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Polish Herb Search


LarryD
28 Aug 2023   #1
Hello,
Years ago, my father made some Polish based dishes with an herb he pronounced like "Chumsch". I assume it was a Polish dish herb due to my father's heritage.

Can anyone help to shed light on what exactly this herb is? My younger siblings and I have looked extensively on the web.
I would appreciate any help please.
LarryD
jon357  73 | 22999
28 Aug 2023   #2
Chumsch

What country are you in? It would help a lot with understanding how to pronounce "chumsch".

The "big" Polish herb is marjoram (majeranek).

There's also chrzan (horseradish).

What did the herb look like? Fresh or dried? Was it green?
Atch  22 | 4204
28 Aug 2023   #3
he pronounced like "Chumsch"

It doesn't sound familiar. Could you describe the dishes? If we can identify the dishes we could tell you which herbs are commonly used in them.
OP LarryD
28 Aug 2023   #4
I live in Manitowoc, Wisconsin USA.
Some of the dishes he called Lopska and Roly Poly. He also made soups but don't remember which dishes had this herb. I think the herb was green in color if memory serves me.
jon357  73 | 22999
28 Aug 2023   #5
Roly Poly

That could be his anglicisation of "roladka" A very nice dish, can take a few different forms. I'll put a pic of a roladka at the bottom.

Lopska? Lopatka is a cut of meat. Maybe it's that? There's also lobscouse (I'm not sure of the spelling) which isn't really very Polish but more round the Baltic including Germany. It's an old sailors' favourite so if he was ever at sea, that could be a possibility.

"Chumsch".

I was racking my brains and then suddenly started laughing when I realised something.

There's a Polish word czymś (pronounced chymsch). It means = "something". He was adding something and said so!


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Atch  22 | 4204
28 Aug 2023   #6
Lopska

The problem sometimes is that some of the names become Americanized or the names are remembered incorrectly. The only thing I can think of is Klopsy/Klopsiki ie. meatballs.

rakickafoodconcept.pl/meat-ballsy-czyli-klopsy/

Here is a list of commonly used herbs in Polish cooking with their English and Polish names:

blogs.transparent.com/polish/what-spices-and-herbs-are-popular-in-polish-cuisine/

In general if you want an authentic Polish feel to your dishes you can't go wrong with dill (koperek) and allspice berries (ziele angielskie).
OP LarryD
28 Aug 2023   #7
Perhaps it might be what you say Jon357 in terms of my Dad copying what he heard from his parents when preparing food. My Dad could be a jokester at times. I'm sorry I never asked him what this term meant. Obviously, it was not a frequently used term I would hear repeatedly. I was not always present for meal prep.

Glad you had a little laugh over this as I did after reading your post. Thanks for the reply and thanks to all others who responded.


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