The most popular products from Poland
At Grandpa's Café you will find a small market with over 100 products from Poland and few products from Polish vendors in Chicago or Seattle. These products are becoming more and more popular among the Portland Polonia. The list of the most popular products is below.
Erik's favorite treats from Poland, Kukułka and Ptasie Mleczko.
Ptasie Mleczko (in the picture above) is a kind of vanilla marshmallow/soufflé covered in chocolate. Ptasie Mleczko literally translates into Bird’s Milk. It was first introduced to Poland by the E Wedel company in the 1930s. Ptasie Mleczko might win the prize for hardest to pronounce Polish candy. There is a wikipedia page devoted to them:
Chałwa (halva) is one of the worlds oldest candies. The earliest references date as far back as 3000 B.C. It originated in Turkey and it was introduced in Poland in 1683 after a Polish King defeated the Turkish Army surrounding Vienna, Austria. Since then, chalwa has been very popular in Poland. Now it can be found in every sweet shop in Poland. Chałwa is made from vanilla flavored sesame pulp. Ingredients include tahini and sugar. Tahini is created by grinding sesame seeds into a smooth creamy butter.
Kiełbasa - there are many different kinds of kiełbasa. The most popular kiełbasa at Grandpa's Café is the kind called "Kabanosy". There is a wikipedia page for " Kabanosy":
Pierogi - again there are several kinds of pierogi with different filling. We have Potato and Cheese, Kraut and Mushroom, Meat, and Blueberry pierogi, as well as mushroom filled mini-dumplings (uszka), meat filled potato dumplings (pyzy), and sweet cheese filled crepes.
Piwo - The Grandpa's Cafe sells over 10 different brands of piwo (Polish beer). The most popular Polish beer is "Żywiec".
Krówki is a cream fudge made of milk, butter, sugar and vanilla. It translates to "small cows". Krówki is probable the most popular sweet in Poland. There are at least a dozen companies that make this candy, each with their own twist on the original recipe. Krówki is also made at homes.
Chrzan (horseradish) is a very popular spice in Polish cuisine.
