Polish cuisine (Polish: kuchnia polska) is a style of cooking and food preparation originating from Poland. It has evolved over the centuries due to historical circumstances. Polish national cuisine shares some similarities with other Central European ^[1] and Eastern European^[2] traditions as well as French and Italian similarities.^[3] It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region) and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices.^[4] It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha (from the Polish word kasza).^[5] Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. 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 dinner (Wigilia) or Easter breakfast which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

Traditionally, the main meal is eaten about 2 p.m. or later, and is usually composed of three courses, starting with a soup, such as popular rosół and tomato soup or more festive barszcz (beet borscht) or żurek (sour rye meal mash), followed perhaps in a restaurant by an appetizer of herring (prepared in either cream, oil, or vinegar). Other popular appetizers are various cured meats, vegetables or fish in aspic. The main course is usually meaty including a roast or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet). Vegetables, currently replaced by leaf salad, were not very long ago most commonly served as “surówka” – shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac, beetroot) or sauerkraut (kapusta kiszona). The side dishes are usually boiled potatoes or more traditionally kasza (cereals). Meals often conclude with a dessert such as makowiec, a poppy seed pastry, or drożdżówka, a type of yeast cake. Other Polish specialities include chłodnik (a chilled beet or fruit soup for hot days), golonka (pork knuckles cooked with vegetables), kołduny (meat dumplings), zrazy (stuffed slices of beef), salceson and flaki (tripe).

The Polish national dishes are bigos, pierogi, kielbasa, kotlet schabowy, gołąbki, zrazy (silesian rouladen), roast and zupa ogórkowa, zupa grzybowa, zupa pomidorowa,^[6]rosół, żurek, flaki, barszcz.^[7]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Middle Ages 1.2 Renaissance 1.3 The Republic 1.4 After World War II 2 Modern era 3 Holiday meals 3.1 Christmas dishes in Poland 3.2 Fat Thursday 3.3 Easter Breakfast 4 Regional cuisine 5 Soups 6 Main course 7 Side dishes & Salads 8 Bread 9 Desserts 10 Drinks 10.1 Vodka 10.2 Vodka Brands 10.3 Beer 10.4 Beer Brands 10.5 Wine 10.6 Folk medicine 11 Lists of common Polish dishes found on a national level 12 Selected ingredients 13 Notes and references 14 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Middle Ages

Polish cuisine in the Middle Ages was based on dishes made of agricultural produce (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 and permanent presence of groats (Kasha). A high calorific value of dishes and drinking beer as a basic drink or mead was typical of Middle Ages Polish cuisine. Beer and mead were the most popular drinks.

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 use bread and instead consumed cereals in the forms of kasza or various types of flatbread, some of which (for instance kołacz) 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.

Thanks to close trade relations with the East, the price of spices (such as black pepper and nutmeg) was much lower than in the rest of Europe, and spicy sauces became popular. The usage of two basic sauces (the jucha czerwona and jucha szara, or red and gray blood in Old Polish) remained widespread at least until 18th century.^[8]

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.^[9] 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 Akta Grodzkie,^[10] the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland.^[10] At that time, the word wódka (vodka) referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetic cleansers, while the popular beverage was called gorzałka (from the Old Polish gorzeć).

[edit] 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 the 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 włoszczyzna, a word derived from Włochy, the Polish name of Italy. During this period the use of spices, which arrived in Poland via west 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 Jagiello (who died in 1434, over 80 years before her reign) enjoyed a variety of vegetables including lettuce, beets, cabbage, turnip, carrots, peas and cauliflower.

Polish-style pickled cucumber (ogórek kiszony) is a variety developed in the northern parts of Europe. It has been exported worldwide and is found in the cuisines of many countries. It is sour but tends to be seasoned differently. 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 ogórek małosolny, which means “lightly salted cucumber”. Another kind of pickled cucumber, popular in Poland, is ogórek konserwowy (preserved cucumber) which is rather sweet and vinegary in taste, due to different composition of the preserving solution. It is kept in wooden barrels.

