Poland's food and restaurant scene has changed dramatically since the grey days of the communist era.
I remember a visit to Warsaw in the early nineties when the dining options No survivors in Polish air crash ...
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On Warsawâs busy Marszalkowska Street diners can choose from Italian, Greek and Asian restaurants. And in other parts of the city youâll find plenty of MacDonalds, Burger King and other fast food chains. In the past 20 years the cityâs choice of restaurants has expanded dramatically and Poles have enthusiastically embraced the diversity. But in the face of this foreign food onslaught Polish traditional dishes have been holding their own⦠A dish that for many people epitomizes Polish cuisine is âbigosâ. Thatâs how the Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz described it in his epic poem Pan Tadeusz:
Bigos is not an ordinary dish, For it is aptly framed to meet your wish. Itâs founded upon cabbage, sliced and sour, And the best portions of selected meat; It should then simmer, until heat Draws from its substance all the living juicesâ¦.
The tradition of this hunterâs stew goes back several centuries and bigos has never lost its popularity.
"Bigos is a must, something that you have to taste when you come to Poland. We donât eat it very often as itâs quite a heavy dish. The beauty of it is that there is not one recipe for it".
Ola Lazar, who runs a website for gourmets, told me that as a heavy dish âbigosâ is an exception in Polish cuisine and that contrary to popular view Polish cooking is not all fat and greasy sauces.
"Beetroot soup for example is a very light dish. There are lots of dishes that are light, such as the summer soups. We tend to have heavier dishes on Sundays for family celebrations when we need to feel that weâve eaten a lot. Itâs a must for family gatherings but in the cuisine as such you can find anything you want. Itâs up to you whether you pick a light dish or a heavier one".
A variety of soups, smoked meats and game, pickled mushrooms and cucumbers and wonderful cakes such as gingerbread and poppy-seed cake are among the traditional Polish dishes. Despite an abundance of other cuisines, the restaurants offering traditional Polish food are doing well.
"Polish food is not dying; in fact itâs becoming extremely popular. Definitely thereâs been progress, there are many good Polish cooks and the cuisine is far from dying. Itâs much approved of I would say".
Stan PruszyÅski owns a Radio Café in the centre of Warsaw. Itâs a restaurant in fact and âRadioâ in its name refers to Radio Free Europe. Polish journalists who used to work for the station meet here on various occasions. On my visit there the other day Stan helped me make my choice.
"Itâs a very mixed menu. We have âzrazy woÅowe z kaszÄ gryczanaâ that is meat rolls stuffed with cucumber and buckwheat."
âZrazyâ is definitely a typically Polish dish, isnât it?
"Iâve never heard of it anywhere else. When well made itâs an excellent dish".
I can also see the pancakes hereâ¦
"In Poland pancakes are very important. You can eat them either sweet or not sweet".
How popular are these Polish dishes with your customers?
"Theyâre extremely popular. The big selling item on the menu are the âpierogiâ, various kinds of âpierogiâ. Most of the dishes we sell are Polish dishes".
My choice was the âpierogiâ â half-circular dumplings stuffed with a combination of mashed potatoes and farmerâs cheese. Before the dish arrived at my table, Stan PruszyÅski took me to the kitchenâ¦.
This is the place where all these wonderful dishes, including typically Polish dishes, are being prepared? "Absolutely". Isnât it a beetroot soup here?
"Yes, beets are being boiled for the borsch indeed. And one of the ladies is making salad. You can see here already to be served â the âzrazyâ, baked potatoes and some âkaszaâ which is very important in Polish cuisine and itâs very healthy".
I hope Stan has whetted your appetite to try some of the best known Polish specialities. And mind you, they may be not that alien to other nationsâ palates. Located in the centre of Europe, Poland has been at the receiving end of cultural traits from all directions.
(radio-Prague)
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