Polish Eating Impressions

[Pawian]

franksdaughter said:

All my life we have had a traditional Easter left-over meal. It is very good as long as you do not look at what you are eating. It is called "schfinsooonka" which is a mix of left over ham, sausage (fresh and smoked), hard boiled eggs, vinegar and scraped horseradish root.......all mixed and marinated for two days in the fridge and eaten cold. My husband makes me eat it outside ! It neither looks appetizing nor smells good, but it is delicious.

Święconka is the proper spelling of the word. But here in Poland it is not one dish as you suggest. it is several kinds of food which you put into the basket, take to the church for blessing and then eat them seperately, not mixed.

This is an unfinished święconka, without sausage, for example.

[Pawian]

admin said:

I have to admit honestly that I never prepared tartar beafsteak. This is done from the rough meat and I rather let it to be done by more qualified people than me.

It is not great philosophy to prepare this dish. It is a piece of cake! Just mince some fresh beef (sirloin is the best), chop vegetables, carefully seperate yoke from the egg. That`s all. If you stick to hygiene and have fresh ingredients, there is no chance for a nasty infection.

[Pawian]

rdywenur said:

Pawian...I like pieroi when they are fresh with just some melted butter or nice and crunchy the next day. As for the tartar you must be a real man....real men eat raw meat...LOL ;D ;D

Wow! Nice to hear such an appraisal.

But I am afraid I don`t deserve it. My wife sometimes like to take a nibble of my tartar, provided I don`t make it too spicy. And she is a real woman! She has born 3 children and she can`t drive a car!

[Pawian]

leslie said:

Smalec is lard, pure and simple, and it is revolting.

NO, NO, NO!!! Lard is delicious!!!

In England in the 1920s -1930s lard was eaten with bread as the main dish of the main meal by the poorest of the poor people, because they couldn't afford 'real' food.

NO, NO, NO!!! Lard is eaten by all people, rich and poor, young and old!!!

I am thinking of starting an 'Anti-smalec' campaign in Poland - does anybody think it would succeed??!!!

Not with me!!!

Leslie the Anglik and good food eater

You surely haven`t eaten Polish specially prepeared smoked lard. It is so delicate that it melts on your tongue, like icecream. But I prefer it fried and crispy.

LOOK!!!!!!! And let your mouth water!!!!!

[scatts]

Święconka! Of course!

What's that fried lard called po polsku, Pawian? I have eaten it and it is delicious.

[Pawian]

kaima said:

I will fight from the southern border. Slovaks love to roast cubes of bacon or bacon fat over a backyard camp fire and catch the drippings onto rye bread to eat... I made sure this is one tradition I passed by, just happening to stay as far away from the opportunity as possible for the evening.
Kai

You missed the chance of your lifetime!

[Pawian]

scatts said:

Rdy,

That's such a weird picture to see for someone in Poland as you would NEVER get such a thing served here. Not all on the same plate. It's a Polish "mixed grill" with all the favourites - keilbasa, pierogi, gołąbki, and bigos. My goodness!

Of course you can get it in Poland! Every festival in Krakow, smaller or bigger, offers you the chance to visit a traditional wooden stall with a few grills in it. There you can order all kinds of traditional Polish dishes.

Franksdaughter, smalec is what we Brits call 'dripping'. It is basically all the fat and bits of meat that fall (drip) from a joint of meat while it is being roasted. When it cools down you have something that can be spread on bread. With some salt & pepper and an ogorki a good smalec is hard to beat. Better in the winter of course.

It is a good explanation except for the problems you have with catching the dripping fat. In Poland fat is usually caught on a frying pan.

[leslie]

YUK, YUK, YUK,YUK - however you mess around with it, it is still bottom of the heap, lard

[Pawian]

scatts said:

I think you might be joking but just in case. That's bread, next to the bułka. A chunk of fresh bread cut from a massive loaf. Delicious!

Oh, yes, now I see the remains of the cross on its crunchy top. But at first look it is very misleading.

Haha. Yes. This is a topic all of its own, how to cook pierogi. There seem to be two main schools of thought - boil and fry.

That`s true. As far as I observed, you boil pierogis which have just been made and are raw. But on the next day people prefer to fry them.

[justjohn]

Pawian,

The photos of your smoked lard are called "Salt Fat Back or Salt Pork" here in the states.

Smalec, when I was a lad, used to be and I believe still is "Crisco".
A semi soft spreadable shortening.

Could be my memory-banks are going to he** in a handbasket.

More on this phrase: alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxgotohe.html

[scatts]

Of course you can get it in Poland! Every festival in Krakow, smaller or bigger, offers you the chance to visit a traditional wooden stall with a few grills in it. There you can order all kinds of traditional Polish dishes.

You can get it all, of course, but what I was trying to say is that they are not normally eaten together on one plate, or even in one meal. Not in Warsaw at least.

Gołąbki would come with boiled potatoes
Pierogi on their own or with grzyby
Keiłbasa with frytki or bread and ogorki
Bigos on its own or with cold meat

I think the Salt Fat Back or Salt Pork is called something like słomka, słona.....??

[Pawian]

scatts said:

Święconka! Of course!

What's that fried lard called po polsku, Pawian? I have eaten it and it is delicious.

Skwarki. Golden or brown, crunchy, tastily melting.

[scatts]

I was not even close! Can you buy a kind of lard in the shops called something like słona, or am I just going mad?

[franksdaughter]

What are bigos? My version of smalec would be the drippings at the bottom of the pan after baking a roast beef....then dragging a piece of rye bread through it. But I have to admit.......that fried chunky bacon looked good. Oh God...my arteries are clogging already !

The proper way to make perogies is to boil them after they are made and then later or the next day, fry them in butter and serve with sour cream. Also, the secret to the dough is sour cream.
JUDY

[Pawian]

scatts said:

You can get it all, of course, but what I was trying to say is that they are not normally eaten together on one plate, or even in one meal. Not in Warsaw at least.

OK, I understand it better now.

Gołąbki would come with boiled potatoes

Strange customs prevail in Warsaw. In Krakow we eat gołąbki on their own.

Pierogi on their own or with grzyby

I saw your picture of these burnt pierogis and saw mushrooms. I was really amazed. In Krakow mushrooms are inside peiorogis, not outside. hahahahaha

Keiłbasa with frytki or bread and ogorki

I agree.

Bigos on its own or with cold meat

Cold meat. Is it another Varsovian invention? hahahahaha

PS. Don`t take any offence at my comments. I commented on these dishes so that our forum`s visitors could understand that Poland is not unanimous when it comes to eating customs, some dishes are more or less popular in different parts of the country, others retain the name but are served in multiple variants.

I think the Salt Fat Back or Salt Pork is called something like słomka, słona.....??

You mean Polish "słonina." It is the same as lard. It is a funny name because it reminds one of "słoń," an elephant. Actually, if someone wanted to talk about elephant meat, he would probably use the name "słonina. Look at the similar technique:

wieprz (pig) - wieprzowina (pork).

baran (ram, sheep) - baranina (lamb, mutton).

Słoń (elephant) - słonina (lard).