The World of Polish Dumplings
Some are round and some are zeppelin-shaped, some are white and some are grey, some are filled and some not, finally – most are savoury, but some are sweet. All around Poland, you can find an amazing variety of dumplings – or ‘kluski’, as we call them.
Wheat-, cheese- or potato-based, plain or filled with meat, lentils or cheese, served with fried onions or just melted butter. The perfect, carb-laden, old-school comfort food. Here’s a guide to the wonderful world of Polish kluski.
Kopytka
'Kopytka', photo: iStockphoto / Getty Images Kopytka (i.e. ‘little hooves’) are cousins of the Italian gnocchi. They are made with boiled mashed potatoes and a little bit of wheat flour. The dough is rolled and cut into diamond-shaped kluski, which are boiled and sometimes also fried to make the outside crispy. They can be served with butter alone, or with a variety of sauces: wild mushroom sauce and meat goulash are among the most popular.
Kluski śląskie
Kluski śląskie literally mean ‘Silesian dumplings’. They can be either ‘white’ (made with cooked mashed potatoes) or ‘grey’ (made with grated raw potatoes). Instead of wheat flour, potato starch is added to the mix, which makes the dumplings particularly ‘bouncy’ and incidentally gluten-free. They have a little well in the middle to hold the sauce, and are an inherent part of the traditional Silesian obiad.
Pierogi leniwe
'Pyzy', photo: Darius Dzinnik/Getty Images
‘Lazy’ pierogi don’t really have much to do with actual pierogi – they are not filled, their main ingredient is farmer’s cheese, and they are – as you’ve probably guessed – much quicker to make. Slightly sweet and often served with buttered breadcrumbs, they are a children’s favourite and one of the finest examples of the Polish ‘dessert as a main course’ idea.
Kartacze or cepeliny
These big, oval-shaped dumplings (the name kartacze refers to bullets, and they are sometimes also called cepeliny due to their resemblance to zeppelins, the German airships) are a regional delicacy in Lithuania and northeastern Poland. The raw-potato dough is soft, and the filling usually consists of either farmer’s cheese, or meat heavily spiced with black pepper and garlic.
Pyzy
Bazar Różyckiego, photo: Włodzimierz Wasyluk/Forum
Pyzy are a typical Warsaw dish, associated with the hustle and bustle of the Bazar Różyckiego market in the city’s Praga district. These potato-based dumplings (two parts raw potato to one part cooked potato) can be either plain or filled with meat. Typically, they’re served with fried onions and pork scratchings. Sounds rather simple, but part of their appeal was the way they were served in the old days – in glass jars, tucked between blankets or newspapers to keep them warm – and eaten standing up, in the middle of the chaos of the market. Nowadays, you can sample the classic or modern version (think pyzy with kale pesto or spinach and blue-cheese sauce) in a bar right next to the market entrance.
