{"id":2501,"date":"2016-09-22T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/?p=2501"},"modified":"2017-07-10T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T15:26:46","slug":"my-trip-to-krakow-poland-the-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/my-trip-to-krakow-poland-the-food\/","title":{"rendered":"My Trip to Krakow, Poland: The Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just returned from a trip to Krakow, Poland<\/a> last week where I was speaking at a software developer conference. \u00a0I posted details of that experience here<\/a>. \u00a0I also posted details about my sightseeing experiences here<\/a>. \u00a0This post, however, is dedicated to all the wonderful food that I ate\u00a0while I was there. \u00a0The lighting was not great in most of these restaurants, so I will apologize in advance for the quality of these photos.<\/p>\n

The food during the 2 conference days was catered and it was all very good, but I didn’t take notes nor take any photos of those particular meals.<\/p>\n

The conference organizers took all the speakers out to dinner the evening before the conference started. \u00a0They took us to a bistro and restaurant called Kogel Mogel<\/a> which was just a couple of short blocks from the central town square.<\/p>\n

\"01-kogel_mogel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We stared with a wonderful\u00a0sour rye soup (Zurek or zur<\/a>) with mushrooms. \u00a0It also had some\u00a0sausage in it and also some\u00a0hard boiled egg. \u00a0I apologize for not getting a photo of it. \u00a0It was super\u00a0tasty. \u00a0Different from anything I’ve ever had before. \u00a0It’s made with fermented or soured grains. \u00a0I liked it a lot.<\/p>\n

Our main course was a chicken schnitzel<\/a> with a mushroom\u00a0sauce and mild peppercorns. \u00a0A\u00a0schnitzel is a meat that’s thinned by pounding and\u00a0is then coated with flour, egg, and bread crumbs and then fried. \u00a0We also had potato dumplings (kluski slaskie<\/a>) which were pretty good. \u00a0Especially when dipped in the mushroom sauce from the chicken.<\/p>\n

\"02-chicken_and_potato_dumplings\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For dessert we had a creme brulee<\/a>, which was to die for. \u00a0A week later, my mouth still waters when I think about it.<\/p>\n

\"03-creme_brulee\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next morning, which was the first morning of the conference, I ate breakfast down in the hotel lobby. \u00a0I stayed at the Novotel Krakow Centrum<\/a> hotel, which was just off the Vistula\u00a0river, across from Wawel Castle. \u00a0It’s a very nice and modern hotel. \u00a0The breakfast buffet was quite impressive and it was included in the cost of the room. \u00a0I didn’t eat too much, though because I don’t eat heavy breakfasts and I didn’t want to be weighed down at the conference.<\/p>\n

\"06-my_first_breakfast\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I should have taken a photo of the entire spread, which was quite impressive. \u00a0I did get a photo of the meats and also of the cheeses, though.<\/p>\n

\"05-breakfast_meats\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"04-breakfast_cheeses\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That evening I found a great little authentic old country restaurant, also within a couple short blocks\u00a0of the central town square. \u00a0This family friendly restaurant is called Morskie Oko<\/a>\u00a0and it is in the style of an old Highlander’s Inn. \u00a0While I was eating, live entertainment included singing and dancing Highlanders in full costumes, plus live musicians.<\/p>\n

\"07-morskie_oko\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"07-morskie_oko_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The food was really incredible here. \u00a0I started with an appetizer of baked prunes wrapped in bacon fat. \u00a0Now if you like your bacon cooked well done and crispy, this dish is NOT\u00a0for you. \u00a0This bacon was very thick … probably hand carved … and it was very moist and greasy. \u00a0It was so yummy, though. \u00a0I could barely even taste the prunes through all that\u00a0bacon fat. \u00a0Mmmmmmmmmm.<\/p>\n

\"08-baked_prunes_wrapped_in_bacon_fat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next I ordered the sauerkraut soup which had sauerkraut and potatoes and also a small rib in it. \u00a0I love sauerkraut, so this soup was delicious! \u00a0It’s sour, but it’s a different kind of sour than the fermented rye grain soup I’d had the previous night.<\/p>\n

\"09-sauerkraut_soup_with_rib_and_potato\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For my main dish, I had the boar loin in red pine mushroom sauce. \u00a0Oh. \u00a0My. \u00a0Gosh. \u00a0This boar meat was quite tender. \u00a0Similar to\u00a0a nice steak. \u00a0It had a wild taste but not too wild. \u00a0It was amazing. \u00a0It had grill marks on it, so it was cooked, at least partially, over an open flame. \u00a0And the red pine mushroom sauce was really great. \u00a0It tasted a lot like a red wine sauce, but I’m not sure whether that taste only\u00a0came from the red pine mushrooms or not, since I’ve never had those before.<\/p>\n

\"10-boar_loin_in_red_pine_mushroom_sauce\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The portions were not too big, so I actually had some room left for dessert. \u00a0So I ordered a walnut ice cream sundae with hot fudge, whipped cream, and roasted hazelnuts. \u00a0I hadn’t planned on eating the entire thing, but it was so good. \u00a0I couldn’t help myself!<\/p>\n

