Getting the Full Polish Experience

Everytime I travel, I find myself looking for what is good to eat, some local specialties. Well, the cuisine of every place is part of their culture, being usually related to a especial event and even having its own history. In Poland nothing changed. And while searching for what to eat in Wroclaw, I found a cuisine much based on potatoes, meat and vegetables (especially cabbage and mushrooms). To me, Polish food seams a classical example of homemade and comfy food, as it is not full of luxury, but well done and well seasoned (in general of course), which is of huge importance to please me.

I don't plan to talk about the facts of all the Polish food, as there are many dishes that can be considered traditional, but some are really worth mentioning, so you can try during your stay. The most famous is with no doubt pierogi, kind of a pasta that is usually filled with meat, cabbage, cheese or mushrooms, or a combination of those. They can be just boiled or fried, stuffed or not, and also be eaten plain or with a sauce, as goulash. And then, there are the sweet options, when the fillings are made of sweet cheese and/or fruits. A last type that I thought interesting even not being so appreciated is the lazy pierogi, a mixture of sour and sweet flavour, as it has polish curd cheese in the dool.

Similar to the pierogi, but not so special in my opinion, are the dumplings. There are many kinds of those too, as the kopytka (hooves dumplings), the kluski slaskie (silesian dumplings), the pyzy (the traditional polish version) and the knedle. My description for dumplings in general is a round dough, made basically of potatoes, which gains a chewy but soft consistence after boiled. Unlike pierogi, they don't have a filling, but can be eaten with sauces and meat too. The little hooves and the silesian dumplings seem about the same to me, with the difference that the silesians are hollow in the middle. The others are a little bit more different: the pyzy is stuffed with meat, while the knedle is usually sweet and larger.

Many Polish dishes can be found in tables around the world, especially in the middle and eastern european countries, but there is always some difference between them, when it comes to the way they are prepared or traditionally served. A good example are the polish pancackes (placki ziemniaczane), which are not like the famous american pancackes, even though they have the same name. The polish version is in fact closer in taste and appearance to the hash browns. Definitelly delicious! Other international food that is really popular in Poland is the goulash, made like the hungarian type, and served with pierogi, dumplings or kasha, a local cereal that often replaces potatoes and rice.

Soups are the other common polish food to be found and tasted. There are many local and famous recipes, among which I selected four. The zurek soup may be considered one of the most traditional, being found even as a chip's flavour. It is translated as sour rye soup, and made of soured rye flour and meat (usually boiled pork sausage or pieces of smoked sausage, bacon or ham), incredibly tasty dished up in a special hollowed out loaf of bread! Again, the popular soups have as common ingredients cabbage, mushrooms and kielbasa (Polish smocked and spicy sausages). May sound as normal food, but somehow they turn out different in the polish recipies, as the Polish mushroom soup, many times also used as sauce to meat and potatoes; the Polish sorrel soup (zupa szczawiowa), made of some small and local green leaves, often in addition to meat stock, smocked meat and potatoes; and the cabbage soup, usually prepared with both cabbage and sauerkraut, on bacon or ribs stock, oftentimes with an addition of some diced sausage.

Many other food options can be found as the main dish, appetitizer or side dish. Those are the golabki, polish cabbage rolls in tomato sauce, rice, beef and/or pork meat; the bigos, the polish stew (of course prepared with cabbage, meat and mushrooms :)); the golonka, which is meat cooked with beer and honey sauce and the twarozek, a curd cheese cream with seasonings, commonlly eaten in sandwiches and salads. Other kind of cheese really used in polish kichens, besides the curd cheese, is the smocked cheese, called oscypek. Originally from Zakopane, it can be eaten grilled in addition to meats during a barbecue .. just perfect. And as already mentioned, the polish sausages are also a customary ingredient to use, being found in many and many tastes, as the kabanos (similar to pepperoni), z serem (filled with cheese) and the white sausage, not so easily found in other countries and usually the choice for the soups.

After so many meal options, find a space for deserts. In fact, I consider the best local sweets really good treats, perfect for snacks, with tea or coffee. Of course there are the amazing chocolates and pralines, which are truffles that can be found in many flavours, especially fruits and drinks. A good example is the malaga, a combination of chocolate, liquor and plums. Also small, sweet and creamy are the krowki, kind of a milk candy, found plain or in addition to chocolate, coffee, nuts or fruits. And at the many cukiernias, the cakes and cookies are the most attractive view. Among the most popular are the sernik, the polish cheesecake, the mazurek, a shortcrust tart baked traditionally for Easter, and pierniki, kind of a gingerbread, that is delicious plain, with filling of chocolate, cream or fruit, and with the outside covered of suggar or chocolate.

All these and more can be tasted in the many restaurants spread all over the town, from the most expensive at Rynek, where you can eat at the oldest restaurant in town (maybe in Europe, as it is hard to confirm), to the more home looking in the streets nearby. Most of them work with the traditional main dishes, some based on self-service, others not, but you can also find nice options of restaurants where you pay according to the weight of your. This is the most common kind of restaurant back home, and I personally think is the best way to try the new dishes, as you can make your combinations and get only a little of each, so to have the oportunity of trying a lot of them. For this I recommend the university restaurant Bazylia, a simple place and cheap place, but organized, and with a big and really tasty variety of Polish food. There are two locations, one at the Politecnic University and other at the Law Faculty building, in between Rynek and the university museum, but only this second one is open during the hollyday's season.

And if you are not on the mood for Polish cuisine, you can still be really happy in Wroclaw. This city seams to have more italian restaurants than polish ones! And not only pasta and salad can be found all over town, as also you can easily treat yourself with ice-creams. Besides, a good variety of fast-food chains and other countries restaurants is also here to serve you. Need a break from the walking tourist style? Have a coffee in the many cafes, where you can usually have internet access, read or have a nice talk in usually stylish places. Most of the eating options are considered cheap by tourists, especially if converted to euros, but if even so you don't have much to spend, you still have other options. For that, the easiest way is to search the markets. Some nicer ones have ready homemade food to take, in addition to the separated ingredients, giving you planty of options to have a full stay experience! Smacznego!