Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


True. I find that the stronger it is, the better it works and sometimes add Parmesan or the cheap and just as good Dziugas (from Lithuania) or Grano Padano (good value from Biedronka), if it's not strong.


My OH insists it is however he's from a part of that country where traditionally there are a lot of Poles and his mum (who I suppose he got the recipe off) is half Polish.

What goes down well in my house is a simple biscuit dough (essentially shortcrust pastry with a little less marge/butter and a bit of baking powder) with some (20% is good) wholemeal flour and as much grated cheddar and Parmesan worked into it as you can without it getting greasy. Finely chopped dried chillis and/or herbs are optional. A bit of paprika works. Then roll out, chill in the fridge for a bit, make into rings with a cookie cutter (though they're never very neat due to the amount of fat, then bake for a few mins until golden and let them cool upside down. If you make that, I promise they won't be sitting around for very long.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Yes. It works nicely. I also put grated onion in, as they do in Ukraine. They both keep the kotlety ńiće and moist, especially if they're heavy in the breadcrumbs.


I've never figured it out, but the final results from cutting them and from tear g them are really different.

The food in the picture looks wonderful, and yes, cheese and flour sounds better than bisquick. The only advantage of bisquick is probably that it contains baking powder however cheese would give it a nicer effect and make it more substantial.

I'm hungry now.


Probably courgette unless your plate and cutlery are humongous.

The red drink? Is it from pigwa?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Something to do with crossing the road near schools?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Car breakdown service? Bailiffs/debt collectors?

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 3 [818]

Looks like it's painted up to suggest a police car. Is it from a monitoring company or maybe a car breakdown service?

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


They are; you just don't notice them.

You've mentioned that you always throw them away correctly. Sadly, all too many people don't.


Good that there's less sugar in them, however that's a national rather than an EU thing as far as I know. Poland (like the U.K.) have them quite low in sugar; in Italy, it's like drinking syrup.


We always should.

With plastic (especially softer plastics) the problem isn't the oil they're made of (a tiny bit of crude oil makes a lot of soft plastic) but instead what happens afterwards. It's around for potentially thousands of years if it isn't recycled or burnt.

The caps also go down drains and cause problems too.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


I suppose so. It wasn't anywhere particularly posh, so maybe it was that they cast actors from the working men's club scene. Ivy Tilsley, Jack and Vera Duckworth and a few others came from that environment. Paul Shane from Hi De Hi lived in the next village too.


Tony Blair actually mentioned it from the dispatch box. Then again, Elsie Tanner was his step mother in law due to marrying Tony Booth.

About Leczo, it really is only a summer thing when peppers are in season, however it's delicious. You can buy frozen bags from Hortex marked leczo but it's not the same as fresh.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


One of my favourites. It really does make a difference tearing the peppers rather than cutting them.

.
That looks nice.

You'll maybe say it's heresy, but grated, a bit of courgette doesn't hurt kotlety mielone;-)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


That was a sensation. The actress was a really nice person. As I remember, she was busted for pot back in the early 80s. I've not really watched it since those days, though in the urban parts of the north it used to be almost a religion. At one point, there were three permanent museums dedicated to it.

When I was a little kid, Ida Clough (who worked at Baldwin's) lived quite near and when I was a teen, Ivy Tilley lived just across the fields opposite our house. Then Percy Sugden moved into the Manor House in our village, but I'd left home by then.


And English. As etui is French and Polish.


That's their strength, as long as they're done fairly quickly.

Thinking about courgettes, I was just out at the supermarket (but couldn't take a photo due to the phone being on charge here) and saw the very pale courgettes that you see in Africa. The palest of them are almost white. They're a bit more bitter than the European kind.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]

No. Courgettes can be cooked too, and marrows are huge.


We aren't Germans who have to define everything or they start to panic at the chaos of it all.

They become marrows when they look like marrows.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

I don't hear about it that much at all and am very pleased that serious crime rates in general are falling, though there was a knife murder in my town last year. The perp (or perps since there were two) weren't from outside Europe though; they were from the country that sits directly to the east of Germany.

And thank your lucky stars it's not guns..

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Very much so. The only difference is the size when you pick them. A bit like the colours of peppers.


