Food / Sernik Wiedenski [15]

Is your cake ready now, Pam? And is it as good as it was supposed to be? :)


Yes, that's wiedeński all right. In some recipes there's butter instead of margarine and no wheat flour at all, just potato starch. And you can mix the cheese with raisins, orange peel and other goodies too. Because there's no pastry bottom, the cheese must be quite firm so you can't go wrong with plain twaróg. All traditional Polish cheesecakes were originally made from twaróg, long before processed cheese, homogenized cheese, bucket cheese and other such inventions. Soft, moist, Western-style cheesecakes are another story, even Philadelphia works with them.


As a Polish citizen I love the New York style cheesecake ;) But here goes. This is my mum's recipe for cheesecake with peaches, my favourite:

Pastry bottom:
3 cups of flour
250 gram butter or margarine (cold)
0.75 cup icing sugar
6 egg yolks (you'll need the whites later)
2 teaspoons baking powder

Mix the butter with flour (you can use a sharp knife), add yolks, sugar and baking powder, knead quickly and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Cheese:
1 kg twaróg, blended
250 g butter or margarine
1 cup icing sugar
2 eggs, whole
70 g potato starch (potato flour)
- mix or blend all the ingredients

Other ingredients:
6 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 cans of peaches in syrup, drained

Spread 2/3 of the dough over the bottom of the baking pan, cover with cheese, even out and put peach halves on top of the cheese. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add 0.5 cup of sugar and whisk some more (add sugar slowly so the whites remain stiff). Spread the whisked whites evenly over the cheese and peaches. Grate the remaining 1/3 of the dough over everything. Bake for about 1 hour at 180 C.

Also, you should try the most traditional one, sernik krakowski:
mojewypieki.com/przepis/sernik-krakowski
a tried and trusted site, you can't go wrong with any of the recipes.


ok :)

Food / Sernik Wiedenski [15]


Pam, plain twaróg, the kind used for sandwiches, is best. You can use the electric blender, just try not to overdo it, blend it until it's smooth.Twaróg sernikowy, the stuff in the plastic buckets, is hit or miss, depending on the producer. Some of them have additives that change the texture and taste of the cheesecake, some are too watery, etc. Piątnica is good, if you can get hold of that. If not, plain twaróg is your best bet. Just taste it beforehand and if it's too sour, add more sugar. Oh, and if you can choose from twaróg chudy, półtłusty and tłusty, take półtłusty or tłusty - it contains more fat but your cake won't be crumbling.


Pszenna means wheat, so tortowa is pszenna too. The difference between the different kinds of wheat flour is the degree of purification. The lower the number, the more purified the flour is. It ranges from 400 (the whitest, lightest, most purified type) to 1850 I think (wholemeal). Tortowa is 450 so it's used for cakes which need to be raised. Plain all purpose flour is 500 or 550. 600 is for kluski and pierogi, 750 is the bread type. Plain flour should be ok.

...anyway, what do you need flour for? Sernik wiedeński is just cheese without the pastry bottom, unless you recipe differs somehow from the ones I know.

BTW, how was your trip to Gdańsk? :)

News / Poland pulls out of Eurovision in austerity measure. [17]


If you call the sort of music that's usually produced at the Eurovision contest "decent" then I'm glad we don't have anything "decent" enough.

Or rather, I'd be very glad if we didn't have it.

Anyway, I'm very glad they've pulled out of it.

UK, Ireland / Are Poles in the UK more prone to Thievery? [37]


he probably google translates English to English :P

Genealogy / Help finding siblings after adoption from Warsaw orphanage [7]

Anialooking, I've browsed several Polish adoption forums and it seems that finding adopted siblings is very hard even for Poles living here and speaking the language. There's a lot of red tape and confidentiality issues to be overcome.

A few important questions: can you speak/read Polish? do you know the birth names of your siblings?
The more you already know, the easier it is to look further.
The search usually starts with talking to family members/neighbours/anybody who might have known your birth family or known anything - the names and dates of birth of your siblings, where they were taken to and when, etc.

The next step is visiting the local courts/orphanages/adoption centres and trying to get info from there.
In many cases you need to visit the places in person as they are not entitled to disclose any confidential info by mail or phone.

