In the days when I taught English in southern Spain, Holy Week (Easter) meant an entire week off from classes. Nobody complained about that, I assure you. I had already seen Holy Week festivities in Andalusia, and my friend and I wanted out of the country. We didn’t want to visit the standard European tourist destinations… London, Paris, Rome. Not for us. Finally, we settled on a week in Poland, arriving in Krakow and leaving from Warsaw. We made the right decision. Not only was Poland a wonderful place to visit and we had a great time, in those days it was inexpensive and you could eat fantastic food for very little. We ate a variety of dishes in Poland, but most of all we ate perogies. Sweet perogies, savoury perogies, we probably ate them almost every day. I regret nothing.
What to Eat
Savoury Perogies
Perogies (pierogi) are stuffed dumplings typical in Eastern Europe. Living in Saskatchewan, it is nearly impossible never to have eaten perogies in your lifetime. We have such a strong Ukrainian presence in the province that perogies are pretty much ubiquitous. Yet, I have friends from other places that have never heard of them. I knew perogies were popular in Poland, as well. On our first day in Krakow, we found a perogy stand in the main square and ate our first meal at a picnic table, watching people shop for Easter decor from the vendors set up for the holidays.
In Saskatchewan, you can find all kinds of perogies, but the most common and popular are stuffed with potato and another ingredient, such as cheese, bacon, or onion. The first perogies I ate in Krakow were sauerkraut with mushroom and they were fantastic.
Since I knew from friends that making perogies is a finicky business, I simply went shopping and bought some. You can find them at just about every supermarket in Western Canada, I’m sure, but they don’t always have a great selection. In Regina, we have the Ukrainian Co-op, with a more options than elsewhere. This was the first time I had seen mushroom and sauerkraut perogies for sale here at home. Of course, they weren’t quite as delicious as those I ate on the square in Krakow, but they were quite good and a nice change from the standard potato-based perogies. However, we ate cheese and potato, as well. They have a wonderful variety of stuffings available at the Ukrainian Co-op, including spinach and ricotta, which in Poland was served to us with a tomato sauce (almost like eating ravioli in a way). Next time!
A Bit of Kielbasa
If man cannot survive on perogies alone, why not add a bit of kielbasa to your plate? Kielbasa is an Eastern European sausage. The Ukrainian Co-op makes dozens of varieties of sausage, smoked in-house. We cooked ours on the barbecue, but you can also boil it. The kielbasa was slightly spicy, but it went well with the mild perogies. I don’t recall specifically ordering kielbasa in Poland, but we did eat a dish called bigos at the suggestion of our friend from Poland. Called hunter’s stew in English, it is a mixture of sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, and various meats including kielbasa. Ours was served in a bread bowl, which was a great added touch!
Sweet Perogies
There may be such a thing as too many perogies. I decided it was best to have the sweet perogies the next day, rather than right after a heavy meal of savoury perogies and kielbasa. Again, these dessert perogies were purchased at the Ukrainian Co-op. In Poland, I had wild blueberry perogies, and in Saskatchewan I have had Saskatoon berry perogies from the store and from the Berry Barn near Saskatoon. I decided to try something new and chose the sour cherry perogies. They were delicious. You can serve them plain, but I typically sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over them and we had whipped cream, which helped to smooth out the bite from the cherries. Overall, I would say that Saskatoon berry perogies are still my favourite, but sour cherry was a close second.
What to Drink
I had no recollection of any specific drinks we had in Poland. Plenty of food memories, but no drink memories. I had no choice but to turn to the Internet for suggestions and I think I found a gem. Kompot is made by boiling fruit in water. It’s as simple as that. I found a recipe for strawberry kompot and adapted the recipe for the ingredients I had on hand. The post is worth a read, as it gives you an idea of how heritage recipes in Poland are making a comeback after some traditions were nearly lost after the introduction of fizzy drinks at the supermarket. Note, kompot can be served hot or cold. Initially, I drank it hot as the weather had started to turn cold. However, I served it with ice for the photo. Both are fantastic; it really comes down to the season. Here is my adaptation of the original recipe.
1 L water
2 cups chopped apples
2 cups chopped rhubarb
4 tbsp sugar (I would actually recommend not using sugar at all because it was a bit too sweet. It really depends on what fruit you choose.)
3 cinnamon sticks
Put the cinnamon sticks in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium. Add sugar (optional). Add apples and set the timer for 10 minutes. When there are 6 minutes left, add the rhubarb (it cooks a bit faster than the apples). Let cool if you want to serve it iced.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever fruit you have, just keep a similar water to fruit ratio. If your fruit is soft, then cook for less time. See the original recipe for suggestions.
What I Wore
I had to dig a little to find the things I purchased in Poland, but I was successful. I bought two traditional Polish scarves, one in blue and one in white. The white one I used for many years as a piano cover, and the blue one I wore frequently, as floral scarves were all the rage in those days.
The other item that is a typical souvenir from Poland is amber. In Krakow, there was a market filled with vendors selling amber jewelry at reasonable prices. I bought a pair of yellow opaque amber stud earrings and a silver bracelet with green amber.
