Comfort food, Polish style

Food & Cooking, Poland

After a couple of emotionally draining days, we had a low-key day exploring endlessly fascinating back streets.

Rain threatened all day, and when it finally came, we knew about it. Deluge. We needed comfort food. This is what I chose at lunchtime: zureck. It tasted slightly sour, slightly fermented. I loved it.

You make a zakwas of rye flour, bread crusts, garlic, and warm water set aside for some days to ferment. Then you make a broth from root vegetables. Then you fry onions, bacon, white sausage, and add it to the strained broth. Add a hard boiled egg. And the zakwas. And you’re done. I’m going to make this at home.

This evening we shared a single portion of potato cakes, goulash type stew, sauerkraut, carrot salad served with sour cream. We almost failed to finish it. And I’ve recently acquired a taste for fruit vodkas. Expect us to have gone up two sizes at least by the time you next see us.

16 thoughts on “Comfort food, Polish style”

  2. Sounds delicious and very comforting. Would be perfect for a chilly fall dinner and then, a nap. One of my students traveled to Poland his past summer – his mother is Polish. They traveled to Krakow and visited Aushwitz – a trip I’d like to take. I wonder if he has ever had this for dinner. Keep posting and enjoy.

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    1. You may have gleaned we decided against visiting Auschwitz, though our whole trip has been informed by the legacy of the wartime treatment of the Jews. Another sustaining Polish meal this evening. We’ll burst!

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  7. We didn’t hear this mentioned by our Polish helpxers, though considering they were vegetarians it’s not surprising. They did tell us about pierogi, filled dumplings which can easily contain vegetables instead of meat.

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