Going to visit Poland? Plan to explore Polish delicious food. Tuck into regional specialities, from cheese to fish or strawberries.
On the Oscypek Trail
Enjoy fresh, local products made from sheep's milk on the Oscypek Route (southern Poland), which combines thirty-one shepherds' huts. Here you can learn about the traditional production methods of little spindle-like smoked cheese (oscypek) decorated with nice patterns. It is produced from May until September in the mountains. Other highlander cheeses are: bundz (very young cheese), bryndza (spreadable cheese) or korbacze (cow milk cheese which looks like spaghetti).
Masurian freshwater fish
The Masurian Lake district in the north-east of Poland is the land of thousands lakes. Here many dishes consist of fresh fish from the lake, like perch, pikeperch, whitefish, eel or pike. Masuria is a paradise for gourmets as well as for anglers from all over the world. The culinary traditions are influenced by the Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Russian and German cuisine which results in a very rich palette of flavours.
Carp straight out of the Milicz Ponds
In the wonderful, mystic Barycz Valley in Greater Poland and Lower Silesia, the tradition of breeding carp dates back to medieval times. Nowadays it is the biggest pond and carp production area in Europe (seven thousand hectares). Every year in September-October the Carp Days are organized. You should have enough time to taste the fresh or smoked fish in one of the local restaurants. The local brand "Barycz Valley Recommends" ("Dolina Baryczy poleca") should help you to find the most interesting places.
Asparagus delicacies
From the end of April to the end of June is the time for farm fresh asparagus! There are few things tastier than fresh, hand-picked spring asparagus: grilled, steamed, or added to any culinary creation. Greater Poland is the Polish asparagus area. Grown and loved in the entire region, delicacies such as asparagus soup or asparagus with butter and breadcrumbs are eaten in many homes.
Sweet Kashubian strawberries
In the idylic Kashubian postglacial landscape (northern Poland) with hills, forests, lakes and lovely villages, the Kashubian strawberries grow on slopes exposed to sunlight, in a clean environment surrounded by two national parks, four landscape parks and several nature reserves. These strawberries have a high sugar content because of the special microclimate of the region with cool nights and scorching days.
