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Polish cuisine ( pl, kuchnia polska) is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. 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. Polish Meals – Polish Food – Polish Cuisine
. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of
noodles Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Ind ...
, cereals, and
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...
.Kasha, extended definition
by
Webster's ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's ...
Online Dictionary. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
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 Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas Eve supper () on December 24, or
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
breakfast, both of which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety. Among the well-known Polish national dishes are , , , (pork loin breaded cutlet), (cabbage roll), (roulade), (sour
cucumber soup Cucumber soup is a traditional Polish and Lithuanian soup ( Polish: ( sometimes simply ogórkowa). It is made from sour, salted cucumbers and potato. Occasionally rice is substituted for the potatoes. Cucumber soup is also any soup using c ...
), (mushroom soup), (
tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetabl ...
), (meat broth), (sour rye soup), (
tripe soup Tripe soup, tripe stew or tripe chorba ( tr, işkembe çorbası, bg, шкембе чорба, škembe čorba, mk, чкембе чорба) is a soup or stew made with tripe (cow or lamb/mutton stomach). It is widely (not universally) considered ...
), and red beetroot . A traditional Polish dinner is composed of three courses, beginning with a soup like the popular broth and
tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetabl ...
. At restaurants, the soups are followed by an appetizer such as herring (prepared in either cream, oil, or in
aspic Aspic or meat jelly () is a savory gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as ''aspic gelée'' or ' ...
), or other cured meats and vegetable salads. The main course usually includes a serving of meat, such as
roast Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelizatio ...
, breaded pork cutlet, or chicken, with a
coleslaw Coleslaw (from the Dutch term ''koolsla'' meaning 'cabbage salad'), also known as cole slaw, or simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly either vinaigrett ...
-like (), shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac,
seared Searing (or pan searing) is a technique used in grilling, baking, braising, roasting, sautéing, etc., in which the surface of the food (usually meat such as beef, poultry, pork, seafood) is cooked at high temperature until a browned crust forms ...
beetroot),
sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...
, or salad. The side dishes are usually boiled potatoes, , or less commonly,
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
. Meals often conclude with a dessert including , a poppy seed pastry, cream pie, or ( 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 French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...
, 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 Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...
, lemon juice, or sour cream to sauces like velouté.


History


Middle Ages

Polish cuisine in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
was based on dishes made of agricultural produce and cereal crops ( millet, rye,
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
), 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 Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of ...
and permanent presence of groats (). A high calorific value of dishes and drinking
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
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 ''Panicum miliaceum'' is a grain crop with many common names, including proso millet, broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet. Archaeobotanical evidence suggests millet was first domesticated abo ...
, 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 or various types of flatbread, some of which (for instance ) 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 ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Var ...
and peas. As the territory of Poland was densely forested, usage of
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
, forest berries, nuts, and wild honey was also widespread. Among the delicacies of the Polish nobility were honey-braised bear paws served with
horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...
-flavoured salad, smoked bear tongue, and bear bacon (bears are now protected in Poland).Robert Strybel, Maria Strybel
''Polish Heritage Cookery''
(''Wildfowl and Game'').
Hippocrene Books Hippocrene Books is an independent US publishing press located at 171 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY 10016. Hippocrene specializes in foreign language study guides, international cookbooks, and Polish-interest publishing. The foreign lang ...
. 2005. p. 350.
Thanks to close trade relations with Turkey and the countries in the Caucasus, the price of
spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...
s (such as
black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...
and
nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
) was much lower in Poland than the rest of
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, hence spicy sauces became popular. The usage of two basic sauces, the and (meaning "red" and "gray blood" in
Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Ol ...
), remained widespread at least until the 18th century. The daily beverages included milk,
whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of har ...
,
buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...
, and various herb
infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An in ...
s. The most popular alcoholic beverages were
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
and mead; however, in the 16th century, upper classes began to import Hungarian and
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
n
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
s. Mead was so widespread that in the 13th century Prince
Leszek I the White Leszek the White ( pl, Leszek Biały; c. 1184/85 – 24 November 1227) was Prince of Sandomierz and High Duke of Poland in the years 1194–1198, 1199, 1206–1210, and 1211–1227. During the early stages of his reign, his uncle Duke Mieszko I ...
explained to the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
that Polish knights could not participate in a crusade as there was no mead in the Holy Land.History of Mead
a favored drink among the Polish-Lithuanian szlachta. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
Also,
vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...
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 , the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At that time, the word (vodka) referred to chemical compounds such as
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
s and cosmetic cleansers, while the popular beverage was called (from the
Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Ol ...
).


