Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine?

Tetrapak barszcz doesn't really differ from home-made.


Easily done!

IMO if these canned soups were in Poland, I'm certain they'd be an absolute hit, and eventually there will be a demand for Polish traditional soups in cans:

Campbell's: campbellsoup.ca/our-brands/soups-and-chilis/
Baxters: baxterscanada.ca/index.php/the-baxters-collection/
President's Choice (Canada): loblaws.ca/Food/Pantry/Canned-%26-Jarred/Ready-To-Serve-Soup/plp/LSL001008003012?navid=Ready-To-Serve-Soup
Amy's Kitchen: amyskitchen.ca/products/product-categories/soups

They already exist and are pretty good.
But home made is still best.

I @RandomUser
I don't think so.
I mean, if canned soups were to be a hit in Poland, it would have happened over 20 years ago.
Wasn't Campbell 's sold in Poland in the 1990s or 2000s?

Yes, before the 2000s years, almost all canned soups in Canada/USA were rather basic/bland flavours, and really nothing beyond basic Canadian/American style chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, cream of mushroom etc. In the last decade or so, we've now got "fancier" soup flavours like Campbell's "Creamy Thai Chicken & Rice" and "Curried Cauliflower Lentil" etc, Baxters "Lentil & Smokey Bacon" and "Lobster Bisque" etc, President's Choice "Indian Chicken Mulligatawny" and "Mexican Chicken" etc, and Amy's "Carrot Ginger" and "Organic Split Pea" etc. I believe that maybe those newer "fancier" flavours would be a hit in Poland...with Campbell's "Condensed" soups most likely to be unpopular in Poland (maybe considered "too bland/watery"). I think Campbell's was in Poland in 1990s. not sure beyond that though

What's with the canned soup obsession? Are you a collector?

Anyhoo, I disagree. Polish people are geared to make soup in the following ways

from scratch (there are degrees to this of course),
from packets (with or without other ingredients added and/or powdered mixes added to left over soups (especially broths)
ramen (referred to as zupki rather than noodles...)
little cups that you pour boiling water into...
Far fewer things are sold in cans in Poland than in NAMerica and there's no sign that anyone really wants that to change... if anything I'd see cans for some products replaced with other packaging (like vacuum packed bags)

There have been attempts to see soup in other forms (like heavy plastic bags or cartons) and they didn't really catch on).
For any success the cans would have to make it into Biedronka (Lidl, Aldi etc) and I just don't see that happening.... as I don't think canned soups are a thing in Germany or Portugal either...

The cartons sell well.

I doubt that. Baxters soup, at least in the UK, is not cheap, and you'd have to buy a few cans to feed a family for e.g lunch. Far cheaper ( and tastier ) to make your own, which Poles have always done.


I was wondering that! The OP is starting to sound like he/she should be in sales......

I also posted earlier about biscuits & cookies too LOL. I'd guess many Canadian/American born & raised people don't even bother at all making soup from scratch and maybe have never done so their whole lives, so the thought of making a soup from scratch is anything from "Why bother?" to "No Way!"...but in Poland they view such a task with different approach

To a point, and mostly due to what's been available in the shops. It isn't because of any love of freshness, simply circumstance, economics and a more rural society. This is changing fast.

I'm having some zalewajka today. It took me about 15 minutes to peel and chop the ingredients, add some spices. It's not that diffiicult or time consuming.

I know what's inside. Well, I bought some sour rye - my grandma made her own

That's fascinating, I've never seen it before! Is it a dish specific to more Eastern parts of Poland?

Yes I agree. Many are born into (sometimes 50+ years worth of) "fending for yourself"-type of families where daily meals were all about "removal of packaging and heating in microwave (or at worst, toaster oven) less than 10 minutes", all family members eating meals at different times, eating time also less than 10 minutes (especially if your only meals are eaten at your workplace...and some workplaces don't even have an area to sit and eat, not required by law)

@delphiandomine
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalewajka_(soup)

It's not that fascinating really - but it is quite tasty ; )

I have never seen or heard of it before! I might try making it out of curiosity, though my soup making skills are terrible ;)


Not a chance. No-one is going to pay for small tins of soup when most people can make it one way or another.

