Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA?

Truly Seanus many foods now associated with certain countries are not native to those countries. The potato is a good example as it comes from South America and so latkas were unkown in Europe until the 16th century or later. So too with the chili pepper is another import from the New World. Take the example of Korean food which is now known for being quite inbued with the hot chili peppars, but hot chilis are totally absent from older Korean recipes, which have survived down throught the centuries, and are now back in vogue in Korea. No one denies that these fireless dishes being served at traditional Korean restaurants are still Korean dishes, and so I disagree with those on this thread that claim that traditional Polish manor fare being revived and served in modern Polish restaurants is somehow not Polish because it is atypical in Poland today. The Koreans understand that both contemporary spicy Korean fare as well as bland traditional Korean fare are both Korean, and Poles should understand that both Polish peasant/proletarian food and szlachta food is Polish as well.

I hear ye, DE. However, I reiterate what I said in post 485 above.

I'm enjoying the part where some American who has never visited Poland (nor has Polish parents/grandparents) is attempting to tell Polish people what is and what isn't Polish food.

LOL, indeed. And amusing.

Come on Des, plenty of people on here are telling you that the "Warszawa" place isn't authentic in the slightest, yet you cling desperately to the hope that your "Busha" was eating this food and not milk bar food.

Dlphiandomine, I am bemused by you, a rude Scot, telling me, a Polish-American, that neither I, nor my family, is Polish. Your presumption is hilariously deformed and your claim that the cuisine at Warszawa restaurant is not Polish has been shown to be a lie by several posters who have admitted that many of the items on its menu are indeed Polish. Your are a liar. The expansive Polish spirit has been passed down through the generations in my family and it is something that you will never have as is evinced by your pettiness upon this forum. You cannot disprove the truth of my post #488, that you qoute above, and so you fall back to pointing out at I am not currently living in Poland. There has been a Polish diaspora that has resulted in Polish people living all over the world. Your silly claim that members of this diaspora are not Polish is yet another one of your lies. Keep lying liar and we Polish-Americans will keep laughing at you. As for your assertion that I am clinging "desperately" to any hope regarding my ancestors iets it is yet another obnoxious conjecture by a person with absolutely no sense of decency. You will eentually be banned from this forum, as the sword of Damocles already hangs over your head. You really should watch youself. As for Warszawa Restaurant everyone commenting on the menu has admitted that its menu has Polish dishes, except for you, and thus your claim above that others have completely denied its authenticity is yet another lie on your part. Why don't you tell the truth? Was falsification something you were taught to engage in at clown college?

I have to feel sorry for Polish chefs. They take influences from surrounding areas to create something new and end up lambasted for not creating drab commie-era cuisine. The French hold the crown when it comes to euro food - flambe, saute etc all appropriated into English. In English restaurants you can't get Rhubarb crumble and custard anymore, it's now called rhubarb crumble and creme anglaise.

Poland doesn't appear to have colonial spice trails to claim as tradition but what is traditional fayre now was once something original and new. Black pepper thrown into near on all British dishes still only hails from the east, yet it is doubtful there are any households in the UK that doesn't have it in the larder or in many processed foods. When someone talks of hamburgers, do you connote them with Americans or Germans if you ignore culinary history?

but we sure can make 20 different dishes from potatoes, don't we? ;)

As I keep saying, sufficient originality. There must be a certain Polishness before it becomes Polish. For example, a decent part of Chinese cuisine is characterised as having MSG and being oily. The Japanese recognise it straight away and dull it down.

Potatoes? Peruvian! ;)

so what? Is apple Polish?

Why of course ;) ;)

I used to give my school teacher a polished apple. So it must be!
Of course, the Garden of Eden was somewhere in Poland.

I think apples are indeed native to Poland. There is an interesting story in the Arabian Nights called "The Three Apples" which demonstrates an interesting paradox about food items. In Europe nothing is more cheap and commonplace than apples but for the Arabs that composed, and listened, to that story they were considered a rare treasure the possession of which gave rise to envy and adventure.

Well according to Polish people, everything is their own lol

You really need to get laid, dude. Tell you what - come here and I'll introduce you to single Polish women.


I think it's almost certain that you aren't. You have little to no grasp of what's being eaten in Poland, you keep pushing nonsense about nobles (half of whom betrayed Poland anyway) and you've never been here. You're an American pal - you only claim to be Polish in an attempt to proclaim intellectual superiority. Here's a hint though - no Pole would ever admit to Communist leanings.


You've been told by most posters who actually live in Poland that the food isn't Polish. In fact, the only person who agreed with you is a guy who would argue with his own shadow.


You seem rather obsessive about this. Can I get you a doctor?


Polish spirit? Go on, give us a laugh - what is "Polish spirit"?


If you don't live here, then you've got no idea what's going on here.


You do realise that many of the people who emigrated in the 1900 time period were actually mixed in with plenty of other ethnicities? Your lack of knowledge in this respect means that you can only be American.


