Polish cuisine (Polish: kuchnia polska ['kuxɲa ˈpɔlska]) is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in Poland. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Slavic countries, especially Belarussian, Ukrainian and Russian cuisines.[1] It has also been widely influenced by Central Europeancuisines, namely German, Austrian and Hungarian cuisines,[2] as well as Jewish,[3] French and Italian culinary traditions.[4] It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region) and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices.[5] It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha (from the Polish wordkasza).[6] Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. Many Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas eve dinner (Wigilia) or Easter breakfast which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety.
The Polish national dishes are bigos [ˈbiɡɔs]; pierogi [pʲɛˈrɔɡʲi]; kiełbasa; kotlet schabowy [ˈkɔtlɛt sxaˈbɔvɨ] (type of breaded cutlet); gołąbki [ɡɔˈwɔ̃pkʲi] (type of cabbage roll); zrazy [ˈzrazɨ] (type of roulade); roast (Polish: pieczeń) [ˈpʲɛt͡ʂɛɲ]; sour cucumber soup (Polish: zupa ogórkowa)Polish pronunciation: [ˈzupa ɔɡurˈkɔva]; mushroom soup, (Polish: zupa grzybowa) [ˈzupa ɡʐɨˈbɔva] (quite different from the North Americancream of mushroom); tomato soup (Polish: zupa pomidorowa) [ˈzupa pɔmidɔˈrɔva];[7] rosół [ˈrɔɕuw] (variety of meat broth); żurek [ˈʐurɛk] (sour rye soup); flaki [ˈflakʲi] (variety of tripe soup); and barszcz [barʂt͡ʂ] among others.[8]
The Polish national dishes are bigos [ˈbiɡɔs]; pierogi [pʲɛˈrɔɡʲi]; kiełbasa; kotlet schabowy [ˈkɔtlɛt sxaˈbɔvɨ] (type of breaded cutlet); gołąbki [ɡɔˈwɔ̃pkʲi] (type of cabbage roll); zrazy [ˈzrazɨ] (type of roulade); roast (Polish: pieczeń) [ˈpʲɛt͡ʂɛɲ]; sour cucumber soup (Polish: zupa ogórkowa)Polish pronunciation: [ˈzupa ɔɡurˈkɔva]; mushroom soup, (Polish: zupa grzybowa) [ˈzupa ɡʐɨˈbɔva] (quite different from the North Americancream of mushroom); tomato soup (Polish: zupa pomidorowa) [ˈzupa pɔmidɔˈrɔva];[7] rosół [ˈrɔɕuw] (variety of meat broth); żurek [ˈʐurɛk] (sour rye soup); flaki [ˈflakʲi] (variety of tripe soup); and barszcz [barʂt͡ʂ] among others.[8]