British food products in Poland?

I remember my granny doing that :) She made her own marmalade from Seville oranges and used a strange and ancient gadget produced by a company called Spong, to remove the peel and shred it. It clamped on to the kitchen table, I recall.

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Some of still do.


One thing I've never seen in Poland. Perhaps Makro have them in season however I've never noticed them.

Even orange Delicje are made with normal oranges.

And it's a great pity because you can't make proper 'English' marmalade without them. You really need that bitter, tangy quality. Continental marmalade is always too sweet and sugary.

Dealz used to have it (very cheaply as I remember). Not the very dark 'Oxford' kind but the clearer lighter 'Golden Shred' one. The jam here in Poland is fine, even very nice, however there's nothing like that bitter taste that comes from Seville oranges. Subtle and unique.

The nearest thing to it without Seville oranges is grapefruit marmalade however that's not cheap to make.

In general, I'd say this is Poland's biggest flaw - the lack of variety in produce. I still cannot understand why they don't differentiate between potato varieties.

I think there used to be more distinctions made, I remember in the 1990s people would discuss different types (and different kinds were labeled in outdoor markets). A lot of that has declined with the rise of the chains where people simply grab a random pre-packaged bag....

My favorites used to be the little flat ones that were yellow inside... myszki were also nice, never cared much for bryza...

It's got better, however some products have never been introduced here.


Just floury and waxy would be enough.

Merged:

Is it possible to buy Henderson's relish anywhere in Poland?

Anyone know if it's possible to get Henderson's relish anywhere in Polska? Got addicted to the stuff after spending a couple of years in Sheffield. Was bringing lots of the stuff back from trips pre-pandemic but now my stocks are out. Withdrawal symptoms are monstrous

I've never seen it here unfortunately. The German fake 'Worcester Sauce' that some places here sell is probably far closer to Hendo's than anything we'd call Worcester Sauce back home.


The same, and now of course there's the B word. Maybe one of the online stores like British Corner Shop have it at a price if they can risk the paperwork.

Sometimes I miss South Yorkshire. And sometimes not.

In the targi in Warsaw at least, they name them. Bascially you have Irga, Irys, Poznanskie and Amerykany, but I really don't like any of them, sadly. There does seem to be a preference for what we in Ireland call 'soapy' potatoes, or as Jon says, 'waxy'. In the true Irish fashion, I prefer floury ones, which are better for chips, baking or mash. The mash here tends to be that kind of creamed/puree type and I like dry, fluffy mash, British Isles style :) Mr Atch has a system he uses to 'dry' the spuds after boiling that involves a lot of tossing the pan around like a madman on a low heat but it really makes me wonder why they don't just develop a dry variety or grow one of the existing ones.

@jon357
Paperwork is easy, I buy certain products from many small UK suppliers and apart from one duty mess in the first days post brexit there was no problems so far. I do understand though for fresh food like Bacon it can is a bureaucratic post brexit and saw Britishshop.pl already seem to have pulled these.

Btw - on the Hendersons relish, i didn't find any in Poland anywhere. But then a pal who saw a similar post of mine on social media pointed me to allegro. I found one guy who has 7 bottles of the stuff, I took 4 of them :)

Where in S Yorks were you from Jon?

I have the opposite problem. I hate British potatoes. To find ones you could eat without mashing is a miracle.

I guess it's a matter of taste and being used to certain type

What, all of them?? There are about fifteen varieties available to buy. Is it the texture or the flavour you don't like? Why does mashing them help?

A great shame, however I suppose people were warned about the various problems. Dealz is devoid of British products now, except for sweets that they've had in stock since before Jan. If we join the EEA coming out of the pandemic (as I gather they're looking at), normal service will be resumed.


The southern part of the country, the rural bit. Commutable to Sheffield and on the edge of the Don valley yet Gringley-on-the-hill in Lincolnshire was visible on a clear day.

because of the preferences of the Polish populace - Poles prefer waxy potatoes to powdery potatoes

Hendo's is such a specialist product. Made for over a century in the same place and not much sold at all outside Sheffield. It works well with Polish food though.


The Polish market does on the whole, as does the UK market, where potatoes are generally labelled as waxy or floury.

Nevertheless, I do see more floury than waxy varieties in the shops here in Poland, and very few red ones.

It doesn't help, it's just the only option as they have problem keeping shape when cooking.

I do like Charlotte potatoes but they are sometimes hard to get (Tesco stopped stocking them completely in my area)

How are you cooking them?

As Atch said, those types of potato are best for chips or roast.

In water. Charlotte are also great for roasting

To be fair I think it's just a preference.

@Lenka

I think you are right.
The British tend not to eat boiled potatoes as the Poles do, I have to say I was never a fan either.
They prefer to roast, mash or make chips out of them.

I think you're over-cooking them, Lenka. Some kinds of spuds can go from just perfectly done to mush in seconds! Try the following: start them in boiling water, don't bring to the boil from cold. Then simmer them on a medium heat, not too high, not too low. When they're still a bit under-cooked, drain them almost completely, but leave a little bit of water in the base of the pot. Then put them back on the lowest possible heat with the lid of the pot on and give them about another five minutes. Remove the lid and they should be fully cooked and still in one piece :)) Smacznego!

Thank you Atch, I may try that but sounds like a lot of hassle compared to just turning them on :)
I never have that problem with Charlotte ones

By now I know on the peeling stage whether I will like them. Even raw they are different

Btw, I had a question in School meals thread if you could help :)

I think this is a common problem in Polish cooking.
A tendency to over cook.
@Lenka
Just par boil then and then roast them in hot oil.
But use British spuds, not those crappy Polish ones.....

I'm missing proper spuds! Boiled/mashed flavourless Polsih ones just don't do it for me and they are crap for roasting which is the best way to eat any spud imo.

On the plus side I eat less carbs now :-)

Grow them yourself.

Not a bad idea but that requires a decent spud to start with and I don't think Sainsburys will deliver this far :-p

I'm sure you've tried loads of different varieties by now, but you could look out for Anya, Jersey Royals and Desiree potatoes. I've been hearing the same thing from Polish friends about British potatoes for years now. Floury potatoes are not great for boiling, they break up easily and don't keep their shape.

I've got the same problem - I've been trying and failing to create a good light pastry for years now. Either it's not cooked enough, or it gets burnt :(

Boil them in their jackets. That's the traditional Irish way, and we are the land of the floury potato :)


Here's a few tips, if you haven't already tried them.
Use a glass dish/plate. It conducts the heat differently and avoids a soggy base.
Oven temp around 170 degrees, middle shelf, longer slower cooking is better.
Make sure the pastry is really cold when it goes in the oven. Make the pie/tart or whatever a couple of hours ahead, pop in the fridge and then it'll be nice and cold going into the oven.

I always do that. The jackets are the best part.


Everything Atch says, plus cold hands, cold room. And let it rest in the fridge for half an hour at least.