Cebularz, the Lublin Onion Flatbread

The cebularz is about fifteen centimetres across, a soft wheat dough pressed flat with a rim and covered with chopped onion mixed with poppy seed, baked until the onion is soft and the edges have coloured. It comes from the baking traditions of Lublin and the surrounding province and has been made in the city for well over a century. Since 2014 the name cebularz lubelski has been protected, so bakeries using it work to a set recipe. It is eaten warm, on its own, standing up, usually within a few minutes of leaving the bakery, because it is best hot and dull by the afternoon.

What you actually see

• The topping - chopped onion and poppy seed baked soft into a pressed rim of dough.
• The size - a saucer-sized round, sold as a single item rather than by weight.
• The protected name - the recipe fixed under the Lublin designation since 2014.
• Morning batches - bakeries near the old town selling them straight from the oven.

When to go

Morning, when the first batches come out; by mid afternoon most bakeries have only what has been sitting for hours, and a cold cebularz is not worth eating. All year round. Around the summer festivals in Lublin the old town bakeries sell out earlier than usual, so buy on the way in rather than on the way back.

Honest expectations

It is a plain thing: bread and onion, nothing more, and visitors expecting something elaborate are usually underwhelmed. It goes stale within hours and does not travel. The onion leaves you with strong breath for the rest of the morning. Versions sold outside the province under the same name are often thicker and drier than the real one.

Nearby

Lublin old town, the Krakow Gate and the castle with its painted chapel are all within a few streets.