It was really hard for me to get used to eating late diner when I moved to USA. That’s of course because Polish lunch is like dinner her…Poles eat big meal between 12-3pm and sandwiches or salads at dinner time (most of the times, with exceptions of course).

Typical meals are very hearty and often contain a lot of meat. Just sampling them is enough to discover that they are really delicious. The most recommendable dishes are: bigos, kotlet schabowy, pierogi and gołąbki.

A lot of times lunch (obiad) contains 2 dishes: a soup (zupa) and main course (danie główne). Here are some lunch/dinner dishes you may see on the menus in Polish restaurants:

SOUPS

Chłodnik litewski: cold yoghurt-and-beetroot soup served with a hard boiled egg, originally from Lithuania.

Barszcz biały: sour thick wheat starch soup with marjoram, potatoes, sometimes with cream.

Barszcz czerwony: refreshing beetroot soup with vegetables and sour cream or served clear with dumplings.

Żurek: sour rye soup with potato, sausage or an egg, sometimes served in a bread loaf.

Krupnik: barley soup with a smattering of vegetables and smoked meat.

Kapuśniak: sour cabbage soup.

Zupa ogórkowa: hot sour cucumber soup.

Zupa koperkowa: dill soup.

Rosół z kurczaka: golden chicken consommé with noodles.

Zupa pomidorowa: tomato soup, often with rice or noodles.

Grochówka: thick pea soup.

Zupa grzybowa: mushroom soup with cream.

Flaki wołowe: beef tripe soup.

MAIN COURSES:

Eskalopki z cielęciny: veal in a blanket.

Polędwiczki wołowe: beef sirloin, often with rare mushroom sauce.

Ozór wołowy: soft steamed beef tongues.

Sztuka mięsa w sosie chrzanowym: boiled chunk of beef in horseradish sauce.

Zrazy zawijane: beef rolls stuffed with bacon, gherkin and onion or red pepper, in a spicy sauce.

Golonka w piwie: fat, but tasty pork knuckle, sometimes in beer sauce, always with horseradish; very traditional, originally from Bavaria.

Karkówka: tenderloin, usually roasted

Kotlet schabowy: traditional breaded pork cutlet (a tasty choice if you do not want any risk).

Żeberka w miodzie: spare pork ribs in honey.

Kaczka z jabłkami: baked duck in apple.

Kurczak de volaille: chicken steaks spread with butter, filled with mushrooms and bread crumbed

Wątróbki drobiowe: chicken liver.

Baranina: roasted or even grilled lamb – great, especially in the mountains.

Klopsiki: meatloaf, often with tomato sauce.

Bigos: appetizing, seasoned “hunter” stew made from sauerkraut with chunks of various meats and sausages, extremely traditional.

Dziczyzna: game, venison

Fasolka po bretońsku: bean and sausage stew with tomato sauce.

Gołąbki: cabbage stuffed with meat or meat and rice.

Kaszanka: grilled or baked solid pieces of buckwheat blended with pork blood and shaped as sausages.

Szaszłyk: originally Caucasian dish; chunks of meat grilled on a spit.

Karp po żydowsku: carp in aspic with raisins, originally Jewish.

Łosoś: salmon, often baked or boiled in a dill sauce.

Pstrąg: trout, sometimes flambé.

Side dishes are usually ziemniaki (potatoes), frytki (french fries), ryż (rice) and different salads/vegetables

Smacznego!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)