Plentiful Poland

Polish cuisine is a mixture of eastern european (Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, and German) culinary traditions, with some Russian, Italian, and Turkish influence. It is rich in meat, especially beef, chicken and pork, and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish), and spices, as well as different kinds of noodles. Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. The traditional cuisine generally is demanding in preparation, and Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to prepare and enjoy their festive meals. As a decent of Polish ethniticity myself, I can assure you these are very filling dishes packed with flavors that will keep you coming back for more. How else do you think we survived drastic conditions during the war?

   The first notorious dish that comes to mind when people think of Polish cuisine is Pierogis. An affiliated dumpling made up of dough filled with various fillings ranging from sauerkraut, potato and cheese with bacon, to blueberries. There are traditional ways of eating these filling fixings. If you've purchased these frozen from a restauraunt or store then you would boil them until they have rised to the top of the pot. Follwed by frying them in a pan with butter until slightly crisped. Finally, finished with a side of sour cream for dipping. Can't go wrong with this dish.

 Traditional main meals are eaten around 2 p.m. or later, and is usually composed of three courses, starting with a soup, such as popular rosol (which consists of a whole chicken, olive oil, bay leaves, egg noodles, black pepper, carrots and celery soaked in the juices, a great remedy when sick.) Borscht (beet) soup that consists of chunks of beets with celantro and a a touch of cream to give it that sweet, thickened taste, or kapushnak (a sauerkraut soup with ribs slow cooked in apple juice prior to going in to the soup, black pepper, bay leaves, salt, olive oil, and V8 juice.) followed by an appetizer of herring (prepared in either cream, oil, or vinegar). Other popular appetizers are various cured meats, vegetables or fish. The main course is usually meaty including a roast or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet). Vegetables, shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celery, beetroot) or sauerkraut are great common additions.

A famous dish not commonly known but was notorious for its simplicity and strength to fill your stomach was called Kupitkee, a poor mans dish. This dish is made up of boiled potatoes to the point of soft and mushy, tossed in a frying pan with sauteed onions and buttermilk. During World War conditions, potatos and onions were anbundance and cheap. Making this an easy, cheap, filling dish for people.

An amazing dish I have found that can be easily butchered if not prepared properly is cabbage rolls. This long awaited dish takes time to prepare and cook but is worth every minute of patience. Green cabbage is peeled, cut (the back stem to flatten and used to roll the fillings), ground beef is tossed in a bowl with seasonings, steamed rice, and tossed to incorporate all flavors evenly. The fillings are then placed in the cabbage and rolled and wrapped like a mini-dumpling. Carefully placed in a roast pot layered with cabbage leafs to cover and hold in heat and flavor, topped with a generous pouring of V8 juice for the rolls to soak in. Usually takes about an hour plus to cook. With preperation and cooking time, your looking at waiting for atleast three hours. Depending on how much you make and how handy you are around the kitchen. Thankfully, we have restaurants and loving grandmothers to aid us in our sin for rich, flavored dishes.  

If your wondering what happens at a Polish dinner table around Christmas time, keep reading. A traditional Christmas Eve supper usually consists of borscht with ravioli– a classic Polish starter, followed by fried carp fillet with potato salad. Carp provides a main component of the Christmas Eve meal across Poland. Other popular dishes include pickled matjas herring, pierogies filled with white cheese and potatoes, cabbage rolls, fish soup, keilbasa sausages, hams and bigos (savory stew of cabbage and meat) and vegetable salads.

Thankfully for Toronto and it being the most multicultural city in the world, you won't have a problem finding a place to eat here. Whether you live here or are visiting, I advise you to capitalize on this and visit one of the 8'000 places to eat. Roncesvalles is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto centred around a north-south street leading from the intersection of King and Queen St. Also notorious for the Polish community. Also Lakeshore West and The Queensway in Etobicoke from Park Lawn to Longbranch has Polish influence. IZBA on The Queensway west is a great, cozy, casual spot to enjoy authentic dishes. Moderately priced from $10-$20 a dish that will lead you to an enjoyable experience. Another great spot to try out for a great date is Cafe Polonez located on Roncesvalles Avenue. Again, casual, quiet spot with a reasonably priced menu for those looking for a cheap, yet rich and filling plate. The list goes on and on, but you won't be dissapointed with any of these ma and pa shops constantly practicing, authentic, traditional family recipes generation after generation.