Polish cuisine

Polish pastries.

Polish cuisine (Polish: kuchnia polska) is a mixture of Slavic culinary traditions. It is rich in meat, especially chicken and pork, and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices, as well as different kinds of noodles the most notable of which are the pierogi. It is related to other Slavic cuisines in usage of kasza and other cereals. Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is substantial. The traditional cuisine generally is demanding and Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to prepare and enjoy their festive meals, with some meals (like Christmas eve or Easter Breakfast) taking a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

Traditionally, the main meal is eaten about 2pm, and is usually composed of three courses, starting with a soup, such as popular bouillon or tomato or more festive barszcz (beet) 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 'surowka' - shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac, beetroot) or fermented cabbage (kapusta kwaszona). The sides are usually boiled potatoes or more traditionally kasha (cereals). Meals often conclude with a dessert such as makowiec (poppy seed cake), 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 flaczki (tripe).

History

Middle Ages

During the Late Middle Ages the cuisine of Poland was very heavy and spicy. Two main ingredients were meat (both game and beef) and cereal. As the territory of Poland was densely forested, use of mushrooms, forest fruits, nuts and honey was also widespread. Thanks to close trade relations with Asia, the price of spices (such as juniper, 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 grey blood in contemporary Polish) remained widespread at least until 18th century.^[1]

The most popular beverages were beer, including the very lightly-fermented barley-water, podpiwek, and mead -- however in the 16th century the upper classes started importing Hungarian wines. After distilled spirits became common in Europe, vodka became popular, especially among the lower classes.

There is only circumstantial evidence of vodka's originating in Poland. The development of the distillation process in France during the 14th century means that the expertise would most likely have to pass through Germany to reach Poland. However, the first known recorded use of the word 'vodka' comes from a Polish document from 1405.

Renaissance

With the ascension of the Italian queen Bona Sforza, the second wife of Sigismund I of Poland, in 1518, countless cooks were brought to Poland from Italy and France. Although native vegetable foods were an ancient and intrinsic part of the cuisine, this began a period in which vegetables such as lettuce, leek, celeriac and cabbage were more widely used. Even today, such vegetables as leeks, carrots and celery are known in Polish as włoszczyzna, which refers to Włochy, the Polish name of Italy.

The Republic

Bigos

Until the Partitions, Poland was one of the largest countries in the world, encompassing many regions with their own, distinctive culinary traditions. Among the most influential in that period were Lithuanian, Jewish, German and Hungarian cuisine. With the subsequent decline of Poland, and the grain production crisis that followed The Deluge, potatoes began to replace the traditional use of cereal. Also, because of numerous wars with the Ottoman Empire, coffee became popular.

Partitions

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. In the Russian-occupied part of the country, tea displaced the then-popular coffee. Under German influence the tradition of making white sausages was adopted in Greater Poland. Perhaps the most influential was the culinary tradition of multi-national empire of Austria-Hungary, which led to development of a Central European cuisine in Galicia.

Pierogi

The 19th century also saw the creation of the first Polish cook-book, by Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, who based her work on the 18th century diaries of the szlachta.

After World War II

After the end of World War II, Poland fell under Communist occupation. Restaurants were at first nationalized and then mostly closed down by the authorities. Instead, the communists envisioned a net of lunch rooms for the workers at various companies, and milk bars. The very few restaurants that survived the 1940s and 1950s were state-owned and were mostly unavailable to common people due to high prices. The lunch rooms promoted mostly inexpensive meals, including in soups of all kinds and noodles such as pierogi. A typical second course consisted of some sort of a ground meat cutlet served with potatoes. The kotlet schabowy is similar to the Austrian Wiener schnitzel.

With time, the shortage economy led to chronic shortages of meat, eggs, coffee, tea and other basic ingredients of daily use. Many products like chocolate, sugar, 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 food supply was domestic. Thus no tropical fruits (citrus, banana, pineapple etc.) were available and fruits and vegetables vere mostly seasonal: occurring only in the summer. For most of the year the Poles had to live by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables.

This situation led in turn to gradual replacement of traditional Polish cuisine with food prepared of anything that was available at the moment. Among the popular dishes introduced by the public restaurants was an egg cutlet, a sort of a hamburger made of minced or instant egg and flour. The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the Wigilia feast (Christmas Eve), for which most families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.

Modern era

Polish meat store.

With the end of communism in Poland in 1989, restaurants started to be opened once again and basic foodstuffs were once again easily obtainable. This led to a gradual return of traditional Polish cuisine, both in everyday life and in restaurants. In addition, restaurants and supermarkets promote the usage of ingredients typical to other cuisines of the world. Among the most notable of ingredients that started to be commonly used in Poland were cucurbit, zucchini and all kinds of fish. During communist times, these were available mostly in the seaside regions.

Recent years have seen the advent of a slow food movement, and a number of TV programmes devoted to traditional Polish cuisine have gained much popularity.

At the same time, fast food is growing more and more popular in Poland. Apart from McDonald's and KFC, Pizza Hut is very popular, as well as many Polish pizza chains. Pizza in Poland is characterized by the Polish habit of using ketchup on top of the pizza, rather than sauce. There are many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which usually serve items such as zapiekanka (baguette with cheese, sometimes meat and/or button mushroom and ketchup), kebap, hamburgers, hot dogs and kielbasa.

Common dishes found on a national level

• Common soups found on a national level
• Common main courses found on a national level
• Common desserts found on a national level
• Common beverages found on a national level
• Common folk medicine dishes found on a national level

Regional cuisine

Poland has a number of unique regional cuisines with regional differences in preparations and ingredients

Galicia

• Common dishes found in Galicia cuisine

Eastern Poland

Kresy

• Common dishes found in Kresy cuisine

Podlasie

• Common dishes found in Podlasie cuisine

North

• Common dishes found in northern Polish cuisine

Masovia (including Warsaw)

• Common dishes found in Masovia cuisine

Masuria

• Common dishes found in Masuria cuisine

Pomerania

• Common dishes found in Pomerania cuisine

Silesia

• Common dishes found in Silesia cuisine

Tatra mountains

• Common dishes found in Tatra mountains cuisine

Greater Poland

• Common dishes found in Greater Poland cuisine

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 - a type of sour cream

Notes and references

External links

• Excellent Polish Food from Minnesota
• Great Source for Authentic Polish Food in Illinois
• short summary on the Polish Cuisine
• Polish cuisine at Poland.gov
• Discuss Polish Food and Cuisine at PolishForums.com
• The gourmet restaurant La Rôtisserie in Warsaw presented by cosmopolis.ch
• Warsaw Life Guide to Polish Cuisine
• Traditional Polish Food Online
• Gourmet Polish Cuisine, recipes and food.