Deirdre Hunt/Langton/Barlow/Rashid/Barlow's stuffed marrows on Corrie were famously bad. People used to make a sort of jam with them just to use them up. Courgettes are nicer though; however they're so ubiquitous in Iraq that I got sick of eating them every day in the camp canteen. That and pumpkins plus all sorts of squash. Every day for four years. The first two years were at an Italian oil camp so they boiled it all to mush.

I had sliced ones once that were 'quick pickled' and was surprised at how good they were when done like that.

Fried with garlic sound great, though I tend to boil them for a very short time, almost just blanching them so they're going translucent but are still firm.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Size.

Plus the taste since marrows (being larger) are more bland.

Those in the photos are marrows. Our neighbour gives us some when she's gotta glut in her garden and I stuff them too, but only because I dislike throwing food away.

It's a good idea to use fatty meat as you have. In the Middle East they use lambs liver which works quite well

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Courgettes or marrows?


Pattypan squash? I always prefer that pickled. It has a nice crunch.

Travel / Best route for driving Berlin to Leszno, Krakow, and Vilnius [12]


Probably best to not hire a car and instead go by train. Also, a night or two in Berlin on the way might be worthwhile. Driving standards are low in Poland accident rates are very high and the train service is both excellent and cheap. To Vilnius, there are cheap and quick flights from Warsaw on LOT.

Looking at itineraries, Berlin to Leszno is a long drive, several hundred km. I'd stop off on the way.

Those itineraries involve a serious amount of driving and look very tiring.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

Of course.

We didn't actually do that much there this time, just relaxation and a bit of shopping since my OH can't walk very far, I was really tired (and hadn't walked more than a couple of hundred metres due to being in Africa for 90 days) and the weather was crazy hot.

Nice cold beer though

We did visit Frankfurt am Oder though due to having to change trains. A nice little town. I could happily live there even though the hill from the station to the town is so steep it's cruel!

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


True. We had great kebabs in Kreutzberg though and plenty of walking around. Just a bit of relaxation after a stint at work.

My favourite bar is still there though, Brinks Eck in Hermannplatz. Still a Hertha supporters' pub and still a raucherkneip

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

I'm fairly optimistic about the future.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]

We've not had that as much fortunately; crime rates in the U.K. are actually dropping at the moment.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


They're just availing themselves of something we made available. One issue is that he UN has decreased infant mortality and increased life expectancy in the developing world but didn't think about how people would support themselves.

The door's not open as such given the horrendous journeys etc.

Worth mentioning that the ones we get are all relatively middle class. Poor people in the Arab world and in Africa don't make it any further than their own capital.

BTW, what's happening in Alexanderplatz? There used to be sausage and beer places but now there's a huge building site.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


We


That's not 'open borders' and we shouldn't hate people for doing it.

Europe has a low birth rate anyway and colour/ethnicity hardly matters much in the scheme of things since it's never static. The only answer is having bigger families. People will still come though.

I'd personally be happier if fewer came and they came more slowly however I don't see an easy answer that can be called humane.


Istanbul. Berlin, Warsaw, London, Yorkshire. Back at work now.

Berlin was nice. We stayed at a vey arty looking hotel near U Bahn Oranienburgerstrasse and they upgraded us to a suite. There for shopping on the Ku'damm and just relaxation

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


We don't have that

They're a good idea

Off-Topic / Music Thread - part 2 [970]

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History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Me too. You don't lose them and they don't end up littering the streets.


Me neither. Some people just don't like change.

History / 20 years of Poland in the EU. [317]


Some key figures actually want it o become a superstate with an army. A bad idea.


Meaningless.


The important thing is to keep the far right out of office and in the gutter where they belong.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


This is very true.

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


Same. The HR person where I worked at the time reccommended them. I've no idea how much or how little is in it, and haven't worked in PL for 15 years anyway.


That sounds a good deal.


Gold. The price is high now, but with time, always goes up. Silver too; underpriced generally since nobody uses camera film but important for computers in the future.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1450]


Calamari? Like eating rubber bands.


In Greece?

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]


I finally got the letter approving it this month so it's still new.


Commercial Union.


I bought mine in London but generally prefer Sovereigns.

Law / Gun control in Poland: should Polish people be allowed to own guns? [1070]


Major parties are opposed. We like safe environments.


Jealous of your stratospherically high gun crime rates? Are you on drugs?


I had a gun before in my last but one Africa job but never used it and eventually gave it back and come from the countryside anyway so am probably far more used to them than you ever will be. Like most people I dislike them and there's no reason for urban civilians to have them.