Renaissance

Along with the Italian queen Bona Sforza (second wife of
Sigismund I of Poland Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...
), 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 Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...
, leeks,
celeriac Celeriac (''Apium graveolens'' var. ''rapaceum''), also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery (although it is not a close relative of the turnip), is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible stem or hypocotyl, and shoo ...
, and cabbage were more widely used. Even today, some of those vegetables are referred to in Polish as , a word derived from , the Polish name of
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. 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 (, 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 A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar ...
() is a variety developed in the northern part of
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
. 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 (). Another kind of pickled cucumber popular in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
is (), 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.


The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Until the Partitions perpetrated by the neighboring empires,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
was one of the largest countries in the world, and encompassed many regions with its own, distinctive culinary traditions. Two consecutive Polish kings,
Władysław IV Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...
and
John II Casimir John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...
() married the same French Duchess,
Marie Louise Gonzaga Marie Louise Gonzaga ( pl, Ludwika Maria; 18 August 1611 – 10 May 1667) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to two kings of Poland and grand dukes of Lithuania, brothers Władysław IV and John II Casimir. Together ...
(), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua; she was persecuted by King
Louis XIII of France Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
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 forest game, fowl (
waxwing The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, ...
s,
fieldfare The fieldfare (''Turdus pilaris'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It i ...
s,
snow bunting The snow bunting (''Plectrophenax nivalis'') is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few ...
,
hazel grouse The hazel grouse (''Tetrastes bonasia''), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern a ...
,
partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perd ...
s,
black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...
, capercaillies), fish and mollusks (
loach Loaches are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the 1249 known species of ...
, various
trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...
, grayling, fresh and smoked
salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
, flounder, salted herring,
lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...
s in vinegar,
oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s,
snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class G ...
s), and Genoese
pâté ''Pâté'' ( , , ) is a paste, pie or loaf filled with a forcemeat. Common forcemeats include ground meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices and either wine or brandy (often cognac or armagnac). It is often ser ...
, 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 Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...
appeared on Polish tables. Among the most influential cuisines under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were Lithuanian,
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, German, and Hungarian cuisine, as well as
Armenian cuisine Armenian cuisine includes the foods and cooking techniques of the Armenian people and traditional Armenian foods and dishes. The cuisine reflects the history and geography where Armenians have lived as well as sharing outside influences from ...
, which arrived in Poland before the 17th century along with many settlers, especially in the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth. Signature dishes of the Western Asia reached Polish tables thanks to the Armenian trade and cultural exchange with Poland's neighbor: the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. 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 Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
,
Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
, and
Zamość Zamość (; yi, זאמאשטש, Zamoshtsh; la, Zamoscia) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. ...
due to many Armenians living there permanently. Also, because of the close contact with the Ottoman Empire,
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
() and
boza Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from the Middle East and made in parts of Southeast Europe, Central and Western Asia, Caucasus and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: wheat or millet in Alban ...
became popular. With the subsequent decline of Poland, and the grain production crisis that followed
The Deluge The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...
, 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. Under the Partitions, the cuisine of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
became heavily influenced by cuisines of the surrounding empires. This included
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
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.


After World War II

After the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Poland became a communist country which joined the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
. Some restaurants were
nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
. 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 / (potato pancakes), (apple pancakes), (potato gnocchi), (farmer's cheese gnocchi served sweet), and pierogi. A typical second course consisted of meat cutlet served with potatoes or buckwheat and (raw, julienned vegetables). The popular Polish is a
breaded cutlet Breaded cutlet is a dish made from coating a cutlet of meat with breading or batter and either frying or baking it. Breaded cutlet is known as schnitzel in German-speaking countries, cotoletta alla milanese in Italy, escalope in France, ''fil ...
similar to the Austrian Wiener schnitzel and the Italian and Spanish
Milanesa The milanesa is a variation of the Lombard veal Milanese, or the Austrian Wiener schnitzel, where generic types of meat breaded cutlet preparations are known as a ''milanesa''. The milanesa was brought to the Southern Cone by Italian immig ...
. With time, the
shortage economy "Shortage economy" ( pl, gospodarka niedoboru, hu, hiánygazdaság) is a term coined by Hungarian economist János Kornai, who used this term to criticize the old Centrally planned economy, centrally-planned economies of the communist states of th ...
led to scarcity of meat,
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
, and other basic ingredients. Many products like
chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
, 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. Tropical fruits (such as citrus, banana, and
pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
) 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 (meatball), a sort of a
hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...
often served with beet puree and fresh carrots. The traditional recipes were mostly preserved during the feast ( Christmas Eve), for which many families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses. A popular form of fish dish was, and still is, the
paprikash Chicken paprikash ( hu, paprikás csirke or ''csirkepaprikás'') or paprika chicken is a popular dish of Hungarian origin and one of the most famous variations on the ''paprikás'' preparations common to Hungarian tables. The name is derived fr ...
() from the port city of Szczecin, usually added to sandwiches as a spread.


