Polish Recipes - Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing

Australian-Polish Community Services Inc.
Polish Recipes
Polish cuisine is rich and very filling, consisting of thick soups, sauces
and savoury meats which can be relatively high in fat. Favoured
ingredients which give Polish food a distinct taste include dill,
marjoram, flat leaf parsley, juniper berries, caraway seeds and wild
mushrooms. Many Polish households prefer traditional Polish or
similar cuisine but some foods popular in Australia may also be
enjoyable, eg pizza, spaghetti, common Chinese takeaways and fried
or charcoal chicken and chips.
Some popular Polish foods include Polish sausage, smoked ham or
bacon, cottage cheese, pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut, potatoes, pork
or chicken schnitzels, scrambled eggs (with chives, tomatoes and
onion but no milk).
Beef, chicken and pork are strongly preferred over lamb dishes.
Curries and hot foods are generally not popular but salt and black
pepper are used liberally.
Widely popular condiments are mustard, horseradish, grated cooked
beetroot with or without horseradish in preference to tomato sauce
and chutneys. Polish people like their vegetables well cooked.
Typical Polish salads are tomatoes with finely sliced onions or chives,
radishes, pickled cucumbers, potato salad, Russian salad, lettuce with
cream, lemon and sugar dressing, sauerkraut with chopped apple, onion and carrot.
Some traditional Polish dishes include bigos (a rich sauerkraut and
meat based dish), gołąbki literally ‘little pigeons’ (cabbage rolls with
rice and mince meat), barszcz (beetroot soup), flaczki(tripe soup),
pierogi(dumplings made with a variety of sweet or savoury fillings),
dried or stewed fruit compote, a variety of yeast cakes and pastries,
for example babka, kopytka(similar to gnocchi), mizeria(cucumber,
dill and cream salad) and naleśniki (pancakes). Most of these are
available in a majority of Polish delicatessens.
The above food preferences are to be regarded as a guideline only,
and it is always advisable to ask about personal preferences. As it is
the case in most communities, Polish people have varied tastes, likes
and dislikes, and one must not assume that we are an homogenous
group.
Smacznego!(May your food be tasty!)
SOUPS
SOUR RYE SOUP — ŻUREK
Ingredients:
The base for żurek ("zakwas") – must be
prepared earlier:
3 cups of rye flour
small piece of crust from rye bread
2 minced cloves of garlic
2 cups of warm water
Place ingredients in a jar, mix them well,
cover the jar with a piece of clean cloth, let
the jar stay in a warm place for 4 -5 days. If mould forms on top,
remove it before using the “zakwas”. Discard the bread crust and
garlic before using. Base for żurek is also available in any Polish shop.
Żurek - soup
2 cups of zakwas
350 g of white sausage - cubed
400 g of bacon chopped
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup of sour cream
1tbs of flour
1 bay leaf, 2 corns of all spice pimento, 5 black peppercorns,
1 tbs of marjoram
Preparation:
Fry bacon, with onion, garlic and sausage. Add 3 cups of boiling water,
add bay leaf, black pepper, allspice. Cook for 20 minutes. Add zakwas.
Mix sour cream with flour, and add to soup, add marjoram, mix the
soup well. Bring to the boil. You can also add chopped, cooked
potatoes and hard boiled egg.
Easy and quick option
Buy instant “Żurek” or “Barszcz Biały” (produced by Winiary or
Delecta) in any Polish shop and serve with heated, chopped sausage
or/and hard-boiled egg.
BEATROOT SOUP — BARSZCZ
Ingredients:
2 medium beetroot
1 onion sliced
1 l water
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs sugar
2 cups vegetable bouillon
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
Preparation:
Cook washed, peeled beetroot and
onion in water until beetroot are tender. Add lemon juice, sugar, salt
and pepper. Leave overnight. Strain and add bouillon. Heat and add
sour cream.
Barszcz may be served with boiled potatoes, beans or hard-boiled egg.
Barszcz is also one of the main dishes on the Polish table during
Christmas Eve and it is served with traditional small dumplings
“uszka” (similar to tortellini).
Easy and quick option
Buy instant “Barszcz Czerwony” in any Polish shop and serve it with
tortellini.
