Polish sausage - Polska kiełbasa

Bigos (Hunter's stew) and sausages at our Polish wedding:))

Talking about Polish sausages...

Poland is known for a large variety of sausages and their awesome taste.

Polish sausages are smoked or fresh, made of pork, beef, veal, turkey and lamb. They are seasoned with pepper, garlic, marjoram and caraway. Sausages can be grilled, fried, boiled, and many of them can be eaten cold. They are a great addition to soups, Hunter's Stew (bigos) and Breton beans (fasolka po bretońsku). Fried or grilled sausage is often served with caramelized onions, pickles, slice of bread, ketchup and mustard. Sauerkraut and horseradish are also popular sides.

I definitely miss having a large selection of flavorful Polish sausages, so what's left is searching for Polish and European stores.

After we moved to Minnesota, our search led us to the store in Minneapolis, where the sausages are made! We stop there to buy fresh, traditional Polish sausage and blood sausage, called kaszanka/kiszka. Apparently kaszanka is my husband's favorite and he is looking forward to another trip to Minneapolis and buying more sausages for BBQ! :)

A few Polish sausages worth knowing about

(please keep in mind that there are hundreds of sausages, that differ from region to region):

• kabanosy (kabanos - singular form) - dried, very thin, usually long sausage - great for snacking, often served as appetizer.
• kiełbasa krakowska - smoked, thick sausage - served sliced, on bread, topped with tomatoes, seasoned with salt & pepper.
• kiełbasa myśliwska (Hunter's sausage) - smoked and dried sausage with characteristic taste and aroma of juniper - great with bread.
• biała kiełbasa - white sausage - served with traditional Easter soup "żurek" ("żur") or baked with onions; can be served with horseradish sauce.
• kaszanka/kiszka - black sausage, blood sausage - served grilled or fried with caramelized onions, slice of bread, ketchup and mustard, often with sauerkraut.

Tradition - Polish sausage by the campfire...
And sound of the guitar....
Great times!