Polish food
I had been expecting cabbage and I wasn’t disappointed. My very first meal after arriving in Poland presented me with an opportunity to try it – red and sweet, it was just how I had imagined the country would taste. What I was about to discover was that food in Poland is much richer and has much more depth than I imagined.
From the snacks on the street, to the hearty meals of the working class, to the fine dining in the top restaurants of Krakow and Wroclaw, Polish food has a lot to offer.
Take the pretzels, for example. There’s nothing spectacular about them. They’re plain, taste like bread, and have a dryness that leaves you wanting a cold beer to go with them. But they’re warm, they’re filling and they’re available on streets corners all through the city. The perfect snack on a chilly day.
“Soup,” was the answer when I asked a few people what typical Polish food was. Turns out they knew what they were talking about (unsurprisingly, seeing as the people I asked were Polish). The best soups even come inside a loaf of bread so there’s no need to waste your time dipping a crust in – you just scoop it out from the bottom.
But rather than continue to tell you about all the amazing food I ate in Poland, how about I just show you a small selection. If these don’t whet your appetite, I don’t know what will. And I’m sure if you asked nicely you could get some cabbage on the side for any of these (even the apple pie!).
Goat cheese ‘Oscypek’ with cranberry
Poultry kebab with baked potatoes
Grilled pork steak with garlic sauce, grilled potatoes
Apple pie with ice cream
* To find out more about Poland you can visit the official website of the Poland National Tourist Office or check it out on facebook.
Time Travel Turtle travelled to Poland as a guest of the Polish National Tourist Office but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.
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Turtle, like the name suggests, likes to take things slowly. Luckily that's one of the best ways to see the world - and that's exactly what he's doing at the moment.
This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.
18 Responses
This looks delicious, I remember Poland was where I learnt to love soups, I used to hate before!
Angela recently posted..Travel beyond tourism, visiting Palestinian refugee camp Bourj El Shamali in Lebanon
It’s hard not to love the Polish soups!
The interior shot is stunning.
Franco recently posted..The Toronto Gaybourhood
Some of the restaurants in Poland have the coolest interior design. Really authentic looking places without going over the top.
Polish food looks delicious! Just when you thought things were as “American as Apple Pie” Poland surprises me with her denser-than-a-dying-sun version of this classic pie. Really unique topic and great find
Kae Lani | A Travel Broad recently posted..Four Must Have Travel Apps
My gosh, that apple pie! Wow!
I loved the ambiance in the Krakow restaurants and bars. Great photo (the non-food one)!
Ian [EagerExistence] recently posted..On negativity, productivity, and changing the world
Yeah, there’s a really cool vibe in all the places I went to. I’ll be writing a little bit more about that in the next week or so… stay tuned!
What about the pierogi, which is so simple, but then you have all those different stuffings that you can use, making it quite a complex dish after all. And yes, you can use sauerkraut as well, which fits with the beginning of your article
Serban
I can’t believe I didn’t have any pierogi when I was there. Everyone kept telling me about them but it just never happened – too fast a trip. Oh well, it’s always nice to have a good reason to go back somewhere…
Mmm…. goat cheese and apple pie!
I know – tell me about it!!
I loved Polish food.
Favourites would have to be the pierogi’s and zapikanka. Especially after doing a walking tour in freezing cold weather.
When my sister and I were in Krakow we found this cute little cafe near our hostel, “Cafe Camelot” and it was so good we went there 4 times in 3 days. It’s not authentic Polish but it’s good, cheap food. Their desserts are delectable and the hot chocolate is to die for. It’s practically pure chocolate and you can get it just as it is or in a variety of flavours Apple, orange or pear, with cinnamon! We took some other people to it because we kept going on about it and they fell in love too.
We were there just before Christmas so they had heaps of markets in the main square. We had the best potatoes and sausage from one of the stalls. We wanted to try authentic food so we went to a restaurant just off the main square. I think it was Marmolada from memory (and Google’ing). They have a sister restaurant further down towards Wawel Castle called Miod Malina. The food was quite good and not very expensive. Luckily the AUD to PLN exchange rate is very good.
All in all, Krakow has some really good food.
Beth recently posted..GeezBethLouise: Photo: Preaching to the choir Cory… http://t.co/UI08H9ds
Thanks for those tips, Beth! Gosh, you make me want to go back already and try some of your suggestions.
The thing with Polish food is that I found it not to be too rich or overloaded with flavours – but still really tasty and hearty. Which makes it even better if you’re on a budget because you can have some decent meals for a reasonable price.
I had some snacks from some of the stalls on the street but not a whole meal – that can be a mission for the next time!
Soup in a bread bowl sounds like a winning combination to me!
Mary @ Green Global Travel recently posted..DESTINATIONS: Conquering 27 Waterfalls in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
It just makes life so nice and easy having it already combined!!
Thanks for sharing these posts and photos from Poland! I stumbled across this by looking through Twitter as I already follow you.
Hubby and I are thinking about traveling here soon and I’m looking for all the advice I can find. Cheers from Istanbul!
Joy @My Turkish Joys recently posted..Dusk in North Cyprus
Oh, my pleasure! I hope you got a little inspiration from the posts. I didn’t spend nearly enough time in Poland as I would have liked so I’m hoping to get back there again sometime soon!