DILL PICKLE SOUP — ZUPA OGÓRKOWA
Ingredients:
6 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or beef stock
4 large dill pickles, shredded
1/2 cup pickle juice, from the
pickle jar
2 1/2 cups thinly sliced potatoes
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tsp soft butter
Garnish:
chopped fresh dill
sour cream
Preparation:
In a large saucepan or soup pot with cover combine stock, pickles,
pickle liquid & potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook covered
over low heat until potatoes start to get soft (about 10 minutes).
Combine flour and milk, add to broth, bring to a boil and remove from
heat. Combine egg and butter and stir into broth. Return pot to the
stove and heat through without boiling. Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with sour cream and or dill.
MAINS
HUNTERS’S STEW — BIGOS (Sauerkraut & Meat Dish)
Ingredients:
400g sauerkraut
400g cabbage
200g pork (boneless)
250g Polish sausage
100g smoked bacon (in a piece)
30g oil (for browning meat)
1 onion
20g dry mushrooms (optional)
50g tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Allspice, salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Preparation:
Season pork with salt and pepper, brown in oil in a large saucepan.
Add sliced onion and cook for a few minutes. Rinse sauerkraut in cold
water; add to browned meat with about ½ cup water. Add the piece of
bacon and dried mushrooms. Cover and simmer gently for about
45 -60minutes, or until meat is just tender. Meanwhile, shred fresh
cabbage finely, cook in a small amount of water for 10-15 minutes.
When meat and bacon is cooked, take it out and cut into bite sized
pieces. Roughly cut up polish sausage. Return meat, bacon and
sausage to pot. Add cooked cabbage and mix together. Add tomato
paste, bay leaf, allspice and a little sugar, season with salt and pepper
to taste. Continue cooking uncovered on a low heat for a further
15 -20minutes until flavour develops and some of the liquid
evaporates. However if it is too dry add more water.
Note:
Left over roast meat, BBQ meats or ham of the bone can be used
instead of pork . The flavour develops further if the bigos is heated
and served the next day.
STUFFED CABBAGE — GOŁĄBKI
Ingredients:
1 large cabbage (with extra large
leaves)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 cups rice, cooked
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrot, grated
salt and pepper, to taste
Sauce
2 cans tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar, apple cider
Preparation:
Set the oven temperature to 350° C and start by making the sauce.
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and simmer it for
about 10 minutes, reduce the sauce until it is slightly thick, set aside.
Cook the cabbage in a large pot of boiling water until tender; then
cool, core the cabbage carefully and separate the leaves.
Combine beef, rice, eggs, onions, carrots and salt and pepper, mix well;
roll the filling into 8 balls; place each ball on the lower third of a large
cabbage leaves; tuck in the sides and bottom of the cabbage leaf and
place, steam side down in a baking dish.
Pour sauce over the cabbage rolls, cover, and bake at 350° C for 30
minutes; uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until slightly
browned.
Easy and quick option
Frozen “gołąbki” can be bought in Roli Poli – Polish shop in Sunshine.
DUMPLINGS — PIEROGI
Ingredients:
Dough
350 g flour
1 egg
salt
125 ml water
Sieve the flour, mix it with
salt, water and egg to make
the dough and knead it until
firm. Divide the dough into a
few portions and roll them out until about 0.25 cm thin.
Cut out circles using a 5 cm diameter round cutter (or a glass).
Potato and cheese filling:
1 tsp chopped onion
2 tsp butter
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 cup (or more) cottage cheese
salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients together and put small amount of the filling in the
middle of each circle of dough. Fold over and press edges firmly
together. Make sure the pierogi are well sealed and put them into a
large pan of salted boiling water. Stir them carefully and cover the pot.
When they rise up to the surface, remove the cover and continue
boiling for another 2-3 minutes. Lift out of water with a perforated
spoon, drain, lay on a warm plate and pour over with melted butter
and fried onion.
Note:
There are various fillings available for pierogi for example
mushrooms, cabbage or meat.
Easy and quick option
Buy “pierogi” in any Polish shop, keep frozen, cook when needed.
DESSERTS
CHEESECAKE — SERNIK
Ingredients:
1 kg cheese Polish style (or 750 g ricotta regular + Philadelphia 60%
fat free -250 g )
150 g unsalted butter
1 and1/4 cup caster sugar
8 eggs, separated
2 tbs starch/vanilla custard
½ pack vanillin sugar
250 g mixed dried fruit
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease
a 33cm (base) spring bottom
tin. Line base and sides with
baking paper.
