Grochówka – Pea Soup – just reminds me of when I was young – the smell and taste just bring back so many memories.
The yellow split pea type are the ones used in all the traditional recipes and the soup should not be very thick.
You can make this soup in a stockpot on the stove top or put it in the oven and leave it to simmer gently for many hours. I have found that making this in my slow cooker is much easier; you can leave it without worrying about it sticking or burning.
Any type of Polish smoked sausage can be used – here I used Toruńska.
I have given recipes for two slightly different versions
Version 1
Ingredients
350 – 400g yellow split peas
2 large carrots
2 onions
2 litres of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
300g of Kielbasa Polish smoked sausage.
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
2-3 grains of allspice
Chopped flat-leaf parsley or chives to garnish when serving.
Method – version 1
Peel the carrots and cut them into rounds – cut the larger ones into halves.
Dice the onions.
Chop the sausage into rounds and then cut these into halves or quarters – depending on the size of the sausage.
Place everything except the garnish into the slow cooker and switch it on to high.
Leave the soup mixture to cook for around 4 hours, giving it an occasional stir.
Cook until the peas “fall apart”.
This soup should not be a “thick mush!” – add some boiling water to thin it down if necessary.
Sprinkle the chopped parsley or chives on the top of each serving.
Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation – 1982 – 1998
Version 2
Ingredients
300g yellow split peas
2 large carrots
2 onions
2 litres of vegetable stock – can be from a cube or powder
200g of Kielbasa – Polish smoked sausage.
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
2-3 grains of allspice
*
Garnish
4 slices of smoked bacon
1 onion
Method – version 2
Peel the carrots and cut them into rounds – cut the larger ones into halves.
Dice the onions.
Chop the sausage into rounds and then cut these into halves or quarters – depending on the size of the sausage.
Place everything except the garnish into the slow cooker and switch it on to high.
Leave the soup mixture to cook for around 4 hours, giving it an occasional stir.
Cook until the peas “fall apart”.
This soup should not be a “thick mush!” – add some boiling water to thin it down if necessary.
Garnish
Chop the bacon into small squares and fry gently till very crispy – these are called skwarki in Polish.
Dice the onion and fry in a little oil until the pieces are lightly charred.
Mix the bacon and onions together.
You either use these straight away or you make them in advance and leave them to go cold.
Use some kitchen roll to mop up any excess fat.
When you serve the soup, place a largish tablespoon of the garnish on top of each portion.
The lentil is Lens culinaris, an edible legume – which means its seeds grow in pods.
The seeds are lens-shaped from whence it gets its name – meaning little lens.
The Polish is soczewica and is also from a word meaning a small lens.
It belongs to the bean family and these seeds are classed as pulses – dry seeds for consumption.
Lentils originated in the Near East and Central Asia and are the oldest pulses and among the earliest crops domesticated in the Old World.
The first evidence of pulses comes from 11,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East which was home to some of the earliest human civilizations.
They are mentioned in the Bible – Genesis 25:29-34 – when Esau gives up his birthright to Jacob for a mess of pottage.
” …let me eat the red soup … then Jacob gave him bread and lentil soup …“
Figures for 2016 show the top four countries for lentil production as:
Canada
India
Turkey
United States of America
I bought a packet of whole allspice (ziele angielskie) and this recipe was on the back.
I think it is related to Breton beans – a popular Polish recipe.
Ingredients
200g – 250g dried lentils
100g smoked bacon – chopped into small squares.
200g Polish sausage (I used Toruńska) – sliced
2 onions – chopped
3 cloves of garlic – sliced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
200 ml of chicken stock (can be from a cube or concentrate)
5 grains of allspice
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (not smoked)
1 teaspoon of Italian herbs
Sunflower oil for frying
Ground black pepper
(salt might not be needed because of the bacon and sausage)
Yoghurt and chopped flat-leaved parsley to serve
Method
Pre-heat the oven to GM3 – 160°C
Cook the lentils in water until they are soft.
Use a sieve to remove some of the excess water – if any.
Fry up the bacon and the onions and garlic.
