Pierogi, Pickles & Pork

Shall we say the three P's of Poland, and possible three of our favorites foods.

We arrived in Wroclaw after a quick drive from Berlin and were pleasently surprised that there was still a small market happening in the main square, as there had been a festival on over the weekend. As we only had a light lunch we were keen to taste some of the local delicacies. Starting with sweet, we ordered a chocolate and coconut cake / doughnut, basically baked dough on a rod dipped in your chosen topping, not speaking a word of polish we were only able to point. We then found a small meat stand where Ryan picked out a flavorsome smoked sausage, before finishing up with a small goats cheese dumpling covered in a cherry type jam. Not a bad afternoon tea!

Later that evening we had the important task of deciding on what our evening meal would be. As we were big fans of Pierogi (polish dumplings) the decision was made when we came across a pierogarnia which looked particularly popular. The menu was quite extensive, with traditional boiled dumplings, baked varieties and various sweet flavors. We selected the traditional beef mince and then ham and goats cheese, followed by short pastry sweet ones and baked sweet with filling like, gingerbread, oats and caramel, apple and cinnamon and choclate served with vanilla and chocolate sauce. Walking back to the hostel extremely full and very content, we both realised how much we were going to enjoy Poland.

The next day we went onto Krakow, the cultural capital of Poland. After much research we selected a highly rated resturant where the president is said to have eaten and the waiters are all highly trained at specialised schools. A slightly fancier restaurant then what we are used too, we excitedly perused the menu, settling on pancakes filled with spinach and cheese sauce, potato cakes with goulash between and a side of potato dumplings. We finished all this amazing food down with a serve of blueberry pierogi with vanilla sauce, as my aunt would say - it was the ultimate!

On our final night on Poland we decided to splurge a little and book a vodka and polish food 'tour' which was basically an escorted visit to a traditional resturant. We were keen to do this to meet a local Polish person and understand daily life in Poland. We were meet by Joanna, a girl from near Krakow who after uni started working with a tour company, she was incredibly friendly and put up with our countless questions. A similar age to us she gave us a great view on living in Poland today and some great tips for Krakow. She also guided us through the local foods, including lard that is eaten straight on bread with pickles, the baked cheese eaten with cherry jam followed by a fermented rye soup for starters. We then when on to enjoy a feast of traditional sausage, a huntsman stew (basically a stew with what ever meats are in the fridge, with fermented cabbage and gravy), and blood sausage mince mixed with buckwheat (apparently we didn't eat enough in Argentina). This delicious meal was all washed down with a series of polish vodka's, vodka pure, plum vodka 70%, spiced vodka, cherry vodka and honey vodka, although neither of us have previously been vodka drinkers we very much enjoyed them and even bought a few to take on the rest of the trip with us! Overall it was a great night and we very much enjoyed getting to know Joanna and learning about daily life in Poland.

We also managed to taste a few other polish favorites - for breakfast (unhealthy) we tasted a Paczki (possibly the 4 P), a fried dough with cherry filling (like a doughnut) at a bakery in the jewish quarter recommended by Joanna, and for desert Szarlotka - a apple cake with cream - and Sernik - a traditional heavy baked cheesecake.

We were both feeling that Poland would become one of our favorites spots on the trip and the food certianly help contribute to how much we loved this country, definitely worth a visit if you are ever in this part of the world.

- Louise -