List of Polish dishes
Below is a list of dishes found in Polish cuisine
Soups
- chłodnik - cold soup made of soured milk, young beet leaves, beets, cucumbers and chopped fresh dill
- czernina - duck blood soup
- flaki or flaczki - beef or pork tripe stew with marjoram
- rosół - clear chicken soup
- zupa grzybowa - mushroom soup made of various species of mushroom
- zupa ogórkowa - soup of sour, salted cucumbers, often with pork ("dill pickle soup")
- zupa szczawiowa (sorrel soup)
- żur - soured rye flour soup with white sausage and/or hard-boiled egg
- żurek - żur with potatoes, Polish sausage (kielbasa), and egg (jajko). Depending on the part of Poland it came from it may contain mushrooms as well. This dish is also called staro wiejski ("old village"). Żurek is frequently served with sour cream or by itself.
- grochówka - pea and/or lentil soup.
- kapuśniak - sauerkraut soup
- zupa pomidorowa - tomato soup usually served with pasta or rice.
- krupnik - chicken boullion base vegetable soup with kasha or rice.
- zupa jarzynowa - chicken/vegetable boullion base vegetable soup.
Main course
- pierogi - dumplings, usually filled with sauerkraut and/or mushrooms, meat, potato and/or savory cheese, sweet curd cheese with a touch of vanilla, or blueberries or other fruits, such as cherries or strawberries, and sometimes even apples -- optionally topped with sour cream, and sugar for the sweet versions
- bigos - a stew of sauerkraut and meat, similar to the French choucroute, but generally less acidic and including unfermented cabbage
- kotlet schabowy - a breaded pork chop, similar to the Austrian Wiener Schnitzel but usually thicker, served with boiled potatoes and cabbage stew
- kasza gryczana ze skwarkami - buckwheat cereal with chopped, fried lard and onions
- kaczka z jabłkami - roast duck with apples
- pieczeń - a meat dish similar to the Bavarian Tellerfleisch or Austrian Tafelspitz
- golonka - stewed pork knuckle or hock
- gulasz - Goulash
- gołąbki - Golumpki, cabbage leaves stuffed with spiced minced meat and rice or with mushrooms and rice served with sour cream or tomato sauce
- placki kartoflane/ziemniaczane - potato pancakes usually served with sour cream
- pyzy - potato dumplings served by themselves or stuffed with minced meat or cottage cheese
- naleśniki - crepes which are either folded in to triangles or rolled in to a tube typical servings include sweet white cheese with sugar and sour cream, various fruits topped with bita śmietana (whipped cream) or with bite bialka (whipped egg whites)
- mizeria - sliced cucumbers and sour cream.
- kaszanka - Polish blood sausage, made of pork blood, liver, lungs and fat with kasza, spiced with onion, pepper and marjoram.
- kiszka – type of roasted sausage made of minced potatoes
- kotlet mielony - meat with eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, and salt and pepper rolled into a ball and fried on onion butter.
- placek po węgiersku - a potato pancake with a Hungarian sauce poured over it with meat and onions and sour cream.
Dessert
- kutia - a small square pasta with wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and honey. Typically served during Christmas.
- makowiec - poppyseed-swirl cake, sometimes with raisins and/or nuts.
- chałka - sweet white wheat bread of Jewish origin.
- pączek - closed donut filled with rose marmalade or other fruit conserves.
- krówki - Polish fudge, soft milk toffee candies.
- kisiel - clear, jelly-like fruit liquid.
- budyń - pudding--usually comes in many different flavors, such as sweet cream, chocolate, and even cherry.
- pierniki - soft gingerbread shapes iced or filled with marmalade of different fruit flavours and covered with chocolate.
- Sernik - Sernik (cheesecake) is one of the most popular desserts in Poland. It is a cake made primarily of twaróg, a type of fresh cheese.
- faworki / chrusty - light fried pastry covered with powdered sugar
- pańska skórka - kind of hard Taffy sold at cemeteries during Zaduszki and at Stare Miasto (Old city) in Warsaw
Folk medicine
- Syrop z Cebuli- a cough remedy made of chopped onion and sugar; although it is very tasty, it is still considered a medicine.
- Herbata góralska - Tea with alcohol
Ingredients
- kapusta kiszona - sauerkraut
- ogórek kiszony - salted sour cucumber, a pickle prepared in a similar way to sauerkraut
- kiełbasa - Polish sausage, comes in a wide variety of versions
- śmietana - a type of sour cream
Beverages
- miód pitny - mead
- podpiwek - very lightly alcoholic beer made of crumbled dark bread
- wino proste - a variety of alcoholic beverages made of fruit extracts and spirit, countless types and names of which exist
- kompot - a non-alcoholic beverage made of boiled fruit, optionally also with sugar and spices (e.g. clove or cinnamon). Served hot or cold. Can be made of one type of fruit or a mixture, including but not limited to apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, sour cherries and gooseberries.
- susz - a type of "kompot" made with dried fruits, most commonly apples, apricots, figs and so on. Traditionally served on Christmas, it has a distinct smell and brown colour.
- Wódka - (Vodka) Poland produces and exports many premium vodkas, among them you will find brands such as Chopin vodka, Belvedere (vodka), Luksusowa, Wyborowa, Żubrówka and many more. Pablo Picasso once said "The three most astonishing things in the past half-century were the blues, cubism, and Polish vodka."
