What’s on the Menu?

One of the most exciting things about travelling is tasting the local cuisine. Some Polish dishes are known all over the world. We are sure you are familiar with pierogi, bigos and kiełbasa. Perhaps you’ve also heard of our traditional smoked cheese, oscypek, and Polish-style pickled cucumbers. But every culture has its own non-typical dishes that might seem a bit odd to tourists. We are no exception. Would you dare tasting any of these?

Flaki
You’ll find it on the menu of many restaurants among soups. Its name comes from the main ingredient: strips of beef tripe. The unforgettable, dense and a bit spicy tripe soup, usually served with slices of bread. Believe it or not, it’s really worth trying! Flaki are often served at Polish weddings and are believed to be a great hangover remedy.

Jellied pigs feet
Since today’s Poland has grown from an agrarian society, the tradition of making use of even the weirdest parts of farming animals shouldn’t come as a surprise. Pork legs are cooked with vegetables, then the meat and the vegetables are cut into small pieces and poured over with broth remaining from the cooking. Then the dish needs to be refrigerated. It’s served cold and it’s really delicious!

Stomachs, hearts, kidneys, livers…
...who on Earth would want to eat that?! Well, believe it or not, if you know how to cook offal, it’s delicious. For some people it’s a real delicacy. What is more, it’s full of vitamins and minerals. So why are many people so afraid to try?

Kaszanka
It is a traditional blood sausage, made of pig’s blood, pork offal and buckwheat, all stuffed in a pig intestine. It’s usually served fried, with onions.

Fermented food
Lacto-fermentation is a very popular process in Polish cuisine. This is how we get our pickles and sauerkraut (necessary for making our flagship dish, bigos), sour milk and kefir, but also sourdough, used for making bread and… sourdough soup! Yes, we love żurek (sour rye soup) so much that it is our traditional Easter soup. We also drink fermented beetroot juice and for Christmas in Poland we traditionally have beetroot soup made with fermented beetroot. Oh, and let’s not forget kwas chlebowy, a non-alcoholic drink made of fermented yeast and rye bread.

Bread with butter and sugar
Sweet sandwiches are popular among children all over the world. Chocolate spread and peanut butter is something that can be found in most kitchens. But did you know that you can have a delicious, sweet sandwich just by putting butter on a slice of bread and sprinkling it with sugar? This is definitely something every Pole has eaten at least once in their childhood.

Sweet lunches
Who said that what you have for lunch can’t be sweet and tasty? If you take a look at the menu at Polish school cafeterias, you’ll find such things as fruit soup with noodles or pasta with sweet cheese and strawberries. We also like to eat sweet pierogi, with fruit or sweet cheese, topped with cream and sugar.

Smalec
Smalec is very common on Polish tables and often served at weddings. It is lard with onion and pork rind. We spread it on bread and have a pickle with it, too.

Tatar
This popular Polish appetizer is nothing more than just… raw beef. With raw egg yolk, onion and spices. You either love it or you hate it.

Are you ready for new culinary experiences? Which of the above-mentioned dishes appeals to you the most? Bon apetit!