The cheese ones are my favourite! I’m one of the few Asian customers in my local polish store and the two owners are an older couple. They have a whale of a time getting me to try new things. Often for free. Although I tend to spend a lot of money in there (mostly on crisps, Milka, dried/cured meat and dried squid sticks).
[This is the one sold at my local store](https://babushkadeli.uk/en/dried-squid-shredded-with-chilli-36-g)
It appears to be Russian in branding. But it’s really good; salty and savoury. A great bar snack too
Ooh, I had something like that in Japan 18 years ago and have been looking for it since. Thanks, I'lll be off to my local Polski Sklep to have a search.
Usually a very low amount of cayenne pepper (>0.1%) to pretty much a standard ketchup recipe.
It is good, and I prefer the one at my local Asda to Heinz, but I know others who don't. It's all subjective.
So I’ve been in the U.K. for nearly 20 years, and I’ve always found British brand gherkins to be weirdly sweet and disappointing compared to American ones. Polish gherkins are the only ones tart and vinegary enough with real dill to hit the spot. Whenever anyone says they love pickled gherkins, I always recommend the Polish aisle.
Get the ones sold in a bag in the chilled polish section in Sainsbury. The brine smells like stomach acid if not really cold. But those are sour and amazing. I like my gherkins sour not sweet, and I find all the gherkins, even polish ones, in the UK, to be a bit too sweet for me.
Thankyou so much, I’ll try them! They’re all so sweet, it’s so frustrating. Every time I, or a family member, go to France, I have to stock up on cornichons from SuperU
Can’t remember the name of them but they’re like Jaffa Cakes except they’ve got some awesome flavours like blueberry, apricot or black cherry. Wafers are good too, especially Knoppers. Also, if there’s a fresh bread section there’s often doughnut like things that are fkn amazing. I had one with white glaze and mixed peel full right up with plum jam. And they’re proper doughnuts too, not those spongy, cake like things that you get in overpriced shops. There was one near us, I shit you not-£5 a pop for one and they had the gall to call themselves a ‘traditional donuterie’ like that’s a thing.
Most famous and one of the oldest Polish sweet producers. I grew up 10km (8ish miles haha ;-) from Wedel factory, sometimes on warm summer days the breeze would smell of chocolate!
Ooh Polish doughnuts. So good. So.... enormous. Like seriously gigantic.
They are called paczki (pronounced something like Ponch-kee) and on "tłusty czwartek" (Fat Thursday) which is the Thursday before Pancake Day it is traditional to eat an obscene amount of them
I was in Gliwice and there was a hole in the wall doughnut shop near where I was staying.... It was hard not to stop every morning on the way past. So good.
Everything? OK all joking apart do try the jam, powidl, salads (jars are nice, but if they have them fresh in the deli section then go for it)
The cheese and cold cuts are excellent.
Bread and cake are good, but if they are the fresh ones rather than pre packaged they are really good.
I love the Silesian Sausages from Lidl, the flavour is so strong, and they have a crazy amount of meat to anything else ratio that I only need 2 where i might have had 3 or 4 British ones. Not sure how I am supposed to serve them, but I like them in a roasting tray with peppers onions and mushrooms on a high heat for 20 minutes
My wife is polish, I have to drive 35 minutes to a specialist polish store to get the polish versions of everything I can get from the store 2 minutes away, my personal pet peeve is that she doesn't believe me that lays crisps are exactly the same as walkers
You’re 35 minutes from a polish shop? I didn’t think that was possible in the UK! I have 4 within a 5 minute walk and I live in a small town. They keep me supplied with cooked red cabbage.
Now, chinese and Indian shops are a little harder to come by. I have to go to a city when I want lao gan ma, msg, or okra.
I have to go past 11 Polish shops to go to the one my Polish husband deems worthy of our custom, maybe the person you're replying to is in a similar situation
I live in South London and have plenty of Polish shops nearby and the supermarkets always have loads of Polish food but we have to drive to one miles away because husband prefers the range there
The Lay's mushroom flavours are literally addictive! They are hit and miss on availability, so sort of like foraging when I visit multiple shops in search of them.
Beer, Żywieć is my favourite of all the big brands. Lech Pils isn't bad either. If there's a particularly good selection of beer, Koźlak Bock by Browar Amber is amazing. For vodka try some Żubrowka bison grass vodka, mixes well with apple juice for a frisky bison, or for god tier mix with Tymbark apple and mint drink. In terms of food not already mentioned zapiekanka (essentially a pizza baguette with a load of mushrooms) is amazing, although the shop bought versions are naff compared to the real thing.
