Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

There are some ducks where the Sahara meets the coast however not in any quantity that would make them a common part of the diet. Plenty of what ducks like in Poland though, fresh water and a mild climate.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


Some of the tetrapak ones are pretty well indistinguishable from home-made ones, especially if you use them as a base for something.


You need plenty of fresh water for ducks.

Real Estate / Price of Real estate for sale in Poland, Białołęka [23]


That depends what you're looking for. Wilanow and Sadyba are nice in parts and have good facilities (though no metro). Ursynow always seems crowded but has decent housing stock (mostly flats). Near the centre, Stara Ochota is pleasant, as are Saska Kępa and Żoliborz. Bielany is also nice, especially the northernmost part, Stare Młociny (I'm not just saying that because I live there).

BTW, the furthest part of Białołęka district is quite pleasant, if you don't mind the traffic jams getting into town. Tarchomin (the biggest community) in Białołęka is the place to avoid.

Real Estate / Price of Real estate for sale in Poland, Białołęka [23]

Poor infrastructure (including school provision), some rather rough people and not much happening there. Transport links to places people work in are better than they used to be however they're still far from perfect.

Plus, given the demographics and age of the housing estates, in a couple of years or so the place will be full of teenagers.

Polonia / What do you, as a Pole, think of Albania (as a land, history etc...) and Albanians (girls and guys)? [12]


Being in PL for longer than Dirk's been alive, I don't remember anyone expressing an opinion about Albanians. And Poles are seldom hesitant about expressing opinions.


Apparently well worth visiting.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


I've seen them a few times though not recently.


The TV adverts for them aim them very much at families. And the volume of sales/size of market suggests that far more people than students/backpackers by and use them.

About marjoram, I've certainly had rosół a kury with it in quite a few times, made by a farmer from near Lublin.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


All food shops have a large and growing range; once just packets, now tetrapaks too.


Winiary, Knorr (both Unilever, Knorr are a bit more expensive) and Hortex barszcz/żurek.

Barszcz is also sold by weight in plastic tubs.

People do still make their own too, of course. That was easier in the days when the man worked and the woman didn't. In villages where people are poorer, have more time and often have the fresh ingredients, it's more likely.

Rosół z kury much the same as traditional Jewish chicken soup, can be bought as stock cubes, however if it's served the traditional way, with the chicken pieces first and the broth afterwards, that's worth doing as a whole meal, with pasta (the Polish type) in with the broth and chicken pieces, They almost always put marjoram in this.

One interesting product in Poland is bags of frozen soup vegetables; quite handy just to boil up with a stock cube. Not quite as nice as fresh however, or as convenient as the packet/tetrapak stuff.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

Perhaps they want LK to rise from the grave...

Work / You gotta be a little bit of a gangster to make any money in Poland [9]


It's more that you don't talk to them for an hour.

News / Polish Police Hunt for Bad Taste Boorish Brits [39]


Just vexatious.


Perhaps people spending more than half of their life in PL is but a dream...

He's still bitter that his only 'actual interaction' with Poland has been online, and resents the fact that some people who came originally from Britain have a stronger link and greater insights into their home than he ever will (not that it is in any sense his home).

This thread is a good example; he saw something online, and started a thread without any context, knowledge or direct experience of the place in question, with the sole purpose of irritating people who have all three. It didn't work.

At least he didn't start ranting about Jewish people.

Life / Retiring in Poland [39]


Yes, in winter. A much milder climate.

Law / Sending money in USD from Poland to China [9]

I've had that problem with phone numbers for accounts (and have it now). It isn't always possible to change the number.

One leftfield possibility. If it's a debit card rather than a credit card, use it to buy some gold (it doesn't have to physically leave the vendor) and then sell it with the funds going back to the account of your choice. It will incur a small loss, however it should be doable.

News / Polish Police Hunt for Bad Taste Boorish Brits [39]

An interesting question, Ziem. The style of writing screamed out loudly, and one or two people (off-forum) had arrived at the same conclusion. Then the themes of the vexatious posts are more or less identical. Finally, he admitted it.

I wonder what he'd think of Poland if he ever came to visit.

He really seems to resent the fact that there are British people who've settled permanently in Poland and have been there longer than he's been alive. That and criticising immigrants' mistakes in Polish (however minor) while not speaking the language himself.

Poland may well be an ideal for many; it's also a reality for millions, not all of whom are ethnic Poles.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]

The writing's too small for me to see, however there's an obvious Warsaw connection.

News / Polish Police Hunt for Bad Taste Boorish Brits [39]


Most of that trade has gone online now, however there are stil a few round Warsaw, usually in pavillions.


More likely for residents; those shops that exist tend to be dingy and unappealing.

Thinking about the rather daft trope about Brits running nude around Polish tourist attractions; I've only once seen a streaker (in Wrocław), and he was Polish.

News / Polish Police Hunt for Bad Taste Boorish Brits [39]


By adverts for stag weekends placed by Kraków businesses in 'Lad's Mags'. The ads make it very clear what's on offer.