Modern era

With the
fall of communism in Poland Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
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 The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are st ...
, 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 Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and re ...
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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. American food in Poland, most commonly
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
, KFC, and
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
, are declining in popularity as Polish people prefer their own cuisine, including fast food. Meanwhile,
doner kebab Doner kebab (, ; tr, döner or , ), also spelled döner kebab, is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical co ...
s are gaining popularity. Nonetheless, in most of Poland one can still get traditional and very popular Polish street food such as the , a pizza-like baguette with cheese, mushrooms, onion,
ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among o ...
, and sometimes meat. There are also many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which serve kebabs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and Polish (sausage). In the southern mountainous region, served with cranberry jam is a popular street food.


Holiday meals


Christmas dishes

Traditional Christmas Eve supper called is meatless (except for fish) and usually consists of (
borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which g ...
) with
uszka Uszka or vushka (Polish: Uszka, Ukrainian: Вушка, Belarusian: Вушкі) (meaning "little ears") are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of pierogi) usually filled with flavoursome wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat. T ...
(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 Aspic or meat jelly () is a savory gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as ''aspic gelée'' or ' ...
. 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 Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...
and forest
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
,
fish soup Fish soup is a food made by combining fish or seafood with vegetables and stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, formin ...
, kielbasa,
ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
s,
bigos Bigos (; be, бігас, ', or бігус, ', lt, bigusas), often translated into English as hunter's stew, is a Polish dish of chopped meat of various kinds stewed with sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage. It is served hot and can be enrich ...
(savory stew of cabbage and meat), and vegetable salads. Among popular desserts are gingerbread, cheesecake, various fruits such as
oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...
, poppy seed cake, ( in
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
), fruit
kompot Kompot or compote is a non-alcoholic sweet beverage that may be served hot or cold, depending on tradition and season. It is obtained by cooking fruit such as strawberries, apricots, peaches, apples, raspberries, rhubarb, plums, or sour cherries ...
, and with poppyseed and gingerbread. Regional dishes include , (in
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
), and , stuffed dumplings with mushrooms or meat from the eastern regions.


Fat Thursday

, or "Fat Thursday", is a Polish culinary custom on the last Thursday before
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
, equivalent to
Pancake Day A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying wit ...
. Traditionally, it is an occasion to enjoy sweets and cakes before the forty days of abstinence expected of Catholics until
Easter Day Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...
. The most popular sweetmeats on Fat Thursday are , Polish doughnuts, and (sometimes called ), equivalent to the French
beignet Beignet ( , also , ; ) is a type of ''fritter'', or deep-fried pastry, usually made from yeast dough in France, possibly made from pâte à choux and called Pets-de-nonne, nun's fart, in France, but may also be made from other types of dough, i ...
. 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 (lard), bacon, and all kinds of meat. The original doughnuts, popular until the 16th century, were made of the same dough as bread, would be filled with pork and fried on '. Only later were they made as patisserie.


Easter breakfast

A typical
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
breakfast often consists of cold-cuts served with horseradish sauce and beet salads, breads,
bigos Bigos (; be, бігас, ', or бігус, ', lt, bigusas), often translated into English as hunter's stew, is a Polish dish of chopped meat of various kinds stewed with sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage. It is served hot and can be enrich ...
,
żurek In West Slavic countries, as well as in Belarus, fermented cereals, such as rye, wheat, or oatmeal, are used to make soups. In Poland and parts of Belarus, rye is traditional for making żur; a variant made with wheat flour instead of rye is kn ...
,
kiełbasa Kielbasa (, ; from Polish ) is any type of meat sausage from Poland and a staple of Polish cuisine. In American English the word typically refers to a coarse, U-shaped smoked sausage of any kind of meat, which closely resembles the ''Wiejska'' ...
,
smoked salmon Smoked salmon is a preparation of salmon, typically a fillet that has been cured and hot or cold smoked. Due to its moderately high price, smoked salmon is considered a delicacy. Although the term lox is sometimes applied to smoked salmon, t ...
or herring, marinated vegetable salads, Easter salad (chopped boiled eggs,
green peas The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
, ćwikła, carrot,
apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
,
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
, parsley, and mayonnaise),
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and cakes (such as chocolate cake), , , and .