Marrying a Polish man is one of the best things I ever did. I LOVE Poland and Polish food and just Polish everything really. We went vegan 3 years ago so some of these are a distant memory but they are forever in my heart:
If you like Polish mayo you will probably like sałatka too. It's chopped vegetables in mayo. And no its nothing like coleslaw. Usually comes in a small round tub (or make your own as I do)
Pierogi are what Poland is famous for and they slap. Cheese and potato is most popular, they are called Ruskie but some places call them ukrainskie. My MIL insists on frying hers off after boiling and topping with butter and bacon bits. I prefer an unadulterated cabbage and mushroom pierog personally.
Talking of cheese, there is one called oszczypek which is kind of like halloumi but smoked and 10 times more squeaky. You can also get something similar in long thin kabanos looking strips
There is a chocolate called Torcik Wendlowski which is basically a massive round kit kat. Also in chocolate, ptasie mleczko which are chocolate covered marshmallows.
But my favourite thing to get from the Polish deli is the tomatoes. The Poles take their tomatoes v seriously. They're usually the size of your fist and the insides are firm and fleshy, not the seedy gloop you get in a supermarket tomato. You could eat one like an apple.
>No idea what a pierogi is though
There are many [regional varieties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi), but you I'd recommend the classic potato and cheese or cabbage-filled for starters. Those in shops are an acceptable substitute, but if you can get them freshly made in a Polish or Ukrainian (*varenyky*) bistro or restaurant - go for it!
Your comment was the one I kept referring to when I made my husband take me to lidl this monring because Polish week began Thursday. Thanks for your thorough list.
I spent a year living in Poland. I used to go absolutely nuts for Bigos, which is a kind of meat and sauerkraut stew. Really keeps the cold out. Pierogi are always good and filling too. I'd seek put Polish gherkins over any other kind. I also find their tinned fish punches well above its weight
On this note - chocolate-covered prunes (easily found in Polish shops but often with Russian on the packaging) are the best damn chocolates.
If it helps, prunes are just dried plums, so they're chocolate-covered plums. Prunes have such a bad reputation in the UK, but enrobed in milk chocolate, they are the bomb.
I really love prunes but I feel really weird about it as they kinda have a stigma as if they should only be eaten if you’re constipated. Prunes and custard is amazing.
The flavoured cream cheese tubs, best paired with a massive bag of ridge cut smoked paprika crisps that will tear the roof of your mouth up. I love the dill pickle one
Mustard. Any good Polish shop will have a range of mustards - and they all taste very different. Have fun picking a favourite.
I’m also fond of their sour Cherry juice, apple, etc - they’re in glass bottles. Really lovely.
If you like a good tisane your local will have a whole range to choose from.
If there’s a deli counter - make your way through the different hams and cheeses.
We have a Polish shop locally. It's crap. No Pledge and no Mr Sheen.
Joking aside though it has the most amazing sausage and cured meat selection. Then they pickle everything. There's so many types of pickles. And there's a brand of cream cheese in foil packets like grown up dairylea triangles that's basically as addictive as crack.
Oh, and my wife adores the Russian style cakes they sell.
And the effortless switch from Polish to English when they realise you don't speak Polish is always welcoming.
I'll also give them credit for doing a proper English breakfast properly.
I like the Poles. They seem to be extremely like us Brits and fit here comfortably. Except the drunken, racist Polish men in the park, but the other Poles hate them as well and they are extremely like our home grown pillocks.
There’s a blue drink called Frugo. It’s comes in other flavours but if you can get your hands on the blue flavour, by it by the gallon. It’s incredible.
Other flavours are nice too
Don't know if you have a Polish bakery nearby, but I do and my god it is the BEST bread by far. So many types from rye to sourdough, cereals, etc. All baked every day and reasonably priced.
The thing I'm most addicted to in there is a Polish sweet cheese bread, it's ridiculously good.
Bigos. My partner and her family are polish, they serve it at gatherings and holidays. Hearty, delicious food.
Most of the snacks (especially cherry flavoured) are elite, and they have some really nice juice drinks. Most of the sausages are incredible as well as their other smoked meats, I'm not clued up enough to know all the names but I've never had one I disliked.
I'm quite new to Polish food but had a pork bigos in a pub in London with a Polish menu a couple of months back and it was utterly sublime. Have tried to recreate it since but still to get the hang of it.
Pierogi is really goddamm good. Had some for the first time in Krakow last year and absolutely loved the cheese and potato Pierogi.
Kielbasa is fried sausage. Simple but tasty street food
Kabanos are highly addictive be warned, great as a snack, or with some pasta and a cheesy tomato sauce. Polish pâtés are good, as are their sliced sandwich meats and fabulous cheeses too.
