Polish Cuisine. Cooking in PolandPolish cuisine has been influenced by German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Belarussian, Lithuanian Slowakian, Czechs Austro-Hungarian, Russian and even Italian Cuisines. Polish cuisine today is hearty and nourishing with meat still being one of the main products. Polish sausages are also known far beyond the Polish borders. Another main product in the Polish cuisine is fish, especially carp. The Baltic Sea provides a wealth of fish such as codfish, salmon and herring. Additionally, fresh water fish such as trout, catfish or walleye are very popular in Poland. As far as vegetables go, potatoes and pickled vegetables such as cucumbers, beetroot, cabbage (sauerkraut) and kohlrabi are an essential part of Polish cooking. When used fresh, the vegetables are usually fully cooked. The Polish housewives and cooks don't like their veggies 'al dente'. Vegetables are often served with breadcrumbs on top mixed with brown butter. This way of serving has become so popular and is so typical for the Polish kitchen that it even has its own name amongst professional chefs around the world - 'a la polonaise'. Usually the Polish drink mineral water, buttermilk, and fruit juices along with their meals. Tea is preferred over coffe in Poland. The number one alcoholic beverage in Poland is beer, although wine is slowly catching up, especially since Poland has become a member of the EU. Vodka-consumption is slowly decreasing. Still, Poland produces some very good and world-reknown vodkas such as Chopin, Wyborowa, Gvori Vodka, 3 Vodka, or Belvedere. Traditional Polish food
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