Regional cuisine and soups

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 Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...
,
Podlachia Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...
,
Masovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...
(including
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
),
Masuria Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...
,
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
,
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
,
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
, the
Tatra mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...
, and Greater Poland, see the List of Polish cuisine dishes. 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. *Thin
tomato soup Tomato soup is a soup with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It can be served hot or cold, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes that include chunks of tomato, cream, chicken or vegetabl ...
made with tomato purée, root vegetables, and stock, usually served with pasta or rice; sour cream is often added. *Potato soup with root vegetables. * (or )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. *Cold soup made of soured milk or sour cream, young beet leaves, cucumbers, and chopped fresh dill. Sometimes chives and radishes are added. *Beet leaves soup with potatoes and root vegetables, served hot. * (red borscht)Clear beetroot soup made out of stock,
beetroots The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden bee ...
, and beetroot sourdough; served with
uszka Uszka or vushka (Polish: Uszka, Ukrainian: Вушка, Belarusian: Вушкі) (meaning "little ears") are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of pierogi) usually filled with flavoursome wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat. T ...
, 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. *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. * (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. *
Sorrel soup Sorrel soup is made from water or broth, sorrel leaves, and salt.Екатерина Авдеева. Ручная книга русской опытной хозяйки. СПб, 1842 Елена Молоховец. ''Подарок молодым ...
made of sorrel leaves and rice, served with hard-boiled egg. * (or )Beef or pork
tripe Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep. Types of tripe Beef tripe Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's st ...
stew with
marjoram Marjoram (; ''Origanum majorana'') is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours. In some Middle Eastern countries, marjoram is synonymous with oregano, and there the names sweet marjoram and knotted marj ...
and spices. Vegetarians make this soup with oyster mushrooms. *Clear chicken soup served with noodles, usually short vermicelli. The stock is made of root vegetables and whole chicken, beef, or both. *
Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
soup made of white or wild mushrooms with potatoes or pasta. During Christmas Eve it is instead served with łazanki pasta or
uszka Uszka or vushka (Polish: Uszka, Ukrainian: Вушка, Belarusian: Вушкі) (meaning "little ears") are small dumplings (a very small and twisted version of pierogi) usually filled with flavoursome wild forest mushrooms and/or minced meat. T ...
. *A sour cucumber soup made of sour, salted cucumbers. *Fermented cereal soup made of wholemeal rye sourdough, although oat sourdough is used in
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
and
Podlachia Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...
, and buckwheat sourdough is used in
Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...
. Like and , it is served with mashed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, cooked and smoked bacon, and biała kiełbasa (white kielbasa). *Fermented cereal soup, more delicate than because it is made of wheat flour sourdough. Colloquially (but improperly) it is often called (white bortscht). * ( 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. *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. *
Pea soup Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pe ...
with split peas, potato, carrot, parsley root, kielbasa or fried bacon, and marjoram. *
Sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...
soup with potatoes, root vegetables (parsley root, carrots, celery root), bacon, and pork ribs. *Sauerkraut soup with potatoes and ribs. Similar to , but omits other vegetables and tastes sourer. *Pork or beef, smoked bacon, white mushrooms, sour pickled cucumbers, red bell pepper, tomato puree, spices, onion, and garlic. *Cold soup made of raw, partially blended, or cooked and chilled vegetables with yoghurt or sour cream (such as cucumber or tomato ). Often served with cooked potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, or both. * (bean soup)Made with white beans, root vegetables, smoked sausage (kielbasa), fried bacon, and marjoram. * (cabbage soup)Made with stock, chopped white cabbage, root vegetables, tomato puree and potatoes. * (vegetable soup)Made with potatoes, green beans, root vegetables, cauliflower, peas, and sometimes brussels sprouts. * (rice soup)Made with rice, potatoes, and root vegetables with chicken. * (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. * (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. *Soup with minced meat, cabbage, tomato puree, tomatoes, rice, and spices. * (Mexican soup)Made with minced pork or beef, garlic, red kidney beans, corn kernels, canned tomatoes, tomato puree, and onion. Potatoes and root vegetables may be added or not. * (cauliflower soup)Made with stock, potatoes, cauliflower florets, and root vegetables. * (broccoli soup)Made with stock, potatoes,
broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...
florets, and root vegetables. * (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 . * (or ) (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. * (fruit soup)Served cold with different fruits and pasta during hot summer.