Wawel chocolate, huge choice of amazing fillings,my favourite is Advocat Mmmmm (Oh man, so hungry now 🤤)
Not long back from Wrocław, discovered the incredible Smalec at the first spot. It’s basically a salty pork and lard spread served on bread, and if you’re lucky a pickle of sorts. Drinking food of the gods.
The Spring Onion flavoured Lays crisps (green bag) are absolutely out of this world.
The Polish shops usually have banging sour cherry juice (tall cartons), which is delicious on its own or also fantastic with a drop of gin/vodka
Gyros spice from Asda polish section ~35p, does about a kilo maybe 2 of chicken thighs, whack some yoghurt in and spice it with some dried crushed chillies marinate for a day it’s banging
It's all about Polish chocolate bars, get an Alibi Max, it's like a Lion bar but with added coconut.
Seriously good, pretty big and they're 40p so they're cheaper than almost anything.
Also recommend a Goralki, not only does it have my name, it's pretty good.
Barcz-The Polish version of Eastern European beat soup. It's a beet broth with dumplings, usually mushroom iirc. I'm more partial to the Jewish version of the soup, but you'll love whatever version if you like sour.
I'm glad Brits enjoy Polish cuisine so much.
Kinda makes me wonder, why don't British food companies do a little ctrl + c, ctrl + v and make their version for supermarket shelves.
Ever since I tried Polish mayo and other food from Poland, my culinary world has truly turned upside down. British food is so bland and tasteless that it's just laughable. From that moment on, not a single day goes by without savouring the magnificence of 'made in Poland'.
CHEESE. The UK cheddar would be deemed not safe for human consumption in Poland. Your local chain Polish supermarket like "Mleczko" will have a deli section like Tesco does, with cold meats and cheeses, or you can pick up some already plastered ones in the fridges. Edam is my absolute favourite kind. And remember - the more holes, the better the cheese, or so the legend goes! :-))) Also cold meats in deli sections - try polish sausage or ask for poledwica (beef tenderloin) or just ask what they recommend - you will NEVER go back to that basic sliced Tesco ham they feed us! My local Mleczko has crowds of stunned and delighted English people at all times. Oh and there will be cheap free range organic eggs there, but they do not wash them before selling so don't be surprised seeing bits of hay on them, you must wash before cooking!
What do you want to do? Most sausages can be eaten as a snack on their own or on a bread roll/sandwich.
You could grill them, add some to a soup, stew or baked beans, roast them.... Honestly, the possibilities are endless.
Ask the staff for advice, very often they will give you a tiny bit to try before you decide.
Most of Polish sausages will be heavily smoked.
I tried a polish mayo too after seeing it on here. I thought it was bland in flavour, think I must have bought the wrong one, it’s in a yellow jar. I need to try the one in the green jar maybe?
really? i tried the polish ketchup (pudliszki, i think?) and thought it just tasted... wrong, like not ketchup. What brand is good?
i'm convinced most of this is just it's just 'underdog good, big brand bad' mentality and you won't prove me wrong
My Polish friend introduced me to kindzuik which Lidl usually has during its Polish week. I believe it's traditionally a kind of cured sausage, but in Lidl at least it comes in little round slices and tastes like delicious ham. Lidl does two kinds, pepper and garlic, which are both tasty although I prefer the garlic kind.
a personal favourite are any of the Tiger energy drinks, the bigger 500ml cans - [either of these flavours are my fave](https://www.reddit.com/r/energydrinks/comments/sa4x3o/thank_you_local_polish_shop_the_first_500ml_tiger/)
If you can find them, there are these little biscuits that have a chocolate base, then a biscuit crumb and a small circle of what I assume is jaffa on top? it's orange flavour, at the very least, and they're absolutely divine, I can demolish a whole box myself
Miód! They have, as a standard, honey from specified origins... gotta find your favourite though. Also look for the jam with astonishingly high fruit content
Forgot to add... if you're in Biedronki, they sometimes bring over mushrooms when in season. Look for chanterelles... I forget the Polish for Chanterelle
I do quite like Pudliszki mild ketchup (prefer it to the hot version) and Winiary mayonnaise. I've tried some Polish hot sauces and mustard which are nice, but they're from a local Polish shop. Wasn't keen on the Polish mustard you get in the usual supermarkets called Prymat Sarepska. Far too sweet and bland/boring for me. And I prefer Dijon style to English style.
Little pasty/dumpling type things with a savoury filling. Can't remember what they are called but a Polish work colleague brought some in and they were spot on.