As long as you keep out of my country, I couldn't care less. By the way - is Busha still laughing from being senile?


Decency is not supporting a political ideology which held down the Polish nation for 44 years, if not more.


Yawn. Who appointed you moderator?


It has a few Polish dishes, however, the vast majority isn't. I linked you to an authentic Polish restaurant - perhaps you could visit and learn a thing or two?

As for clown college - that would the diploma mill that you attended, right?

Delphiandomine your obnoxious conjectures regarding my life and my ancestry are baseless personal attacks. I am not a Communist, nor do I have Communist leanings. You are clearly a crazy person intent upon persecuting me and others on this forum. Seek professional help.

Sad to see that you think a verbal rumble or two is "persecution".

Here you go, though - educate yourself.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution

(mods : can I suggest that a further personal attack from either me or Des results in an instant suspension?)

Apples are from Kazakhstan if I'm not mistaken.

Delphiandomine, you are now claiming that I am comparing your asinine hounding of me, and other Polish-Americans, on this forum to the sufferings of Poles in WW2! I made no such comparison. Stop being such a crazy person.

LOL. Apple pie is clearly American, though.

Probably, origin of apple is unknown. But, there is a claim that its root goes to Kazakhstan. Name of former capital city of Kazakhstan, biggest city there, is Almaty. Actually, this should be "Almali or Almaly (for English pronounciation)". "Alma+li" means "(a place) With Apple."

Btw, we here in Turkey have a type of apple known as "Polonya Almasi", that's, Apple from Poland, or Polish Apple.

Crap! Where is wheat from?

The Fertile Cerscent (Egypt, Syria, and Iraq)

Hmm. I guess laying claim to particular crops or live stock does not make much sense..
This week I bought some of my hurricane supplies from a Polish deli. I guess if I have eat meat from a can, it might as well be Polish pasztety. Added bonus is that nobody else will probably touch it! ;)

Sebastian wrote:





Do we really need to continue this argument after this post?

You know, there are enough Polish people on this thread that have already posted stuff just like this, we should just leave the arguing to the Poles on this thread, this way they can't lash out at us non-poles with comments about American food or English food while venting their frustrations and changing the subject.

Really guys, we like your food, but it's mostly fatty, salty and completely bland.

Of course. Some people (who have never lived in Poland) feel the need to dictate to Poles exactly what is and what isn't Polish.


Not a bad idea.

I'm not so sure that I can tolerate much more mentioning of that "Warszawa" restaurant though - I'm certain Des is being paid by them.

(in which case - restaurant - your food is crap)

Delphiandomine, you can't tolerate the mentioning of a restaurant in Santa Monica you've never been to... You must be really cranky perhaps you've wet 'em or made a boom boom. As for your certainty regarding my being paid by said restaurant you are also deluded. I actually think the relatively few Polish restaurants in the USA are a good thing for Polonia because running a restaurant can be grueling and mundane and when it comes right down to it most Polish people are above merely alimentary concerns, I myself am no gourmet and I pity people enthralled by their stomachs, we often gravitate towards other creative vocations such as graphic design, the visual arts, and philosophy. Ah Polonia! We live out our lives scattered across the globe with one thing in common our noble Polish spirit which haters are gonna hate and lovers are gonna love!

Des Essientes wrote:


...waiting tables, washing dishes, picking fruit, cleaning houses, driving forklifts.....

and then, they wipe the sweat off their brow, come home, and eat a salty, fatty, bland meal. hell, even vodka is essentially flavorless.

That is the reality for many abroad, FUZZY, yes.

Don't judge others by what your wife is doing for a living.

As with everything else, it's all about finding the right niche. The Chinese have flooded the world goods, many of them quite shoddy, that are really cheap, and they have been snapped up by consumers the world over. (It's pretty hard to find a non-Chinese child's toy or kitchen utensil in America anymore.)

Others highlight the prestige value or snob appeal of a well-known brand. Yet another approach is offering something new and different that happens to strike people's fancy.

With more and more Americans eating at fast-food joints and consuming various processed fake-foods at home, a good niche for a Polish restaurant to fill could well be offering home-made delicacies like babcia (or busia?) used to make at a reasonable price.

That would mean not loading foods down with MSG the way oriental restaurants and highlighting dishes made from scratch with wide general appeal. That could include home-made chicken soup not containing stock cubes, real (not instant) mashed potatoes, gołąbki not slathered with Campbell's tomato soup and baked on the premises rye bread not cotnaining bread-improving chemicals. Such dishes as zrazy zawijane (steak roll-ups) and kotlety schabowe (breaded port cutlets) are universally enjoyed as are many typically Polish soups: grzybowa, krupnik, żurek, czerwony basrszcz , grochówka, fruit soups, etc.

Of course, one thing Poles aren't always good at is advertising. Even the best restaurant has to be publicised to make a go of it.