Meat and fish

*Roasted, stewed, or grilled mutton. *Stew of mainly
sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...
, cabbage, and meats such as smoked kielbasa and bacon. Also contains mushrooms, onions, and sometimes tomato puree. It is known as a "hunter's stew" due to the addition of game and scraps of other meats. *Thin slices of beef braised with mushrooms. *Thin slices of pork in gravy, braised with onions. *Stewed pork knuckle or hock. *Cabbage rolls with ground meat and rice or groats, served with mushroom, dill, or tomato sauce. For Christmas Eve, meat may be substituted with mushrooms. A variety with mushroom and potato filling is mostly found in Eastern Poland due to influence from Ukraine. Cabbage leaves used are from savoy cabbage or
white cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nbs ...
. Rarely, it can be made with
red cabbage The red cabbage (purple-leaved varieties of ''Brassica oleracea'' Capitata Group) is a kind of cabbage, also known as Blaukraut after preparation. Its leaves are colored dark red/purple. However, the plant changes its color according to the pH ...
or sauerkraut leaves. Modern versions include use of
chinese cabbage Chinese cabbage (''Brassica rapa'', subspecies ''pekinensis'' and ''chinensis'') can refer to two cultivar groups of leaf vegetables often used in Chinese cuisine: the Pekinensis Group (napa cabbage) and the Chinensis Group (bok choy). These ...
or filling wrapped in zucchini slices. This dish is either cooked or baked. * ( without wrapping)Large meatballs filled with chopped cabbage, onion and rice. *Meat stew originated from Hungarian with onions, tomatoes, red bell peppers, and paprika. *Pork neck, roasted, grilled, or braised with onions. *Sausage, smoked or boiled, usually made with pork. It is a staple of Polish cuisine and comes in dozens of varieties. *Minced meat (pork, pork-beef, or turkey) patty made with egg, breadcrumbs, chopped onions, wet bread, and spices, often rolled in breadcrumbs. Sometimes filled with cheese, mushrooms, or both. *Thinly pounded pork loin cutlet coated in breadcrumbs. It is a variation of
schnitzel A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutt ...
. *Roasted chicken. *Roasted veal. *Roasted pork in wine gravy. *Braised beef sirloin slices. *Polish style
meatball A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many type ...
s in tomato, mushroom, or dill sauce. *Minced meat
roulade A roulade () is a dish of filled rolled meat or pastry. Roulade can be savory or sweet. Swiss roll is an example of a sweet roulade. Traditionally found in various European cuisines, the term ''roulade'' originates from the French word ''ro ...
with mushrooms. *Stuffed pork loin. *Roasted beef. *Thin beef fillets rolled and filled with bacon, mushrooms, mustard, gherkins, and onions. *Thin pork/chicken fillets rolled with filling including version with cheese. *Smoked
spare ribs Spare ribs (also side ribs or spareribs) are a variety of ribs cut from the lower portion of a pig, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and include 11 to 13 long bones. There is a covering of meat on top of the bones an ...
. *Cod fillet with or without batter. Can be steam cooked or baked. *Steamed or baked salmon fillet. *Poached or baked trout. *Rolled pickled herring fillets stuffed with pickled onion or cucumbers. *Fried breaded
fish fillet A fish fillet, from the French word () meaning a ''thread'' or ''strip'', is the flesh of a fish which has been cut or sliced away from the bone by cutting lengthwise along one side of the fish parallel to the backbone. In preparation for fillet ...
. * Herring marinated in oil or vinegar with onions. *Herring marinated in sour cream with onions. Sour pickled cucumbers, apples, and mushrooms can also be added. *Polish savoury jelly based on bone broth made from pork legs and served with chopped meat and vegetables, like peas or carrots. Served with a drizzle of vinegar or lemon juice. Dish originates from Jewish cuisine. If using meat other than pork leg, it is called .


