Polish culinary dislikes

These 3 items are all nasty. Especially the frog legs.

will let you let be a mod in here please please sweet please? ;)

I beat my breast! Two obvious items generally disliked by Poles which I overlooked are pumpkin pie and cotton-fluff stuff (American white bread). Also mince-meat pie.

But things change. Time was when Poles frowned on those brittle cold crunchy-munchy cereals drenched with ice-cold milk. Now you find the younger set actually eating the stuff (ugh). Also coffee – the American-style, under-roasted 'gold' blends as opposed to the classic darker-roasted European types are becoming increasingly popular in Poland. Advertising and exposure in time can change any culinary preferences and eating habits.

I can wholeheartedly endorse the view that that hot, faintly apple-scented, starchy go inside a crunchy but unpalatable crust encasement (McDonald's apple pie) is a far fry from the real thing. American apple pie is one of the classics of American cookery, as long as it isn't overly cinnamony. In fact, using no cinnamon and only a faint grating of nutmeg is an even better option. Smacznego!

I love pumpkin pie!!!!!!!!


most European cookeries have an apple pie or a version of it.
Apples were always cheap so people baked with what was available.

I still think that Szarlotka is a great version of apple pastry.

Sasha - How widespread is kvas in today's Russia? Are there still kvas-vendors on the streets? Do you personally fancy it? Do Russians mostly buy it in shops are make it at home?

Strange list, I'd say most people I know like all this stuff (if they tried it). Whiskey is something that might be not appreciated by youngsters - but it's more like around the world and not just in Poland.

Well, it is not I had some aversion to Whinskey, but if I want light alcohol I drink beer, if I want something stronger I drink vodka.

Whinskey is somewhere in between, somewhat pointless, unless you feel snobish today.

Kvas street vendors are all over the place in Moldova and the Ukraine, quite a few street vendors in southern Russia too.


Wow, really? A light alcohol? 40% is light? If it's snobbish drinking what tastes good to you, then yea, I'll take being a snob. What is it again that they call the people that don't care what they drink as long it gets them hammered?

A Brit on a night out? ;P

Real alcohol makes you wheezing for breath :-)

Whinskey is somewhat womanish drink, now isnt it. Not that I have anything agains women, quite the contrary. My mother is making Wisniowka na spirytusie (not sure how to translate it), now this is potent stuff, much more then lousy 40% ;-)

heh, that was actually running through my head when I reread what I wrote...


Spirytus is rectified spirit, so I guess it would be cherry infused rectified spirits. You can save a lot of money by just heading down to the gas station and buying it for 4.20 a liter straight out of the pump.

Wisniowka is a Cherry Cordial

A cherry-colored, semi-sweet fruit flavored cordial made of juice and infusion of selected, masterfully combined aromatic Polish cherries of the succulent type, picked in orchards specially cultivated for this purpose in the region of Poland where the soil and climate are most propitious. Wisniowka is also made from premium spirits. Its pretty color adds a festive touch to the table, and its delicate harmony of cherry flavors is simply a delight. Wisniowka is the best known Polish Cherry Cordial, most appreciated in the world market. Polish Wisniowka is much less sweet than other cherry cordials and because of that is a perfect ingredient of cocktails. It is a favorite drink of ladies, best served at room temperature with coffee and desserts. Excellent after meals slightly chilled. Also a superior mixed drink base. For its superb quality Wisniowka has won numerous gold and silver medals* at the international and domestic competitions.

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  wisniowka.jpg
  

Cordial do not seem to sound right...
I used to buy her several liters of a spirit, she put cherries inside, and maybe a little sugar, and after weeks or months, not sure, I got wisnowka na spirytusie. When next time I visit my mother I intend to ask about the whole process :-)

There are two main kinds, depending on the amount of alcohol. Yours sounds a bit like a Nalewka I make. The kind that's a cordial is often diluted with sugar syrop.

we have the same like that here in Philippines its called dinuguan but it has some pork meat also. wonder how your Polish version tastes.

