On local menus, you will find Russian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Polish dishes. A mandatory item on the menu is, of course, babka ziemniaczana – potato cake – which should be complemented in the summertime by a cold beet soup and, in the wintertime, with the warming solianka – a hot beef soup. The foundation of the local cuisine is potatoes and flour – kiszka (potato-filled intestine), kartacze (baked potatoes filled with ground meat) and pierogi (potato-filled dumplings). You wash down your lunch with compote, kvass (a fermented cereal drink) or beer. Hajnówka is also home to a small brewery: Browar Markowy. The names of the artisanal beers produced there refer to the region’s history.
As recently as a few years ago, the clear majority of local restaurants and inns reflected the traditions of hunting, but now the restaurants also offer vegetarian and vegan options. On that score, worth recommending is, for example, Niezapominajka in Hajnówka. You can spend your entire holiday in the ‘Home in the East’, i.e. a vegetarian agrotourism.
After lunch, you’ll surely appreciate a regional treat – a cake made up of many layers of dough and sour cream, known as marcinek. The tradition of baking this cake and its name are linked to the history of the Tsar’s Palace in Białowieża where Saint Martin was honoured with elaborate festivities. On that occasion, the cake known as marcinek was baked. You can find it inside – among other places – the Emma Café in Hajnówka, in Społem stores and in most Białowieża cafés, for instance the Bike Café or Przystań na Lato.
