The Food of Eastern Poland
At first glance it might seem that Polish cuisine is not as regionally diverse as some of the others, but looking a little closer, it becomes clear that although we share many of the same traditions, most cities and regions also have their own, distinct and often unknown in the rest of the country. Here, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting dishes of Eastern Poland.
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Kartacze, photo: Agnieszka Sadowska /AW
Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews, Russians, Lipka Tatars and Poles all lived on these lands. In the turbulent 20th century it was still so hard for many inhabitants of the region to state what their national identity actually is, that in the 1920s and 30s many of them identified as tutejszy (‘from here’). And so Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Jewish and even Tatar influences are combined in a melting pot of culinary goodness. Some of its specialties include kartacze (big potato dumplings filled with meat), pierekaczewnik (a meat pie typical of Tatar cuisine), soczewiaki (yet another potato dumplings filled with lentils), and szlachcice (pierogi filled with raw potatoes and fried onions). Yet nothing says Podlasie as clearly as babka ziemniaczana or kiszka ziemniaczana.
The Suwałki Region
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Sękacz, photo: Andrzej Sidor /Forum
Technically, Suwalszczyzna is a part of Podlaskie voivodeship, and yet its cuisine is so distinct, it’s worth mentioning separately; the North-East of Poland, right next to the Lithuanian border, is such an inspiring culinary region, that it has become one of the destinations for avant-garde chefs participating in the Cook It Raw project in 2012. Ben Shewry from Australia used an Aborigine technique of baking boar in hot ashes; René Redzepi from the Danish Noma foraged for flowers and berries which he served with a fermented mushroom broth; the Polish Wojciech Modest Amaro, who organized this trip, prepared the regional 'knotted cake' – sękacz – but instead of making the traditional sweet version, he flavoured it with boletus, juniper and pine. Another unique dessert from Suwalszczyzna is mrowisko (anthill) – a pile of angel wings, sprinkled with honey, poppy seeds and raisins. But there are also savoury Polish-Lithuanian delicacies worth trying, such as the aforementioned kartacze or cepeliny, Lithuanian chłodnik – a beetroot and buttermilk based cold soup, dark breads rubbed with garlic and cured meats such as kindziuk.
Lublin & Lubelszczyzna
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Piróg Biłgorajski, photo: Agata Jakubowska/AW
When it comes to food, the city of Lublin in Western Poland is famous for its cebularz – an onion bun resembling the beloved New York bialy. Its first written descriptions come from the 19th century, when it gained popularity as Jewish bakers sold them all over town. Apart from onions (which are also the main ingredient of the Goraj onion soup), some of the most common ingredients include buckwheat and twaróg (Polish cottage cheese) – they form the filling of another Lubelszczyzna staple piróg biłgorajski: a bake of groats, cheese and potatoes in a yeast-dough casing, and are combined with mint in the most characteristic regional pierogi filling. The best desserts smell of local honey and apples, as some old cultivars are still grown here and turned into the most amazing apple pies.
Kraków & Lesser Poland
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Maczanka of the hamburger's grandmother, photo: M. Łasyk / Reporter / East News
To talk about Kraków’s culinary identity, we need to go back in time to the Austro-Hungarian empire, when Galician cuisine was shaped, combining Austrian, Hungarian, Polish and Jewish influences. Some of the famous dishes from that time are caraway soup, liptauer spread made with bryndza cheese, schnitzel (crumbed veal cutlet), pischinger (wafers layered with chocolate cream) and the famous Kraków sausage. Possibly even more famous is the Kraków’s street food maczanka krakowska, the 'hamburger’s grandma': slowly baked neck meat is served with caraway and onion, and it is served in its own gravy, in which one dips a wheat roll. And of course we can’t forget obwarzanek krakowski, a ring made of wheat flour and yeast dough, reminiscent of a bagel or a pretzel, but not exactly the same. The main difference is the texture, due to the fact that the dough for obwarzanki is spirally braided.
Podhale
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Oscypki, photo: Bartek Tomczyk/Getty Images
Once again, while technically the mountain region of Podhale is mostly situated in the małopolskie voivodeship, it has a distinct folklore and culinary culture, which are worth describing separately. Possibly the most famous product from the Polish highlands is oscypek – smoked cheese made with sheep milk – but there are many others. Bundz and bryndza are also great cheeses, while żentyca is the healthy whey resulting from the production of oscypek. The most popular soup is kwaśnica made with sauerkraut juice and various kinds of meat, while moskole potato pancakes and haluszki noodles – which are also the national dish of Slovacchia – can be served as a main dish or a side to some roast lamb.