1st time in Poland

Good question, does any country have a national dish!

I suppose roast lamb/chicken and potatoes but thats what the British have.

Its probally the barbecue... lots of red meat and prawns (beer to wash it down)

Because oz land is a very multi cultural society, people enjoy variations of chinese, greek, italian etc food. the days of having steak and chips at a restuarant are well and truly gone.

so it looks that you havent got anything like "bigos".mmmm...

your thinking is a bit narrow,i can say.Poland as a country has not been created after 1945.we have been under influence of many nations and their cuisines.russia-pierogi with potatoes and cottage cheese,ukrainian betroot soup,jewish a carp stuffed with mashrooms,pasta with tomatoe sauce is well known too and many many more .you should buy a book "POLISH CUISINE" before you say something.

What I'm saying is to have a open mind, polish food is not the only food on the market.
I like polish soups, pork dishes and chickens....my ideal meal is a roast leg of lamb, roast potatoes and pumpkin and peas...withs lots of gravy....it beats any meal on earth.

if you read my previous post carefully you will have to say "i am sorry"
i prefer pork rather than lamb but it is your choice and peas? no -only the black eyed peas

I went to Poland last year and I couldnt believe at the variety of things that Poland has now. i havent been to my country for a long time so I was very suprised.
I cant tell you that immediatley I found a difference between the U.S food and Polish.
Everything in Poland is fresh and delicious. Theres so many variety of yogurts, cottage cheese, bread, etc.
The thing is everything is NATURAL. In America skim milk tastes like water. You have to buy the organic kind to get the same taste as the Polish skim milk for example.
Poland has real bread. In the US its nothing but flour and shit and air. Im not trying to hate American cuisinee but itsa HORRIBLE. Everyone gains weight here becuase everything has hormones and is chemicall enhanced. THe pastries dont even look appetizing. Most of the are loaded with sugar on the inside but also on the outside(frosting). They cant live without sugar.
My family eats healthy and Im health conscious too, so we usually buy Organic stuff becuase anything else just doesnt taste that good.
Even candy here tastes like crap. LOL Im sorry but its true. The thing that suprised me while I was in Poland that cornflakes even where much more tastier there than here. Eggs have a nice color to them while here its like a weird yellow color.
My mom tries to make some Polish cusine for my dad for dinner and it does not taste the same and I know that its not no matter what you do. It all comes down to the ingrediants.
My mom does Nalesniki, and their ok but not that great. She tried to do knedle, and they too tasted different. Even schabowe. Errr.

Here in America almost everyone loves to order Pizza, or go out to eat where the portions are way too big. I understand that most have no time to cook becuase trust me living here you have to work almost all day. My poor dad works at a restaurant as a manager (80 hrs a week)!! But anyway there still are healthy stuff that they can get but choose not to.
Another thing about MCD's is that its much more cheaper here. Sometimes they have days where a burger is like $1.00 and if I remember correctly and big size meal in Poland is 16z?? or something like that.

To the lady that started this topic: I hope you will try some Polish food, and even if you dont like it yes you will find American brand chains there as well.

You also live in Florida where most of the bread products suck because of the water....awesome fresh seafood though Where I live we have bakery's(Dutch-Polish-American) that make wonderful breads....you just have to know where to shop.

I agree that PL food is the best though

Jedzcie, pijcie i popuszczajcie pasa

Well, frankly I was very surprised when I was in Florida for the first time though. I thought there would be tons of small "kiosks" that would sell FRESH fish and stuff -- but I found none there. I'm Polish - and whenever I was by the Baltik sea eating fresh fish was a treat; in Florida you don't feel you are by the ocean... I guess it has something to do with FDA rules that forbit selling fresh produce directly on the streets.. . They should rethink it though...

Yes. When I was staying in Chlopy there were "Ryba smażona" signs everywhere!! In Florida there no where near the amount of these shops. There are a few near the beach but you'll find more oysters and peel & eat shrimp than fried fish.

A really cool thing in America are those "all you-can-eat" places. Pure gluttony. No control over how much one should eat. You just eat and eat and eat.
It all tastes the same, whether it's chicken or potato. Just some added flavor here and there.
And since you paid for it, it's a "you better get your money's worth and eat some more" mentality.
As far as bread goes, it really sucks. But some Americans have never tasted any other bread and don't even know that there even exists a diff. bread. Some stores are now offering european breads, but they cost twice as much.