In a jug or bowl mix the stock, paprika, herbs and pepper.
Get an oven proof dish with a lid and add the lentils, fried bacon, onions and garlic.
Add the tomatoes and the stock mixture.
Add the sliced sausage, the bay leaves and allspice and mix all together thouroughly.
Put the lid on the dish and place into the oven.
Cook for 45 -60 minutes.
Serve garnished with flat – leafed parsley or this and a dollop of plain yoghurt or soured cream as well.
Here served in Royal Doulton – Carnation (1982 – 1998) dishes.
I believe this recipe is very popular in America and I think it is a sort of second generation recipe which is made up from memories of dishes from Poland and some adaptations using local ingredients.
I feel this is a blend of two previous bean recipes Beans – po Staropolsku (in an oldPolish style) which has a lot of sweetness using prunes and honey and Breton beans with tomato sauce. Here the sweetness is from maple syrup (I still had some from my friend who now lives in Canada – so thought of her as when making this).
Ingredients
Note – these quantities do not have to be exact.
200 -300g kielbasa – Polish sausage
200 – 300g smoked bacon
400 – 500g minced beef
2 small onions
4 large tins of different beans (butter beans, canellini, haricot, red kidney etc) – some recipes say that using some butter beans is a must!
3 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 tablespoon of made-up mustard
1 tablespoon of wine or cider vinegar
250ml maple syrup
Ground black pepper
Sunflower oil for frying
Method
Pre-heat the oven to GM3 160°C
Drain the beans and place then into an ovenproof dish with a lid.
Chop the onions into small pieces and fry them up in a little oil.
Chop the bacon into small pieces and add these to the onions and fry them together.
Slice and chop the sausage and add this to the onions and bacon.
Add the minced meat to the mixture and fry this up for a few minutes.
Add this mixture to the beans in the dish.
Mix in the tomato puree, mustard, vinegar, maple syrup and black pepper.
Put the lid on the dish.
Cook for around 3 hours in the oven until the beans are soft.
Note
This is suitable for making in a slow cooker.
This can be eaten as a dish on its own or served with bread.
This is Beans in a Breton style and is a very popular dish in Poland.
It is a dish of beans cooked with Polish sausage and smoked bacon in a tomato sauce.
When Lidl, the supermarket, has a Polish Week they often have jars of this for sale.
I have done some research and can find lots of Polish recipes for this but not a single French or Breton recipe which is similar. So I cannot tell you why this typical Polish dish is associated with Brittany or France.
French Connections
There are however many, many connections with Poland and France – here are just a few:
Prince Henri de Valois (1551 – 1589) was elected King of Poland and reigned from 1573 to 1575. He resigned to become Henri III of France.
King Władysław IV Waza (1595 – 1648) – married the French Princess Louse Marie Gonzaga
King Jan II Kazimierz Waza (1609 –1672) married Louse Marie Gonzaga when she became the widow of the King Władysław IV Waza.
King Jan III Sobieski (1629 –1695) – married Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d’Arquien.
Stanisław Leszczński (1677-1766) was King of Poland and then became the Duke of Lorraine.
His daughter Maria Leszczyńska (1703-1768) became the Queen consort of Louis XV(1710– 1774) of France and was the Grandmother of Louis XVI (1754–1793).
Poland was an Ally of Napoleon (1769 – 1821) especially in the war against the Russians.
Many Poles went to live and work in France including:
Adam Mickiewicz (1798 – 1855) – poet
Fryderyk Chopin (1810 – 1849) – composer
Cyprian Norwid (1821 – 1883) – poet
Maria Skłodowska Curie (1867 – 1934) – scientist
André Citroën (1878-1935) – entrepreneur
Aleksander (Alexandre) Tansman (1897 – 1986) – composer
Tadeusz Baird (1928 – 1981) – composer
Ingredients
Note – these quantities do not have to be exact.
2 cans of beans (approx 420g each) (haricot, canellini or barlotti)
200g smoked bacon
200g Polish sausage, (I used Toruńska and Śląska)
2 onions
3 tablespoons of tomato puree
500ml of hot water
1 teaspoon of Italian herbs or marjoram
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (can use hot paprika)
4 grains of allspice
2 – 3 bay leaves
Method
Pre-heat the oven to GM 3 – 160°C.
