Bigos and Zurek

Two dishes sit at the hearty heart of Polish cooking. Bigos, the hunter's stew, simmers sauerkraut and fresh cabbage with several meats, sausage and mushrooms for hours, or days, into a rich, deep stew often said to taste better each time it is reheated. Zurek is a tangy, creamy soup of soured rye flour, with sausage and egg, sometimes served in a bread bowl.

History

The word bigos is not recorded before the 17th century, and at first it meant something quite different: any dish of finely chopped meat or fish, without cabbage, doused in butter and seasoned sour, sweet and spicy. Stanisław Czerniecki, chef to Prince Aleksander Michał Lubomirski, gave several recipes for "bigosek" - of capon, hazel grouse, carp, pike or crayfish - in his Compendium ferculorum of 1682, the oldest surviving cookbook printed in Polish. Made only of meat and imported spices, it was a dish for the nobility; the 18th century brought a poor man's version, "rascal's bigos", and the food historian Maria Dembińska traces the dish further back to a medieval layered stew of chopped vegetables called compositum. Where the word comes from is still argued, most often from a German root (Wikipedia, Bigos).

What to look for

• Bigos - the long-simmered hunter's stew of cabbage, meat and sausage.
• Zurek - the tangy sour rye soup with sausage and egg.
• The bread bowl - zurek served in a hollowed loaf.
• Reheated bigos - the stew said to improve each time it is warmed.

When to go

Year-round; hearty comfort food especially welcome in the cold, found in traditional restaurants and milk bars. A home-style or traditional restaurant does them best.

Practical notes

Both are hearty, robustly flavoured dishes rather than delicate ones, so come for comfort. The sourness of zurek surprises some. They are best at a home-style restaurant or milk bar rather than a tourist spot.

Nearby

Milk bars and traditional restaurants across Poland serve them; they belong with the Polish winter.