Regional cuisine
A list of dishes popular in certain regions of Poland:
- prażonki (duszonki)
- proziaki
- strudel jabłkowy - apple cake, identical to Austrian apfelstrudel
- piszyngier - cake made of layers of wafer and layers of cream or filling; in the Świętokrzyskie area its name is kajmak and it's usually covered with chocolate
- zalewajka - a type of żurek, with potatoes, wild mushroom and kielbasa.
Eastern Poland
- babka żółtkowa - yolk and yeast cake
- bliny gryczane
- cepeliny - big long-shaped potato dumplings stuffed with meat and marjoram
- chłodnik - cold soup made of soured milk, young beet leaves, beets, cucumbers and chopped fresh dill
- grzyby po żmudzku - mushrooms Samogitian style
- kawior z bakłażana - "caviar" of egg-plant
- kreple z lejka -
- kugiel ze skwarkami -
- kutia - traditional Christmas dish, made of wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and honey
- melszpejz zaparzany z jabłek -
- pieczeń wiedźmy -
- ruskie pierogi - Russian pierogies with quark and potato
- szodo -
- tort ziemniaczany - potato cake
- zrazy wołyńskie -
- żeberka wieprzowe po żmudzku -
- korycinski cheese -
- babka ziemniaczana -
- cebulniaczki -
- chleb biebrzański -
- kartacze - big long-shaped potato dumplings stuffed with meat and marjoram
- kiszka ziemniaczana - potato sausage
- okoń smażony, w zalewie octowej - perch fried in vinegar
- sękacz - pyramid cake, made of many layers.
- zucielki -
North
- szpekucha - small dumplings stuffed with lard and fried onion
- baba warszawska - yeast cake
- bułka z pieczarkami - a bun filled with a champignon (field mushroom) stew, ersatz hot dogs under communism, when frankfurters were in short supply
- flaczki z pulpetami (po warszawsku) - tripe stew with marjoram and small meat noodles
- kawior po żydowsku - "Jewish caviar" - chopped calf or poultry liver with garlic and hard boiled egg
- kugiel - found in the town of Ostroleka, made with potatoes and diced meat
- pączki - doughnuts with rose marmalade
- pyzy z mięsem - round potato dumplings stuffed with meat
- zrazy wołowe - beef chops in sauce
- zrazy wołowe zawijane - chopped dill cucumbers and onions wrapped in thin strips of beef
- zupa grzybowa po kurpiowsku (z gąsek) - mushroom soup made of Tricholoma equestre, a large mushroom with a cereal-like flavor.
- kartacz
- sękacz - pyramid cake, made of many layers.
- pierniki - soft gingerbread shapes filled with marmalade of different fruit flavours and covered with chocolate.
- Żymła - a well-baked bread roll, oval with a division in the middle, topped with poppy seeds, similar to Austrian Keisersemmel.
- Kluski śląskie (Silesian dumplings) - round shaped dumplings served with gravy, made of mashed boiled potatoes, finely grated raw potatoes, an egg, grated onion, wheat flour and potato starch flour.
- Rolada z modrą kapustą (roladen with red cabbage) - best-quality beef-meat roll; stuffed with pickled vegetable, ham, and good amount of seasoning; always served with red cabbage (with fried bacon, fresh onion and allspice); traditionally eaten with kluski śląskie for Sunday dinner.
- Szałot (Silesian potato salad) - a salat made of squares of boiled potatoes, root vegetables, various sausages (sometimes ham), pickled fish (usually herring), boiled eggs, bonded with mayonnaise.
- Krupniok - kind of blood sausage made of kasza and animal blood, spiced with marjoram and garlic between others.
- żymlok - like krupniok but instead kasha there is bread roll
- Wodzionka or brołtzupa (ger. brot - bread, pol. zupa - soup) - soup with garlic and squares of dried rye bread.
- Siemieniotka or siemiotka - very original and rare kind of soup made of hemp seed with boiled kasza, one of main Christmas Eve meals. Requires a lot of hand work to prepare according to tradition.
- Knysza - pita bread with meat and lots of cabbage.
- Makiełki or moczka or makówki - traditional Christmas Eve dessert, its main ingredients are: gingerbread extract, nuts and dried fruit, strawberry compote and almonds.
- Poppy seed pastry - many elaborate recipes possible; based on finely ground poppy seeds, with raisins, almonds, candied citrus peels, honey, sugar, pudding, and flavoured with rum. Decorated with fingers of crumbling.
- kwaśnica - meat and sauerkraut stew
- Czosnianka - soup
- śliwowica łącka - (read: [shlee-voh-veetsa won-tskah]) strong plum brandy (70% alcohol)
- oscypek - hard, salty cheese from nonpasteurized sheep milk which is smoked over a fire. Sometimes served sliced and fried with cranberries.
- Żentyca- popular drink made of sheep's milk whey.
- Bryjka
- Gołka - cheese
- Bryndza - cheese
- Bundz - cheese
- gzik (gzika) - cottage cheese with onion and/or chives
- kaczka z pyzami i modrą kapustą - roast duck with steam-cooked rolls and red cabbage
- pyry z gzikiem - boiled, peeled or unpeeled potatoes with gzik (see above) and butter
- rogale świętomarcińskie - croissants filled with poppy seeds, almonds, other nuts and raisins, traditionally eaten on November the 11th, St. Martin's Day.
- plendze - potato pancakes served with sugar
- Kopytka