???Autumn is not only a beautiful season packed with colorful foliage but also a harvest season that one can find all kinds of fresh and delicious fruits and seasonal foods in the market, especially mushrooms! It is well known that the Poles enjoy mushrooms, picking mushrooms in the forest is one of the Poles’ favorite pastimes. Over the centuries, because of the popularity of mushrooms, a lot of Polish mushroom dishes have been invented and they have become a very valuable part of Polish culinary culture. Today, I’d like to share with you some of the classical Polish Mushroom Dishes, and I wonder what would you like to try first If you have the opportunity to visit Poland? ?
1. Mushroom soup
When people talk about mushroom dishes, mushroom soup would be the first to come to mind. Delicate mushrooms are great for soups, and porcini mushroom soup is one of the best-known of this kind of soup, which was made with dried porcini and fresh mushrooms. Besides, there are more interesting variations, such as a traditional Christmas soup, made with dried mushrooms and fruits like prunes and pears, from the Kociewie region near Gdańsk. There is another potato soup from the central part of Poland called Zalewajka, which is a traditional rustic soup made of diced and boiled potatoes, Polish sausage, and dried mushrooms.
2. Mushroom pierogi
The Poles are proud of their pierogi (meaning ‘dumpling’). Though there are many different pierogi fillings, one of the most traditional ones is sauerkraut and mushrooms. This amazing combination is also the foundation of bigos, which is commonly known in English as hunter’s stew. Traditionally, these dumplings are served as the 12th course of a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner.
3. Uszka with wild mushrooms
Uszka, meaning ‘little ears’, are small dumplings (a small and twisted version of pierogi) which usually filled with flavorsome wild forest mushrooms and onion or minced meat. They are mainly made for Christmas Eve dinner and served as an opening dish with a tart and rich beetroot broth. Delicate pierogi dough filled with wild mushrooms almost melts in your mouth and combined with clear beetroot soup is really worth a try.
4. Mushroom kaszotto
Kaszotto is kind of like polish risotto, made with buckwheat, barley or millet, and whatever you have handy, like lentils, celeriac, squash, and of course seasonal mushrooms. It’s become quite a popular dish, as it’s delicious, easy to make and healthier than a traditional risotto. It can go with different veggies, but with wild mushrooms will produce an amazing umami flavour.
5. Scrambled eggs with mushrooms
Scrambled eggs with mushrooms is one of the most common breakfasts in Poland, which is traditionally made with intensely yellow chanterelles, is very tasty, healthy and easy cooking. Chanterelles is a very tasty edible wild mushroom and very popular in Poland.
Photo: culture.pl