LOL where I'm from, it's the other way around, it's "No-one is going to make it when most people can pay for small tins of it"

I've just looked at the ingredients and it's kind of scary.
It might be an easy way out if you really don't have time to cook from time to time but not regulary.
campbellsfoodservice.com/product/campbells-classic-cream-of-chicken/

Yes there are some controversies with certain Campbell's food products (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_Soup_Company#Health_controversies), but I'd guess Baxters and Amy's are less scary...too bad they're also more expensive. I like the fancier Campbell's flavours, as their cream of chicken is somewhat on the bland side for me, but not intolerable. And I do eat more home-cooked meals than packaged foods

Do you like forszmak?

Wow such a fascinating topic!

My question is: Has Poland experienced "Fusion Cuisine" as yet? It's when 2 or more majorly different ethnic cuisines are combined together (can be an appetizer, entree, side dish, or dessert). Apparently it's gaining popularity all over the world, a common example being Taco Pizza (Mexican & Italian). Has Polish cuisine been fused with another as yet? I haven't read all the individual posts as yet, sorry if this was already asked.

There are certainly a few fusion restaurants in Warsaw and other big cities.


All that exists. Sphinx (a chain of restaurants) has a few dishes that mix Polish with other cuisines.

I actually had to google it.
It kind of reminds me of bogracz (mum makes it occasionally using frozen veggies mix ) and solianka (I had it first in Białowieża and like it - I know there are a lot of versions) but I might be wrong as I've never tasted it.

What's really good about such soups is that they're satiable and it's enough to serve soup for a meal.

One of my favourites. A friend in Śląsk makes it nicely.


I first had this in Dubai (lots of Russians there) and loved it.

The interesting thing about solyanka is that even though it's considered of rustic origin and made of leftovers some recipes include olives and capers.

I remember Robert Maklowicz saying once that capers were actually used in traditional Polish cuisine - still I doubt peasants had easy access to them.

I guess bogracz is of Hungarian origin in a way but similarly 'polonised' as our leczo.

Thank you for your quick reply.

Which are the most common Polish dishes to be fused, and which other cuisines are Polish dishes most commonly fused with? And which never-been-fused Polish dishes and/or cuisines would you like to see fused? I'm guessing pierogis are commonly fused with numerous other cuisines?

You can fill pierogi with anything (chilli con carne is nice) and there are in any case many traditional types, not just the three most common ones.

Feta and olive work well.

Have you tried (or at least seen) Asian-fused pierogis, fused with cuisines such as Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc.?

Yes, some shops sell them.

@delphiandomine


@RandomUser

Haha, that's pretty funny. Talk about culture clash (of sorts)!!

Many centuries ago, and several times since.

Poland lies within several culinary continua on the Continent.

The first is the North Sea/Baltic continuum, spread primarily by the Hanseatic League in the late middle ages, and latter by the Prussians and Swedes. Foods like herring, smoked eel and salmon, red beets, kisiel, chłodnik, and staple foods like rye, barley, oats, buckwheat and, later, potatoes (originally from the Americas), are all typical of this zone.

The second is the Central Germany continuum, which reaches from Alsace and Loraine to Poland. Cabbage, sauerkraut and beans, both green and dried (also originally from the Americas) were big staples.

The third is the Southern German/Austrian continuum, and its sister branch in Hungary, which was highly influenced by Turkish cuisine. Schabowy, makowiec, sernik, gulasz, knedle, the many types of kluski and the przysmak Jon mentioned are all imports from this region, when Poland was under Austrio-Hungarian rule.

The fourth is steppe/central Asian cuisine. Pierogi and gołąbki are probably originally from there, though both have completely "gone native".

Some dishes were borrowed from Russia, especially the ubiquitous sałatka jarzynowa, which was originally developed by a Belgian chef in Moscow.

A lot of Polish cuisine died out during WWII, and food shortages afterwards under Communist rule did not help. But some new "fusion" dishes were promoted by the Communist government, especially Fasole po bretońsku and ryba po grecku.

There were also some French and Italian influences on Polish cuisine, too, going back to the late fourteenth century when many French and Italian monks moved to Poland after the Black Death. A lot of the vegetables that are attributed to Bona Sforza were actually introduced by monks, as were carp.

After the fall of Communism, Poles have started to experiment with various cuisines, especially Italian and "Chinese" (usually cooked by Vietnamese immigrants, and highly toned down and adapted for Polish tastes). They are not quite at the modern Fusion stage you are thinking of, though I'm sure you will find some adventurous chefs in the big cities that are experimenting with new ingredients, techniques and combinations. Younger Poles, especially those who have spent some time abroad, are much more adventurous than their elders who grew up during Communism and were accustomed to extremely bland food.