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Polish cuisine

Culinary traditions of Poland

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Among popular Polish national dishes are bigos , pierogi , kiełbasa, kotlet schabowy (pork loin breaded cutlet), gołąbki (stuffed cabbage leaves), zrazy (roulade), zupa ogórkowa (sour cucumber soup), zupa grzybowa (mushroom soup), zupa pomidorowa (tomato soup), rosół (meat broth), żurek (sour rye soup), flaki (tripe soup), and red beetroot soup barszcz . Traditional dishes often demand lengthy preparation. Many Poles take time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas Eve dinner (Wigilia) on December 24, or Easter breakfast, both of which could take several days to prepare.

A traditional Polish dinner is composed of three courses, beginning with a soup such as rosół broth or tomato soup. In restaurants, soups can be followed by an appetizer such as herring (prepared with either cream, oil, or in aspic), or other cured meats and chopped raw vegetable salads. The main course usually includes meat, such as a roast, breaded pork cutlet, or chicken, with a coleslaw-like surówka (), shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac, cooked beetroot), sauerkraut, or mizeria salad. The side dishes are usually boiled potatoes, kasza, or less commonly, rice. Meals often conclude with a dessert of either a fruit compote, makowiec, a poppy seed pastry, napoleonka mille-feuille, or sernik (cheesecake).

Internationally, if a Polish culinary tradition is used in other cuisines, it is referred to as à la polonaise, from the French, meaning 'Polish-style.' In French cuisine, this term is used for techniques like using butter instead of cooking oil; frying vegetables with buttered breadcrumbs; using minced parsley and boiled eggs (Polonaise garnish); and adding horseradish, lemon juice, or sour cream to sauces like velouté.

History

Middle Ages

Polish cuisine in the Middle Ages was based on dishes made of agricultural produce and cereal crops (millet, rye, wheat), meats of wild and farm animals, fruits, forest fungi, berries and game, honey, herbs, and local spices. It was known above all for abundant use of salt from Wieliczka Salt Mine and consistent presence of groats (kasza). A high calorific value of dishes and drinking beer or mead as a basic drink was typical of Middle Ages Polish cuisine.

During the Middle Ages Polish cuisine was heavy and spicy. Two main ingredients were meat (both game and beef) and cereal. The latter consisted initially of proso millet, but in the Late Middle Ages other types of cereal became widely used. Most country people did not eat bread but consumed cereals in the form of kasza or various types of flatbread. Some of these (for instance kołacz) are considered traditional recipes even in the 21st century. Apart from cereals, a large portion of the daily diet of medieval Poles consisted of pulses, mostly broad beans and peas. As the territory of Poland was densely forested, usage of fungi, forest berries, nuts, and wild honey was also widespread. Among the delicacies of the Polish nobility were honey-braised bear paws served with horseradish-flavoured salad, smoked bear tongue, and bear bacon (bears are now protected in Poland).

Owing to close trade relations with Turkey and the countries in the Caucasus, the price of spices (such as black pepper and nutmeg) was much lower in Poland than the rest of Europe, hence spicy sauces became popular. The usage of two basic sauces, the jucha czerwoná and jucha szará (meaning "red" and "gray blood" in Old Polish), remained widespread at least until the 18th century.

Daily beverages included milk, whey, buttermilk and various herbal infusions. The most popular alcoholic beverages were beer and mead; however, in the 16th century, upper classes began to import Hungarian and Silesian wines. Mead was so widespread that in the 13th century Prince Leszek I the White explained to the Pope that Polish knights could not participate in a crusade as there was no mead in the Holy Land. Also, vodka became popular, possibly among the lower classes first. There is written evidence suggesting that vodka originated in Poland. The word "vodka" was recorded for the first time ever in 1405 in Akta Grodzkie, the court documents from the Palatinate of Sandomierz in Poland. At that time, the word wódka (vodka) referred to chemical compounds such as medicines and cosmetic cleansers, while the popular beverage was called gorzałka (from the Old Polish gorzeć).