Cut the bacon into small squares and fry them up.
Cut the onions into small pieces and fry these up.
Drain the beans and place them into an oven proof dish (one that has a lid).
Add the fried bacon and onions and mix together.
Slice the sausage and add this to the bean mixture.
Mix the tomato puree with the hot water and add the Italian herbs and paprika.
Pour this over the bean mixture and add the allspice and bay leaves and mix thoroughly.
Cook in the oven for several hours until the beans are soft.
This can be eaten as a dish on its own or served with bread.
The general word for pasta in Polish is makaron .. from the Italian macaroni or maccheroni which is thought to originate from the Greek makaria – food made from barley.
You need some cooked pasta – small shapes are the best – I often use Fiorelli – little tubes with lacy edges.
When I am cooking some pasta for a meal, I often do a bit more so I have some left to make a salad the next day.
Try not to over cook the pasta.
The weight of dry pasta will result in around double the weight of cooked pasta eg 250g of dry pasta will result in around 500g of cooked pasta.
I find that mayonnaise or mayonnaise based dressing are best with these salads.
Cooked vegetables work well with these salads and also tinned or bottled vegetables and so it is a good store cupboard dish.
Below are several ideas – but you can do many variations – I always use a few different colours to make it look attractive.
Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad
400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
1 or 2 fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of bottled peppers.
1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & ground back pepper
Method
In a large bowl mix the pasta and sweetcorn together.
If using fresh peppers then remove the stalk and the seeds and chop the flesh into small pieces.
Blanch the peppers by putting them in a dish with boiling water and letting them stand for about 10 minutes then drain and pat dry.
If using bottled peppers then drain them from the liquid and cut into small pieces.
Add the peppers to the salad mixture.
Mix in the mayonnaise.
Add salt & pepper to taste.
Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad
Ingredients
400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
1 or 2 fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of bottled pepper
150g of cooked frozen peas
1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & ground back pepper.
Method
Make the salad as above then add the cooked peas and mix well
Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Tuna
400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
1 or 2 fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of bottled peppers.
1 x 145g tin of tuna chunks in oil or brine – drained
1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (variation – add half a teaspoon of tomato puree or even hot pepper sauce)
Salt & pepper to taste – you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine.
Method
Make the salad as in Pasta, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad up to the addition of the mayonnaise.
Break up the tuna into smaller pieces and add this to the salad and mix it in.
Add the mayonnaise.
Salt & pepper to taste – (you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine).
Variations
Add some chopped chillies to the mixture – I use green ones to differentiate them from the red peppers.
Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Tuna
Ingredients
400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
1 or 2 fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of bottled pepper
150g of cooked frozen peas
1 x 145g tin of tuna chunks in oil or brine – drained
1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & ground back pepper.
Method
Make the salad as in Pasta, Peas, Peppers, & Sweetcorn Salad
Break up the tuna into smaller pieces and add this to the salad. and mix it in
Salt & pepper to taste – (you will need less salt if you are using the tuna in brine).
Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad with Polish Smoked Sausage.
Ingredients
400 – 500g cold cooked pasta.
1 small tin of sweetcorn, drained (or frozen loose sweetcorn – cooked)
1 or 2 fresh red peppers or 2-3 pieces of bottled pepper
150g of cooked frozen peas
200g of Polish smoked sausage or ham
1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
Salt & ground back pepper
Method
Make the salad as in Pasta, Peas, Peppers & Sweetcorn Salad.
Slice the sausage into thin slices and then chop these into halves and quarters.
Add this is to the salad and mix in
Salt & pepper to taste.
Hard Boiled Egg Garnish
1 or 2 hard boiled eggs can be chopped and used to garnish the tuna or smoked sausage salads.
Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter and marks the beginning of Holy Week.
Palms are blessed in church on this day to commemorate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
Of course palm trees do not grow in Poland and so other plants are substituted. Often pussy willow is used as the catkins are usually out around this time. My mother always called pussy willow – palma – the Polish for palm.
