, traditional Polish recipes still exist.[36][37] Despite its production on an industrial scale in Poland during the interbellum,[38] it began to lose popularity to mass-produced soft drinks and carbonated water in the 20th century.[39] It remained known primarily in rural areas of eastern Poland.[40] However, kvass started making a comeback in the 21st century, with many new Polish brands being started.[41]

In contemporary times, tea is perhaps the most popular drink, usually served with a slice of lemon and sweetened with either sugar or honey. Tea came to Poland from England shortly after its appearance in Western Europe, mainly due to the Dutch merchants. However, its prevalence is attributed to the Russians in the 19th century – at this time samovars imported from Russia become commonplace in Polish homes. Tea with milk is called Template:Lang-pl (lit. 'Bavarian style').[42]

Coffee has been widely drunk since the 18th century, when Poland bordered the Ottoman Empire.

Other frequently consumed beverages include buttermilk, kefir, soured milk, instant coffee, various mineral waters, juices, and numerous brands of soft drinks. A considerable number of Poles enjoy carbonated water, and customers in restaurants are always offered both still and sparkling (carbonated) water to drink.[43]

Lists of common Polish dishes found on a national level

See also

References

  1. ^ Polish Meals – Polish Food – Polish Cuisine Archived 28 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  2. ^ Kasha, extended definition Archived 31 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine by Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  3. ^ "Always home-made, tomato soup is one of the first things a Polish cook learns to prepare." [in:] Marc E. Heine. Poland. 1987
  4. ^ "Tu się w lasy schroniły wygnane ze zbytkowych stołów, narodowe potrawy, Barszcz, Bigos, Zrazy, Pirogi i Pieczeń" [in:] Jan N. de Bobrowicz. Maxymilian arcyksiąże Austryacki obrany Król polski. 1848. s. 74; "barszcz, rosół, sztuka mięsa, pieczenie huzarskie, bigos, pierogi, kiełbasa z kapustą, przede wszystkim zaś rozmaite kasze" Zbigniew Kuchowicz Obyczaje staropolskie XVII-XVIII wieku. 1975; "pieczeń cielęca pieczona (panierowana), pieczeń cielęca zapiekana w sosie beszamelowym, pieczeń huzarska (=pieczeń wołowa przekładana farszem), pieczeń rzymska (klops), pieczeń rzymska (klops z cielęciny) w sosie śmietanowym, pieczeń rzymska z królika " [in:] Stanisław Berger. Kuchnia polska. 1974.; Polish Holiday Cookery by Robert Strybel. [1] 2003
  5. ^ "À la Polonaise". CooksInfo.
  6. ^ "Do You Know What Garnishing à la Polonaise Means? Read On". The Spruce Eats.
  7. ^ Robert Strybel, Maria Strybel. Polish Heritage Cookery (Wildfowl and Game). Hippocrene Books. 2005. p. 350.
  8. ^ Maria Dembińska, William Woys Weaver. Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1999 p. 95.
  9. ^ Wojciech Staszewski (August 2006). "Bycze jądra z grilla". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish). Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2006.
  10. ^ History of Mead, a favored drink among the Polish-Lithuanian szlachta. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d "History of vodka production, at the official page of Polish Spirit Industry Association (KRPS), 2007". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  12. ^ a b c d e Jerzy Pasikowski (2011). "Wpływy kuchni innych narodów na kształt kuchni polskiej (Influences of cuisines of other nations in Polish cuisine)". Portal Gastronomiczny NewsGastro. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  13. ^ "The eclectic cuisine of Poland". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  14. ^ Robert Strybel, Maria Strybel. Polish Heritage Cookery. Hippocrene Books. 2005. p. 13.
  15. ^ Jarosław Dumanowski: "Staropolskie książki kucharskie". Mówią Wieki, 12/09 (December 2009), pp. 36–40. ISSN 1230-4018.
  16. ^ "19th-Century Polish Women's Cookbooks: The Hatching of a Social Monster". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Antique Cookbooks:The Meals of Poland's Past". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Jako zakonnik Święty Jacek działał w Polsce i na Rusi, był także przeorem w Kijowie, a stamtąd właśnie przyszły do nas wigilijne pierogi, knysze, kulebiaki. ..." [in:] Helena Szymanderska. Polska wigilia. 2000
  19. ^ "KOTLET SCHABOWY (POLISH PORK CUTLET)". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Kotlet schabowy". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  21. ^ "10 Surprising Eating Habits from the Communist-Regime Era". Culture.pl.
  22. ^ "Wigilia, A Polish Christmas Eve Tradition". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  23. ^ "Taste Szczecin". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  24. ^ Rose Petal Jam - Recipes and Stories from a Summer in Poland, by Beata Zatorska and Simon Target, published by Tabula Books 2011
  25. ^ Rzeczpospolita "Dżem z płatków róży, czyli kuchnia polska po angielsku | rp.pl". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  26. ^ "The 12 Dishes of Polish Christmas". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  27. ^ "What is Poland's 'Fat Thursday'? Everything You Need to Know About Tłusty Czwartek". Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  28. ^ a b c "Żur, żurek i barszcz biały. Na czym polega różnica? | ArtKulinaria".
  29. ^ a b "Czym się różnią kwaśnica i kapuśniak?".
  30. ^ "How To Make Pierogi And Pierogi Recipes". Tasting Poland. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  31. ^ ""Chlebem i solą. Dawne uczty polskie" - Kalendarz wydarzeń kulturalnych w Culture.pl - Culture.pl". 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17.
  32. ^ a b "EJPAU 2004. Kowalczuk I. CONDITIONS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONSUMPTION AMONG POLISH CONSUMERS". www.ejpau.media.pl.
  33. ^ Origins & Development of Vodka. The Gin and Vodka Association. ginvodka.org
  34. ^ Leszek Wiwała (2010). Od gorzałki do wódki – zarys historii polskiej wódki (History of Polish vodka). Wydawnictwo Leon. ISBN 978-8392886105.
  35. ^ a b Snopkow, Paweł (2021-10-23). "Kwas chlebowy. Zapomniany skarb polskiej kuchni". gazetaolsztynska.pl. Gazeta Olsztyńska. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  36. ^ S.A, Wirtualna Polska Media (8 January 2016). "Historia kwasu chlebowego - Co warto wiedzieć o kwasie chlebowym". kuchnia.wp.pl.
  37. ^ "Zdrowe orzeźwienie. Powraca moda na kwas chlebowy". gazetapl.
  38. ^ Delorme, Andrzej (1–15 October 1999). "Alternatywa dla Coca Coli?". Pismo Ekologów (14(140)/99). Zielone Brygady. ISSN 1231-2126.
  39. ^ "Historia kwasu chlebowego". kwaschlebowy.eu. Eko-Natura. Retrieved 2022-05-26. W wieku XX kwas został zapomniany, wyparty przez wody gazowane i inne słodkie napoje.
  40. ^ "Kwas chlebowy sapieżyński kodeński". Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  41. ^ Mucha, Sławomir (2018-06-03). "Kwas chlebowy". Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  42. ^ "Bawarka in English, translation, Polish-English Dictionary". Glosbe.
  43. ^ "Pijemy ją na potęgę, a ma "żrące" działanie na nasz organizm. Badania pokazują, że jej kupno oznacza wyrok dla zdrowia". INNPoland.pl.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cuisine of Poland.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Food and drink in Pan Tadeusz.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Polish_cuisine&oldid=1174943280"