Melt butter and leave to cool.
Beat egg yolks with sugar and vanillin sugar to get almost white
mixture, add cheese (mix 1 tbs at a time). Add cool melted butter and
mix. Then add starch (custard) and mix. Whip egg whites to foam. Mix
dried fruit with one tbs flour (it helps to not sink in cake and lay on
the bottom), add to cheese mixture and add whipped foam, stir slowly
and delicately.
Bake in 220° C for one hour till dark golden color on the top.
POPPY SEED CAKE — MAKOWIEC
Ingredients:
250 g caster sugar
125 g butter
4 eggs, separated
300 g flour
½ cup milk (125 ml)
2 tsp baking powder
Can (850ml) of poppy seed
paste
Preparation:
Mix sugar with butter, add egg yolks one by one mixing all the time.
Add flour with baking powder and milk, mix. Add whipped foam and
stir slowly, delicately. Divide mixture in to two parts.
Put first part into removable-bottomed tin, put poppy seed and then
the rest of cake mixture on the top. Bake approximately 40 minutes in
temperature 220°C. Can be topped with chocolate.
Australian-Polish Community Services Inc.
POLISH SHOPS
Erik’s Continental Cakes (bakery) ROLI POLI – Cream Cake Shop
(Footscray) Ph: 93125650; Fax:
& Deli (available dumplings,
9312 2017 – delivery available
bigos, gołąbki)
1 City Pl.
Sunshine 3020
Ph: 9311 4077
MITKO DELI
133 Anderson Rd
Sunshine VIC 3020
Ph: 9311 8490
WISLA CONTINENTAL
26 Walker St
Dandenong VIC 3175
Ph: 9793 1876
SLAVONIJA CONTINENTAL
BUTCHERS
75 Main Rd West
St. Albans VIC 3021
Ph: 9366 2336
UNCLE’S DELI
123 Thomas St.
Dandenong VIC 3175
Ph: 9793 0135
BALTIC DELI SMALLGOODS
DELICATESSEN
4 Neville Ave, shop 4
Laverton VIC 3028
Ph: 9369 4739
IVAN DELIKATESSEN Keysborough
Shopping on-line available!
Shop R04, Parkmore Shopping
Centre, Cheltenham Road
Keysborough VIC
Ph: 03 9798 8422
fax: 03 9798 8322
keysborough@polka.net.au
www.polka.net.au
EUROPA CAKE SHOP
81 Ackland St.
St. Kilda VIC 3182
Ph: 9534 2156
EUROPA CAKE SHOP
482 Centre Rd
Bentleigh VIC 3204
Ph: 9557 5877
UNCLE’S OLD FASHION
CONTINENTAL
313 Centre Rd
Bentleigh VIC 3204
Ph: 9557 8941
EUROPOL DELI
Shop 15a /Open 7 days/
163 Boronia Rd
Boronia VIC 3155
Ph: 9739 8696
fax: 9761 3740
EUROPEAN TASTE DELICATESSEN
Polish delicatessen. Open from
Tuesday to Saturday.
529 Warrigal Road
Ashwood VIC 3147
Ph: 9889 8033
POLISH DELI
Queen Victoria Market, Shop 5,
Queensberry St
North Melbourne VIC 3051
Ph: 9348 9211
OLA DELI
Open from Tuesday to Saturday.
8 Young Street
Frankston VIC
Ph: 03 9783 1714
Europe’s Best
Wholesales & Distribution of
Fine Food Products
2/49 Killara Rd, Campbellfield
E-mail:
john@europesbest.com.au
www.europesbest.com.au
Ph: 93578121
Mob: 0412 109 255
POLKA DELI
Shopping online available!
22 Post Office Pl
Glenroy VIC 3640
Ph: 9304 4700
fax: 9304 2260
glenroy@polka.net.au
www.polka.net.au
BATORY POLISH DELI
Shop 8, 308 Springvale Rd
Springvale 3171
Ph: 9547 1340
Australian Polish Community Services is supported by funding from the
Australian Government under the
Community Partners Program (CPP).
Australian Polish Community Services Inc.
Level 1, Unit 111, 44-56 Hampstead Rd,
Maidstone 3012
Phone: (03) 9689 9170
Fax: (03) 9687 7446
E-mail: info@apcs.org.au
Website: www.apcs.org.au