Poland has a distinctive cuisine, with typical ingredients being dill, marjoram, caraway seeds, wild mushrooms and sour cream, which is frequently added to soups, sauces and braised meats. Soups play an important part at mealtimes and are usually rich and very thick.
Barszcz (beetroot soup), however, runs thin and clear and is often served in cups with small hot pasties stuffed with meat or cabbage. There are several salt- and fresh-water fish dishes using trout, carp and herring. Pastries, such as
szarlotka (apple cake),
packi (jelly doughnuts) and
makowiec (poppy seed cake)
can be bought at a
cukiernia. Note that big cities offer a selection of other world cuisines.
National specialties: •
Bigos (sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, onions and any variety of leftover meat).
• Salted and rolled herring fillets with pickles and onions.
•
Kabanos (long, thick sausages).
•
Pierogi (dumplings stuffed with either meat, mushrooms and cabbage, cheese or fruit).
•
Kasza (buckwheat).
National drinks: • Vodka (
wódka, in many various flavors - try
krupnik and
źołądkowa).
• The best bottled beer is
zywiec, a fairly strong lager-type beer.
Legal drinking age: 18.
Tipping: 10 to 15% is customary in restaurants and cafes. Tipping in self-service restaurants is not expected. Tips for porter’s services in hotels and train stations are customary but amounts are at the traveller’s discretion.
NightlifeThe larger Polish cities have several
theater and
dance companies. In addition there is a National
Philharmonic, a National
Opera and plenty of
cinemas. There is a large selection of dance
clubs,
bars and venues for
live music in most towns. Clubs often choose to stay open until the last guest leaves.
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