The most you can achieve is to locate the adoption centre which dealt with your siblings' adoptions and leave your address with them. They can't disclose the info concerning the adoptions and their whereabouts but should your brother/sister contact them looking for you, your address will be passed on.

There's also the informal way - looking through fora, community sites, Nasza Klasa etc. With a bit of luck, you might find something there.

Good luck in your search.

Off-Topic / Languages you [dis]like [9]

Not much to say for German, but the Austrian version I listened to once on some radio, driving through the country all night long, was just hypnotizing. Or maybe that was the voice of the speaker, I don't know :)

UK, Ireland / Domestic arguments caused by differences between Polish and English culture [109]

I prefer fresh lovage :)

UK, Ireland / Domestic arguments caused by differences between Polish and English culture [109]


Get two sets of cellars, one for each of you, and then fill them according to your preferences. Sometimes that's the only way to go in married life.


Because we don't use the Worcester sauce.

Life / Why Radosław, not Czesław? [34]

Different names, same person: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_the_Apostle

Life / Why Radosław, not Czesław? [34]

A recent media discovery: Gniewomir Rokosz-Kuczyński. Sounds great, doesn't it? Definitely puts Gromosław Czempiński into shade. Why, oh, why didn't I name my son Mściwój?

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]



You seem to think that there's a universal pattern of rude/polite intonation between languages and what comes out as polite/rude in English, remains so in Polish. Well, this is not the case. The fact is that in Polish statements usually have falling intonation, which may sound harsh or impolite to English ears, as in English most statements have rising intonation. In Polish, rising intonation is reserved for questions. If you say an obvious statement with rising intonation, you come out as hesitant and not sure of yourself ("are you asking or saying?")

There's no reason to be proud of your English intonation transferred to Polish, as it simply makes your Polish less understandable (a listener expects a certain intonation pattern to go with certain types of sentences and feels a bit lost if the two don't match) and your intentions might easily be misunderstood too. Learning the proper intonation is a huge part of learning to speak a foreign language. This is something to work on, not to boast of. And, contrary to what you seem to think, by no means it makes you sound more polite.


Now, this is simply ridiculous. I assure you that all native Polish parents are able to teach their children proper intonation - proper for the Polish language, that is.

Genealogy / Lencznowolska, Maliss looking for my roots [5]


It's Czerwony Bór. See here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czerwony_Bór,_Podlaskie_Voivodeship


You can try to email the State Archive in Białystok: sekretariat_ap@bialystok.ap.gov.pl

Real Estate / Finding Land of my great grandmother from Poland [3]

Here's the Google map of the area:

mapofpoland.pl/Iwaniska,mapa.html

Can't find Siedleczysko there - it might be a local name for some part of the town - but you can see Iwaniska and Zaldów. It's Opatów county, Swiętokrzyskie province, south of Poland. There's a link to some pictures of Iwaniska under the map, also there is the official town site:

iwaniska.eu/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

And this is the location on the map of Poland: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwaniska


It's Ukraine now: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostopil


This one is tougher. Is it part of the above address? If not, there are other possibilities: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystrzyca

Language / Jeden hamburger / jednego hamburgera [7]


When in doubt, take two ;)

Language / prywatki & przyjęcia...difference? [10]


Every prywatka is an impreza but not every impreza is a prywatka ;)


a private przyjęcie with loud music :)

Language / Jeden hamburger / jednego hamburgera [7]


yeah, I know :))


well, the language changes and with Polish, it's mostly simplification (there's hope for the foreign learners, just wait another couple of decades or so ;)


No, you wouldn't, the process has not gone that far yet. But I bet the next nine customers would say "jednego hamburgera".

Language / Jeden hamburger / jednego hamburgera [7]

(a) is hypercorrect, hence incorrect :) (well, not really, but it doesn't sound natural anymore)
(b) is perfectly OK.

The "-a" Accusative ending of non-animate male nouns is becoming increasingly popular in spoken everyday Polish and it's no longer considered bad grammar. On the Poradnia językowa PWN site Mirosław Bańko says: "W języku potocznym wymienione rzeczowniki mają biernik liczby pojedynczej równy dopełniaczowi, w języku oficjalnym ich biernik może być równy mianownikowi" - In everyday speech the Acc sing. of these nouns is the same as Genitive, while in formal language it's the same as Nominative.