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 eastern and southern fruit such as oranges, lemons, pomegranates, olives, figs, chestnuts, raisins and almonds (including marzipan), along with grain (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, .^[3]

[edit] The Republic

Until the Partitions perpetrated by the neighboring empires, Poland was one of the largest countries in the world, and encompased many regions with their own, distinctive culinary traditions.^[3] Two consecutive Polish kings, Władysław IV and John II Casimir (Polish: Jan II Kazimierz Waza) married the same French Duchess, Marie Louise Gonzaga (Polish: Ludwika Maria), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua; 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. Ludwika brought along with her a court full of Frenchmen including courtiers, secretaries, army officers, physicians, merchants, craftsmen, as well as many cooks. Records show that her visiting guests were entertained with the following fowl: waxwings, fieldfares, snow bunting, hazel grouse, partridges, black grouse, capercaillies and the forest game: loach, trouts, grayling, salmon fresh and smoked, flounders, 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 mid-18th century on Polish tables appeared the French champagne.^[3] Also, among the most influential in that period were Lithuanian, Jewish, German and Hungarian cuisine, not to mention Armenian, which arrived in Poland before the 17th century along with many settlers especially in the south-eastern part of the Republic.^[3] Signature dishes of the East reached Polish tables via Armenian trade and cultural exchange with Poland’s eastern neighbors. 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.^[3] Also, because of the close contact with the Ottoman Empire, coffee (kawa) 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 first Polish cook-book, Compendium Ferculorum albo zebranie potraw by Stanisław Czerniecki was published in 1682.^[12] 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.

[edit] After World War II

After the end of World War II, Poland fell under Soviet / Communist occupation. Some restaurants were nationalized The communists envisioned a net of lunch rooms called “bufet” for the workers at various companies, and milk bars for public. Majority of restaurants that survived the 1940s and 1950s were state-owned. The lunch rooms at workplace promoted mostly inexpensive meals, including soups of all kinds, meatballs and pork chops, and staples such as placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), placki z jablkami (apple pancakes), kopytka (potato gnocchi), leniwe (farmer’s cheese gnocchi served sweet)and pierogi. A typical second course consisted of meat cutlet served with potatoes or buckwheat and “surowka” (fresh veggies). The popular Polish kotlet schabowy is a breaded cutlet similar to the Austrian Wiener schnitzel and the Italian and Spanish Milanesa.

With time, the shortage economy led to scarcity of meat, coffee, tea and other ingredients of daily use. 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. Tropical fruits (citrus, banana, pineapple, etc.) were available during holidays and local fruits and vegetables were mostly seasonal but were available at private stands. For most of the year the Poles had to get by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, plums, currents, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables and frozen products. Other food products (of foreign origins) were available at several markets at high price.

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 “kotlet mielony” meatball, a sort of a hamburger often served with beet puree and fresh carrots . The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the Wigilia feast (Christmas Eve), for which most families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.

[edit] Modern era

With the end of communism in Poland in 1989, avalanche of new restaurants started to open and basic foodstuffs were once again easily obtainable. This led to a gradual return of rich traditional Polish cuisine, both in everyday life and in restaurants. In addition, restaurants and supermarkets promoted the use of ingredients typical to other cuisines of the world. Among the most notable foods that started to become common in Poland were cucurbit, zucchini and all kinds of fish. During communist times, these were available fresh mostly in the seaside regions.

Recent years have seen the advent of a slow food movement, and a number of TV programmes devoted to other cuisins and as well as traditional Polish cuisine, they have gained much 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^[14][15]

Fast food, most commonly McDonald’s chain, KFC and Pizza Hut are losing on popularity. Meantime Doner kebabs are gaining popularity. Nonetheless, in most of Poland you can still get traditional Polish fast-food such as zapiekanka. There are also many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which usually serve items such as zapiekanka (baguette with cheese, mushrooms, onion or peppers, sometimes meat and ketchup), kebab, hamburgers, hot dogs and sausage. In Warsaw, Poland’s capital city, a 3-course meal in one of Warsaw’s top restaurant’s costs on average twenty-six GBP.