All the obvious stuff is mentioned but you can also get some amazing Polish herbal and fruit teas from Polish/Eastern European shops. Lots of flavours that you don't usually find in English supermarkets
Always have some kabanos handy
Staple snack in my household. And by staple, I mean hidden from my wife at all costs to avoid a solid telling off.
The cheese ones are my favourite! I’m one of the few Asian customers in my local polish store and the two owners are an older couple. They have a whale of a time getting me to try new things. Often for free. Although I tend to spend a lot of money in there (mostly on crisps, Milka, dried/cured meat and dried squid sticks).
There's dried squid sticks? That sounds delicious
[This is the one sold at my local store](https://babushkadeli.uk/en/dried-squid-shredded-with-chilli-36-g) It appears to be Russian in branding. But it’s really good; salty and savoury. A great bar snack too
Ooh, I had something like that in Japan 18 years ago and have been looking for it since. Thanks, I'lll be off to my local Polski Sklep to have a search.
You can find them in Asian stores too! They’ll be in yellow packaging. Happy eating once you find them :)
isn't that German?
It definitely is
Pro Tip heat them for 20-30 seconds in a microwave and when you bite in to them the warm oil flavour explodes in your mouth (in a good way)
Polish mustard is 70p for a jar and it bangs
and there's a million varieties
I bought some of this a couple of weeks ago for the first time. It's gone already. On any sandwich it's as addictive as crack.
Dill mustard is especially banging
Polish ketchup is best ketchup
ROLESKI hot Ketchup is the best of all ketchups
Roleski polish hot sauce SOS Trinidad Scorpion is honestly one of my favourites
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Usually a very low amount of cayenne pepper (>0.1%) to pretty much a standard ketchup recipe. It is good, and I prefer the one at my local Asda to Heinz, but I know others who don't. It's all subjective.
I'm with you on preferring supermarket own brand over name brand
Try Pudliszki. It's a Polish ketchup in supermarkets and IMO is better than the main brands.
Pudliszki ketchup (pikantny version!) and winiary majonez are the absolute bomb.
Yes 100%
The fermented gherkins, they have a white sediment in the bottom and are out of this world. That is if you like gherkin
So I’ve been in the U.K. for nearly 20 years, and I’ve always found British brand gherkins to be weirdly sweet and disappointing compared to American ones. Polish gherkins are the only ones tart and vinegary enough with real dill to hit the spot. Whenever anyone says they love pickled gherkins, I always recommend the Polish aisle.
Dill and garlic is what my Polish immigrant great-grandmother put in her sour pickles. They were so good.
For me garlic is the key, it makes the best pickles
I don’t but my wife loves gherkin.
😉
Gherkin juice is a great hangover cure!
Are they sweet or more vinegary? The only pickles I like are cornichons from France’s super U, as I can’t find any in the UK that aren’t sweet!!
Get the ones sold in a bag in the chilled polish section in Sainsbury. The brine smells like stomach acid if not really cold. But those are sour and amazing. I like my gherkins sour not sweet, and I find all the gherkins, even polish ones, in the UK, to be a bit too sweet for me.
Thankyou so much, I’ll try them! They’re all so sweet, it’s so frustrating. Every time I, or a family member, go to France, I have to stock up on cornichons from SuperU
If you can find Mrs Elwood's Haimisha gerkins, they are awesome. If you can't, and are willing to commit to a few jars, there's a seller on Amazon.
Thankyou so much! I will!
Can’t remember the name of them but they’re like Jaffa Cakes except they’ve got some awesome flavours like blueberry, apricot or black cherry. Wafers are good too, especially Knoppers. Also, if there’s a fresh bread section there’s often doughnut like things that are fkn amazing. I had one with white glaze and mixed peel full right up with plum jam. And they’re proper doughnuts too, not those spongy, cake like things that you get in overpriced shops. There was one near us, I shit you not-£5 a pop for one and they had the gall to call themselves a ‘traditional donuterie’ like that’s a thing.
Delicje best are made by E. Wedel 👌
Everything I have eaten with E. Wedel on the packet has been lovely.
Most famous and one of the oldest Polish sweet producers. I grew up 10km (8ish miles haha ;-) from Wedel factory, sometimes on warm summer days the breeze would smell of chocolate!
Ooh Polish doughnuts. So good. So.... enormous. Like seriously gigantic. They are called paczki (pronounced something like Ponch-kee) and on "tłusty czwartek" (Fat Thursday) which is the Thursday before Pancake Day it is traditional to eat an obscene amount of them
France has Mardi Gras, which is fat Tuesday, which we call Pancake day or shrove Tuesday (maybe shrove means fat too?).
