Guide to Polish Food

Newcomers to Polish Food Taster Menu

 

It's not often we publish a MENU as a article, but we thought this one from the Polonia Polish Restaurant was so interesting that others would enjoy reading it.

Newcomers to Polish Food Taster Menu for 4 Persons

Try all the typical Polish specialities on this menu. The specially selected dishes are served on platters so that everyone can taste a bit and still have a full meal.

1 course £11 -  2 courses £14  - 3 courses £16

Everything you eat at our restaurant and made by us in our own kitchen - including the dumplings and desserts.

Selection of Starters on a plate for sharing

 

"Półmisek zakąskowy" cold meat and cheese platter (Two portions). The meats include kiełbasa smoked pork sausage, kabanos, a thin, dry smoked sausage made from pork and chicken and last cooked Polish ham.

Polish handmade village bread with lard (lard with fried onion and smoked bacon) and gherkins in brine.

Highlander style herring. This is "oscypek" sheep's cheese from the mountains of southern with a herring marinated in vinegar, water, onion, salt sugar, bay leaves, all spice, pepper and other spices.

Main Courses on a platter for sharing

"Kotlet schabowy" Traditional Polish breadcrumbed Pork chops served with mashed potatoes (two chops, cut into 4 portions)

Pork chop, but thinner than an in English ones, hammered to make it more tender, floured, and then bread crumbs, and then pan fried, with salt and pepper. It is eaten with buttered mashed potatoes and salads including beet root, white cabbage and carrots, lightly seasoned with salt, sugar, vegetable oil and pepper. This is the sort of dish that is eaten for lunch or dinner, especially on Sundays.

"Gołąbki" cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and pork meat (four portions)

‘ Gołąbki' translates literally as pigeons, but it has nothing to do with pigeons! The shape just reminds us of them. This dish is made of cabbage leaves around a rice and minced pork seasoned with salt and pepper. The pork, cooked rice, and leaves are steamed. Served with mushroom sauce. This is a dish eaten on weekdays in Poland.

"Placki ziemniaczane" Potato pancakes (four pancakes)

This is made from fresh potatoes ground up in a blender together with onion and eggs, than stirred with wheat flour and floured, with salt and pepper, then flattened and pan fried. Potato pancakes are an every day dish.

"Pierogi ruskie" Cheese and potato dumplings (10 dumplings)

‘Russian dumplings' but they are completely unknown in Russia! They look like Italian ravioli but they are bigger and the dough is made from wheat flour, water, oil, egg and rolled very thin, which is cut into round pieces, stuffed with white cottage cheese and mixed with fried onions and mashed potatoes, then boiled. These are also very usual dishes in Poland, for informal dining, perhaps a bit like fish and chips in England!

"Bigos" Hunter stew (a bowl full with enough for a portion each)

The original dish comes from the Middle Ages when people hunted in the forest. They made a fire and had a big pot for this dish and cooked it for days. Nowadays, we chop the meat, and put into the pot with cabbage, dried wild mushrooms (like the Italian Porchini), dried prunes, smoked sausage, smoked bacon, and ‘sauerkraut' (fermented cabbage) and, not least, red wine. This is stewed for 1-2 hours with spices like marjoram, bay leaves, paprika, all spice and tomato puree. We prepare this dish for celebrations such as weddings, Christmas and other events with lots of hungry happy people.

"Surówki" set of salads are eaten with every meal in Poland

- Beet root salad is cooked and mixed with chopped onion and apple along salt, pepper and sugar.
- Polish Sauerkraut, called ‘kapusta kiszona, consists fermented cabbage, which is chopped and put in a barrel with salt for at least a month to ferment. This method preserves the food value even for a whole winter! Just before it is served, chopped onion, apples, salt, pepper and sugar are added.
- Carrots salad is made of chopped carrots and apple, lemon juice and sugar.

"Chleb wiejski" hand made village bread (4 slices)

This bread is freshly made in the restaurant. We use whole wheat and rye flour, fresh yeast, whole milk and salt, which is kneaded, left to rise, and then baked. This is the traditional bread that is made in villages and is recalled with fondness by all Poles as the bread made by their grandmothers on Friday and Saturday for the coming week.

Desserts: Choose from three kinds of cake including poppy seed cake, cheese cake and apple cake made in the traditional way and cut into four portions so everyone can taste each of the cakes.

For drinks we recommend wine or a pint of Polish lager.

To try these and other dishes visit Polonia Polish Restaurant on Chesterton Road in Cambridge. You can view the Local Secrets page for Polonia here.