Twigs For Sale in the Old Square in Kraków
Palms are also made from dried grasses and corn which are often dyed to make them colourful or from coloured paper which is rolled and the edges cut to make a fringe.
In many villages the farmers would make huge palms for the procession completing with each other to see who had the biggest and best.
The Main Square in Kraków – Decorated with Large Palms
It is still Lent in Holy Week so the food eaten is simple and often meat, butter and egg free. Most baking and cooking done now is to make food to eat at Easter.
As well as going to church services it is a time for houses to undergo a massive clean-up especially inside.
Holy Saturday is the last day of Lent – the day before Easter.
This is the only day in the Catholic year on which Mass is not celebrated.
In Poland there is the tradition on this day to have the food for Easter blessed.
This has its roots in the early medieval church in the 12th Century and the food would have originally been just bread and eggs.
In times past in villages the priest would have gone around to people’s houses and blessed the food there. Nowadays people bring a basket of food to the church and the food is blessed with Holy Water and is then taken home and not eaten till the Easter Sunday Breakfast.
Once blessed this basket is called święconka meaning that which has been blessed
The basket is lined with a cloth – often white linen and sometimes embroidered. A white linencloth is used to cover the basket. These cloths represent the white shroud in which Jesus was wrapped.
What goes into the basket depends on several factors but hard boiled eggs and bread are usually present. Everything in the basket has a symbolic meaning.
Eggs – Christ’s Resurrection – a symbol of life.
Bread – Christ as the Bread of Heaven.
Salt – Preservation & Purification & Zest for Life
Horseradish – The Harsh & Bitter sacrifice of Christ.
Cooked Meat & Sausage – Joy & Abundance of God’s mercy.
Babka – The risen dough – this represents the Risen Christ.
Shaped Lamb (butter/cake/bread) – Christ – The Lamb of God -(see Lamb Bread)
Bigos is often called Poland’s national dish. It is Poland’s sweet and sour dish using sweet (fresh) cabbage and sour(fermented) cabbage (sauerkraut).
Quick Bigos
This is a smaller, quicker version than the traditional bigos recipe.
I often make it somewhere in between the traditional recipe and this quick recipe as all the amount are very flexible.
If you can only get large jars of sauerkraut then you can put half the contents into a plastic bag or box and freeze it for later use.
Getting Ready to Cook Bigos
BigosBigos
Ingredients
500g sauerkraut (1 small tin or jar or half a large jar)
300g fresh white cabbage – 1 small head or half a large head
100g of Frankfurters or Polish Ring
100g smoked bacon
1 large onion
100g tomato purée (1/2 tube)
20g plain flour
2 bay leaves
3 to 4 peppercorns
sugar or lemon juice to taste – optional
fat/oil to fry in
note – salt should not be needed as the sausage and bacon contain salt.
Finely chop the fresh cabbage into long strands and place in a large pan with the sauerkraut.
In a jug mix the tomato purée with some hot water and then add this to the pan. Add more boiling water to cover the cabbage mixture.
Add the bay leaves and peppercorns and then boil gently till the cabbage is becoming soft.
Slice up the various smoked sausages, chop the bacon into small squares and add to the cabbage mixture and boil gently till everything is soft.
Chop the onion into small pieces and fry till golden, add the flour and fry till the mixture is just about to burn and then add this mixture to the bigos.
Adjust the sourness to taste with sugar and or lemon juice.
Now you can either heat it all together gently over a low heat with a lid on the pan, stirring the mixture occasionally or put the mixture into a large oven proof dish (I use an enamelled dish) with a lid and put it in the oven at GM 4 – 180oC for about 2 hours.
Bigos tastes better if made one day, left overnight, and then reheated in a saucepan or in a dish in the oven.
Note
Bigos freezes well – I portion it up into manageable portions which will serve 2 or 3 – wrapping it in plastic bags within a plastic box to prevent the tomato staining the plastic.
Serving
Bigos is usually served with rye bread but I often serve it with boiled or mashed potatoes.