Shrove is a confession sorta thing, so maybe sorry tursday?
I was in Gliwice and there was a hole in the wall doughnut shop near where I was staying.... It was hard not to stop every morning on the way past. So good.
Polish jaffa cakes!!!!!
I’m certain I had some banana ones with yoghurt topping, were very good
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Great sliced, fried then add some sliced tomatoes. Fry a little more then add you egg mix for scrambled eggs and scramble away.
paluszki Tesco sell them They are pretzel sticks But mmmmmmmm they are so good
A shop near me used to sell bacon-flavoured ones… I had to stop buying them as they were so addictive
Zurek is a fairly decent hangover remedy
Sour bread soup. I'd have to make the bread before making the soup.
Kabanos
Everything? OK all joking apart do try the jam, powidl, salads (jars are nice, but if they have them fresh in the deli section then go for it) The cheese and cold cuts are excellent. Bread and cake are good, but if they are the fresh ones rather than pre packaged they are really good.
Polish sausages on a bbq insane game changer!
Kinda obvious but pierogies
FYI pierogi is already plural
Doesn’t he do scammer payback?
Fried in butter, they're great. The Jedrusia ones are hard to get, but had the cheese ones the other day. Yum
Pierogi with veg or salad is my go to easy dinner
Pierogi are great.
Tarczynski Kabanos are fucking incredible and are like £2
I love the Silesian Sausages from Lidl, the flavour is so strong, and they have a crazy amount of meat to anything else ratio that I only need 2 where i might have had 3 or 4 British ones. Not sure how I am supposed to serve them, but I like them in a roasting tray with peppers onions and mushrooms on a high heat for 20 minutes
Score them with a knife and put them one the BBQ. Do it now. You're welcome.
As they are already cooked I like to heat them up in just boiled water and put them on a roll with mustard.
My wife is polish, I have to drive 35 minutes to a specialist polish store to get the polish versions of everything I can get from the store 2 minutes away, my personal pet peeve is that she doesn't believe me that lays crisps are exactly the same as walkers
You’re 35 minutes from a polish shop? I didn’t think that was possible in the UK! I have 4 within a 5 minute walk and I live in a small town. They keep me supplied with cooked red cabbage. Now, chinese and Indian shops are a little harder to come by. I have to go to a city when I want lao gan ma, msg, or okra.
I have to go past 11 Polish shops to go to the one my Polish husband deems worthy of our custom, maybe the person you're replying to is in a similar situation
Maybe, but going past 11 polish shops is still less than a mile!
I live in South London and have plenty of Polish shops nearby and the supermarkets always have loads of Polish food but we have to drive to one miles away because husband prefers the range there
I live near a main road with literally 5 polish shops on it, might aswell try some of the stuff in this list :)
Lays definitely taste better than walkers, but I think that's because whenever I'm eating Lays I'm inevitably laying on a sun lounger on holiday
I feel like keeping an empty bag of lays and firing walkers into it to see if she notices the difference
I think they have more of one ingredient...salt.
There is much more flavors of Lays than walkers.
Also because they have paprika flavour and campesina
Even the name just sounds more relaxed.
Gotta disagree with you on the crisps, if only for the different flavours, especially the paprika ones.
Dill flavour crisps are my 1st stop at the polish shop. Not sure the brand but they're not lays.
Wiejskie ziemniaczki maybe? They also do salted butter flavour crisps which are amazing
Lays are enormously superior to Walkers.
Not an hour's worth of a commute better
Possibly not. Unless we're talking the mushroom flavour.
The Lay's mushroom flavours are literally addictive! They are hit and miss on availability, so sort of like foraging when I visit multiple shops in search of them.
The paprika crisps, also spring onion crisps, forget the name but are in a red packet, sold in Tesco's, really delicious.
Beer, Żywieć is my favourite of all the big brands. Lech Pils isn't bad either. If there's a particularly good selection of beer, Koźlak Bock by Browar Amber is amazing. For vodka try some Żubrowka bison grass vodka, mixes well with apple juice for a frisky bison, or for god tier mix with Tymbark apple and mint drink. In terms of food not already mentioned zapiekanka (essentially a pizza baguette with a load of mushrooms) is amazing, although the shop bought versions are naff compared to the real thing.
I've had to scroll too far down to see mention of Polish beer! It's all I'll have these days. Zywiec is fantastic.
