Polish cuisine is neither the tastiest nor the healthiest in the world, but it does have some interesting dishes. One of the traditional Polish customs is eating a two-course dinner. The first course in Polish cuisine is soup. Here are 7 Polish soups which are worth trying in Poland and in Krakow. What soups to try in Krakow, Poland? Let’s see!
Red borscht and other types of borscht
Barszcz czerwony is one of the most important Polish soups, also popular in the areas which, as a result of the Yalta Conference after World War II, were taken away from Poland and incorporated into the Soviet Union. So when visiting traditional Polish areas, you may hear that borscht is not a soup from Poland.
Borscht red is a traditional dish served on Christmas Eve, but not only. On Christmas Eve, Poles eat borscht (barszcz czerwony) a beetroot soup with the addition of ravioli – small dumplings stuffed with mushrooms or meat. Red borscht is often accompanied by meat pies. During the warm summer months, Poles eat beetroot borscht with cabbage, potatoes and sour cream. Sometimes borscht known as „Ukrainian borscht” is served with beans or mushrooms.
Żurek (fermented cereal soup)
A flour soup leavened with bread sour with the addition of sausage, eggs, vegetables, smoked bacon or other types of meat. There is also a variation of żurek called white borscht. White borscht is made with a sourdough starter made of wheat flour, while żurek is made with a sourdough starter made of rye flour. The soup is heavy, calorific, and Poles traditionally consume it as… hangover cure.
Often in restaurants that we wrote about in our article „Tourist Traps in Krakow„, sour soup is served not in a plate or bowl but in a specially hollowed-out loaf of bread.
Rosół
The traditional Polish country family eats broth or chicken soup every Sunday together with a pork chop. Rosół is also sometimes the main course at a country wedding or funeral reception. Rosół is a clear fat soup served with noodles and topped with parsley and carrots. Frankly speaking, it is not one of the most sophisticated or tasty dishes. In better quality polish couisne restaurants, the broth is prepared with higher quality meat, for example with guinea fowl, duck, spareribs or goose.
Zupa Grzybowa
A soup prepared on meat and vegetable stock with the addition of various types of mushrooms. In Poland, mushroom soup is most often served with pasta and whipped with cream. Depending on the quality of the restaurant you go to, the soup may be prepared with different types of mushrooms. High-quality mushroom soup is prepared with the addition of wild mushrooms such as porcini or chanterelles, or even oyster mushrooms and boletes.The poorest and least complicated version of mushroom soup is to prepare it using ordinary mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), which are widely available in Poland. Soup made of dried ceps is for many poor Polish families a real delicacy reserved exclusively for Christmas Eve dinner.
Zupa grochowa (Pea soup)
Simple and very cheap polish soup made famous for being a typical polish food of the military personel during comunist era in Poland. The soup is made from peas and smoked meat with carrots, parsley, onion, garlic, bacon and spices. The soup is thick, oily, and you can expect some interesting stimuli coming from your digestive system after eating it. Pea soup is often served in the countryside during traditional outdoor events for the local commoners.
Zupa pomidorowa (Tomato)
If you are familiar with tomato-based soups from the Mediterranean countries, then Polish tomato soup is not what you know. Polish tomato soup is made from meat broth with tomato puree or fresh tomatoes and sour cream. It is traditionally served with pasta or rice.
Chłodnik
Traditional Polish soup served cold. In Poland it is often served as a soup made of botwin with curdled milk or sour cream, with the addition of hard-boiled eggs, cucumber, dill, sometimes with the addition of crayfish necks or fish.
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