Bigos is often called Poland’s national dish. It is served at every large gathering: christenings, weddings, funerals and every other excuse for getting together for food and drink. It is best made in advance by at least a day and then reheated. My father used to talk about using a horse and cart to take large wooden barrels of bigos to where there was going to be a celebration.
It is Poland’s sweet and sour dish using sweet (fresh) cabbage and sour (sauerkraut) cabbage. How sweet and sour you make it depends on taste, I always use roughly equal amounts of fresh and sour cabbage – a large white cabbage to a large tin or jar of sauerkraut. You can add sugar or some lemon juice to alter the sweet/sour balance.
This was a Hunter’s stew with all the meat and game that was available in the long hard winters going into the pot with the cabbage. A variety of mixed fresh and smoked meats and sausages are used, the amount can vary with how much meat you have.
Served with rye bread with or without butter and a glass of beer or vodka, it is delicious.
The mixture of cabbage and tomato in bigos is very Polish, as a little girl I thought that cooked cabbage was always orange to red rather that pale to dark green as my mother always used the two together in all her cabbage recipes.
Tomatoes were brought to Poland in the 16th century by the Italian chefs who came with the Italian Princess Bona Sforza who married the Polish King, Zygmunt the Old. The Polish word for tomato – pomidor, shows its Italian origin.
Getting Ready to Cook BigosDried Mushrooms
Enamel PansEnamel Pans
I have many of these enamel pans they are good for slow cooking in the oven.
BigosBigosServing up Bigos
Traditional Bigos
There are lots of variations you can make to the following recipe and everyone seems to have their own version. I find the following proportions work out very well every time and the bigos is moist but not like a soup.
This makes a large amount which is good for a family gathering.
Often I make this in advance and then portion it up into 4 parts and then pack these into large plastic bags or tubs and freeze them – so I always have some on hand. Note – the tomato stains the plastic tubs so I often put a bag inside a tub. I also then wrap the tub in another bag as the aroma is strong even when frozen and this stops it affecting other food in the freezer.
Ingredients
900g sauerkraut (1large tin or jar)
500g fresh white cabbage (1 large head)
200g to 400g Pork (shoulder or spare rib)
150 to 300g mixed smoked sausage such as kabanos, Polish ring or Frankfurters
150g smoked bacon
1 large onion
10g dried mushrooms
100g tomato purée (1/2 tube)
20g plain flour
2 bay leaves
3 to 4 peppercorns
sugar or lemon juice to taste –optional
fat/oil to fry in.
note – salt should not be needed as the sausage and bacon contain salt.
Put the sauerkraut in a large pan and add boiling water until it is covered and boil gently for 1 hour till it is soft. Take care not to let it boil dry and push the sauerkraut down occasionally so it stays under the water.
Finely chop the fresh cabbage into long strands and place in another large pan with the dried mushrooms, add water to cover the cabbage and boil till soft and as with the sauerkraut take care it does not boil dry.
Pre heat the oven to GM3– 150o C
Chop the pork into small cubes and fry till brown on all sides.
Chop the bacon into small squares.
Add 100g of the bacon and all the pork to the sauerkraut and boil gently till everything is soft.
Make crisp skwarki* with the rest of the bacon and add to the sauerkraut.
Chop the onion into small pieces and fry till golden, add the flour and fry till the mixture is just about to burn.
Add the cooked fresh cabbage with all the liquid and the fried onion mixture to the sauerkraut.
Slice up the various smoked sausage and add to the bigos.
Add the tomato purée, bay leaves and peppercorns.
You can add some sugar or lemon juice at this stage; this depends on how sour you like the bigos and often depends on the sauerkraut used. I rarely do either of these.
Now you can heat it all together gently over a low heat with a lid on the pan or put the mixture into a large oven proof dish; I use a large oval enamelled dish, and put it in the oven for about 3 hours.
Bigos tastes better if made one day, left overnight, and then reheated in the pan or in the dish in the oven.
*skwarki – small squares of bacon fried till the fat comes out and you are left with little crisp bits.
Journey From A Polish Kitchen 