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Traditional Polish cuisine
Kutia – the characteristic dish served during
Christmas Eve supper is a fast meal of boiled
wheat grains, poppy seeds, honey, and even
with the so called bakalie - various nuts, raisins
and some other additions.
Nowadays, delicious fruit and herbs
are used to prepare traditional liqueurs
and aromatic vodkas. The region's
best known drink is Żubrówka, a
vodka produced with the addition
of aromatic żubrówka – a
weed that grows only in the
Białowieża Forest.
The flavors of Podlasie include
also pork and meat made with the producers'
own hands. The greatest hit is skilandis
(kindziuk) which comes from Lithuania. The multicultural
character of the region is proven also
by pierekaczewnik – a dish popular in Kruszyniany
and neighboring towns inhabited by descendants
of Tatars from the 17 th century.
In order to taste all Podlasie delicacies, one
must be prepared for a many-hour feast because
inhabitants of the region are famous for
their hospitability.
The regional cuisine of the Lublin region has
also been formed under the influence of the
nearest neighbors: Ukrainians, Lithuanians and
Russians. The impact of the Jewish cuisine cannot
be forgotten either. It results from the fact
that, until World War II, the Jews constituted
substantial part of the inhabitants of Lublin
and many other cities.
When speaking about the origin of dishes from
the Lublin region, it must be mentioned that,
similar to other regions, historic regional dishes
stem from both the cuisine of poor people and
from the so called courtly cuisine. In the territory
of the Lublin region, the first one included, most
of all, dishes made of flour, groats and potatoes,
whereas meat, many fruit, vegetables and interesting
spices prevailed in the courtly cuisine.
The diversity of dishes is also influenced by
the climatic and soil conditions as well as traditional
crop cultivations connected with them
in the given territory. In the Lublin region, the
cultivation of buckwheat, being the basis for
the production of buckwheat porridge, is very
popular. The Lubelskie Voivodeship is also the
main producer of hop-plants in Poland, therefore
the beer drinking tradition has been developed.
The Lublin region is famous also for the
production of honey which has been used to
prepare meads and other local beverages (e.g.
“Grzaniec Marcina z Urzędowa”, a traditional hot
wine based on Marcin's recipe) and dishes.
The most characteristic dishes are being prepared
of flour, buckwheat porridge and milletgroats.
The Lubelskie Voivodeship is a region
where various kinds of dumplings such as the
Russian ones, filled with cabbage, fruit or mushrooms
are cooked.
Baked products such as cebularz are famous
all over the country. The tradition of Lublin bakery
dates back to the Middle Ages, and the first
Cebularz was baked by Jews from the Lublin
Old City. Afterwards, the recipe became popular
not only in the entire Lubelskie Voivodeship but
all over the country as well. This is a type of flat,
oval wheat pie (with a diameter of 15-20 cm)
with diced onion mixed with poppy on the top. It
tastes best still warm and crispy, after just being
taken out of the oven.
In the territory of the Lublin region, the cultivation
of buckwheat has been very popular for a
long time. Thus, the buckwheat groats is a very
important component of many traditional dishes
of this region. These dishes include: gryczok
godziszowski, gryczak janowski, pieróg gryczany,
pieróg biłgorajski, pierogi nowodworskie, kaszaczki
and dumplings filled with buckwheat groats.
Gryczok godziszowki is a rectangular pie with
crumble topping, whose bottom and top is made
of pancake and filled with a layer of buckwheat
groats roasted with cottage cheese.
A masterpiece of the Lublin region Old-Polish
cuisine is “pieróg biłgorajski”, which was formerly
called “krupniak”. It can be oval or rectangular,
baked without skin, the so called “bald” one or
baked in a yeast cake. It looks similar to a pate.
Pieróg biłgorajski
Autumn 2011 59