[edit] Holiday meals

[edit] Christmas dishes in Poland

Traditional Christmas Eve supper called Wigilia is meatless, usually consists of barszcz (borscht) with uszka (small dumplings) – a classic Polish Christmas Eve starter, followed by fried carp, carp fillet or cod with apple & leeks fresh salad, carp in aspic etc. traditionally carp (fried or Jewish style) provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland. Other popular dishes, for the next day, include pickled matjas herring, rollmops, pierogi with sauerkraut and forest mushrooms, fish soup, kiełbasa, hams and bigos (savory stew of cabbage and meat) and vegetable salads. Among popular desserts are gingerbread, cheesecake, various fruits like oranges among others, poppy seed cake makowiec (makówki in Silesia), fruit compote, kluski with poppyseed, kutia sweet grain pudding in the eastern regions, like (Białystok) and ginger bread. Regional dishes include żurek, siemieniotka (in Silesia), and kołduny – mushrooms or meat stuffed dumplings in the eastern regions.

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[edit] Fat Thursday

“Tłusty Czwartek” (Fat Thursday) is a Catholic feast celebrated on the last Thursday before the Lent, which is also the last day of carnival. Traditionally it is an occasion to enjoy fair amounts of sweets and cakes which afterwards are technically forbidden until Easter. “Tłusty Czwartek” belongs to moveable feasts, as it is connected with the date of Easter and beginning of the Lent. The next Thursday falls already after Ash Wednesday that is the period of the Lent when the Catholics should refrain from overeating.

The most popular sweets during Fat Thursday are pączki (Polish donuts) or faworki called also in some regions of Poland “chrust”. The traditional donuts are fill with rose petal jam (plum jam or apple)and cover with thin layer of icing or powdered sugar, sprinkled with orange peel.

However, Fat Thursday used to mark the beginning of Fat Week the period of great gluttony during which Polish ancestors consumed dishes served with smalec (lard), bacon and all the kinds of meat. Nowadays Fat Thursday is associated especially with donuts, therefore on that day confectioneries are besieged by Poles who wish to purchase pączki (Polish donuts) to celebrate the feast. One of the old superstitions says that the one who does not eat any donuts on Fat Thursday will not succeed afterwards. But the Poles do not feel endangered with this superstition an average Pole eats on Fat Thursday 2,5 donuts while the whole country eats almost 100 million of them altogether. Polish donuts baked in Poland are smaller in size than their American version and they taste more like apple fritter than a donut.

The first donuts did not remind those that we know nowadays. Those made of the same dough as bread, filled with pork fat and fried on smalec were popular until 16th century. Only afterwards they were made in a sweet way. The most important secret is that the confectioneries do not make them in advance every respectful cake shop makes pączki the night before the Poles reach the shops to buy them. Polish pączki are still different than so called donuts or similar sweets made in other countries. Their dough is made of yeast, flour and eggs. Polish pączki are fried in oil or smalec only for several dozen of seconds so that the fat would not soak inside. They taste the best when still warm. Some people used to fill few of them with almond or nut instead of marmalade while encountering this exquisite filling was supposed to bring good luck.

Although many housewives make pączki and faworki at home, one can still see crowds of people standing in the line at confectioneries to buy this Fat Thursday’s specialities.

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[edit] Easter Breakfast

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, cwikła, carrot, apple, potato, parsley and mayonnaise) coffee, tea and cakes, i.e. chocolate cake, makowiec, mazurek, sernik, etc.