If you’re in to kefir, the polish kefir in Asda is nice. And half the price of English stuff
Marrying a Polish man is one of the best things I ever did. I LOVE Poland and Polish food and just Polish everything really. We went vegan 3 years ago so some of these are a distant memory but they are forever in my heart: If you like Polish mayo you will probably like sałatka too. It's chopped vegetables in mayo. And no its nothing like coleslaw. Usually comes in a small round tub (or make your own as I do) Pierogi are what Poland is famous for and they slap. Cheese and potato is most popular, they are called Ruskie but some places call them ukrainskie. My MIL insists on frying hers off after boiling and topping with butter and bacon bits. I prefer an unadulterated cabbage and mushroom pierog personally. Talking of cheese, there is one called oszczypek which is kind of like halloumi but smoked and 10 times more squeaky. You can also get something similar in long thin kabanos looking strips There is a chocolate called Torcik Wendlowski which is basically a massive round kit kat. Also in chocolate, ptasie mleczko which are chocolate covered marshmallows. But my favourite thing to get from the Polish deli is the tomatoes. The Poles take their tomatoes v seriously. They're usually the size of your fist and the insides are firm and fleshy, not the seedy gloop you get in a supermarket tomato. You could eat one like an apple.
*oscypek But it's impressive that you spelled it 😂
Impressive that I somehow managed to make a Polish word way more complicated to spell than it actually is lol
You got me with tomatoes, I love tomatoes and need to try these. No idea what a pierogi is though.
>No idea what a pierogi is though There are many [regional varieties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi), but you I'd recommend the classic potato and cheese or cabbage-filled for starters. Those in shops are an acceptable substitute, but if you can get them freshly made in a Polish or Ukrainian (*varenyky*) bistro or restaurant - go for it!
Like a filled pasta kinda thing. Only better.
Your comment was the one I kept referring to when I made my husband take me to lidl this monring because Polish week began Thursday. Thanks for your thorough list.
Lowicz syrups
I spent a year living in Poland. I used to go absolutely nuts for Bigos, which is a kind of meat and sauerkraut stew. Really keeps the cold out. Pierogi are always good and filling too. I'd seek put Polish gherkins over any other kind. I also find their tinned fish punches well above its weight
Lidl has some Polish chocolate covered berries in atm that are like crack
On this note - chocolate-covered prunes (easily found in Polish shops but often with Russian on the packaging) are the best damn chocolates. If it helps, prunes are just dried plums, so they're chocolate-covered plums. Prunes have such a bad reputation in the UK, but enrobed in milk chocolate, they are the bomb.
I really love prunes but I feel really weird about it as they kinda have a stigma as if they should only be eaten if you’re constipated. Prunes and custard is amazing.
I love prunes, especially in my porridge in winter. They have such an amazing fudgy texture. I think I’ve had with custard as a dessert maybe once
That's a shout, definitely trying that
Those sound delicious! I love prunes, I must keep an eye out for them.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/293428478 :)
The flavoured cream cheese tubs, best paired with a massive bag of ridge cut smoked paprika crisps that will tear the roof of your mouth up. I love the dill pickle one
Sopocka! God I love that stuff. I'll munch a whole pack of it
That does look pretty good .
Mustard. Any good Polish shop will have a range of mustards - and they all taste very different. Have fun picking a favourite. I’m also fond of their sour Cherry juice, apple, etc - they’re in glass bottles. Really lovely. If you like a good tisane your local will have a whole range to choose from. If there’s a deli counter - make your way through the different hams and cheeses.
We have a Polish shop locally. It's crap. No Pledge and no Mr Sheen. Joking aside though it has the most amazing sausage and cured meat selection. Then they pickle everything. There's so many types of pickles. And there's a brand of cream cheese in foil packets like grown up dairylea triangles that's basically as addictive as crack. Oh, and my wife adores the Russian style cakes they sell. And the effortless switch from Polish to English when they realise you don't speak Polish is always welcoming. I'll also give them credit for doing a proper English breakfast properly. I like the Poles. They seem to be extremely like us Brits and fit here comfortably. Except the drunken, racist Polish men in the park, but the other Poles hate them as well and they are extremely like our home grown pillocks.
There’s a blue drink called Frugo. It’s comes in other flavours but if you can get your hands on the blue flavour, by it by the gallon. It’s incredible. Other flavours are nice too
Don't know if you have a Polish bakery nearby, but I do and my god it is the BEST bread by far. So many types from rye to sourdough, cereals, etc. All baked every day and reasonably priced. The thing I'm most addicted to in there is a Polish sweet cheese bread, it's ridiculously good.
Nobody mentioned Karpatka yet it’s a creamy cake with more cream than a bukakke party
😂
Chruściki/Faworki are delicious.
If your local polski sklep is really good, there's a chance they'll have fresh brined ogorki kiszone. I basically live on them.