\"11-walnut_ice_cream_sundae_with_hot_fudge_and_roasted_hazelnuts\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And here is my breakfast on my second morning in the hotel lobby. \u00a0Meat, cheese, and a bit of scrambled eggs. \u00a0The breakfast of champions!<\/p>\n

\"12-my_second_breakfast\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That evening I was tired from the conference, so I just stayed in and ordered room service. \u00a0This is just an appetizer of\u00a0shrimp with garlic and chilli, but it was all I needed that evening. \u00a0It was very yummy. \u00a0We had snacks all day long at the conference, so I wasn’t exactly starving at dinner time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also got this warm soft brownie and ice cream dessert from room service. \u00a0So warm. \u00a0So soft. \u00a0So fudgy. \u00a0It was delicious.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next day was Saturday, and the conference organizers took us speakers out for lunch at a nice restaurant called Miod Malina<\/a>, which again, was only a couple short blocks from the central town square.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the Bruschetta<\/a>, which was very simple and very good.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And I ordered the sour rye soup again, since I loved it so much a couple days earlier. \u00a0Many restaurants, including Miod Malina<\/a>, serve it in a bread bowl.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Miod Malina<\/a>\u00a0put\u00a0a lot more meat in this sour rye soup\u00a0than did\u00a0Kogel Mogel<\/a>, but the\u00a0Kogel Mogel<\/a>\u00a0version was more sour (sour being\u00a0good). \u00a0Both were very good in their own way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I finally got to dig into some good old fashioned Polish pierogis<\/a>, also known as dumplings. \u00a0The ones I ordered\u00a0were fried meat pierogis, but the restaurant also bakes them and also has a fruit version and a potato\/onion version. \u00a0These meat pierogis had 3 different meats inside. \u00a0Some had pulled pork. \u00a0Some had beef. \u00a0And some had veal, I think. \u00a0They were really awesome!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This was not my plate … it was one of the other conference speakers … but I had to take a photo of it. \u00a0I had seen several people eating these while I was in Poland and it looks really good. \u00a0It’s veal\u00a0knuckle, otherwise known as veal shank.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That same evening, I had my dinner at the Wesele Restaurant<\/a>, which was directly in the town square.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This time I tried the sauerkraut and mushroom fried pierogis and they were so stinking good! \u00a0I could eat 4 or 5 plates of these things!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had ribs with plum sauce which was pretty good, although I don’t think plums are really my thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And I also ordered fried cabbage as a side dish. \u00a0I’d never had this before and it was mild, but it was very good. \u00a0My pee smelled like sauerkraut for the next 2 days, and I think it might have been from this particular dish. \u00a0Although, I guess it could have been from other \u00a0dishes I’d had containing sauerkraut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My last full day in Krakow was Sunday, and I had lots of sightseeing and shopping to do, so I went straight to the central town square and ate breakfast at this little handmade doughnut shop called Krakowskie Paczki, which means Krakow Packages. \u00a0It’s a popular little shop\u00a0as there was quite a line of customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They also sold waffles. \u00a0So I got a jelly filled doughnut and a waffle with blackberry jam. \u00a0The filling in the doughnut was different than anything I’d ever tasted and maybe it’s an acquired taste, but the doughnut itself was spectacular. \u00a0And the waffle was quite good too. \u00a0And yes, I had Coke for breakfast. \u00a0Hey, I was on vacation! \u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This entire day went by pretty fast since I was trying to experience the entire central town square and also buy a bunch of souvenirs, so I didn’t actually eat lunch. \u00a0And when dinner time rolled around, I wasn’t exactly starving either. \u00a0So I decided to just get an appetizer. \u00a0I went to a fancy restaurant on the square called Szara<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had heard a lot about Beef Tartare or Steak Tartare<\/a>, and I had seen lots of people eating it here in Poland, so I decided to try it. \u00a0Even though it is raw ground beef and raw egg yolk. \u00a0It was actually pretty good. \u00a0I was not a fan of the smoked herring or whatever that fish is on the plate. \u00a0But when I mixed all the other ingredients together, it was an interesting and nice little treat. \u00a0Going around the plate, there was raw chopped onion, chopped tuna, I believe, chopped pickes, butter, and the sauce tasted like a mild honey mustard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I finished my small dinner meal with an ice cream of sorts called Pistachio Semifreddo<\/a> with caramel and chocolate sauce. \u00a0It’s very light, like a frozen mousse. \u00a0A pretty fancy dish.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, that about covers all the awesome food I ate while in Poland!\u00a0Tomorrow I\u2019ll publish a blog post detailing the trip in general along with some of my random observations about\u00a0Krakow, Poland.<\/p>\n

Thanks for your interest!<\/p>\n

Kurt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just returned from a trip to Krakow, Poland last week where I was speaking at a software developer conference. \u00a0I posted details of that experience here. \u00a0I also posted details about my sightseeing experiences here. \u00a0This post, however, is dedicated to all the wonderful food that I ate\u00a0while I was there. \u00a0The lighting was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[110,109,108],"tags":[573,574,395,575,278,576],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2501"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2606,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501\/revisions\/2606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}