Traditional Polish meal for my Polish boyfriend in the US?

Just don't throw a lasagne into the micro, a la British, and expect him to like it ;) ;)

The Poles value preparation and presentation but also sth substantial.

He should be grateful he's being fed! It's not the 1950s any more!

Precisely! It's not often you get sth for free these days. You could surprise him and make nothing.

Seriously though, I have a Polish cookbook and would be happy to pass on some recipes for that which you think YOU could make. For example, those stuffed pockets (pierogi) seem to be easy but aren't unless you have the right equipment. My wife makes them very well, God Bless her, but it can be deceptively tricky! ;)

I have a Regional Polish cookbook, a modern Polish cookbook, and a 1956 Polish cookbook, but no-one's having them, lol :D

Don't know why I keep them, really... all the recipes I need are in my head :D

what is the difference between them...?

The level of cabbage added ;) ;)

was it less back then? :)
i'm sure that in wilrover's cookbook there is more beans added... :)

Beans beans, they're good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you fart, the more you fart, the better you feel, so eat your beans in every meal :)

Yeah, some fasolka po bretonsku might work as a compromise option :)

ha! you just reminded me about that... do you have any good and spicy recipe for that?
i could figure it out myself eventually, i guess...

Hmm....they are quite versatile so your imagination is the limit :)

They can even make part of a nice salad :)

i would like to bake an apple pie as a romantic dinner desert (served warm with ice cream....yummmms....), but i would worry that it won't come up right (not a dough both in a store)... i miss my mum's szarlotka...:)

I had a look at a cake today and didn't fancy it. That kind of cake I avoided in other places. However, I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. The Poles can certainly bake a good cake :)

The problem with Polish food is that on the whole most of it is one pot cooking using stale ingredients. It makes for very bland flavours that don't really excite your tastebuds. Take Bigos for example. Using preserved cabbage (an ingredient that should never be preserved) and pork. This meal would taste and does taste a thousands times better using fresh cabbage with a more spicy sausage, Spanish sausages for example.

you can do it that way.... but you have to boil it of course, it'd wouldn't be called bigos otherwise... :)

But any traditional method I tasted or was shown in Poland they boil the cabbage for freaking years...it tasted like old fish :/

Cabbage cut up in such small strips should not be boiled for more than 10 mins, or else it will lose all taste and texture.

just add lots of spices and you won't even taste the old fish! lol


sometime Poles call "bigos na winie" - co się nawinie to do gara... more or less, whatever you find in your fridge, any leftovers you add together and call it bigos...lol

I wanna taste the cabbage, whats the point of using cabbage if you cant taste it???!!!

eat gołąbki then... or a cabbage salad if you wish... :) you don't have to eat bigos...

So why has Poland not any top restaurants? Even in Krakow or Warsaw most people prefer to go to foreign places...I.e Italian, French ect, why are there no Polish chefs attempting to make Polish food great???

because Polish food is already great!!! no need for improvement! lol
that's just a matter of choice... ;)

Seriously, why has Poland no michelin stars? Isnt it every chefs dream to have one?

but i was serious....

I made Karpatka cake a few weeks ago, it was delicious! the polish certainly know about cakes :)

You should try a salad or two. A meal should be substantial for a Pole. Jarzynowa is vegetable salad and is great with tasty bread :)

Why do you in GB don't eat salads at all?

Karpatka is delicious!!!




how come?
too much black pudding?

i might have to make another one actually :)

Because it's not possible. Mind you, I like bigos (especially with a little white wine added to cut the sauerkraut taste, a la choucroute garnie), golambki (with a little spice or tobasco added to the filling to give it some flavor), and golonka with horse radish and Dijon mustard, but on the whole Polish food is pretty bland. I won't even go into smalec.

smalec is heaven.

Eat enough of it and you'll be on your way sooner than later. :)