[edit] Regional cuisine

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, Podlaskie, Masovia (including Warsaw), Masuria, Pomerania, Silesia, Lesser Poland, the Tatra mountains and Greater Poland see the List of Polish cuisine dishes

[edit] Soups

• Zupa pomidorowa – Tomato soup usually served with noodle or rice.
• Kartoflanka – Potato soup.
• Barszcz – Its strictly vegetarian version is the first course during the Christmas Eve feast, served with dumplings called “uszka” (little dumping ears) with mushroom filling (sauerkraut can be used as well, again depending on the family tradition).
• Chłodnik – Cold beet soup made of soured milk, young beet leaves, beets, cucumbers and chopped fresh dill.
• Zupa buraczkowa – Red beetroot soup with potatoes. Similar to traditional Barszcz although different recipe.
• Zupa szczawiowa – Sorrel soup made of sorrel leaves, served with hard boiled egg.
• Flaki or Flaczki – Beef or pork tripe stew with marjoram. Common ingredients include beef tripe, beef, bay leaf, parsley, carrot, beef broth, and spices to taste, including salt, black pepper, nutmeg, sweet paprika, and marjoram.
• Rosół – Clear chicken soup served with noodles.
• Zupa grzybowa/pieczarkowa – Mushroom soup made of various species of mushroom.
• Zupa ogórkowa – Dill pickle Soup of sour, salted cucumbers, often with pork.

• Żur or Żurek – Żur with potatoes, Polish sausage (kielbasa), and egg (jajko). Depending on the part of Poland it came from it may contain mushrooms as well. This dish is also called żurek starowiejski (old village).
• Grochówka – Pea soup, with potato, carrot, kielbasa.
• Kapuśniak – Cabbage soup with chicken, carrot.
• Zupa jarzynowa – Chicken with vegetables boullion base vegetable soup.
• Zupa owocowa – fruit soup, served cold with different fruits during hot Summer.

[edit] Main course

• Pierogi – dumplings, usually filled with sauerkraut and/or mushrooms, meat, potato and/or savory cheese, sweet curd cheese with a touch of vanilla, or blueberries or other fruits, such as cherries or strawberries, and sometimes even apples—optionally topped with sour cream, and sugar for the sweet versions.
• Bigos – stew of sauerkraut and meat, mainly kielbasa.
• Kotlet schabowy – Polish variety of pork cutlet coated with breadcrumbs made of pork tenderloin (with the bone or without), or with pork chop. Kotlet z kury is a Polish variety of chicken cutlet coated with breadcrumbs. Kotlet z indyka turkey cutlet coated with breadcrumbs.
• Golonka – stewed pork knuckle or hock
• Gołąbki – cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced minced meat and rice or with mushrooms and rice served with sour cream or tomato sauce.
• Kiełbasa – sausage is a staple of Polish cuisine and comes in dozens of varieties, smoked or fresh, made with pork, beef, turkey, lamb, veal with every region having its own specialty.
• Gulasz – stew of meat, noodles and vegetables (especially potato), seasoned with paprika and other spices usually eaten with buckwheat kasza.
• Zrazy – twisted shape thin slices of chopped beef, which is flavored with salt and pepper and stuffed with vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, and potato.
• Kurczak pieczony po wiejsku – Polish village style roasted chicken with onion, garlic and smoked bacon.
• Pieczeń cielęca – roast veal, marinated in an aromatic marinade. A delicious, crispy meat that simply melts in your mouth.
• Rolada z mięsa mielonego z pieczarkami – ground meat roulade stuffed with mushrooms
• Pieczeń wieprzowa z winem – pork roast with wine
• Pyzy – potato dumplings served by themselves or stuffed with minced meat or cottage cheese
• Kotlet mielony – minced meat with eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, and salt and pepper rolled into a ball and fried on onion butter.
• Baranina – roasted or grilled lamb.
• Bitki wołowe z pieczarkami/grzybami – beef cutlets with mushrooms.
• Bitki wieprzowe w sosie własnym – pork cutlets in gravy sauce.
• Filet z dorsza – cod fillet in beer batter served with mash potatoes.
• Karkówka – tenderloin, usually roasted
• Śledzie – Herring in oil with onions.
• Łosoś – salmon, often baked or boiled in a dill sauce.
• Pulpety or Klopsiki w sosie pomidorowym – meatloaf Polish style meatballs often in tomato or mushroom sauce.
• Kotlet Mielony Wieprzowy – Thick juicy cutlets made with freshly ground pork, bread crumbs, and spices. Often topped with mushrooms, gravy, cooked onions, or fried egg.
• Kotlet Mielony Drobiowy – Freshly ground chicken, bread crumbs, and spices combine in this juicy fried cutlet. Often topped with mushrooms, gravy, cooked onions, or fried egg.
• Polędwiczki wołowe – beef sirloin, often with rare mushroom sauce.
• Zrazy zawijane – beef rolls stuffed with bacon, gherkin and onion.
• Żeberka wędzone – smoked, roasted or grilled Ribs.
• Kurczak Pieczony – Roasted chicken.
• Wołowina Pieczona – Roast beef.
• Ryba Smażona – Fried breaded fish fillet.
• Schab Faszerowany – Stuffed pork loin.