Flour or potato-based

*Half-moon-shaped dumplings with various fillings. Savoury pierogi may be filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms, potato, quark and fried onion (, Ruthenian ), 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. *Tiny dumplings traditionally filled only with mushrooms and onions. Other fillings used are mushrooms with sauerkraut or rarely cooked and minced meat with onions. When filled with meat, they are served with clear
borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which g ...
, clear mushroom soup, or
broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...
. *Stuffed dumplings with raw minced beef and mutton, beef dripping, fried onions, and spices. Potato is a different dish from Subcarpathia made from potato dough filled with ( quark), potatoes, and onions. *Potato pancakes with grated potatoes, onions, eggs, wheat flour, and marjoram. *Potato dumplings made with raw, grated potatoes, egg, flour, and sometimes filled with minced meat; then cooked. *Potato dumplings made with cooked potatoes and starch. Usually filled with fruits, most popular being plums and strawberries. *Hoof-shaped potato dumplings made of cooked potatoes, egg, and flour. Often served with breadcrumbs, sugar, and melted butter or fried bacon. *Hoof-shaped dumplings made of flour or potatoes, eggs, and quark. *Dumplings in small donut-like shape made with boiled potatoes and potato starch. Often served with gravy or meat stew. *Dumplings black or gray in colour, made of raw grated potatoes and potato starch. *Steamed yeast wheat flour dumplings served with fruit yoghurt or jam. They can be also served savoury with gravy or filled with chocolate. * (laid dumplings)Dumplings made of thick batter with flour and eggs laid in boiling water. * (poured dumplings)Dumplings made of thin batter with flour, milk, and eggs, usually poured straight into soup. * (grated dumplings)Grated or chopped dough into tiny balls and cooked. *Thicker and plumper version of crêpes, served with sweet or savoury filling. * (croquettes)In Poland, they are made of , often filled with either sauerkraut and mushrooms or ham and cheese, then folded like a burrito, breaded, and fried. Commonly served with clear
borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which g ...
. *Yeast pancakes often stuffed with apples and served with
powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, p ...
or jam. *Pasta shaped like small squares. This Polish version is served with sauerkraut, onion, and fried kielbasa or fried bacon. *Open faced sandwich made from a veka roll sliced in half and topped with tomato sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. 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. *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 Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
. *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 () or sausage () comes from Germany. In Poland, it is often eaten with a glass of sour
buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...
or
kefir Kefir ( ; also spelled as kephir or kefier; ; ; ) is a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt or ayran that is made from kefir grains, a specific type of mesophilic symbiotic culture. The drink originated in the North Caucasus, in p ...
. *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 Carbonara () is an Italian pasta dish from Rome made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork and black pepper. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually Pecorino Romano, Par ...
().


Side dishes and salads

*Cooked
groats Groats (or in some cases, "berries") are the hulled kernels of various cereal grains, such as oat, wheat, rye, and barley. Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fiber-rich bran portion of the grain, as well as the endospe ...
; most popular are groats of buckwheat, barley, millet, and wheat. *Traditional Polish salad made with sliced cucumbers, sour cream, and spices; served as a side. *Carrot salad made with peeled and grated carrots, apples, oil, and lemon juice. *Salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and oil or sour cream. *Simple boiled potatoes sprinkled with dill. *Mashed potatoes. *Salad with shredded cabbage, carrots, and spices, often with grated apples. *Salad with sauerkraut, carrots, parsley, apples, and lemon juice. * or 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. *Sauerkraut or white cabbage pan-fried with onions and spices, often with fried bacon. *Braised white cabbage with onions, dill, and double cream. *Any salad made of raw vegetables with drizzle of vinegar, oil, sour cream, or yoghurt. *Any salad made of cooked vegetables, usually with mayonnaise. *Cooked and grated beetroot salad; can be made warm or cold. *Cooked and grated beetroots with horseradish paste and lemon juice. *Green beans with garlic and butter or oil; originated in Italy. *Cooked cauliflower, green beans, or Brussels sprouts with a polonaise sauce made of fried breadcrumbs in butter. *Cooked broccoli or cauliflower with a
garlic sauce Garlic sauce is a sauce prepared using garlic as a primary ingredient. It is typically a pungent sauce, with the depth of garlic flavor determined by the amount of garlic used. The garlic is typically crushed or finely diced. Simple garlic sauce ...
. *Polish
pickled cucumber A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar ...
, fermented in brine consisting of dill and dill flower, garlic, salt, and spices. *Pickled cucumber in vinegar, which is rather sweet and vinegary in taste. *Marinated
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
. *Preserved salad made with cucumbers, onions, carrots, vinegar, and spices. *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. *Marinated herring salad with pickled cucumbers, onions, and sour cream; sometimes eggs and apples are added.


Bread

Bread () and bread rolls ( (bread roll), , , ) 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 Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
. 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 ("") is often associated with the traditional hospitality ("") of the Polish nobility (), who prided themselves on their hospitality. A 17th-century
Polish poet List of poets who have written much of their poetry in Polish. See also Discussion Page for additional poets not listed here. There have been five Polish-language Nobel Prize laureates in literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, ...
, Wespazjan Kochowski, wrote in 1674: "O good bread, when it is given to guests with salt and good will!" Another poet,
Wacław Potocki Wacław Potocki (; 1621–1696) was a Polish nobleman ('' szlachcic''), moralist, poet, and writer. He was the podczaszy of Kraków from 1678 to 1685. He is remembered as one of the most important Polish baroque artists. His most famous works ar ...
, 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
proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...
s. 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 A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
.