Renaissance

The Italian-born Queen Bona Sforza (second wife of Sigismund I of Poland), brought Italian cooks with her court to Poland after 1518. Although native vegetable foods were an ancient and intrinsic part of Polish cuisine, there began a period in which vegetables like lettuce, leeks, celeriac, cabbage, carrots, onions (cipolla/cebula) and especially, tomatoes (pomo d'oro/pomidory), were introduced. Even today, some of those vegetables are referred to in Polish as włoszczyzna, a word derived from Włochy, the Polish name of Italy. During this period, the use of spices — which arrived in Poland via Western Asian trade routes was common among those who could afford them, and dishes considered elegant could be very spicy. However, the idea that Queen Bona was the first to introduce vegetables to Poland is false. While her southern cooks may have helped elevate and expand the role of various vegetables in royal Polish cuisine, records show that the court of king Jogaila (Polish: Władysław II Jagiełło, who died in 1434, over 80 years before her reign) enjoyed a variety of vegetables including lettuce, beets, cabbage, turnip, carrots, peas, and cauliflower.

Polish-style pickled cucumber (ogórek kiszony) is a variety developed in the northern part of Central Europe. It was exported worldwide and is found in the cuisines of many countries. It is usually preserved in wooden barrels. A cucumber only pickled for a few days is different in taste (less sour) than one pickled for a longer time and is called ogórek małosolny (lit. 'lightly salted gherkin'). Another kind of pickled gherkin popular in Poland is ogórek konserwowy (lit. 'preserved gherkin'), which is preserved with vinegar rather than pickled and uses different spices creating a sweet and sour taste, and well known in Jewish cuisine.

The court of Queen Bona followed the Italian fashion, because she exclusively employed Italian chefs, some of whom were originally hired to prepare parties for aristocratic families but who were soon serving typical Italian dishes as part of the court's daily menu. Court records show that Queen Bona imported large volumes of southern European, American, and Western Asian fruits (oranges, lemons, pomegranates, olives, figs, tomatoes), vegetables (potatoes and corn), nuts (chestnuts, raisins, and almonds, including marzipan), along with grains (such as rice), cane sugar, and Italian olive oil. The court also imported various herbs and spices including black pepper, fennel, saffron, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon.

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Until the Partitions perpetrated by the neighboring empires, Poland was one of the largest countries in the world, and encompassed many regions with its own, distinctive culinary traditions. Two consecutive Polish kings, Władysław IV and John II Casimir (Polish: Jan II Kazimierz Waza) married the same French Duchess, Marie Louise Gonzaga (Polish: Ludwika Maria), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua; she was persecuted by King Louis XIII for her affiance to his opponent Gaston, Duke of Orléans. Marie Louise arrived in Warsaw in 1646. Ludwika brought along with her a court full of Frenchmen including courtiers, secretaries, army officers, physicians, merchants, craftsmen, as well as many cooks.

Records show that her visiting guests were entertained with game, fowl (waxwings, fieldfares, snow bunting, hazel grouse, partridges, black grouse, capercaillies), fish and mollusks (loach, various trout, grayling, fresh and smoked salmon, flounder, salted herring, lampreys in vinegar, oysters, snails), and Genoese pâté, not to mention fresh fruit and chestnuts. French and Italian wines were served, as well as mead and local beers. These dishes were made only according to French recipes. The royal court, with all its innovations, exerted a broad influence over the rest of aristocratic residences and noble palaces across Poland. French cuisine was in fashion and many families willingly employed French cooks and patissiers. In the mid-18th century, French champagne appeared on Polish tables.

Among the most influential regional cuisines under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were Lithuanian, Jewish, German, and Hungarian cuisine, as well as Armenian cuisine, which arrived in Poland before the 17th century along with many settlers, especially in the south-eastern part of the Commonwealth. Signature dishes of Western Asia reached Polish tables thanks to the Armenian trade and cultural exchange with Poland's neighbor: the Ottoman Empire. Rare delicacies were brought to royal court as gifts from sultans and royal envoys. The strongest influences were noted in the cities of Lwów, Kraków, Kamieniec Podolski, and Zamość due to many Armenians living there permanently. Also, because of the close contact with the Ottoman Empire, coffee (kawa) and boza became popular.

