13 Oct The Polish Shop: what to buy and what to do with it
Polski sklep in the UK
The Polish shop has piqued some interest of late here in the UK. Polish shops have been around since after the Second World War. When I arrived in Leicester in 1987 there was just one Polish shop, close to the Polish church. You couldn’t get twaróg there, from what I recall. Now, we have brilliant Polish shops in every city, every town, and often more than one. There are a couple of Polish shops in our little seaside town, as well as a bakery. My Daily Bread is hidden away behind the railway station and opens at odd times (most of the time, I get it wrong). As well as your usual Polish style bread – rye, wheat and spelt, you can order special breads there, for example bread bowls for żurek (fermented rye soup). They also have a selection of other cherry-picked, quality Polish items. For a bigger shop, I have just rediscovered my local Polish “szop” recently. When I last went, probably a couple of years ago, it wasn’t that well stocked. Now, it’s brimful of all my favourite items, complete with buckets of brined sauerkraut on the shop floor.
Times are changing
The British public finally seems to have warmed to the idea of the Polish shop. I believe that people are starting to overcome their fear of going in, enticed by the delicious-looking pastries and doughnuts (often displayed in the windows or near the cashier) and low prices. Polish cooking doesn’t seem quite as strange as it used to. Also, many of us are going back to shopping local, going to butcher’s baker’s and green grocer’s, because it’s a more wholesome experience. Why not add a Polish shop to the list? The recent flood of interest began with this Guardian article. Shortly after, someone contacted me about doing a short film, which has, sadly, failed to materialise (so far). A few weeks after that, BBC radio 4 Food Programme got in touch about taking part in this episode, entitled “Polski Sklep”. We went to a Polish shop in Stoke Newington on that occasion, where I bumped into a lovely lady called Basia who recognised me from my book and social media (the first time that’s ever happened!) and was also planning to make pierogi. We chatted for a while and when she left I ordered the wild cherries to make an extra pierogi fillings, inspired by our conversation. The whole experience perfectly illustrated what Polish shops are about – a sense of community, relaxed chatting, the sharing of recipes, experiences and ideas…
What I bought in the Polish shop and what I did with it
Since there has been so much interest in the Polish shop recently, I felt it was the right moment to delve into my shopping bags. To show what I buy and how I use it. I may make a little series out of it, if there’s interest. Kicking it off: my last shop. On the left you see two “jagodzianki” buns, filled with bilberries (tiny, wild blueberries), below them some kiełbasa toruńska, a deep, smokey sausage, delicious with “Sarepska” mustard (you’ll find a wide range of mustards in a polski sklep) on rye. Then, we have some cheese strings, smoked yet with no additives (as you would find in supermarket cheese strings). Next to the cheese strings, we have the twaróg, used in so many Polish dumplings (that’s what I used it for). Then we have the dried mushrooms – great for soup and, again, pierogi fillings. The sunflower is self explanatory I hope. In the blue bag, there’s sauerkraut – it was also for a pierogi filling, though I must admit I ate half of it straight out of the bag (so refreshing!). At the top of the photo, we have chleb wiejski – “country” bread, a simple sourdough. Below the bread, we have Kawa Inka, a “coffee” I used to drink as I child. Usually, it’s made from chicory, however, now they have this spent variety with barley and rye, and it’s delicious. Finally, some Lithuanian-style kwas, a fermented bread drink, which my partner has got into drinking ever since we visited the Baltic States (when we worked on Amber&Rye together).
More than anything, I appreciate the atmosphere of the Polish shop. Last time I took a friend whose mum is Polish, she hasn’t been to Poland since childhood. When we came out with our bags full, she said that she felt like she’d just been on holiday.