Desserts and sweets

*Type of sweet
meringue Meringue (, ; ) is a type of dessert or candy, often associated with Swiss, French, Polish and Italian cuisines, traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or cream o ...
in biscuit form, occasionally with topping. *Sweet poppy-seed swiss roll, with raisins, dried fruits, and walnuts. *Closed donuts filled with rose petal jam, other fruit conserves, custard, chocolate, or quark with sugar. *Soft gingerbread biscuit forms of , unfilled or filled with marmalade of different fruit flavours, and sometimes covered with chocolate. * ( cheesecake)One of the most popular desserts in Poland. It is a cake made primarily of , a type of fresh cheese similar to quark. It can be baked or refrigerated. It might be flavoured with vanilla, lemon peel, or orange peel. Sometimes raisins or various fresh fruits are added. Commonly topped with a chocolate topping or sprinkled with coconut-flakes or nuts. It is very popular to garnish it with a sweet jelly topping with a variety of fresh fruits when it is unbaked. * Pie baked particularly at Christmas Eve and
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, made with
shortcrust pastry Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken ...
. There are variations with different fillings, such as walnut paste,
dulce de leche ''Dulce de leche'' (; pt, doce de leite), also known as caramelized milk, milk candy or milk jam in English, is a confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sugar and milk over a period of several hours. The resulting substance, w ...
or
ganache Ganache (; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. Preparation Ganache is a chocolate preparation, normally made by heating equal parts by weight of cream and chopped chocolate, warming the cream ...
with
dried fruits Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying (food), drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or food dehydrator, dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tra ...
,
candied fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type of ...
, and nuts. *Sweet white wheat bread of Jewish origin (). * (
eggnog Eggnog (), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage. It is traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and whipped egg white ...
)Made from egg yolks, sugar, and flavourings such as honey, vanilla, or cocoa. Traditional for Polish Jews. *Polish
fudge Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline can ...
; soft milk
toffee Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepared, toffee ...
candies. *Polish type of
cream pie A cream pie, crème pie, or creme pie is a type of pie filled with a rich custard or pudding that is made from milk, cream, sugar, wheat flour, and eggs. It comes in many forms, including vanilla, lemon, lime, peanut butter, banana, coconut, a ...
made of two layers of
puff pastry Puff pastry, also known as ', is a flaky light pastry made from a laminated dough composed of dough (') and butter or other solid fat ('). The butter is put inside the dough (or vice versa), making a ' that is repeatedly folded and rolled out befo ...
, filled with vanilla pastry cream, usually sprinkled with
powdered sugar Powdered sugar, also called confectioners' sugar, or icing sugar, is a finely ground sugar produced by milling granulated sugar into a powdered state. It usually contains between 2% and 5% of an anti-caking agent – such as corn starch, p ...
. A close relative of the French millefeuille. An alternative but less popular version is , often filled with whipped cream instead of custard cream. *Cake with candied and dried fruit. *Polish version of a
pound cake Pound cake is a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold. They are sometimes served either dusted with powd ...
, made with or without yeast. It is served with powdered sugar or icing. Can be made as a
marble cake A marble cake (or Marmor) is a cake with a streaked or mottled appearance (like marble) achieved by very lightly blending light and dark Batter (cooking), batter. It can be a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cake, in which case it is mainly vanil ...
. *Layered honey cake filled with vanilla pastry cream and
ganache Ganache (; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. Preparation Ganache is a chocolate preparation, normally made by heating equal parts by weight of cream and chopped chocolate, warming the cream ...
on top. *Layered nut cake filled with vanilla pastry cream and , topped with chopped nuts. *Carrot cake with added nuts and honey, sometimes layered with whipped cream. *Various types of unbaked and refrigerated cakes made of biscuits, ladyfingers, crackers, or sponge cake with vanilla, whipped cream, coconut, jelly, mascarpone, semolina, or poppy seed filling. Often topped with ganache. *Cream pie made of two layers of choux pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream. *Layered chocolate sponge cake filled with jam and whipped cream, associated with
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. *Chocolate-covered candy filled with soft
meringue Meringue (, ; ) is a type of dessert or candy, often associated with Swiss, French, Polish and Italian cuisines, traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or cream o ...
(or milk
soufflé A soufflé is a baked egg-based dish originating in France in the early eighteenth century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of t ...
). *Clear, jelly-like sweet fruit liquid, made with starch, sugar, and fruits or fruit juice. *Pudding that usually comes in many different flavours, such as sweet cream, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, and more. *Light fried pastry covered with powdered sugar. *, Hard taffy sold at cemeteries during and at (Old Town) in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. *Grain dish made with wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins, and honey. Not traditionally Polish, but served during Christmas in the eastern regions like Białystok and
Podlachia Podlachia, or Podlasie, ( pl, Podlasie, , be, Падляшша, translit=Padliašša, uk, Підляшшя, translit=Pidliashshia) is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the c ...
. * - Polish chocolate bar. *Assorted chocolate covered candy. *Large, circular, chocolate covered wafer with hand-made decorations. *Chocolate bar with a flavoured filling, most popular contains
advocaat Advocaat or advocatenborrel is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar, and brandy. The rich and creamy drink has a smooth, custard-like consistency. The typical alcohol content is generally between 14% and 20% ABV. Its co ...
. * Chocolate-covered prune. *Type of a rice pudding baked or cooked with apples and cinnamon.


