Polish cuisine is a subtle art, one that makes you discover unknown facts of this country, in order to delight in it even more.
All along its troubled history, Poland has experienced multiple culinary influences. They were absorbed, transformed and given a unique form. One finds elements of Jewish cuisine, Lithuanian influences, Ukrainian, Russian, French and German. Polish cuisine has always known a way to renew itself, to become richer without forsaking ancestral tradition. Large quantities of spices have always been used in Poland, allowing subtle variations of tastes, aromas and colours. The coming of foreign seasonings has never constituted a threat for ancient spices - they rather were an opportunity to make dishes even tastier, more piquant and original. There is no one single Polish cuisine, but rather a variety of 
typical and traditional
dishes.
Meal always starts with soup. The borscht or red beet soup is the most famous one. In summer everyone yearns for the "chłodnik" - a cold soup made with red beet and yoghurt. There is also the "żur", made with fermented rye flour, flavoured with marjoram and served with eggs and sausages.
As main course, you will be served "schab" (joint of pork), roast duck with apples and baked potatoes or "bigos" a mixture of fresh cabbage, sauerkraut and meat cooked all at once in the same pot. The "pierogi" are yet another speciality - pieces of special dough wrapped around a filling of meat, cabbage with mushrooms or fruits and white cheese. Many dishes are served with pickled gherkins and mushrooms.
For desert the most typical choice would be "sernik" (cheese pie), "paczki" - Polish version of doughnuts filled with rose jam, the "makowiec" - famous cake made with poppy seed and the "piernik", a delicious type of gingerbread.
Strong alcohol typically accompanies these dishes: vodka, either pure or flavoured with bison grass (“zubrowka”) and not to forget "Gold Wasser", a liqueur made in Gdansk, in which flakes of gold are floating. We recommend you to try good beers, such as Żywiec, EB or Okocim.
Poland is proud and famous for its high quality sausages, ham and butcher's products. There are many various kinds of Polish sausage and we definitely recommend you to try at least some of them.
Bon apétit!
Click here to see our recommended Polish restaurants in Warsaw.