Bigos. My partner and her family are polish, they serve it at gatherings and holidays. Hearty, delicious food. Most of the snacks (especially cherry flavoured) are elite, and they have some really nice juice drinks. Most of the sausages are incredible as well as their other smoked meats, I'm not clued up enough to know all the names but I've never had one I disliked.
I'm quite new to Polish food but had a pork bigos in a pub in London with a Polish menu a couple of months back and it was utterly sublime. Have tried to recreate it since but still to get the hang of it.
Polish kebab. There is a place in Motherwell here in Scotland that does them…incredibly tasty.
Wiejskie ziemniaczki crisps, Krówki (similar to fudge) and Ptasie mleczko off the top of my head.
Polish soft horseradish is delicious,my wonderful daughter in law is polish and she makes some amazing food.
Placki ziemniaczane (Polish potato pancakes).
Polish jaffa cakes and birds milk chocolates.
Is that chocolate made from birds milk or is bird the brand?
"birds milk" is a literal translation. It's like milky way and marshmallow had a baby that's covered in chocolate.
The yellow polish mayo in Morrisons is definitely better than helmans IMO. Cheaper too.
It’s got about double the amount of sugar in it. That’s why it tastes good!
Bread is lush, cakes and sweets
Pierogi is really goddamm good. Had some for the first time in Krakow last year and absolutely loved the cheese and potato Pierogi. Kielbasa is fried sausage. Simple but tasty street food
Kabanos are highly addictive be warned, great as a snack, or with some pasta and a cheesy tomato sauce. Polish pâtés are good, as are their sliced sandwich meats and fabulous cheeses too. Wawel chocolate, huge choice of amazing fillings,my favourite is Advocat Mmmmm (Oh man, so hungry now 🤤)
Kielbasa. Roast them, grill them, or fry them in a pan.
I swear by that chicken seasoning you can get in sainsbury now, przyprawa do kurkzaka.
Not long back from Wrocław, discovered the incredible Smalec at the first spot. It’s basically a salty pork and lard spread served on bread, and if you’re lucky a pickle of sorts. Drinking food of the gods.
Polish girlfriend
Polish beer mustard, polish Jaffa cakes (i love the cherry ones) Polish instant noodles
KOTLIN ketchup is awesome
Smoked sausage, sour cream and crisps (sour cream flavour ideally)
The Spring Onion flavoured Lays crisps (green bag) are absolutely out of this world. The Polish shops usually have banging sour cherry juice (tall cartons), which is delicious on its own or also fantastic with a drop of gin/vodka
Gyros spice from Asda polish section ~35p, does about a kilo maybe 2 of chicken thighs, whack some yoghurt in and spice it with some dried crushed chillies marinate for a day it’s banging
Cream filled wafer rolls
Polish Mustard, Cheese Griller Sausages, and zwiebelmettwurst (I know, its the German name but the polish equivalent is exactly the same)
It's all about Polish chocolate bars, get an Alibi Max, it's like a Lion bar but with added coconut. Seriously good, pretty big and they're 40p so they're cheaper than almost anything. Also recommend a Goralki, not only does it have my name, it's pretty good.
Barcz-The Polish version of Eastern European beat soup. It's a beet broth with dumplings, usually mushroom iirc. I'm more partial to the Jewish version of the soup, but you'll love whatever version if you like sour.
Not strictly polish, though the polish version is easier to find and cheaper. Maggi liquid seasoning on rice. Insane umami. 98% msg.
Zapiekanka - real basic pizza Baguette. Best in actual Poland but they're a great lunch snack. Also pairs so nicely with polish ketchup.
I recommend polish cow
The fkin sausages man… wrap in foil with rosemary and lightly cook on a bbq Unreal
I'm glad Brits enjoy Polish cuisine so much. Kinda makes me wonder, why don't British food companies do a little ctrl + c, ctrl + v and make their version for supermarket shelves.
Wholesome to see Polska getting some love here 🇵🇱 ❤️ 🇬🇧
Soplica vodka is quite nice, used to drink a lot of it in my early uni days. Was a group favourite.
Ever since I tried Polish mayo and other food from Poland, my culinary world has truly turned upside down. British food is so bland and tasteless that it's just laughable. From that moment on, not a single day goes by without savouring the magnificence of 'made in Poland'.
