Over the last few years, Poland has been attracting more and more tourists. Only in 2018, the number of international tourists reached 20 million and is constantly growing. But if you are going on holiday surely you will want to eat something there. Ideally, some local Polish food.
Polish cuisine is not very well known. Definitely, it is not in the same place as Italian, French or Thai or Mexican (see here our report from holidays in Mexico). So, what should you eat when you are there? More importantly, if you don’t want to go for the usual chips, nuggets or pasta, what to give to your kids?
Here is my subjective list of the Polish food that your kids will love. It is based on the things my kids like to eat and what I liked to eat as a child. I spiced it up with some conversations with non-Polish friends who visited Poland with children.
So, here it is – the ultimate list of the Polish food your kids will love:
1. PIEROGI /pee-ro-ghi/ – the staple of the staples; eternal Polish street food
Pierogi are the typical hand-made(!) dumplings that can be stuffed with all sorts of things:
- Three most popular savoury fillings will include: cabbage and mushrooms or potato and cottage cheese or simply variety of meat fillings
- sweet fillings will normally contain fruit usually blueberries; blackcurrant or apple with cinnamon
You can have them boiled in water or pan-fried but as a rule of thumb I would always go with fried for savoury and boiled for sweet. Instead of sauce of gravy the savoury ones would normally come with some crispy lardons on top whereas the sweet ones would have a cream or vanilla sauce.
On top of that, there is a number of variations of dough used to make them – wholemeal, plain wheat etc.
To make pierogi even more authentic you should accompany them with a cup of a drinking version of barszcz or beetroot soup.
The number of variations and combinations make this dish so even the fussiest of kids can find something to choose and enjoy.
Where would you eat them? They are available everywhere and every single Polish restaurant but for the widest selection visit one of Pierogarnia – which is the name for restaurants specialising in this Polish delicacy. Here are just some places worth looking at:
Warsaw – Zapiecek chain of restaurants
Cracow – Pierogarnia Krakowiacy
Gdansk – Pierogarnia Mandu
2. ZUPY or soups – Poles love their soups and soon your kids will too
The rule about Polish cuisine is – if you can eat something, the Poles will definitely make a soup of it.
Yes, we make soups from sorrel, sourdough, sauerkraut or even pickled cucumbers. Even our tomato soup would differ from one home to another and the argument if it should be served with rice or pasta is as long and the history of Poland.
Probably the two most popular soups would be
- Barszcz /bar-sh-ch/ – the beetroot soup with strong regional differences – it may contain little ravioli or beans or potato
- Pomidorowa /po-mi-do-ro-va/ – the tomato soup – usually thickened with added soured cream and served with either rice or makaron (which in Polish is general term for any pasta) – no basil involved
For the kids to fell in-love with the Polish food and have some fun with it I would recommend chłodnik /hwhod-nic/ or botwinka /bot-fin-ca/. Not only it is very tasty but also very…..pink, as it is made of chard with addition of cream.
As most of the people visit Poland in summer, this is a perfect option for hot day lunch. This soup is served cold – straight from the fridge and it extremely refreshing.
Typically, you eat it with a hard-boiled egg and sprinkle the spring onions over and sometimes garnish with a sliced radish.
The soup is sweet-ish with a little sourness coming from the cream.
Finger-licking fun for the whole family.
3. GOŁĄBKI /go-womb-ki/ – not all pigeons on your plate are actually pests
If the kids spent a whole day sightseeing, playing or simply being active they might be after something more substantial. This is where gołąbki come into play.
They are basically large cabbage leaves stuffed with mince meat mixed with rice and herbs and spices. These are then stewed on low heat in tomato sauce although in southern Poland you can also come across the version with a creamy mushroom sauce.
They are soft, tasty and in tomato sauce – what else do you need to convince your children to love Polish food?
Interesing fact: Gołąbki in Polish means….the pigeons
Even better, they are often served with a Polish version of gnocchi called kopytka. These are made using a mixture of boiled and raw potatoes and then cooked in boiling water. They are a bit bouncy and simply a great alternative to boring chips or fries.
My children absolutely love the dish especially when cooked by grandma ?
4. OSCYPEK /os-tsy-pek/
Oscypek is a regional smoked sheep cheese, exclusively made in the Tatra mountains in Southern Poland. These days you can sometimes even get it from supermarkets but there is also a different way to have it.
In many places, especially country fairs you can find it sliced and barbequed. Because of the way it does not melt very much but becomes softer, silkier and smooth.
Traditionally, a grilled oscypek is served with a cranberry jam and is more of a snack than a proper meal. Even though, you will find it in many goods restaurants, the best way to enjoy it is outside, sitting on a grass and watching the mountain tops.
I don’t think there is a better way for the kids to enjoy traditional Polish food.
5. Deser /the-sir/ – the most important part of the meal
No meal is complete without a pudding and this is exactly what the word deser means.
Poles love their cakes and sweets. You can tell by the countless cukiernia (patisseries) shops which you will find almost everywhere. Most of these places are also baking their cakes on site.
My favourite one must be the cheesecake or sernik /sir-nic/. Everyone loves a good cheesecake but Polish cheesecakes are very different to the ones you probably know. First and foremost, you don’t use cream cheese and digestives.
The base of a Polish cheesecake is more like a combination of a shortbread and a puff pastry. And then the middle is made of curd cheese, more like cottage cheese with added raisins and vanilla and it is baked. On top you can find a layer of chocolate or caramel or a very thin layer of icing.
Alternatively, you can try one of the places that offer hot, freshly baked donuts or pączki /pon-chki/ in Polish. In most cities you will find at least one or two. They come with a variety of fillings but rosehip is our favourite.
These guys have outlets all over Poland: Stara Pączkarnia
I hope this post gives you an insight into a cuisine that might be off-the-beaten-track. However, I hope that if you are ever in Poland this basic list will give you some ideas on what to feed your kids with. My kids love Polish food and I hope yours will too.
SMACZNEGO!
EDIT: as per Kasia’s request below
5a. ZAPIEKANKI – the evergreen Polish street food invented some time back in the 1970-ties
Zapiekanka is a baguette cut lenghtways and topped with mushrooms and cheese. It is then baked in the oven and is mainly sold in small hole-in-the-wall type of place. Back in the old days you had to pay a little extra to get the ketchup on top. These days, I think the ketchup is included and the variety of toppings and sauces is much wider than ketchup only. Another Polish food children will love
This completely rocks! It is so hard just planning the trip and what to bring. You get there and bam! Everyone is use to eating 3 meals a day and your children are so finicky. Thank you!
I know the pain all too well. And trying to find out what they might like to eat in a new place, when they are already hungry is even worse. ?
What about ZAPIEKANKI?
Good point, I might need to update the above list. Thanks for the tip 😉