Polish Food

Like most people who travel, I love trying new food native to the region I'm visiting. Here are a few of the eating experiences we had in Krakow.

I didn't have a guidebook for Poland, so I just researched online and borrowed a German DVD on Krakow from the library. This has been a long-time goal of mine, to see how Europeans approach tourism in Europe. As can be expected, there were not many "Wow, this building is from 1516!" exclamations in the show. One of the first things the episode did was highlight the popularity of the bagel, which is a 16th century invention of Krakow's. (Immigrant Jews later brought the bagel to the US.) The cameras took us inside a Krakowian bakery to watch the bakers at work, rolling and binding the bagels, adding cheese or sesame seeds. All this was interesting, and we were certainly intrigued by these bagels (how could we not be?). As the host proceeded to sit down and interview the bakers, though, I couldn't help laughing at the prospect of an American travel series spending this much time on Krakow's bakeries in the first 10 minutes of an episode. (Also included right off the bat were interviews with a modern theater group and a Q and A with an owner of an antique shop.) Surprisingly - then again, maybe not - the bagels were indeed a highlight of the city. They're 30-cent readily available healthy snacks, found on almost every street corner.

Thanks for inventing the bagel, Poland

In the Communist days, the government subsidized cafeteria-style restaurants called "Milk Bars" to give Poles an affordable place to eat out. In a bizarre turn of events, these (formerly unappetizing) restaurants 1) still exist and 2) are still subsidized. Aga demurred that they are not as popular in Krakow now as they are in Warsaw. When we ordered, Chris and I didn't have the language skills to ultimately discover our options; we just kind of pointed to what other people had or what was displayed in front of us. I drank plain kefir, and Chris drank a warm berry compote. It was totally fine food, and the place was buzzing with customers. Very "retro."

Milk Bar sign

Our government-subsidized meal

In the heart of the rundown Jewish ghetto of Krakow, a small pocket of restaurants, surrounded by synagogues, specializes in Jewish food. We chose to eat at a touristy one (you could buy menorahs on your way in) because I wanted to make sure that there was klezmer music playing while we were eating. It's the second best way to hear new music with a small child while traveling, after street musicians. I also saw on their menu that they served kosher wine from Golan Heights in Israel; this experience might be the closest we ever get to that part of the world.

Wine from Israel

Zwiec is the only brand of Polish beer we tried - a perfect hoppy lager. It's fantastic and joins the ranks of the other fabulous brews we had in the Czech Republic.

Sidewalk cafe advertizing Zwiec

On our last day, the rain and cold combined with the interminably long wait for our 10 PM departure of our night train to make us a little miserable. We found shelter in the Wedel chocolate cafe and stalled by eating chocolate cakes and drinking coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Krakow was actually a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, making it much more West-leaning than other parts of Poland, and it was influenced by the fancy Viennese cafe scene.

Daisy's yummy hot chocolate and
a Conni book

Wedel is one of the oldest brands in Poland, and they make other confections as well, including our favorite, Chalwa/Halvah. This treat is ancient (some people suppose that it originated in Turkey in 3000 BC) and it is made from crushed sesame seeds. Its consistency is similar to the melt-in-your-mouth crunchiness of a Butterfinger. I bet Abraham ate it. I'll try to make it myself someday, but maybe I'll do bagels and borsch first. Our home menu has so much more variety now that we've traveled!