Polonez Polish Delicatessen

[Malawry]

Monday night I stopped by Polonez Gourmet Delicatessen, 8113 Georgia Avenue, on my way to retrieve my car from the shop. The storefront is decked out with a blue awning and has a sign reading "ICE CREAM" from the side. It's a long, narrow shop specializing in Polish foods.

As soon as I stepped in, the proprietor leapt up from his post in the back of the shop and asked if he could help me. I told him I came in because I knew he ran a Polish deli, and I'd never been in one before. I explained I was looking about to see what they carried. He got excited and started discussing their wonderful sausages, which ones he loved best, which ones they were unfortunately out of, and so on.

As a recently reformed vegetarian, the sausages did not hold much interest for me. Seeing this, he started discussing Polish sweets. He pulled out Mieszco Duet candy and handed it to me. "You'll like this. Like a sweet gel candy." I bit into the soft, chocolate-covered dual gel: lemon atop a neutral white gel cream. The chocolate coating was dark and a little bitter. He pointed at the wall behind me. "They're over there, on the bottom."

I turned around and checked out the wall behind me. There were several kinds of jams. I picked up one in a flavor I hadn't seen before (something like Aronima, I don't remember the exact name) and asked the guy behind the counter about it. "It's an American crop that was exported to Poland, where it became popular as a jam. It's tart, not as tart as cranberries though. It's good, you'll like it."

The store offers many baked goods, including babkas and Polish donuts. There is also a full selection of sausages and cheeses, and some preserved fish. I bought a fillet of Matjes herring (a Swedish herring in wine sauce) and some creamed herring. I also purchased the jam and a sack of the Duet candies.

The proprietor gave me a list of their specialties and encouraged me to come back and try the pierogies and the babke sometime. He seemed happy I knew what at least some of the foods were and asked if I was Polish. I told him that I am Jewish and grew up with some Polish type foods.

After I got home, I toasted a couple of bagels. I put the Matjes herring on a plate and garnished it with sliced sweet onion. I assembled a platter with pickles, olives, sliced cucumber and some scrubbed young carrots. My housemate Abi joined me at the table for dinner.

The creamed herring was as delicious as any I've consumed: rich but not overwhelmingly so, slightly fishy, lots of onions in the cream sauce. It was great on the bagel. The Matjes herring was so rich and sweet and oily that the bagel wasn't right for it. We tasted various foods on the table with the Matjes, sampling how the flavor played against other tastes. I thought a tart apple might go well with it, so Abi found a Granny Smith in the fridge and cut a few planks off of it for us to eat the Matjes on. After a few nibbles I decided to add pepper, and then to try it with Maille mustard. Pretty soon I had a new amuse-bouche on my hands: a slice of Granny Smith, an extremely thin smear of Maille, a bit of Matjes herring, a few diced bits of sweet onion, and a scrape of black pepper. Mmmm.

This place is clearly not doing so well, and I would hate to see it go when they provide foods that are so hard to find in the DC area. I'll definitely go back periodically.

[Damian]

Thanks Malawry!  Any sens of how long this place has been around?  I'm a multigeneration Washingtonian and have never heard of it.  Not that I know every single food store in town, but I'm genuinely surprised that something like this was below the radar if its been around for a long time.  The awning said "ice cream" on the side?  Did it have the name of the deli on the front?  The location on Georgia (although I confess that I don't know where 8113 would be (DC?  Sil. Spring?)) makes me think it might be at the old Giffords ice cream location.  Giffords had a blue and white logo.  

Speaking of Giffords (off-topic, so sorry), is the revived location in Bethesda still doing well?  The Giffords ice cream recipes are a true Washington treasure.  They used to make other kinds of sweets as well, especially these wonderful soft caramels.  Isn't there another old family place in DC that makes old fashioned candy?  (God, I really am off-topic very very sorry - ignore at will!)

[Malawry]

Sorry, I meant to say Polonez is indeed in Silver Spring. It's very close to the intersection with 410 (east-west hwy). If you're heading North from the city along Georgia, it's on the right.

It has been there for some time. I think Eve Zibart of the Wash Post wrote a feature on it two years ago. I'd seen it before then, but had not been interested. The awning does read Polonez Delicatessen in white script on the royal blue field. I saw no ice cream, but I didn't look at the fridge/freezer cases at all (they appeared to all be fridges holding bottled beverages of no interest). One might have been a freezer, I dunno.

Edemuth and I meant to hit Giffords after the movies a few weeks ago, but we got sidetracked. Haven't been to their new-new location on Woodmont somewhere yet but of course I had been to the location in the building on Wisc Ave (they were in the back, facing an alley/parking lot of sorts). They still sell caramels. Come down and we'll go together.   If Giffords used to be in Silver Spring it was before my time here in DC. I've been here almost 6 years.

Other candy makers: Ann Amernick makes delicious caramels in her bakery, Amernick, in Cleveland Park. There must be other candy makers in town though. I remember hearing about a chocolatier in NoVa, and I know there was a recent revival of a Washington classic caramel maker...some family member just started making them again 2 years or so ago, they covered it in the Post food section with a nice feature. Somebody who used to sell them near Woody's, or in Woody's, and apparently you always bought them for Christmas in the old big Downtown DC days.

They don't make candies, but I have historically purchased a lot of chocolates from the Chocolate Chocolate store on L Street near Connecticut Avenue in the Farragut area. It was convenient to my office. They carry Neuhaus and a decent selection of Scharffen Berger. I also like the individual chocolates in the Lake Champlain line, but the bars are nothing special.

I am not especially well-educated on chocolates and candies, and I bet Steve could run circles around my knowledge of what to get in the area and where.