With the subsequent decline of Poland, and the grain crisis that followed The Swedish Deluge, potatoes began to replace the traditional use of cereals. The oldest surviving Polish cookbook, Compendium ferculorum, albo Zebranie potraw ("Collection of Dishes") by Stanisław Czerniecki was published in Kraków in 1682. Under the Partitions, the cuisine of Poland became heavily influenced by cuisines of surrounding empires. This included Russian and German cuisines, but also the culinary traditions of most nations of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The 19th century also saw the creation of many Polish cookbooks, by Jan Szyttler, Anna Ciundziewicka, Wincenta Zawadzka, Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa, and others.

After World War II

After the end of World War II, Poland became a Communist country which joined the Warsaw Pact. Some restaurants were nationalized. The Communists envisioned a network of lunch rooms called "bufet" for the workers at various companies, and milk bars for the public. The majority of restaurants that survived the 1940s and 1950s were state-owned. Workplace canteens promoted mostly inexpensive meals, including soups, meatballs and pork chops, and staples such as placki ziemniaczane / kartoflane (potato pancakes), placki z jablkami (apple pancakes), kopytka (potato gnocchi), leniwe (farmer's cheese gnocchi served as a sweet), and pierogi. A typical second course consisted of meat cutlet served with potatoes or buckwheat and surówka (raw, julienned vegetables). The popular Polish kotlet schabowy is a breaded cutlet similar to the Austrian Wiener schnitzel and the Italian and Spanish Milanesa.

With time, the shortage economy led to scarcity of meat, coffee, tea, and other basic ingredients. Many products like chocolate, sugar, and meat were rationed, with a specific limit depending on social class and health requirements. Physical workers and pregnant women were generally entitled to more food products. Imports were restricted, so much of the food supply was domestic. Cuisine became homogeneous, to be a chef was no longer a prestigious profession, and for decades the country became basically disconnected from any foreign cuisine. Tropical fruits (such as citrus, banana, and pineapple) were available during holidays, while local fruits and vegetables were mostly seasonal but were available at private stands. For most of the year, people had to get by with only domestic winter fruit and vegetables: apples, plums, currants, onions, potatoes, cabbage, root vegetables, and frozen products. Other food products (of foreign origins) were seldom available at markets at high prices.

This situation led in turn to gradual replacement of traditional Polish cuisine with food prepared from anything available at the time. Among popular dishes introduced by public restaurants were kotlet mielony (meatballs), a sort of hamburger often served with beetroot puree and raw carrots. The traditional recipes were mostly observed during the Wigilia feast (Christmas Eve), for which many families tried to prepare 12 traditional courses.

A popular form of fish dish was, and still is, the paprikash (paprykarz szczeciński) from the port city of Szczecin, usually added to sandwiches as a spread.

Modern era

With the fall of communism in Poland in 1989, a wave of new restaurants opened, and basic foodstuffs were once again readily obtainable. This led to a gradual return of the rich traditional Polish cuisine, both in home cooking and in restaurants. At the same time, restaurants and supermarkets promoted the use of ingredients typical of other cuisines of the world. Among the most notable foods to become commonplace in Poland were cucurbits, zucchini, and many kinds of fish. During communist times, fresh fish was available essentially only in the seaside towns.

Recent years have seen the advent of the slow food movement, and a number of TV programmes devoted to cooking, both traditional and modern, have gained in popularity. In 2011, a nostalgic cookbook (written in English) combining a child's memories growing up in the Gierek era with traditional Polish recipes was published in London.

American fast food in Poland, often McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut, are in decline as Polish people prefer their own cuisine, including fast food. Meanwhile, doner kebabs are gaining popularity. Nonetheless, in most of Poland one can still get traditional and very popular Polish street food such as the zapiekanka, a pizza-like baguette with cheese, mushrooms, onion, ketchup, and sometimes meat. There are also many small-scale, quick-service restaurants which serve kebabs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and Polish kiełbasa (sausage). In the southern mountainous region, oscypek served with cranberry jam is a popular street food.

In a 2023 survey on "100 Best Cuisines in the World" conducted by TasteAtlas, Polish cuisine was ranked 11th.

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