I agree 100%, I love polish dairy products and breads, they are best in the world, point taken.

Youn may well find in time when big companies take over the smaller family busineses, bread will taste the same as in US or OZ (pretty plain)

Nope. I'm just an "average Pole".



So now you are trying to say that these are the only vegetables and fruits that Poles eat on a regular basis? Common lef...



Tell me then, what do an average Pole like me eat in winter. I'm very curios.



Deer with mushrooms, or boar in cranberries are expensive food, but not duck. I eat it regularly.



According to Wikipedia:
Polish cuisine was influenced by Turkic, Germanic, Hungarian, Jewish, French or colonial cuisines of the past.

I think that this is enough to say that Poles have been exposed to large variety of other foods.
And guess what else? From time to time in my home we eat all kind of pasta's, lasagna, risotto, Chinese lemon chicken, Pot-au-feu, etc... and can appreciate the different taste of this dishes, but still we are proud and bound to our food.



Let me guess, your parents didn't prepared you proper dishes when you were little, right?

Be honest, please.



Ah yes. The power of Television. Fortunately we don't have many McDonalds commercials in our TV. We don't have that many MacDonald’s stores in our country either. I wonder why?




So did Bill Gates, but what does that change?



Well, I guess that the time will tell.

PS: There is also one more aspect that you didn't took under your consideration, and may be crucial in our discussion, mainly the "Bary Mleczne" (Milk Bars). The are selling Polish food, and they are a lot cheaper than MacDonald’s or KFC. Of course they don't stand a chance in comparison to home made dishes, but still the are a lot better than junk food.

OK, I'm a bit exhausted after work, so I will continue my posting on some other occasion.

Pozdrawiam.

12 out of 10...average pole but your written english is pretty good




Thats what the common folk have, the rich can pick and choose.



From my experience, plenty of hearty soups, and pork, bigos and pierogi?



I've been bought up on traditional polish food, some I have retained, most is unsuitable for this climate...although lots of foods have identical ingrediants but prepared differently ie you get polish potatoe pancakes....raw potatoe grated, egg and floor.. salt and pepper..
a great food, here we have potatoe cakes.. sliced raw potatoe dipped in flour batter (salt, pepper, flour egg and deep fryed.. which is better... ? lets toss a coin, I prefer potatoe cakes most of the time..
Take away food is a way of life in western countries...it is a cheap and quick way of eating for people who work full time or long hours..some take away food is bad for you, some is o/k in moderation.. Take away food will clean bowl poland when the economy takes on, it will be carefully engineered to hit all types of people (mainly the young) and like I mentioned in a previous post, people will be voting with there mouths, no amount
of logic re health issues with have any effect. (this is the case in usa/uk/oz) people love there takeaway.

They are excellent and cheap, agreed... Please understand western style business operations... Take away food chains discount items, offer prices and gifts. They will offer things cheaper to people until there rivals are unable to compete, The rivals then go bankrupt and then the take away food stores put up the prices...

If Poland was smart they would learn from other countries who have massive take away food options and impose a tax of 50% on all sales of take away...money going to hospitals to treat the effects of junk food...

My father is a car mechanik, and my mother is a seamstress - I think that in UK you would call my background "working class". My job is also generally manual, so as you see I am far from being considered to belong to the higher level of Polish society. Still, I appreciate your complement.



Have you ever been in one of those "Biedronka" markets? "Biedronka" is the name of the largest chain of supermarkets in Poland, owned by a Portuguese firm Geronimo Martens. Their prices are very low, mainly because a large proportion of their own label products are being displayed in their stores. Aside of all kind of sodas, juices, meat, noodles, crisps, milk etc. you can find big varieties of vegetables like olives, potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage, carrots, celery, parsley, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, cucumber, peas, beans, onion, garlic, asparagus, sweet corn, paprika, etc and fruits like apples, almonds, apricots, pears, avocados, bananas, cherries, plums, strawberries, avocados, water melons, pineapples… and the list could go on. It doesn’t look different with availability of those products in winter. Furthermore you can also buy some polish specialties like bigos, kopytka, pyzy, gołąbki, pierogi, surówki, instant gravy, etc… Preparing a polish meal doesn’t have to consume that much time anymore. Just buy pierogis, put them in a pot of boiling salted water, wait couple of minutes and there you go. Of course they will never taste as good as the ones that your grandmother use to do, but they are still better than junk food.