[edit] Side dishes & Salads

• Kartofle Gotowane – Simple boiled potatoes sparkled with parsley or dill are elegant.
• Kopytka – Hoof-shaped potato dumplings.
• Kasza gryczana – Cooked buckwheat groats.
• Tłuczone Ziemniaki – Mashed potatoes.
• Mizeria – Mizeria is traditional Polish salad made from cucumbers in sour cream with dill.
• Surówka z Białej Kapusty – Cole Slaw blend of freshly shredded cabbage, carrots, mayonnaise and spices.
• Sałatka Warzywana or Jarzynowa – Polish Vegetable Salad is a traditional Polish side dish with cooked root vegetables, tomato, potato carrot, parsley root, celery root, combined with cucumbers in brine and hard-cooked eggs in mayonnaise and mustard sauce.
• Kapusta Zasmażana – Sauerkraut pan-fried with fried onions, cooked pork, whole pepper, and rich spices makes for a truly hearty side dish.
• Surówka – Raw sauerkraut, apple, carrot, onion salad.
• Sałatka – Original Polish salad lettuce, tomato, cucumber or pickled cucumber/preserved cucumber, optional to add very small amount of white vinegar, as dressing heavy cream, mayonnaise or other dressings as pleased.
• Sałatka Burakowa/Buraczki – Finely chopped warm beet root salad.
• Fasolka z Migdałami – Fresh slender snipped grean beans steamed and topped with butter, bread crumbs, and toasted almond slices.
• Ogórek Kiszony – Polish pickled cucumber.
• Ogórek Konserwowy – Preserved cucumber which is rather sweet and vinegary in taste.
• Pieczarki Marynowane – Marinated mushrooms.
• Sałatka Ogórkowa – Pickled cucumber, Preserved cucumber, copped red peppers, onions salad.
• Sałatka z Krewetek – Polish shrimp salad finely chopped hard-cooked eggs, cooked carrots, celery, onion and diced pickle along with the tiny shrimp.
• Sałatka z Boczkiem – Polish wilted lettuce salad is made with romaine or iceberg lettuce, chopped hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped onion, vinegar, bacon cut into 1/2-inch pieces, water, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Sałatka Wiosenna – Polish spring salad chopped finely, radishes, green onions, pencil-thin asparagus, peas, hard-cooked eggs or cubed yellow cheese, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, sweet paprika for color.
• Sałatka Kartofli or Sałatka Ziemniaczana – Polish potato salad made with red or white potatoes cooked in their jackets, cooled, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice, carrots, celery, onion, dill pickles, mayonnaise, sugar, salt and pepper.
• Surówka z Marchewki – Polish carrot salad made with 5 peeled and coarsely grated large carrots, 1 peeled, cored and coarsely grated large granny smith apple, juice of 1/2 lemon, sunflower or vegetable oil, salt, sugar.