Beverages


Alcoholic

Traditional Polish alcoholic beverages include mead,
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
,
vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuriti ...
(
Old Polish The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Ol ...
: , ), and to a lesser extent,
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
. In recent decades,
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
has become very common, while
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
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 Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...
, Subcarpathia,
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, and West Pomerania regions. Among alcoholic beverages, Polish vodka—traditionally prepared from grain or potatoes—has essentially displaced the formerly widespread mead. 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.Origins & Development of Vodka
The Gin and Vodka Association. ginvodka.org
The world's first written mention of the drink and of the word "vodka" was in 1405 from
recorder of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
, the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. 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. Vodka was the most popular alcoholic drink in Poland until 1998, when it was surpassed by beer. Besides clear vodkas, flavoured vodka (known as
nalewka Nalewka (), plural nalewki, is a traditional alcoholic beverage from Poland. Similar to medicinal tinctures, it is usually 40% to 45% alcohol by volume, though some can be as strong as 75%. Nalewka is created by macerating and / or infusing variou ...
) and liqueurs are also popular. The most important are
Żubrówka Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka () is a flavored Polish vodka, which contains a bison grass blade (''Hierochloe odorata'') in every bottle. The Żubrówka brand name is also used on bottles of conventional vodka, labeled as Żubrówka Biała. An e ...
(vodka with
bison grass ''Hierochloe odorata'' or ''Anthoxanthum nitens'' (commonly known as sweet grass, manna grass, Mary’s grass or vanilla grass, and as holy grass in the UK, bison grass e.g. by Polish vodka producers) is an aromatic herb native to northern ...
from Podlasie), herbal Żołądkowa Gorzka, aged , plum brandy (especially from Łącko), honey liqueur , as well as Goldwasser (herbal liqueur with flakes of gold leaf) and juniper vodka , both originating from Gdańsk.


Non-alcoholic

Traditionally, kvass () 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. It is typically made from rye bread, usually known as
black bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat ...
, and is not classified as an alcoholic beverage in Poland, as its
alcohol content Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
usually ranges from 0% to 2%. There are many commercial and family variations of the beverage; however, traditional Polish recipes still exist. Despite its production on an industrial scale in Poland during the
interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...
, it began to lose popularity to mass-produced soft drinks and carbonated water in the 20th century. It remained known primarily in rural areas of eastern Poland. However, kvass started making a comeback in the 21st century, with many new Polish brands being started. In contemporary times,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
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 Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, 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 ().
Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
has been widely drunk since the 18th century, when Poland bordered the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Other frequently consumed beverages also include:
buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most m ...
,
kefir Kefir ( ; also spelled as kephir or kefier; ; ; ) is a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt or ayran that is made from kefir grains, a specific type of mesophilic symbiotic culture. The drink originated in the North Caucasus, in p ...
,
soured milk Soured milk denotes a range of food products produced by the acidification of milk. Acidification, which gives the milk a tart taste, is achieved either through bacterial fermentation or through the addition of an acid, such as lemon juice or vin ...
,
instant coffee Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. Instant coffee solids (also called sol ...
, various
mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...
s,
juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...
s, and numerous brands of soft drink. A considerable number of Poles enjoy carbonated water, and customers in restaurants are always offered both still and sparkling (carbonated) water to drink.


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


See also

* List of Polish desserts *
List of Polish dishes This is a list of dishes found in Polish cuisine. Soups * ''Barszcz'' - its strictly vegetarian version is the first course during the Christmas Eve feast, served with ''uszka'' (tiny ear-shaped dumplings) with mushroom filling (sauerkraut c ...


References


External links


Polish traditional meals with video recipes

Short summary of the Polish Cuisine

Polish Cuisine
on Culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Polish Cuisine