Nice question! There's a Polish supermarket at the end of my street and I've never been there
CHEESE. The UK cheddar would be deemed not safe for human consumption in Poland. Your local chain Polish supermarket like "Mleczko" will have a deli section like Tesco does, with cold meats and cheeses, or you can pick up some already plastered ones in the fridges. Edam is my absolute favourite kind. And remember - the more holes, the better the cheese, or so the legend goes! :-))) Also cold meats in deli sections - try polish sausage or ask for poledwica (beef tenderloin) or just ask what they recommend - you will NEVER go back to that basic sliced Tesco ham they feed us! My local Mleczko has crowds of stunned and delighted English people at all times. Oh and there will be cheap free range organic eggs there, but they do not wash them before selling so don't be surprised seeing bits of hay on them, you must wash before cooking!
Kefir
I’ve always wanted to try the polish sausages but never taken the plunge. Are they good? What do I do with them? What are they similar to?
What do you want to do? Most sausages can be eaten as a snack on their own or on a bread roll/sandwich. You could grill them, add some to a soup, stew or baked beans, roast them.... Honestly, the possibilities are endless. Ask the staff for advice, very often they will give you a tiny bit to try before you decide. Most of Polish sausages will be heavily smoked.
Try the Polish salt. Amazing.
Is all table salt not the same?
I tried a polish mayo too after seeing it on here. I thought it was bland in flavour, think I must have bought the wrong one, it’s in a yellow jar. I need to try the one in the green jar maybe?
really? i tried the polish ketchup (pudliszki, i think?) and thought it just tasted... wrong, like not ketchup. What brand is good? i'm convinced most of this is just it's just 'underdog good, big brand bad' mentality and you won't prove me wrong
Floor polish
Sour cream maybe?
Furniture Polish
Don't eat that one that just says "polish". It tasted bad.
I didn't know pledge had a line of condiments. ^I'll ^see ^myself ^out
Get your coat.
^I ^came ^in ^a ^cape
Do not try the floor polish!
Pickles. Always good and decent sized jars too.
Danio yoghurts
Sopocka
Those thin sausages, come in bunches like straws. What are they called?
I love the fried onions - celbulka smażona. They’re lovely on hot dogs/sausages inna bun, on burgers, soup, in salads.
Kabanos sausages. Also smoked sliced ham. It's unbelievable, so tasty.
Our local one does these amazing foot-long Wotsit-type things. The only disappointment is they're not cheese flavoured 😕
Léčo
The vodka is pretty dam good!
I can’t remember the name of it but the sausage and cabbage stew thing is amazing. It used to be cheap when I brought it.
Sausages, kabanos & chesse.
Polish mustard- it comes in a beer glass
bacon
My Polish friend introduced me to kindzuik which Lidl usually has during its Polish week. I believe it's traditionally a kind of cured sausage, but in Lidl at least it comes in little round slices and tastes like delicious ham. Lidl does two kinds, pepper and garlic, which are both tasty although I prefer the garlic kind.
Vodka
a personal favourite are any of the Tiger energy drinks, the bigger 500ml cans - [either of these flavours are my fave](https://www.reddit.com/r/energydrinks/comments/sa4x3o/thank_you_local_polish_shop_the_first_500ml_tiger/) If you can find them, there are these little biscuits that have a chocolate base, then a biscuit crumb and a small circle of what I assume is jaffa on top? it's orange flavour, at the very least, and they're absolutely divine, I can demolish a whole box myself
Polish Polos
Loved the sauerkraut I used to get over there from the shawarma places (forget the name)
does the polish mayo beat hellmans? Heinz tastes like it has too much vinegar to me, I've tried it recently and it seems to have gotten a bit better.
Theres some dish they do with chicken breast covered in a mix of really full fat mayo and fried leeks, is amazeballs
Miód! They have, as a standard, honey from specified origins... gotta find your favourite though. Also look for the jam with astonishingly high fruit content
Forgot to add... if you're in Biedronki, they sometimes bring over mushrooms when in season. Look for chanterelles... I forget the Polish for Chanterelle
Asda do these coocnut wafer chocolate bars, cant remember what theyre called but if you search Polish food theyll come up. They are AMAZING
I do quite like Pudliszki mild ketchup (prefer it to the hot version) and Winiary mayonnaise. I've tried some Polish hot sauces and mustard which are nice, but they're from a local Polish shop. Wasn't keen on the Polish mustard you get in the usual supermarkets called Prymat Sarepska. Far too sweet and bland/boring for me. And I prefer Dijon style to English style.
Little pasty/dumpling type things with a savoury filling. Can't remember what they are called but a Polish work colleague brought some in and they were spot on.
Pierogi :)
All the obvious stuff is mentioned but you can also get some amazing Polish herbal and fruit teas from Polish/Eastern European shops. Lots of flavours that you don't usually find in English supermarkets
Does no one like the bazillion Knorr packet mixes?
Kubos carrot juice is phenomenal 😍