[edit] Bread

Bread (Chleb) and bread rolls (Bułka) makes the Polish cuisine and tradition complete. It has been an essential part of them both 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, is soft but not too soft inside, and has unforgettable aroma. Such bread is made on 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 (“chlebem i solą“) is often associated with the traditional hospitality (“staropolska gościnność“) of the Polish nobility (szlachta), 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 who mentioned the custom was Wacław Potocki.[2] The custom was, however, not limited to the nobility, as Polish people of all classes observed this tradition, reflected in old Polish proverbs. [3] 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.

We have told about a certain canon of Polish bread. It would be wrong however to conclude that there’s only one type of it which is worth mentioning. Each good bakery makes its bread slightly differently. Breads are made of various cereals (not just wheat or rye), whole grain breads abound and sometimes some traditional extra ingredients are used (e.g. onion, sunflower seed or lard). And, taking a broader view, the variety of bakery products in Poland is truly magnificent.

[edit] Desserts

• Makowiec – Sweet poppy seed-swirl cake, with raisins walnut.
• Pączek – Closed donut filled with rose petal jam or other fruit conserves.
• Pierniki – Soft gingerbread shapes iced or filled with marmalade of different fruit flavours and sometimes covered with chocolate.
• Sernik – Sernik (cheesecake) is one of the most popular desserts in Poland. It is a cake made primarily of twaróg, a type of fresh cheese, eggs, vanila, raisins and orange peel, served cold.
• mazurek – cake baked in Poland, particularly at Christmas Eve and Easter, but also at other winter holidays, there are endless variations with different fillings, fruit and walnut paste or chocolate.
• Chałka – Sweet white wheat bread of Jewish origin.
• Krówki – Polish fudge, soft milk toffee candies.
• Ptasie Mleczko – chocolate-covered candy filled with soft meringue (or milk soufflé).
• Kisiel – Clear, jelly-like sweet fruit liquid, red currant is popular one.
• Budyń – Pudding, usually comes in many different flavors, such as sweet cream, chocolate, and even cherry.

• Faworki – Light fried pastry covered with powdered sugar.

• Pańska Skórka, Miodek – Kind of hard Taffy sold at cemeteries during Zaduszki and at Stare Miasto (Old city) in Warsaw.
• Kutia – A small square pasta with wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and honey. Typically served during Christmas in the eastern regions (Białystok).
• Prince Polo – A Polish chocolate bar.
• Mieszanka Wedlowska – Assorted chocolate covered candy.
• Torcik Wedlowski – A large, circular, chocolate covered wafer with hand-made decorations.
• Pawełek – Chocolate bar with a flavored filling that contains a small amount of alcohol.

[edit] Drinks

[edit] Vodka

Poland lays claim to having distilled vodka since the 8th century. In the 11th century when they were called gorzalka, originally used as medicines. Poland is known for its production of vodka (wódka). The world’s first written mention of the drink and the word “vodka” was in 1405 from Akta Grodzkie, the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. Well-known brands are: Spirytus Rektyfikowany (It isn’t a vodka, as vodka is a drink with about 40%-50% alcohol, “spirytus” on the other hand is between 95% and 96% alcohol and is mostly used as baking ingredient or sterilising liquid only in very rare cases as a drink), Wyborowa, Soplica, Pan Tadeusz, Belvedere, Chopin, Luksusowa, Sobieski, Siwucha, Biała Dama, Polonez, Ultimat Vodka, Starka, Żubrówka, Krupnik, Żołądkowa Gorzka. Pure vodka is drunk as a rule. It is not customary to drink vodka out of a tiny glass of brandy, but preferably will be a 50 – to 100 – milliliter glass (Shot Glass).

