‘Polish’ fare

The meals that we had in Krakow were always simple but heartily delicious – a Godsend when served piping hot on a cold winter’s day. I couldn’t stop raving about Polish fare and how much I missed it long after we left Poland. That was, until I realised that my favourite ‘Polish’ dishes weren’t even Polish to begin with… whoopsies.

Z and I found ourselves frequenting the stalls set up at the Christmas Markets in Stare Miasto, which served the most glorious array of meat and dumplings (pierogi) that we (by ‘we’ I actually mean ‘I’) wolfed down in a matter of seconds.

We also had pierogi at every other meal in Krakow – the beauty of these little dumplings was that they could be stuffed with literally anything (ground meat, spinach, cheese, potatoes, even fruit) so there was no getting sick of them. I was under the impression that they were distinctly Polish given its ubiquity around Krakow, but apparently they’re also pretty common around the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. Still, pierogi are easily my favourite thing about Poland. If only the Chinese cooked their dumplings like the Poles do…

We also fell in love with these (perfect) little babies at the Christmas Market:

When we took a day tour out of Krakow, our guide asked us if we enjoyed Polish food, to which we enthusiastically replied that we loved pierogi and also these bread rolls that are hollow in the middle and rotated over a stove, we had them the Old Town Square, what are they called? He shot us a blank look, and I remember thinking that he couldn’t be very Polish if he didn’t even know what his local dishes were…

Now I take that back, because extensive post-trip research has led me to discover that we had been obsessed with a Hungarian snack while in Poland – no wonder the poor guy was so awkwardly confused! (Sorry Thomas K!)

Nevertheless, they are oh-so-gratifying-hot-off-the-stove and a must-try if you ever visit a Polish Christmas Market… or a Hungarian one for that matter. In fact, we actually saw them on sale at a Christmas Market in Prague too, so go crazy if you ever visit Central or Eastern Europe, I’m sure your nearest kürtőskalács stall is not very far away.