ISO help with authentic Polish dishes

[nicklord1]

What is the best polish dish , which i could try in order to really experience polish / eastern european fare. Thank you

[QSis]

Well, possibly the dishes that are best known to Americans are:

- golobki (hamburger and rice stuffing, rolled up in cabbage leaves and baked)

- pierogi (potato and cheese-stuffed dough, like ravioli)

- borscht (beet soup)

Here is a picture of some of my pierogi with my borscht.


By QSis, shot with Canon PowerShot S230 at 2007-07-15

I make some pierogi with farmer's cheese, caramelized onions and fried out salt pork cubes, and some with saurkraut and rehydrated wild mushrooms.

My Polish relatives made their borscht, not with beets, but with a strong meat bone stock and rehydrated wild mushrooms, so that's how I make mine. Very complicated family recipe - one that only goes by "tastes right to me".

Lee

[nicklord1]

I am from the UK and there are many polish communties in england so i just wanted to see what polish cuisine had to offer . Thank you for your reply any other recipes would me most appreciated.

[letscook]

Qsis --They look great, put them on a plate and add a little sour cream, Yummy
how do you make your dough?

[flukx]

Also Bigos, which is a "hunters stew", which is, at its simplest, a stew with cabbage/sauerkraut, sausage and tomato sauce/puree. There are numerous variations and you should find a number of different recipes.

[nicklord1]

I have had hungarian food which was very nice and i suppose has similarities with polish cuisine. In england for sunday its traditionally a roast lunch one has. Such as roast beef , roast chicken , lamb and pork being the most popular . I was just wondering what was a traditional truly polish dish .

[QSis]

Originally Posted by letscook

how do you make your dough?

VERY simply! This is my Aunt Stella's recipe and she sweared by King Arthur's flour. She said eggs toughen the dough, so she left them out.

Lee

Pierogi Dough

3 cups King Arthur's flour
3 T butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
up to 1 cup of warm water

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and cut in the 3 T of butter. Begin adding the warm water to the flour and butter, mixing all the while, until the dough is one ball, slightly tacky, with elasticity.

Divide the ball in half and let the halves rest in the bowl, under a dish towel, at LEAST an hour.

Roll out one half of the dough at a time, to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut circles in the dough using a cutter (or a rocks glass). Gently roll out each circle to elongate them just a bit.

Place a pre-made ball of filling in each circle, stretch the dough over the filling so that edges meet. Wet one side of the dough and pinch the edges together, tightly, so that they won't come apart when cooked.

Gently side half a dozen pierogi in a pot of simmering, slightly salted water. Simmer pierogi for 3-4 minutes, then drain on racks.

When ready to eat, reheat in a frying pan with a little butter, till browned.


By QSis, shot with Canon PowerShot S230 at 2007-07-16

[nicklord1]

IT looks very nice any other dishes would be more than welcome as i know little about polish cuisine and as its one of the bigger nations of Europe i think i should . Eastern european food has a bad press but i love hungarian and want to find out more about the different cusinines of the various nationalaties and ethnic groups that make up eastern europe.

[flukx]

I lived in Poland for over a year and, in general, was not impressed with the cooking. While some dishes are arguably very tasty, i.e. good Barszcz soup (beetroot soup), the cuisine is essentially pork, potatoes, cabbage and...more cabbage. Spices other than salt and pepper are rarely used.

Pierogis are a great little treat, however, they are also limited in ambition. Essentially just dough and various fillings, the most popular of which would probably be Pierogi Ruskie (Russian Pierogis) comprised of cream cheese and potato puree. However, they are generally served boiled with some fried lard/onions and a pool of butter. Sauces, for example, havent really hit yet and few establishments stray from this norm. Some people squirt soy sauce on pierogi, which I tend to like as well as it adds salt.

Despite the rather limited ambition, some people spend days cooking one meal, which does add an element of intrigue and depth to what otherwise would be a bland dish.

Christmas meals have 12 courses!

[BreezyCooking]

Polish cuisine is very similar to Czech cuisine. Being 100% Czech, I grew up enjoying many many different dishes, & would never ever even begin to pronounce the cuisine as "unimpressive".

It's indicative of the nation, it's past, & what it had/has available - just like any other country. I certainly wouldn't call it "unimpressive". In fact, what many countries have done with what they had available is frequently far better than what many folks these days call "haute cuisine".