I don't see you mentioning France, Spain, Italy or Portugal. I don't think that the fast foods are that popular in these countries, as they are in Australia or in the USA. Maybe it is because, similar to Poland, they have centuries of cuisine tradition, unlike Oz land and USA? What makes you think that Poland won't make it like those countries? They are still considered western, right?

Yes, Poland is trying to be more like the western countries, but because of the Eastern European reality, it will never become a clone of the USA, nor the Australia.




An average Pole is aware of damaging efects of fast food. Our goevernment is not doing anything about it because it is still a marginall phenomenon in our country.



I always had a problem with taking a complement from a lady, but thank you very much for your recognition. I’m trying to do my best. Actually one of the main reasons I’m participating in this forum is to improve my English.

Well what can I say..mmm... I must have worn blinkers when in poland as most food dishes involved potatoes, cabbage and pork..

You win the arguement....however when I go to poland next year and I don't get those nice foods you mentioned. I will hold you personally responsible... I still have a score to settle with my relatives in poland for not providing me with better food......


re you written english... you must have been taught by a non national?

Hehe, my friend said to me not long time ago, she saw on the taxi in Krakow sticker on the window "Driver speeks england".
I think, most of polish taxi drivers are too stupid to understand what is foreigner talking about

If some of you is planning to visit Silesian part of Poland (especially opolskie voivodeship) in the first two weeks of February, just let me know. Maybe I could be your guide then. Cheers!

That's nice of you Tom. I haven't visited that part of PL yet...lol everywhere but It looks like a very nice city though.....one of these days I'll make it.

I hive found ven eatin'd de blood off virginz, ze Slavic vomen taste more organic.
Vere az ven i have punctured and sucked deep into an American vomen's veins it vas like zum form of vucking liposuction. Zo now I only munch on slavic vomen. Thank you and goodnight.

Well, Polish taxi driver income is approx 200-300 pounds, how they can talk English? Those who can are in the UK.

Polish taxi drivers have no need tot alk English. They cant afford to learn English either, so you know. I know this because I got a Taxi from Torun to Warsaw airport. lol. I had some fun talking to him on the way their, ended up laughing and knocking a few back, yes while driving lol.

That's not even funny anymore.

How strange been to Poland twice and evey taxi driver spoke some english

Hey guys happy new year to you!
I got back from warsaw,poland late december and this is the first time I can tell you guys about the trip,see this is my brothers compute and he lives some way from me.He is helping me with this internet message.
Europe rocked!
I was there 10 days for my boss and had a fun time.I did a whole bunch of stuff with a great guy I met over there.Tomas is a taxi driver who showed me places americans never see and helped me out some.Heres the deal, when I first met Tomas he gave me a short tour of some bars and **** and had a meet with his fiends.That day cost just 60 bucks(Tomas said the other taxi guys cost 100-150!) and Tomas said if we met up he would take me for a ride every day.He told me not to tell my bosses friend or anyone else because 'certain people' might be watching.I think you know who he means!I have a hunch that in Warsaw the soviet kgb guys are waiting for their time again and would be mighty interested in an american like me.
I will tell you about warsaw poland but there was one scary moment when I left poland.Tomas friend gave me some rare polish lager for 5 bucks each bottle, he said it usually goes for 20 bucks but as Tomas friend he gave it me a "special price".My friend Tom even drove me to Warsaw airport for free,but there was a hitch-he checked out the airport first and when he came back to the car he sure looked worried.Now this is what happened - 'someone' (?) tipped off the customs guys about the beer in my baggage.
The cops were waiting for us and Tomas said even attempting to take the rare beer back to the States would land me in jail.Bet those guys at the airport were real happy they were going to catch an american - only problem is Stevie boy had a secret weapon....Tomas! He said for 150 bucks he could "take care" of the problem inside.He went in and 5 minutes later he waved me over and guess what,all the cops and customs guys were gone! My friend saved me from a long holiday in Warsaw jail!
When I got back home Mom sure was happy to see me ,but I figure I have not seen the last of europe.
Ok little brother want his computer back so gotta go but talk to you guys soon and have a great new year!!!!!!!!!!
Steve (USA)

I am back guys! Just looked through my message and I should have said I got back from Poland in late October 2006.
Steve (USA)

brilliant story steve... you were sure lucky tomas was around to help your adventures!!!