Cookbook:Cuisine of Poland

Cookbook | Ingredients | Cuisines | European cuisines

The traditional cuisine of Poland is characterised by meat and vegetables, especially potatoes and dills. Lunch and dinner tend to be heavy.

Breakfast is usually simple, often meatless, and taken at 6-9 o'clock. Lunch is taken at 2-3 o'clock and dinner is taken at 4-7 o'clock.

The most well-known dish outside Poland is perhaps bigos. It is a sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) and meat (usually beef) dish.

Poland has recently provided well for those who are vegetarian, and the desserts are usually fruity in nature.

Bigos is a very traditional Polish dish. It is claimed that its origins come from Polish hunting traditions where hunters would cook up their catch with cabbage, wild mushrooms and sausage. Recipes for Bigos vary from family to family but there are several ingredients that are almost universal: Cabbage, Sausage (usually smoked), Onions, Salt Pork, Bacon and Venision. As most modern cooks don't have easy access to good quality venison, pork and, less frequently, beef are often substituted. The variation using beef and referenced in the introduction of this section, is called Bigos Hultajski. (See Polish Heritage Cookbook by Robert and Maria Strybel) Bigos Myśliwski is the version more usually associated as the traditional Bigos. You can also add prunes or wild Polish Mushrooms (Borowik - Boletus edulis).

Specialities by Region

• Pomerania
• Warmia and Mazuria
• Mazovia and Lublin Voivodship
• Małopolska
• Silesia
• Wielkopolska
• Tatra Mountains

General Dishes

• Wiejska - a popular variety of kielbasa sausage
• Rosół z kury - poultry soup
• Ogórkowa - sour-salted cucumber soup*
• Pierogi - a stuffed type of dumpling
• Mazurek Cake - Easter and Christmas cake originally from Poland

Meals for Special Occasions

• Wigilia (This is Polish Christmas Eve).
• Wielkanoc (This is Polish Easter).