I guess you're right.There is a cherry cordial and a cherry vodka.Bottles looks the same only one says "vodka" instead of "cordial"

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  Wisniowka_vodka.jpg
  

Polonius3


Nowadays it's moved from streets to stores. That's probably since late 90th when they learnt how to brew decent kvas commercially, so that it doesn't taste that worse than home-brewed. Home-made is still better than a bought one but many people at present seem to prefer purchasing it.

I personally like it in small ammounts (it's high in calories and not very healthy thereof), think it's a good alternative for coke or any other soda. :) Have you tried it? Do people in Poland drink or at least know about it?

There is decent kvas? It really must be an acquired taste. I've given it a try every time hoping that something might have changed, but alas...

Had you tried some better before that? :) Maybe you just don't like the very taste.
Well... my bad... I rephrase it from "decent" to "acceptable" cause what one could buy in shops in early 90th had been "unacceptable".

You can get it in some stores, bottled:

But it's full of chemical add-ons, at least the products that I've seen. No better that coke actually.
People generally know about it - I mean, know it's drunk in Russia and Ukraine, but not many here drink it.
It may be different in the families resettled from Kresy after the WWII.

The American comedian Soupy Sales once said, "At the zoo you can see a man-eating lion and a man-eating tiger. But you have to go to a delicatessen to see a man eating herring."

Here is something to try-----
it is a big deal to kill the first pig of the season. So there I was in the morning watching some people chasing a pig around on their farm. They caught it. Then slit it's neck and colleted the blood into a frying pan and then beat some eggs and cooked it, It had a brain like look------mmmmmmmmmTasty!!!!!!

wooo wooo wooo easy there cowboy, saying that Americans don't BBQ well is an insult, I think besides, Baseball and Football(American Football) BBQ is our pastime. Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Shrimp, Lobster, Fish, Chicken, Kabobs...my mouth is watering right now thinking about it. I have chickens ready to go tonight with a smokey mesquite BBQ sauce.

Basically if you can kill it, we can grill it!

I'm doomed to be forever misunderstood on this thread. I make a distinction between grilling which both Poles and Americans do (I think Poles generally do better) and BBQ which is different from grilling and which Americans do but Polish people don't.

I love BBQ of almost any kind (exception: awfu shredded stuff with mayonaise-y sauce in one of the Carolinas). In my experience Polish peole don't like BBQ much (I think the sauce is the deal breaker, whether the meat is cooked with it or it's applied separately).

Kvas is one of those drinks that I really want to like, I mean, it has everything that one needs to make a good drink, but I just can't make the connection. Maybe it's just been bad kvas, or maybe there is a beginner or baby kvas to start and work your way up to street vendor kvas... Kvas tour in Moscow this summer?


Grilled deer burgers is where it's at. Good lord, nothing better. A nice slab of brisket is also up there if you have the time :)

Definitions definitions.

In the UK we say barbecue is exactly the same as Polish gril (only one L surely?) Just cooking something on charcoal.

Never seen one of those American contraptions before. So the word barbecue means something different depending on where you're from. And since we invented English, the yanks must be wrong. ;) (just chain jerking)

Also - isn't "czarny" more like black pudding than kaszanka? I don't think black pudding has any cereals in does it? (although it's a long time since I ate black pudding, I have had czarny and kaszanka more recently).

Your wastefulness was fixed. Two words with the same meaning, pfft!

grilling - flames, two beers and you have your meal

barbecuing - smoke and indirect heat, a case of beer and you have your meal (or something resembling jerky because you managed to fall asleep and leave your chunk of meat smoking over night...)

I like Venison burgers as well. Go bow hunting in the fall every year. Just get one...leave the rest alone. But nothing beats pig roast...my lord what a treat.

Completely depends on the region and the butcher. The kaszanka that i've tried had a very similar texture to what I knew as black pudding, but with different spices than back home.

As for BBQ, just looking at a wikipedia entry shows how many different meanings there are by region, not just country. When it comes to grilling then I trust the aussies, they have it down to a fine art. But the american style of BBQ sounds great, I saw and Anthony Bourdain show all about it once and it looked awesome!

No reservations is hands down the best food related tv out there :) Apparently, you can skip Namibia as far as bbq goes :)