Przekąski Zakąski was so successful, that it became the founding spot of one of few – possibly one of two, along with the milk bar – truly original gastronomic concepts. Soon enough there were bars with 4zł/8zł menus all around Poland.
Traditional Polish weddings, especially in the rural areas, are some of the occasions where still today the culture of zakąski reigns supreme. While we do observe a cultural shift and in big cities people tend to drink more wine and often prefer a more Mediterranean or French approach to banquet canapes, smalec, sausages and other cured meats, meat jellies, pickles, and herring are still among the most popular items on the traditional wedding buffets which are sometimes named wiejski stół – the country table.
In the last decade ongoing efforts have been made by some Polish chefs, bartenders and spirit connoisseurs to start looking at vodka from a new point of view – not just as something to get drunk on, or dissolve in a cocktail, but an interesting product that could become as important to Poland as whiskey is to Ireland and Scotland or champaigne to France.
To do so, passionate chefs started to think about much more refined zakąski which would go well with artisan vodkas. Chef Aleksander Baron and food writer Łukasz Klesyk even wrote a book about it entitled Między wódką a zakąską (which literally means 'Between Vodka and an Appetizer', yet also refers to the idiom wcinać się między wódkę a zakąskę – to meddle or interfere). The authors claim that the most important rules in creating zakąski are following the contrasts created by pairing the sweetness of vodka with either salt or acid, while also keeping in mind, that the plates should be rich and complex enough to handle high levels of alcohol. It can be achieved by adding fat, but also by enriching the flavours by grilling, roasting, adding herbs, spices or mushrooms.