Although polish cuisine characterises with traditionality and is typical for the part of Europe Poland is set in, it’s becoming more and more famous all around the world. For centuries it has been influenced by the kitchen habits of other nations: German, Ukrainian, Hungarian, French, Italian, Jewish, Lithuanian and even Turkish. Medieval chronicles describe polish dishes as full of meat and groats. They were also very spicy and aromatic. Polish aristocracy were eagerly eating roasted, cooked, smoked or dried venison with a whole-grain bread and drinking lots of wine, beer and mead.

Together with Queen Bona Sforza to Poland from Italy came many unknown before vegetables e.g. tomatoes, cauliflower, beans, broccoli, cabbage and spinach, along with italian pasta and spices.

Polish cuisine specialties are flour and wheat dishes (noodle, dumplings, barley), mushrooms, herbs, forest fruit, fish, lots of different kinds of soups especially chicken soup and vegetables soups, bakery (cakes bread and pastry) and many alcohols (vodkas and liqueurs). Polish people are great fans of dishes made of cabbage, herrings and beer. Popular spices in Poland are horseradish, fennel, juniper, black pepper, nutmeg and caraway. Polish like meals with big amount of onion and garlic. Common fruit are blackberries, apples, cherries, gooseberries. It is traditional to pickle different vegetables and sometimes even fruit e.g. cucumbers, cabbage and also tomatoes and apples.

In Poland on 24th December traditionally all families gather at the Christmas table, on which there should appear 12 traditional dishes :

Always on first place, without carp there can't be Christmas Eve

Sweet mix of honey, raisins, nuts and wheat

Made of nuts, chocolate and carmel

Eating this cake foretells fortune and is the best cake in the world:)

But not food is the most important during that special evening. Before dinner everybody wish all the best to each other and share the holy wafel.

On the Christmas Eve poste dishes are served.

Ingredients: 1 kg boiled potatoes 25 dag potatoes flour 2-3 eggs salt Preparing: Boiled potatoes crumple, add potatoes flour, eggs, salt and mix everything for cake. From cake make small balls. In the middle of ball make a small hollow. Then balls cook in boiling water with salt for 2-3 minutes on full fire. To eat pour melt butter.

Ingredients: 4 big onions 40 dag raw sausage 6 middle potatoes salt pepper Preparing: Boiling water. Slice onion add to boiled water with bay leaves and allspice. Sausages cut in cubes. Potatoes cut in four. Sausages and potatoes add to boiling water with onion. Cook 15 minutes, then add salt and pepper. Soup removes from the faire. Add cream and horseradish. To every plate add egg cut in four. 2 teaspoon marjoram 4 grains allspice 2 bay leaves 200g cream 2,5 l water teaspoon horseradish

Ingredients: 2 kg cabbage 0,5 kg bacon 0,5 kg pork neck 0,5 kg sausage 30 dkg mushroom 4 dried plum Preparing: Cabbage flood water, add allspice, bay leaves. Stir-fry the meat on oil, cut into cubes and add to cabbage. The same with sausages. To cabbage add sliced mushrooms. Cook everything on the small fire. After two hours add tomato concentrate, good mix and add salt and pepper. allspice bay leaves pepper salt 2 onions 1 small jar tomato concentrate

Ingredients: 80 dag flour 1 egg 0,5l water 16 dag lard 1,5 kg potatoes Preparing: Filling: Peel and boiled potatoes. Onion cut into cubes and stir-fry the meat on oil. Mash chilled potatoes. Then mix potatoes with cheese, onion, salt and pepper. Paste: Flour, egg and water add together and knead for 5 minutes, roll out the paste and cut the circles with glass. On circles put mixes potatoes and stick it. Then cook it in boiling salt water for 5 minutes. Give with onion stir-fried on the lard. 40 dag curd cheeses 12 dag oil 1 middle onion Salt pepper