BTW, the jam is Aronia. I just checked the jar. Anybody heard of this fruit?

[Damian]

Hmmm,

Can't help you with the fruit identification.

I wonder if it is in the old Gifford's spot.  Is it on the corner of Georgia and Sligo?  That's where my recollection has the old Gifford's.  It's possible that Polonez has been around long enough that it overlaps with Gifford's and is thus in a different location.  My familiarity with Silver Spring is far from perfect.  I'll start a new thread on Giffords and their candies to keep things legit.

The family caramel maker who sold out of Woodies sounds familiar, that's probably the one I am thining of.  The name starts with a "V" if I am not mistaken.

[Malawry]

Yes, the "v" sounds like it might be right. Not sure though.

Polonez is a couple blocks from the intersection of Sligo and Georgia. I don't remember offhand which corner it's on but it's about two blocks south of that intersection. I'm well-familiar with Sligo and Georgia since Silver Spring's Thai grocery is right by there, and since Dale Music is right there too (my partner is a choral conductor, and buys all his music at Dale).

[Damian]

Interesting, I wonder if the building of the old Gifford's is still there at Sligo and Georgia or any evidence of its former presence.  It was quite a landmark.  Another landmark near there (which was even before my time - I've seen pictures only) was the polar bear frozen custard shop. From what I have been told through the years, it was in the shape of an igloo out of white plaster with bits of mirrored glass embedded in it.  It had a polar bear scuplture out front that was rearing up with its claws in the air.  There was another one on Georgia near the Missouri intersection in DC.  

Dale is a great store.  My favorite place for music was the Library of Congress, they have everything and it can be xeroxed barring copyright restrictions.  The woman who runs the Lib. Cong. music section is a composer / conductor.  She rediscovered the score for the silent horror film classic Nosferatu and then conducted the National Symphony Orch. at Wolf Trap while the movie played on a huge screen - that was a great event.  Come to think of it, the Lib. Cong. probably has some incredible food-related books as well.  What an amazing, and underused, resource that place is.

[Malawry]

When I return to town, I'll case out the locations you mention and tell you what I find there.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what goodies are available at the Library of Congress in terms of food. Perhaps that's a subject for the Food Media and News forum? Surely somebody on eGullet has cased out their offerings...

[Terrie]

The caramel that used to be sold at Woodies was called Velati's.  It was my mother's absolute favorite, so I remember it well.  It was originally a separate candy shop, but ended up selling through Woodies at some point.

According to that Post article (which is hazy in my mind), the family sold either the name or the recipe (can't remember which), but had been making small batches somewhere on the Eastern Shore for some years.  BUT, I just saw Velati's caramels on sale in Hecht's last week!  So, they are back!!  Not sure of the quality and if it's the same (I distinctly remember my mother insisting that they had to be fresh, and I'm not clear whether a retailer like Hecht's could keep up the freshness).

I'm going to have to surprise my mother with a box and we'll have a taste test.

[Damian]

Velati's, yes. My grandmother used to get Velati's for the holidays too.  They would get hard and crumbly if left too long, Terrie, so I know where your mother was coming from. Gifford's caramels are still the ones that ring in my memory.

[Malawry]

Edemuth and I cracked open the Aronia jam this morning during our butter and jam sampling blitz. (See "Buttah" thread for more details.)

I suspect the brand is the Polish equivalent of Del Monte...an inexpensive national label of condiments. It was sweeter than I hoped it would be (I thought it might be more tart than sweet, mostly since it was labeled "Reduced Sugar Jam" on the pasted-on English label). It wasn't bad though...the fruit is small, the size of a fresh currant, and there were many whole pieces in there. The jam was somewhat sweet and mildly acidic, and it was a gorgeous dark purply color. The fruit tastes somewhere between blueberries and cranberries, but much closer to the blueberry side. Goes nicely with Lurpak or Plugra butters, but then doesn't everything?

[DonRocks]

I'd hate for this wonderful thread to go two years without an update, so can anyone tell us how Polonez is doing?

Malawry, have you been back?

[JPW]

I'll make a scouting trip this weekend.

[JPW]

Drove by on Sunday after my TP farmer's market outing.

The store is still in business, but is closed on Sundays.

THe building has a big for sale sign on it, so I don't know how much longer it will be open.

[Malawry]

Ack--I've been out of town and didn't see that this got coughed up again. If I can I will try to stop by Saturday--we shall see. It's a great little shop, more herring than I think I've seen anywhere else in the area (they've got Parkway Deli and Snider's Super Foods beat, easily). Plus I'm amenable to Polish sausages these days, so if I can make it in I'll pick a few up.

[Malawry]

I went back to Polonez yesterday. My grandfather is coming into town today and I wanted to buy some fish for breakfast tomorrow morning, and I thought the matjes herring would make an especially nice treat. (This kind of thing is not readily available in Charlotte, NC, where he lives.)

I was quite surprised to see absolutely no fish in the two refrigerated cases in the back of the store. They both held some Polish, German, and other meats and cheeses but no fish. The proprietor tried to talk me into taking some of the sprats and other canned fish they carry, but I wasn't interested. While I do eat pork I try not to rub it in my Jewish family's face, so I didn't want any of the sausages. The poppy seed cake looked interesting but my grandfather is diabetic and my spouse and I are trying to do the low-carb thing. So I ended up coming away empty-handed, despite heavy lobbying.

I was told that they have more fish around the December holidays and I promised to check back then. I am surprised though--there was almost a whole case filled with fishy treats when I started this thread in early summer 2002. Which is a greater distance from Christmas than September, yet that didn't stop them from offering a great selection.

I drove up Georgia Avenue to Snider's Super Foods to buy herring in cream and wine sauce and some chubs. Sigh.