Expats' Polish food favourites

Antek_Stalich wrote:


No, it's the food difference. I don't understand what you're talking about.

Antek_Stalich wrote:


It's the year 2011. People have cars, heated houses, high quality jackets.......when do you need to eat fatty foods "to survive"? Do you live in a cave?

Antek_Stalich wrote:


Yeah, not for me.

Contrary to the US, there are pavements in Poland. Ask Seanus why he prefers eating pierogi in the winter time.

A couple of winters ago, sitting on the 0630 bus on my way to work, I counted the items of clothing I was wearing. Twenty. I don't know where you live but winters here (Poland) can get extremely cold, and a salad for lunch just ain't enough!

Antek_Stalich, I honestly have no idea what your last post is supposed to mean.....but please fix your quote, it looks like I said "You need fat to survive heavy winters, for instance" when in fact you said that.

teflcat wrote:


Yet somehow, thousands and thousands of super skinny Polish girls "survive" Polish winters....every year.

Are we seriously having this conversation.

I said, majority of Poles walk in winter time or ride buses or trams or trains and with really hard winters you need to eat properly. Those thousands of skinny girls eat properly, only they remain skinny since their bodies require more energy.

The views of Mr Hunger are seriously considered by many here, yet still people enjoy good food instead of starving for some ideas. YMMV.

They survive by upping their calorie intake. A brother of mine was on exercise with the Royal Marines in Norway and they had to stay outside for three days. Their daily rations were 9000 calories. Nobody got fat.

"Zupa ogórkowa". I don't know if it is typical Polish, but I am a soup fan, And it is already one of my favourite soup.

Yes, it is. Yummy! Gotta make me some... today?! Well... why not?

my favourites?
beetroot salad and chlodnik
everything else is pretty much 'eat to live'

so maybe some Americans should stay outside longer during the winter, so they would not spend so much money for the exercise equipments and gym memberships- voila!!!!!!;)

Anyways, I lost weight during the winter in Poland:)

It is also very delicious.

Although it is a Lithuanian soup :-)

Soups are undoubtedly the strongest part of Polish cuisine. One restaurant I know has 18 soups on the menu (not all available all the time, of course) and two wines. Red or white.

I first tried in Poland so it is Polish to me :),


Would be useful if I leave Poland one day :)

I'd say Poland is world leader in soups. I say this as sb from the 2nd best country for soups, IMHO. Clam chowder is one of the best soups ever but that alone cannot raise the profile of the US (Canada?) above Scotland and Poland.

That's definitely true so many tasty varieties. Here's a nice list of top 17 soups with photos. tastingpoland.com/food/polish_food_soups.html

Check out Baxters of Speyside soups, Penn, and see if there's anything there you'd fancy. Oh, thanks for the link, btw. Sorrel instead of lentil. Hmm...ok

Scottish home soups, like many Polish ones now that I think about it, tend to be simple. Lentil and broth are the 2 most common ones. Broth (rosół) is very common, esp here in Silesia. I have to be careful when telling a Pole that I like lentil soup as I sometimes say 'contact lens' soup by mistake. The two words, for me anyway, are similar.

I recommend the sour rye soup (żurek) here. It is with eggs and sausage. Those Varsovian snobs (in a restaurant on my way back from the Baltic states) told me that theirs was the best so I tried it out and it just didn't have the characteristic sourness that you find here, not to mention the lack of egg :( :(

Although I had addressed this thread to PFers of non-Polish ethnicity, I'll throw in my 2 groszy worth even though I am the descendant of four Polish-born grandparents making me 100% of Polish blood. My Polish favourites which aren't widely known throughout the US mainstream (although found in Polonian neighbourhoods and delis) include:

SOUPS: sorrel, pickled-cucumber, clear beetroot barszcz with paszteciki, flaki (tripe), krupnik (vegetable barley), czernina (duck soup - actually more common in Polonia than the Old Country nowadays); yellow split pea.

COLD STARTERS; aspic dishes - meat, fish, pork and veal tongues; hard-boield eggs in creamy sauces
HOT STARTERS: hot stuffed eggs (with dill and fried onion) in shells; rydze z patelni (butter-fried wild lactarius mushrooms)
MAIN MEALS: roast stuffed chicken Polonaise (wtih bread, liver and dill stuffing); roast duck with apples; roast pork loin with prunes: bitki wołowe w śmietanie (beef fillets stewed in cream) and bukcwheat groats as the idela accompaniment.

the pics were mouth-watering!

Rybnik, many Scots would see them as a food for winter. In heat above 30c, I wouldn't even think about eating them, tasty as they are. Fresh white fish and salads are far better in that kind of weather.

I get what you're saying Seanus....it's purely a personal preference :)

There, there... a good Krakus! ;-)

BY THE WAY... What do expats think of Krakus (TM) canned meat?

And one more thing: As you know, there is the famous Krakowska sausage, not to be confused with the German Krakauerwurst. In my opinion, the best one is made by Morliny in Ełk. However, you can easily get terribly bad poultry-based Krakowska. My bad luck was it was sold to me in... Kraków. What do you think about the genuine, pork Krakowska?


Are you sure it wasn't baby food?! (Bobo, bobas, etc. are related to babies. Perhaps it was for pups!)

Ah, I remembered it wrong, it was Bobik!

Ah, that one ;-) Softie, be assured, the name is just coincidence ;-)

that's all expats eat? ketchup?

Some of the packet soups by Wienary, I may return to the UK with a suitcase load...

Of course, the beer, I have been unable to go wrong so far.

Bigos (hunter's stew) does nothing for me, but stuffed cabbage is a hit.

I'm a fan of beef rolls with red cabbage though not a major fan. Too many Silesians eat it over and over again to the extent to which it is boring. Fine when you are hungry :)

Ah, Gliwice ;-) Since I don't live in Silesia, I love the roladki ;-)

The modro is a major part of it for Silesians :)

Decidedly! They also used to treat me with all their cakes and pastries, especially those with poppy-seed, but I'm unable to remember all of those ;-) Anyway! Gorzoła! ;-)