Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish?

aphrodisiac wrote:


i mean, that's exactly what i'm saying.

this is Poland, folks. a weak country chock FULL of white people (99.9%) who all speak the same language, have the same genetics, believe in the same religion....bla bla yada yada. not exactly a recipe for diversity in the kitchen, or the rynek for that matter. that being said, ok, it's their country, they eat what they want, just don't type on this forum that the situation is any different in Poland. not trying to be a prick, just trying to drown out some of the white noise.

aphrodisiac wrote:


i'm not a big beef eater, when i lived in the states i ate beef maybe twice a month, sometimes less, but I know what you mean. i simply do not eat it in Poland. it's the same scenerio as any other food I avoid out here. you walk into a restaurant, "steak" is on the menu, and it costs 55pln. I already know it's gonna be a piece of shoe leather, so even if I feel like eating steak, I simply won't order it. This is common sense.

I was at a Mexican restaurant in Wroclaw 2 weeks ago. My meal wasn't expensive at all, maybe 22zl, I believe I ordered enchilladas. What I got resembled enchilladas.....sort of.....but it simply......how to explain this.....didn't taste like Mexican food. No surprise, but for 22zl, i gave it a shot. it is also worth mentioning that before the meal came out, we were given the most pathetic bowl of tortilla chips to snack on....I $hit you not, there were, at the most, 9 chips in this tiny little jar with a tiny cup of salsa. we were literally laughing out loud when the waiter put it down on the table.

i'm maybe poking fun now, but i'm just trying to drive home why i simply can't be bothered with ethnic cuisine out here. how many times can you be disappointed before you simply avoid it all together.

and sure, maybe there's "a place" somewhere in warsaw where they do a good job of it, who knows, but i don't live in warsaw, most poles don't live in warsaw......round and round we go, back to my main point.

Aphro, at least we have a steady supply of lamb that doesn't cost an arm and a leg :)

Good beef? Eh, Aberdeen Angus is probably the best in the world. Ask anybody in the meat selling business in America. I've also tried Kobe gyu (beef) and it was impressive. Still Aberdeen Angus gets the nod ahead of it.

Try some fish from the North Sea or the Moray Firth. Since when has fish not been good food? It's healthy and good for the brain :)

As for soups, Poland can hardly claim to be much better though I still put Poland as European champion. We are 2nd. Try Baxters soups or Cullen Skink :)

Try potato-based dishes like stovies. Go to Crawfords Bakery and you'll see all kinds of cheap and tasty dishes like that.

And yes, Scots in big cities have ready access to all manner of cuisine and aren't afraid to experiment :)

not really although I am sure that Poles like to experiment in the kitchen, the problem is that the choice in stores in very limited and when I want to cook something I have to bring stuff from Canada eg. spices. I remember when I wanted to make Comsmopolitan Martini once for my sis and there was no cranberry juice.


maybe polwedwica wolowa would be good, but the one I saw was little tiny piece, I just gave up after that. Poles overcook most of their meals too and I cannot eat stuff like that, because it has no taste left.


oh, I can imagine that. I don't really recall a similar experience, but I just usually don't eat ethnic food in Poland when visiting.


so true. When I was in Szczecin I noticed that most ethnic restaurants were closed down anyways. So that probably proves that Poles in general prefer to eat their own food.


I know that, can you find Angus beef in Poland though. I think they don't even rise those special cows - there is a long history of raising good quality beef in Scotland and I am not denying it.


what is this? a competition? Is is because I said that Scots know nothing about food? I take my word back - but I have a Scottish friend and his taste for food is just beyond anything I have ever seen. He can eat anything and will not see a difference:).


I hear yah. What can I say - my Scottish friend is horrible, but I guess I made a mistake of painting Scots with the same brush, which was silly of me.

Angus is available here, I think. There is a quality place in Gliwice which I think does it. My American friend was there and he said there was so I believe him.

Yeah, some Scots eat some of the worst garbage and I think that is why they have the highest rate of coronary heart disease in Europe.

I guess Poles just got accustomed to eating food that is easy to prepare and quick. It's rather strange how it is the business types that seem to find the time to go to restaurants where it takes a day and an age to get your food.

I've been half Polish all my 61+ years and very rarely eat Polish food. Now, lets talk about the Mexicans...my in laws in Southern California eat Mexican for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I get really tired of Mexican! But, try and find a German restaurant, much less a Polish one!!! Why are we discussing something that is absolutely no business of ours...what someone else eats?? This is really STOOPID! What idiot started this?

The OP had a fair point! The variations tend only to be the standard international ones.

Just Me wrote:


you are saying here that your in laws in So Cal eat too much Mexican, and that you "get really tired of it." you then say that what people eat is "no business of ours".

earth to Just Me, but we live here in Poland and just like when your in laws push another plate of mexican in front of you and you cringe, it's the same for many of us being served up yet another huge plate of meat and 'taters or a big pile of greasy pierogi. poles eat polish food and when you look for something else in poland, more often than not, it's overpriced and tastes like crap.

Just Me wrote:


naaah....too easy.....i'll pass.