[edit] Vodka Brands

Among the many vodka brands produced and consumed in Poland are the following: Belvedere, Sobieski, Chopin, Luksusowa, Absolwent, Żubrówka, Wyborowa, Biała Dama, Polonaise, Żołądkowa Gorzka, Starka, Krupnik, Siwucha, Ultimat, Nalewka, Pan Tadeusz, Soplica, Wratislavia, Krakus, Abstynent, Arktica, Faust, Żytnia, Dębowa, Śliwowica, Litworówka, Balsam Pomorski, Starogardzka, Copernicus, Prawda, Polska Wiśniówka, Kapitańska, Swojska, Orzeł, and Stawski.

[edit] Beer

Poland is also a land of beer. Beer (Piwo) is brewed to different types of beer. Almost every major city has its own brewery. There are also traditional breweries, some of which look back on a centuries-old history. Popular brand names include Żywiec, Tyskie, Warka, Lech, Okocim, Piast, Łomża, Perła. Almost every brewery in Poland has a summer Beer Festival from the city/town where the brewery is located. According to a 2009 Ernst & Young report, Poland is Europe’s third largest beer producer: Germany with 103 million hectolitres, UK with 49.5 million hl, Poland with 36.9 million hl. Following consecutive growth in the home market, Związek Pracodawców Przemysłu Piwowarskiego (Union of the Brewing Industry Employers in Poland), which represents approximately 90% of the Polish beer market, announced during the annual brewing industry conference that consumption of beer in 2008 rose to 94 litres per capita, or 35,624 million hectolitres sold on domestic market. Statistically, a Polish consumer drinks some 92 litres of beer a year, which places it a third behind Germany. Breweries also produced more beer in 2011, which, at 37.9 million hectoliters, is a rise in production of 3.4 percent compared to the year before. With the average beer drinker in Poland consuming around 100 liters a year, Poles are catching up with the Germans, who drink an average of 103 to 105 liters annually.

In Poland, the growing popularity of beer from small breweries regional, grouped in the Association of Polish Regional Breweries (Stowarzyszenie Regionalnych Browarów Polskich). While the beer produced by large corporations are losing popularity.

[edit] Beer Brands

The following beer brands are popular and consumed in the country: Żywiec, Okocim, Piast, Tyskie, Lech, Warka, Łomża, Leżajsk, Żubr, Brok, Książ, Dębowe Mocne, Królewskie, Tatra, Perła, Specjal, Harnaś, Ciechan, Kormoran, Warnijskie, Karpackie, Orkiszowe, Rześkie, Świeże, Kasztelan, Warmiak, Krzepkie, Spiż.

[edit] Wine

Wine (Wino), which is becoming more and more popular, for many years was rarely consumed in Poland due to constraints of state-run economy. However, since the Middle Ages it was part of national culture. In the 10th century mead a honey wine was a popular drink in Poland. In the 11th 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. Wine was purchased mainly from Hungary in the 16th century.

• Czwórniak – Polish mead made using three units of water for each unit of honey.
• Dwójniak – Polish mead made using equal amounts of water and honey.
• Półtorak – Polish popular mead made using two units of honey for each unit of water.
• Trójniak – Polish mead made using two units of water for each unit of honey.

[edit] Folk medicine

• Syrop z Cebuli – A cough remedy made of chopped onion and sugar; although it is very tasty, it is still considered a medicine.
• Herbata góralska – Tea with alcohol.

[edit] Lists of common Polish dishes found on a national level

• List of common Polish soups
• Common main courses
• Common desserts
• Common beverages
• Common folk medicine

[edit] Selected ingredients

• kapusta kiszona – sauerkraut
• ogórek kiszony – salted sour cucumber, a pickle prepared in a similar way to sauerkraut
• kiełbasa – Polish sausage, comes in a wide variety of versions
• śmietana – sour cream

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cuisine of Poland

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Food and drink in Pan Tadeusz

• Polish traditional meals with video recipes
• Short summary of the Polish Cuisine

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