What do you eat in Poland? A lot of cabbage and potatoes, a lot of meat and soups: Polish cuisine is all about the stomach!
Polish gastronomy is a cuisine of influences. But it is Polish specialities that you will be tasting most of the time. Goulash, which originated in Hungary but is found throughout Central Europe, is on every menu. Polish pierogis, a kind of large ravioli, can be steamed with a sauce, fried or baked.
Polish cuisine includes cabbage, potatoes and the whole family of root vegetables (turnip, beetroot, onions, etc.) which make up the very popular cabbage stuffed with meat, bigos, a hearty sauerkraut with unexpected flavours, or chlodnik, a cold beetroot soup with an intense colour.
Potatoes are very important here and can be found in all forms: mashed, pasta, gnocchi, steamed, soup, sautéed and, even more often, in the form of large dumplings, Knèdles. They are the Polish version of the Austrian knodels and you will find them in all possible soups and sauces.
Don’t miss the amazing smoked cheese, oscypek. These dense and fragrant cheeses can be eaten as they are or pan-fried on a slice of dark bread, sometimes with a spoonful of jam.
Finally, the last pleasant surprise is that, as well as being tasty and hearty, Polish food is cheap! Bought in the street, in a snack bar, in a bakery or in a restaurant, it is always of good quality and within the reach of all pockets.
Discover Polish cuisine reinvented to suit modern tastes
Although rustic in its roots, Polish cuisine today is inspired by countries around the world. In the big cities, you can find beautiful restaurants where you can taste Polish specialities reinvented, customised or even more contemporary cuisine made in the Polish style with ingredients that were not very common in Poland until now.
Drinks : beware of the shock!
Poles are big drinkers: beer, Krupnik (honey-based alcohol: sweet but strong, beware of its 40°) but above all the unavoidable Polish vodka! Vodka is strong and even served in tiny glasses, Polish people will not stop filling it to the sound of Na Zdrowie!