I would says that Polish people do not want to try something new in U.S.A. I think you all should be nice to other nationalities. They do have delicious foods. I eat almost any foods. I enjoy them very much. I am happy all of you are living in U.S.A. So I can have your best food in restaurants because I wanna learns and smell and taste too. mmmmmmmmmm. Don't worry I still eat Polish Foods.

Many nationalities are very conservative about their food habits, sad really. From what I heard the Japanese are very adventurous always willing to try something new culinary wise. The Danes are pathetic, the sushi in Denmark started to become popular less than 10 years ago:(

Really? I thought they ate almost no dairy produce for a start.

Amazing, you've never heard of The Cheese Samurais and The Shogun Brie-yamoto, damn paddy, mix some milk with that Guiness, will ya!

I swear the thread creator is such an idiot. How can you generalize everyone who's Polish over what food they eat?

Sorry to break it to you, but I've never met a Pole who refuses to eat non-Polish food.

Sure you can;

- Look ma, he eats pierogi!!

- Shhh child not so loud, he might be Polish...

- Really Polish, how'd you know ma??!

- See that yellow stuff sticking out of his socks, that's bigos.

- Ohhhh wow bigos, yeah he's Polish all right.

Easy :D

You can't say all Poles only eat Polish food! One of the Polish girls I worked with loves bangers and mash LOL. But she also loves her traditional Polish food. Most of the Poles I have met have been open to trying knew things. Another Pole I worked with wasn't able to go back to Poland for Christmas and instead of doing a traditional Polish dinner she did Turkey with all the trimmings for all of her Polish house mates because she felt it was the right thing to do.

My cousin lived in Cyprus for a few years and missed some of the really boring British food like Heniz Baked Beanz and roast beef. Whenever you move to a new country you are going to miss the food that you are used to as much as you miss your family and friends and there are loads of Polish shops here now so why shouldn't they eat the food that they know? I know I would do the same if I lived abroad and there were English shop's everywhere it doesn't have anything to do with patriotism just what you have been brought up on and are accustomed to.

Give that international options are available here, I'd doubt it. Heinz baked beans are American, not British. It's their choice but there are SOOOOO many types of food out there, why not give them a try?

but they have been produced in the uk for donkey's years and brits eat more of them than americans.

Still American though as they are based in Pittsburgh. By producing sth in another country doesn't make it of that country.

I think Poles rate their food very highly and don't see the need to deviate from that. Another reason could be that they see some foreign food as Polish, e.g herring and other fish

My family have had no problem with foreign food. I have an idea that when people reject the food from a given country they are also rejecting the culture.


true enough.

It can be that too. I'm sure my Polish family would try haggis for a laugh, just to be polite.

BY name only, not taste. The American version of baked beans is completely different to the UK's version.

By name it is German ;) ;) They are different but that doesn't mean Heinz is British ;)

The Americans use molasses more. My wife likes Heinz beans. I often find that a can is missing when I was hoping to have a decent snack.

Thats grounds for divorce is it not...?

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The Statute of Limitations gives me time to think about it ;) ;) Nah, the wee lamb can help herself. I just need to stock up big time.

They should give them a try and I have come across some that don't but most are open. MOst of my favorite food isn't British. But living abroad I would probably miss the really boring Brit stuff that I wouldn't normally think about.

And Heinz Baked Beanz will always be a British institute no matter where bleeding Heinz is based! Same as Marmite.

It doesn't change the fact that the founder was American and set up shop there.

I don't agree with that statement. I'm polish and live in Ireland. I was always eager to try new dishes. I've eaten african food, asian, polish, french. Most polish people that i don't know are not very picky and are willing to try new dishes.

The exception to the rule would be in someone handed me something like fried worms or spiders, which certain cultures would eat. I have nothing against that, but i personally wouldn't eat something like that.

I found on the other hand that many irish people don't like try new dishes. My boyfriend who is irish has more dislikes than likes, and i found most irish people don't like polish food, don't like trying new things and eat potatoes, sausages and baked beans with a cup of milk for dinner nearly every day.

By the way, I'm not saying all irish people are like that, I'm just saying you can't stereotype people like this that ALL irish people or ALL polish people are a certain way, based on a few polish people that you've met.

Generally Poles like greek food but they are not eager to taste it.I mean given the chance between greek food and pierogi they might choose pierogi.It is the cost as well the ingredietnts etc.Czech for example are very eager and curious to taste our mediteranean dishes(very important for the hunt of Ceske since as everyone knows love goes through stomach).But with Polki a portion of pierogi and paper dessert can work wonders.

I know that trick. I usually showed my boyfriends what will they get to eat if they are agreeable :)
Promise of a reward acts like a reward itself sometimes ;)

The main answer to the thread would simply be tradition. Food is an integral part of the culture here and, as such, Poles lap it up. Poles tend to be pretty conservative in their tastes. It's certainly that way here.

Let’s state the obvious; we all eat the food that we grew up on as it gives us comfort. Till this day I eat boiled potatoes smothered in sour cream sprinkled with dill as a main dish sometimes, I wouldn’t call it food but it does give me comfort as it reminds me of my childhood.