With hamburger, and most other edible things (ogórek, pomidor, banan, kotlet etc.), I wouldn't hesitate to use the -a ending. But with other male nouns the Acc. still equals Nominative - poproszę jeden telewizor, jeden telefon, jeden komputer. So it depends on the word, really - with some nouns you can use the -a ending and with other, you can't.

Language / prywatki & przyjęcia...difference? [10]

przyjęcie is formal and elegant - a reception.
prywatka is just a house party, but the word is quite outdated, I think it was used in the 1960s and 70s, nobody's using it now. now it's impreza, imprezka, melanż... I don't know what else.

Language / "oshkan" - Female Polish Name? [6]

Aśka? (short from Joanna)
or Gośka (Małgorzata)

Language / Stworzyć and Utworzyć [14]


It was created to make room/space...
stworzyć - to bring something into existence (sth original that didn't exist before), to create sth for the first time
utworzyć - just to make, the process can be repetitive

It's not very clear-cut but more or less along these lines.

edit: I see that's been said already; anyway, that would be my choice too

Language / When would one use nowy and when would he use nowego? [23]


The genitive of ołówek is ołówka.


For Sing., Gen = Acc - psa, kota. For Plural, its psów, kotów for the Gen. and psy, koty for the Acc., so it's nie ma psów - widzę psy.

UK, Ireland / Dying Polish woman in the uK whose last wish is to spend last few weeks back in Poland [50]


I don't think embassies cover anybody's medical bills abroad. As for the community, they've already done a lot during her treatment. Also, the article says "So far the campaign page has raised €19,089" - so this amount was probably collected before the publication in the Irish media. I've read the blog. There were collections in Poland too, at sports events.


The girl had medical insurance in Ireland but it didn't cover all the costs of the treatment, part of it she had to pay herself. Now they're checking if any Polish clinic would agree to try any further treatment but as she has no Polish insurance, she would have to pay for that in full.

Her family have stayed in Ireland, to be with her and to take care of the child, which probably adds more to the financial burden as the cost of living in Ireland is higher than in Poland.


Actually, we have no governmental jet. The last one crashed near Smoleńsk. She can't go by ambulance and medical flights are very expensive.

Real Estate / Polish building plans [16]


Or centimetres.

UK, Ireland / Dying Polish woman in the uK whose last wish is to spend last few weeks back in Poland [50]


Same as Poles, we do great with one-off crisis actions, but not so great coping with small everyday problems. Hope the Irish can deal better with the mundane stumbling blocks.

Anyway, the story has a very personal feel for me. A big thank you to everybody who's contributed.

Food / New Polish Recipe Website - I Love Pierogi [17]

mojewypieki.com/kategoria/serniki-pieczone
mojewypieki.com/przepis/tradycyjna-babka-marmurkowa

Language / Biernik czy narzędnik (Accusative or Instrumental) [65]

good examples, and again, there are palatalized sounds here, so they're probably the culprits.

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]


more or less. not up to it yet. most of the work still remains to be done.


You're really good :)

One for today: leśne dziadki

Language / Biernik czy narzędnik (Accusative or Instrumental) [65]

On second thought, there seems to be a pattern for these irregularities:
przyjaciel - przyjaciele - przyjaciółmi (not przyjacielami)
ludzie - ludźmi (not ludziami)
koń - konie - końmi (not koniami)
dłoń - dłonie - dłońmi (not dłoniami)

but then, you've got: słoń - słonie - słoniami (not słońmi!)

...so I give up. It's worse than sudoku, especially after all that beer which I bought for the Poland-England game.
Hope you have good memory, nothing else can save you :)

Language / Biernik czy narzędnik (Accusative or Instrumental) [65]


It might be trivial but I've no idea - it just is so :)
Well, probably some phonetical/morphological/historical processes are responsible for the irregularity, I suppose it might have something to do with the palatalization of "z" (or, rather, "dz") into ź/dź, but I'm no expert on Polish historical grammar so I won't even try to explain it.

All I can say is, Polish's full of irregularities. Accept it, memorize it, love it - or leave it :)

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]


not quite. skip the comparison part, you don't need to compare to anybody else in order to być w lesie.
- Jak ci idzie pisanie raportu?
- Jestem w lesie...