Delicious Secrets of the Polish Larder
Polish supermarkets don’t look exactly the same all year round – and not only in the grocery section, where different vegetables and fruit appear depending on the season. Find out why empty jars feature on shelves in the summertime, and all the tasty things that Poles make in them.
In Poland, late in the spring, people start buying flowerpots, flowers and soil to decorate their balconies. In August shelves are filled with notebooks, pens and colourful pencils in anticipation of the beginning of the school year. In October candles and flowers are sold to those who plan to commemorate their loved ones on All Saint’s Day, and then – as in most of the world – Christmas decorations take over. But there one more unexpected product that you can buy in bulk in the summer months: jars.
Yes, you heard me right: glass jars appear in Polish shops in late May – that’s when you can start making your first rhubarb and sorrel preserves – and stay there until the last autumn mushrooms are marinated, and the last plums fried for sweet, delicious powidła. Pickling, fermenting, making jams, marmalades and nalewki have been popular in Poland for decades, and our affinity for all things homemade hasn’t faltered even now, when we have easy access to ready-made goods.
Polish pickles & preserves
The desire to fill our pantries with different fruit and vegetable preserves stems from a variety of factors. One is climate: you don’t need to use as many conservation techniques when you have access to fresh fruit and veg all year round, so in Mediterranean countries, the whole process is slightly less common. (Although, of course, it is present: in Greece fruit is boiled in a thick sugar syrup; in Italy mostarda di Cremona and Sicilian orange marmalade are amongst the most delicious examples of fruit-in-jars, and people obviously tend to make their own tomato sauces at home.) In Poland having a pantry (spiżarnia) stocked for winter was always very important – hence the wonderful practice of fermentation, which provided people with vitamins in the colder months.
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Kiszone ogórki, photo: Piotr Jasiczek / Forum
The second reason is the simple desire to save some money by growing your own food – not only for farmers in the countryside, but also for city dwellers using allotments (działki) and urban gardens. The working-class gardening movement started in the last decade of the 19th century and while the Society of Family Gardens was founded in the 1920s. Still alive today, it was especially important during the times of food shortages in the 1980s, or in the next decade, when drastic economic changes left some people (mostly elders) with scarce resources and lots of free time. Although działki are often used just as a place for leisure, growing your own food as well as processing it yourself seems to be a thing again – modern hipsters and foodies are turning away from highly processed foods in favour of flavours from their childhood and traditional culinary practices. Their desire to remain close to nature in the difficult times of climate crisis gives it all a slightly bitter, nostalgic aftertaste.
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A weekend in May in the Family Gardens by the Czerniakowskie Lake in Warsaw, photo: Joanna Borowska / Forum
Finally, despite the multitude of various jams, syrups, fruit liqueurs, and pickles available to buy, some people still hold on to the notion that ‘homemade is best’. And there is some truth to it – industrial products might be too sweet or artificially thickened, while higher-quality artisan brands are pretty costly. The idea of being able to control every part of the process is important to some: parents who want to feed their kids well, people with various allergies and health-related issues, and traditionalists who don’t believe in mass-produced food. A grandma might easily agree with her granddaughter on this one.
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Wild strawberries, photo: Piotr Płaczkowski / Reporter / East News
But what do we actually do with all the fresh produce we buy at the market or grow in our działki? There are ‘preserving calendars’ available online, although many of us just know what to do when, as the knowledge continues to be passed from generation to generation.
The work begins in May, with rhubarb that we turn into jams and sweetened juices. Sorrel – which we pickle for the traditional szczawiowa soup (served with potatoes and hard-boiled eggs) – is a delicious, uniquely Polish treat. Yet this is only the prelude to strawberry season: one of Poland’s most beloved berries can be turned into a multitude of delicious jams, compotes, syrups and even vinegars. It’s easiest to start just using fruit and sugar in the recipes, but more advanced cooks experiment by pairing strawberries with vanilla or elderflower
June is also the time for ogórki małosolne and then kiszone – the idea is that you put small cucumbers in jars, add some garlic, horseradish, bay, pepper, dill and oak or cherry leaves, and cover it all with brine. After one or two days, when they’ve only just changed their colour, but are still crunchy and slightly salty, you can eat them as małosolne – semi-pickled or newly pickled. Or you can obviously leave them alone and store them in the larder until winter, when you can enjoy salty, sour, dark green ogórki kiszone. The whole process is so simple, it would be a shame not to do it, especially since it’s not that easy to buy good małosolne or kiszone – when kept in plastic containers, they quickly turn soft and mushy.
July and August offer a cornucopia of fruity pleasures: raspberries make for a divine jam and the best syrup we add to our hot teas in the winter. Sour cherries are the perfect fruit for an alcoholic liqueur called wiśniówka and an old-school preserve called frużelina – a jelly of sorts with whole fruit inside, made with sugar and potato starch that we adore to put on our waffles. The remaining bilberries which we haven’t put in our beloved bilberry buns (jagodzianki) or used as a pierogi filling make for a great jam as well. And then there’s my favourite, apricot jam (try flavouring it with rosemary or lavender for an even bigger impact), as well as redcurrant jelly and gooseberry marmalade.
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Nalewki in the Pod Aniołami restaurant in Kraków, photo: Beata Zawrzel / East News
That’s not the whole story though: you can ferment and pickle chanterelles and young beetroots; marinate zucchini or turn them into sauces and ketchups; and grill zucchini, peppers and eggplants and cover them with olive or rapeseed oil (that’s more of a Mediterranean technique, yet we often use it as well). And then obviously you need to make the most of Polish summer tomatoes, which are arguably some of the best tomatoes in the world. And before you dismiss this controversial opinion, please do try malinowe (raspberry) or bawole serce (bull’s heart) tomatoes in the summertime.
The end of summer doesn’t mean jars are left behind; on the contrary: it’s when some of the most delicious smells emanate from Polish kitchens. Firstly, there are plum powidła: similar to what the English call prune butter, this particular fruit spread is traditionally made without any added sugar or gelling agent. Wat you need to do is cook your plums (the best cultivar for this is węgierki or zwetschge plums) for a very, very long time on a low heat, to evaporate most of the juices and achieve a sticky consistency and a deep, dark hue.
Pickled plums in a slightly sweet, vinegary marinade with spices such as cinnamon and cloves are a popular accompaniment to cured meats and pâtés. Other autumnal treasures – pears and pumpkins – can be prepared in a similar way. And then there are apple jam, applesauce, as well as incredibly healthy apple and pear vinegars (add a spoonful to a glass of water and drink it before a meal – it will boost your digestion like nothing else). Contrary to apples and pears, quince is not that common, yet pigwówka – a liqueur made with this sour fruit – is universally beloved, and supporters of local food often say it’s better than lemon to put in your tea. Rose hip jam – a traditional filling to pączki – is also an autumnal favourite.
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Jam, photo: Arco Images / Diez O. / Forum
Written by Natalia Mętrak-Ruda, Jul 2021
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