Made in Poland
Poland, as a traditionally agricultural country, with good soil and a climate favorable for growing and raising many types of plants and animals, has a rich experience in production of many delicious and valuable products. Poles value their good kitchen and lightly prepared products. They take very good care, that, what they eat is healthy and high quality. Polish housewives usually avoid ready made dishes to heat. They prefer to cook themselves for the family and closest relatives, to ensure, that the food will not contain unnecessary additives and preservatives. The modern kitchen is rich in recipes using traditional ingredients, and also numerous borrowings from other countries, neighboring and those further away.
Among products worth mentioning, one needs to name the wonderful polish baked goods, which greatly differs from American or British baking. Breads and other baked products are most often prepared from soured flour. For production they use whole wheat flour as well as rye. In most bakeries, mainly those smaller ones, unnecessary preservatives and additives are not used. The Polish bread is pretty meaty and heavy, rich in vitamins and roughage. The bread is good to eat even with plain butter or margarine, because it has a clear, particular taste. Inhabitants of the neighboring countries, highly value polish baked goods, and Poles leaving abroad try to, if possible, supply baked goods to stores, which bake according to traditional polish recipes.
The Polish diary also belongs to the tastiest ones in Europe. Milk, sour cream, butter and yoghurts, are made form high quality ingredients. The stores offer various types of breakfast cheeses, homogenized and firm yellow cheese, such as: mazurski, sokó³, zamojski or podlaski. Particularly worth mentioning are cheeses created traditionally by the Mountaineers, called oscypki, produced from sheep milk, or sheep milk enriched with cow's milk. From products of the regional kitchen, need to mention also "bundz," "bryndza" or "żętyca" - which are also products of sheep milk. Also the polish buttermilk and kefir, rich and healthy in floral bacteria, with unrepeatable taste deserve particular attention for amateurs of milk products. The Polish people export large amounts of dairy products to neighboring countries, where they are greeted with great success.
There is no way of overpricing products of the polish meat industry. Poles are famous around the world for their delicious cold-cut meats. Sausages: dried, half-dry, żywieckie, krakowskie those are products with a precise taste, which are known to be greatly popular. Hams, bacons, pates produced according to traditional recipes, also have their numerous advocates. Polish cold-cuts are most often produced from fowls; pork and beef, sometimes even from meats of other types of animals. They are well seasoned, aromatic, nicely packaged - they look exceptionally appetizing. In sales one can also find large selection of conserves as well as meat and fish products, delicious and prepared for transportation and storage.
Polish fruits and vegetables, rich in vitamins and coming from valuable varieties with a rare taste and smell are one of the most important branches of the Polish export. It must be mentioned that particular apples from apple trees, with many interesting varieties, are grown exclusively on polish territories. Prunes, sour cherries, raspberries and currants, as well as wild blueberries are also a reason to be proud. Above all, prepared fruits and vegetables in forms of juices, jams and frozen, also find many amateurs in the country and abroad. Also mushrooms, particular delicacy coming from the woods, collected in many varieties, such as kurki, borowiki, rydze, maślaki or kozaki find themselves on the tables of whole Europe.
The honey from Polish honey bees, particularly valuable because of its natural origin, is worth the attention of people interested in a healthy diet. Among available varieties can be mentioned: linden honey, acacia, rape, honey from different flowers and also honey-dew and buckwheat honeys. Every variety has their own specific smell and color and helps heal described ailments.
Honey is sold in its traditional forms as well as is used for production of wonderful alcoholic products. So called mead, meaning products created as a result of fermentation of honey, available in numerous varieties differing in: amount of alcohol (one and halves, doubles, triples, etc.) as well as taste (fruit honeys, root and root-herb). Those types of alcohols are sold often in effective glass bottles and stoneware, connecting to traditional packaging. They make an excellent choice for an occasional present.
Since we're talking about Polish alcohols, we cannot omit the topic of Polish beer. This golden beverage is maybe one of the most known products deriving from the polish market. Such types as "Żywiec," "Lech," "Warka," "Żubr," or "Okocim" have their fanatic advocates among the amateurs of amber liquor in the whole world. Polish beer, in comparison with products from other countries, is pretty strong and precise in taste, with a characteristic tone of bitterness. A large amount of light beer is sold; dark beer can also be bought. Traditional volume available in stores as well as served in pubs and restaurants is 0.33 l and 0.5 l, which includes bottled beer as well as from the tap.
Polish vodka is a strong liquor, containing 40% alcohol. Vodka continues to be a flagged product, probably the best known behind the polish borders. Among the types, ther are: "Żubrówka," "Chopin," "Sobieski," "Wyborowa," "Żytnia" or "Gorzka Żołądkowa." This alcohol is consumed in a clear form as well as drinks. Undiluted vodka is more often consumed by men; ladies prefer it as an addition to their cocktails. Poles slowly move away from celebrations spotted with vodka, more often choosing to drink beer or wine. However, for certain family occasions, such as for example a wedding, a bottle of this strong liquor traditionally shows up on the table.
Polish confections also deserve particular attention. Chocolates, bon bons or cookies of such companies as "Wedel," "Goplana," "Wawel" or "Mis" characterize with unforgettable taste. The candies "krówki" which are chewy caramels with a taste of toffi, "kukułki" which are hard caramels filled with liquor, "michałki" - chocolate candies with an addition of minced nuts and above all prunes and cherries in chocolates, chocolate barrels with liquor, "kasztanki," "tik-taki," or delicious "malaga," it is impossible to name at least a tip of this tasty ice berg. Delicious are also ginger cakes filled with marmalade with different flavors, covered with chocolate or frosting. Similarly valuable are crunchy salty fingers also with poppy seed or sesame seeds. Exceptionally tasty are also polish cakes: cheesecake, which is a baked item based on eggs, white cheese with added mixture of sweetened almonds, raisins, nuts and figs or poppy seed cakes with a poppy seed base and additives. Similarly donuts, cakes and apple cakes are exceptionally delicious. Particularly interesting is also regional cake, so called "sękacz" - a baked good rich in butter, baked on slow cooking rail flipped on an open fire, glazed with additional layers of cake.
It is worth it to taste the delicacies coming from Poland, not limiting oneself to only those best known. Herrings are prepared in many different ways, pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut or exceptionally strong and warming plum Vodka Łącka are only a pinch of tastes, which can enrich a palette. It is left to open oneself to the richness of culinary experience: interesting, healthy and at the same time lightly prepared products from the country on the Vistula River.
PS. Poland is also known to have beautiful women (in Polish: "kobiety" or "Polki"). But you'd better not try to classify them as 'a product' :).