Skip the 30-dish encyclopedia. These are the foods I would actually tell foreign friends to try on their first visit.
ONLY TIME FOR THREE?
Add bigos if you are visiting in colder weather, and a pączek whenever you pass a good bakery.
My joking shorthand: “Polish ramen.”
A hot, sour rye soup that is filling, salty and deeply comforting — usually with white sausage, egg, horseradish and marjoram. It is not literally ramen, of course, but it fills a similar emotional niche: the bowl you want when you are hungry, cold or tired.
The obvious one — but order the right filling.
Start with pierogi with potato and curd cheese (often still called ruskie), meat, or cabbage and mushrooms. Good pierogi should have soft dough and a generous filling.
Poland's slow-cooked cabbage comfort food.
Sauerkraut and fresh cabbage cooked slowly with meat, sausage, mushrooms and spices. Every family and restaurant does it a little differently, and it is especially good in colder weather.
The Polish comfort-food classic.
A large breaded pork cutlet, usually served with potatoes and a vegetable side. Think schnitzel's Polish cousin, but with its own home-cooking identity.
The Polish late-night street-food baguette.
A long open baguette traditionally baked with mushrooms and cheese, then finished with ketchup. Modern versions can have almost anything on top.
Stuffed cabbage, much better than the English name sounds.
Cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling, commonly meat and rice, then served with tomato or mushroom sauce. A very typical home-style Polish meal.
Do not leave Poland without trying one.
A Polish filled doughnut, traditionally with rose or plum jam, though bakeries now make many versions. Look for a proper bakery rather than just grabbing the first packaged one.
A mountain cheese worth trying in the south.
A smoked sheep's-milk cheese associated with the Tatra region. Often grilled and served with cranberry sauce.