The Polish Cuisine is a special mixture of Italian, French and Russian cuisine. The Polish kings introduced the love of vegetables, mushrooms and salads characterising the Mediterranean culinary culture. The Ukraine conquest in the 16th century resulted in the Russian influence. At that time, some Russian meals such as barszcz and sczi appeared in the Polish Kitchens, and vodka became their main drink. A typical substantial breakfast consisted of ham and sausages followed by vodka. In our days, the substantial breakfast is followed by a hot dish lunch. It starts with a kind of soup such as cucumber soup with sour cream, (zupa ogórkowa), meat soup, (brizol), and red or white barszcz. For the second course, they often have fish. Fried fish is served with French garnish. Typical meat dishes are bigos and tartar steak. Supper is a cold meal when tea is served. The Polish are a tea-loving nation. It shows the Russian influence, which differs from Central-European culinary traditions. They also love cakes. They like having guests, when they dine together with pleasure. Their favourite drinks are vodka and beer, but they are not in favour of drinking wine.

The Polish cuisine is simple and economic but varied, with regional differences. The main external influences come from the Jewish, Russian and Ukrainian cuisines.

The meals include abundant soup portions, bread, potatoes and meat, most of the time pig meat. Each dish consists at least one of the following ingredients: sauerkraut, vegetables, fruits and fresh or fried mushrooms. The Polish mushrooms, whose picking is a family leisure, are very appreciated by the Poles and are exported all over the world.

A few receipts

Pierniki

Potato-vegetable salad

Soups

• Barszcz, soup with beets, generally served with raviolis stuffed with meat or mushrooms;
• Zurek: sour soup made from dry bread and rye flour served with a sausage and halves of hard-boiled egg;
• Others: soups with cabbage, tripe, mushrooms, tomatos.

Starters

• Tatar: chopped meat
• Surówka, salad of vegetables (cabbages, carrots, leeks) and of apples;
• Mizeria, salad of cucumber with soft sauce or milk;
• Others: pie, pasted bread of bacon, smoked salmon, smoked eel, herring, caviar, dishes with garlic, fried mushrooms with tripe and snails.

Principal dishes

• Bigos: quenelles of meat and sauerkraut and mushrooms;
• Kotlet schabowy: breaded chops of pig;
• Oscypek: cheese with the ewe's milk, served with bread and other accompaniments;
• Pierogi: small slippers stuffed with cheese or chopped meat, cabbages, mushrooms or fruit;
• Others: pancakes with cheese or meat, wafer of grated potatoes, duck stuffed with apples, filled chicken and roasted meat, carp with grapes and almonds.

Sauces

• Sauce mysliwski: soft sauce with grape and honey;
• Sauce grzybowy: sauce containing wild mushrooms.

Desserts

• Makowiec: cake with grains of poppy;
• Sernik: cake with cheese;
• Szarlotka: cake with apples;
• Others: ices, apple tarts, cakes with cream, plums with chocolate, gingerbread.

Drinks