Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in

Poland. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's
history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Slavic countries, especially Czech,
Slovak, and Ukrainian. It has also been widely influenced by other Central European cuisines,
namely German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines [1] as well as Jewish,[2] French, Turkish and
Italian culinary traditions.[3] It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on
the region), winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and herbs.[4] It is also characteristic in
its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals (grains)
such as kasha (from the Polish word kasza).[5] Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and
uses a lot of cream and eggs. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. Many
Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals,
especially Christmas eve dinner (Wigilia) or Easter breakfast which could take a number of days
to prepare in their entirety.

The Polish national dishes are bigos [bis]; pierogi [pri]; kiebasa; kotlet schabowy
[ktlt sxabv] (type of breaded cutlet); gobki [wpki] (type of cabbage roll); zrazy
[zraz] (type of roulade); roast (Polish: piecze) [ptt]; sour cucumber soup (Polish: zupa
ogrkowa) Polish pronunciation: [zupa urkva]; mushroom soup, (Polish: zupa grzybowa)
[zupa bva] (quite different from the North American cream of mushroom); tomato soup
(Polish: zupa pomidorowa) [zupa pmidrva];[6] ros [rsuw] (variety of meat broth); urek
[urk] (sour rye soup); flaki [flaki] (variety of tripe soup); and barszcz [bartt] among others.
[7]

The main meal might be eaten about 2 p.m. or later. It is larger than the North American lunch. It
might be composed of three courses especially among the traditionalists, starting with a soup like
a popular ros and tomato soup or more festive barszcz (beet borscht) or urek (sour rye meal
mash), followed perhaps in a restaurant by an appetizer such as herring (prepared in either
cream, oil, or in aspic); or other cured meats and vegetable salads. The main course usually
includes a serving of meat, such as roast or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet), or chicken.
Vegetables, currently replaced by leafy green salads, were not very long ago most commonly
served as surwka [surufka] shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac,
seared beetroot) or sauerkraut (Polish: kapusta kiszona) [kapusta kina]. The side dishes are
usually boiled potatoes, rice or more traditionally kasza (cereals). Meals often conclude with a
dessert such as makowiec, a poppy seed pastry, or drodwka [drdtufka], a type of yeast
cake. Other Polish specialities include chodnik [xwdik] (a chilled beet or fruit soup for hot
days), golonka (pork knuckles cooked with vegetables), koduny (meat dumplings), zrazy
(stuffed slices of beef), salceson and flaki (tripe).

History of Polish foodMiddle ages

During the Middle Ages the cuisine of Poland was heavy and spicy. Two main ingredients were
meat (both game and beef) and cereal. The latter consisted initially of proso millet, but later in
the Middle Ages other types of cereal became widely used. Most commoners did not use bread
and instead consumed cereals in the forms of kasza or various types of flatbread, some of which
(for instance koacz) are considered traditional recipes even in the 21st century. Apart from
cereals, a large portion of the daily diet of mediaeval Poles consisted of beans, mostly broad
beans and peas. As the territory of Poland was densely forested, usage of mushrooms, forest
berries, nuts and wild honey was also widespread. Among the delicacies of the Polish nobility
were honey-braised bear paws served with horseradish-flavoured salad (now species protected in
Poland), smoked bear tongue and bear bacon.[8][9]

The only indisputable fact is that the court of Queen Bona was fed in an Italian fashion, because
she exclusively employed Italian cooks, some of whom were originally hired to prepare parties
for aristocratic families but who were soon serving typical Italian dishes as part of the court's
daily menus. Court records show that Queen Bona imported large volumes of southern European,
American and Western Asian fruits (oranges, lemons, pomegranates, olives, figs, tomatoes),
vegetables (potatoes and corn), nuts (chestnuts, raisins and almonds,including marzipan), along
with grains (such as rice), cane sugar and Italian olive oil. The court also imported various herbs
and spices including black pepper, fennel, saffron, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, .[3]

Polish-style pickled cucumber (ogrek kiszony) is a variety developed in the northern Europe. It
has been exported worldwide and is found in the cuisines of many countries. It is sour but tends
to be seasoned differently. It is usually preserved in wooden barrels. A cucumber only pickled for
a few days is different in taste (less sour) than one pickled for a longer time and is called ogrek
maosolny, which means "lightly salted cucumber". Another kind of pickled cucumber, popular
in Poland, is ogrek konserwowy (preserved cucumber) which is rather sweet and vinegary in
taste, due to different composition of the preserving solution and the fact that it's not fermented,
just preserved. It is kept in wooden barrels.

Until the Partitions perpetrated by the neighboring empires, Poland was one of the largest
countries in the world, and encompassed many regions with their own, distinctive culinary
traditions.[3] Two consecutive Polish kings, Wadysaw IV and John II Casimir (Polish: Jan II
Kazimierz Waza) married the same French Duchess, Marie Louise Gonzaga (Polish: Ludwika
Maria), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Mantua; persecuted by King Louis XIII of France for her
affiance to his opponent Gaston, Duke of Orlans. Marie Louise arrived in Warsaw in 1646, was
widowed, and married again in 1649. Ludwika brought along with her a court full of Frenchmen
including courtiers, secretaries, army officers, physicians, merchants, craftsmen, as well as many
cooks
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