All things Polish

[maggiethecat]

We listened tonight to Marta Argerich play the complete Chopin preludes. Buy the CD.

One thing I adore about Polish weddings, If you live in Chicago, minimum attendance, four hundred, is going though the reception line. The father/grandfather/uncles of the bride have the most beautiful heads of silver hair imaginable. Bill Clinton would kill for that hair.

But the best thing: If you are a woman, these attractive men click their heels and kiss your hand. Tremendously old-fashioned and romantic, I read, probably in the Times, a couple of years ago, that hand-kissing was a tradition that Poles would not renounce for the Soviets. You can hear it in the Chopin.

Polish sausage, Polish hospitality, hand-kissing and pierogi: I bend the knee.

But please, what else should I know about Polish cuisine?

Edit: Late night spelling.

Edited February 22, 2003 by maggiethecat (log)

[mamster]

My cousin has this great apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which I believe the UN considers the capital of Poland. We used to have dinner at this restaurant across the street; Eric Asimov (or maybe Sam Sifton) reviewed it not too long ago. You could get a full meal with wienerschnitzel and beets and this awful fruit drink that I'm pretty sure was unset Jell-O for about $4. That and KK's are all I know about Polish cuisine, unfortunately.

[jhlurie]

There's a Polish restaurant in Brooklyn Heights, Teresa's, that's the only dedicated one I've ever really been to. I've also heard about a place in Bay Ridge called Polonica, but I've never been there.

[Homer Simpsons mode on]Mmmmm... pierogis...[/Homer Simpsons mode off]

[bigbear]

Aaah... 13.52 ounces of Strong Polish Lager at 9.1% ABV.

The new labels have black, not blue, backgrounds.

[Suzanne F]

The newest issue of Gastronomica has a review of a book titled The Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook, by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab. It is not a positive review, in part because the reviewer finds the book a little too limited by the author's focus on her own family's food experiences. Still, it could be interesting (and tempting).

Tne review mentions other books by the same author: Polish Customs, Traditions, and Folklore, Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine, and Polish Wedding Customs and Traditions, which probably will give you as much information as you could ever want. If not more.

[Rail Paul]

There's a picture in Saturday's NY Times with a new McDonald's advertisement in Warsaw. McKielbasa has been developed for local consumption. Nowa kanapka McKielbasa at 3.99 (Euro?)

Has anybody tried this sausage? Is a potato bun used?

(The article, on page 6, mentions the sausage as an element of Polish infatatuation with many US cultural and political values)

[maggiethecat]

The newest issue of Gastronomica has a review of a book titled The Polish Country Kitchen Cookbook, by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab.  It is not a positive review, in part because the reviewer finds the book a little too limited by the author's focus on her own family's food experiences.  Still, it could be interesting (and tempting).

Tne review mentions other books by the same author: Polish Customs, Traditions, and Folklore, Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine, and Polish Wedding Customs and Traditions, which probably will give you as much information as you could ever want.  If not more. 

Thanks for the suggestions, Suzanne. I might have to pick up a copy of the "Wedding Traditions" one for my Polish-American buddy Stef, a former work-mate.

She went to, conservatively, thirty Polish-American weddings a year, and was the proverbial Giant Kielbasa of knowledge. How at a real Polish wedding, there's a basic bar set-up at every table, so that Uncle Zbig doesn't have to hold an empty glass while waiting in line at the real bar. Wedding parties of twenty-four couples. The priest and the wedding party coming to the bride's mother's home for some breakfast pierogi and a few healthy shots before the service. The generosity of the guests: it is usually assumed that the young couple will have a down payment for a house at the end of the evening. A friend of hers actually hired a bodyguard to protect him while he carried the cash and checks home after his daughter's nuptials.

When asked if she was going out to dinner/movie/getaway vacation, Stef always sadi: "Can't. Another damn wedding to save for!"

[C Squared]

A Polish co-worker once brought a stew to a pot luck luncheon that she called Bigos (Bee-gos) it is saurkraut, cabbage, keilbasa, bacon, and ham hocks It was great. I think I have the recipe on a disc somewhere. I will try to find it.

[Shiva]

This bigos is no ordinary dish,

For it is aptly framed to meet your wish,

Founded upon good cabbage, sliced and sour,

Which, as men say, by its own zest and power

Melts in one's mouth, it settles in a pot

And in its dewy bosom folds a lot

Of the best portions of selected meat;

Scullions parboil it then, until the heat

Draws from its substance all the living juices,

And, from the pot's edge, boiling fluid sluices

And all the air is fragrant with the scent.

Adam Mickiewicz 1798 - 1855

[Food is my Love Language]

Wow, this is really an old thread, but I'll throw in my two cents. I'm living in Poland, and yes, it was a a lovely surprise to have my hand kissed. Things that will now always make me think of Polish cuisine: fresh dill, mushrooms, beets, cabbage, soup, and cheesecake (that tastes like rationing is still on).

[makeamix41]

Polish cuisine is quite expanded, we have a lots of different dishes but what foreigners (and locals) like the most are, I suppose, pierogi (dumplings). They are filled with really different things eg. meat, meat and cabbage, fruits. My grandma makes very tasty dumplings with blueberries or apples. What is also really characteristic about Poland is bigos - a dish where you add everything (meat, cabbage, sausages). It is very tasty!

[TdeV]

I'm very interested in this dish, how do you make yours, @makeamix41?

[shawarma_prince]

My favorite polish dish is lazanki. I've heard good things bout Karczma in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Maybe will check it out once this pandemic is over.