Life / Retiring in Poland [39]

Change can be hard, though great that you've settled.

Still living in Poland (I took 18 months off work due to some heavy stuff), but working in stints in West Africa at a university. 2 years now and a great job (though hard place). Wondering what to do next.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


Was that in England? It does grow much better in cooler, damper environments. I can see it would do well as a substitute for redcurrents etc. in some dishes.


And delicuous too!

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


That's interesting, and just like turkeys (relatively rare and localised before factory farming and now rather downmarket) in the UK.

Was there a favourite seasonal dish before or was it a matter of personal choice/familiy tradition as in the UK?

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

Traditional at Christmas, not so popular as it used to be during the rest of the year (very bony).

You do find Karp po żydowsku, basically gefiltefisch, which is boned, and often boned and set in aspic, however it seems far less popular than it was (whereas salmon and shellfish is growing in popularity).

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

Fresh sea fish is surprisingly rare in traditional Polish cuisine. Fresh river fish and soused herring, yes. Fresh sea fish, no. For most of its history, Poland didn't really have a coast and when it did, most of the population centres were too far inland before the days of refrigerated logistics...

Turkey too. It exists, however it doesn't really figure in traditional dishes. Even now, it's (hard to believe) often more expensive than chicken, and there's a perception that it's better quality! Even though it's intensively farmed in a rather unwholesome way.

Horsemeat (konina) and horse sausage are available though unpopular in Poland, yet quite common across the border in Czech.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


Allegedly introduced to PL by Queen Bona Sforza too. A late addition to any cuisine, they were once universally regarded as inedible.


They are a good fit to the Polish agricultural ecosystem and taste in food.

What's Polish cuisine? If you go back to Mieszko's time you wouldn't see orange carrots, red beetroot or a cabbage. You'd see grains and kale. You wouldn't find of course potatoes which reached PL in the late C18 and were slow to be adopted in continental Europe generally.

Law / Sending money in USD from Poland to China [9]

Transfer via online banking.

News / What should Poland do to solve the population crisis? [101]

There's no reason they should; and the U.K. and Poland are close. After all, we're both part of our European Union.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


Pretty well yes. Education is a complex process, far from being passive.


Very true, and of course more besides.


Looks like you were/are poorly educated.

News / Schools in Poland to strike tomorrow [235]


That they want a decent wage.

Food / I am a cider drinker, where to get it in Krakow [40]

I doubt there's Strongbow, however you'll certainly find bottled cider made in Poland.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

Yes. Modern Polish cuisine can be very eclectic, and there's also modern takes on traditional recipes.

A lot of things grow well in PL, however the centralised distribution of foods from 1948 to 1989 (and if truth be told, afterwards too) as well as the very lean years of the war, had an effect on what made it to the shops.


It was rare until a few years ago, now it's easy to buy. Courgettes are very popular, as are red/green/yellow peppers. Traditional tastes tend towartds the bland, however chillies etc are becoming more popular.

There were some rather 'posh' recipes like poppy seed pierogi and pierogi Lwowskie (filled with something like a dryer bolognese sauce) which became rarer but are now making revivals. The economic decline of the better off and more cosmopolitan people (who suffered terribly in the war and shortly afterwards) meant that traditional Polish food and 'peasant food' became almost synonymous, and some things fell out of fashion.

Income levels are unfortunately still low, and this does have a bearing on what people eat. As you'd expect, people in cities as well as people who've travelled, are more adventurous.

Right now, if you go to potluck meals etc in Warsaw, tabbouleh seems to be everywhere.

Some older traditional foods are making a comeback. Czeremcha, used in winemaking is something that is modestly regaining popularity.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]


You don't mention which country you're from, however if you're from one where asparagus is usually green, you'll be surprised to see that Polish asparagus is almost always the white type (very popular when it's in season, grows well in PL). Green asparagus is something newish, and most often found in bigger supermarkets. A bit like Britain in reverse. The same inversion with parsley. Flatleaf is normal (and much-used), the curly type is something of a novelty.

Kale is a new revival, rather like the UK. Okra is very rare. They have squash and plenty of pumpkin. Veal is quite common (more so than in the UK) however it's German-type 'rose veal'.

Swede is almost unheard of. There's a Polish name for it (brukiew), however it's generally used for cattle feed (when I do it with butter and black pepper, people are amazed).

Parsnips (pasternak in Polish) are very rare. My neighbour (late middle-age and a real foodie) had never had it or noticed it for sale; she asked me to bring some from Britain.

Shellfish, BTW, isn't traditional at all (due to the only bit of coast being on the Baltic), altough it's becoming popular now especially in cities.

Food / Which ingredients/vegetables/fruits/meats are nonexistent in traditional Polish cuisine? [125]

You'll not find much rhubarb (when the markets have it, it's sad, pale and limp). Lamb isn't very popular in PL either. Samphire isn't traditional, nor are strong cheeses.