A lot of my recipes lean on a handful of Polish ingredients: twaróg, kiełbasa, sauerkraut, smoked boczek, dried mushrooms and marjoram. In Poland nobody thinks twice about any of them. In an American supermarket some are easy, some are hiding under a different name, and a couple are not there at all.
So this is my list: what each one is, where to look for it in the US, and what to use when you cannot find it. If you are here for the recipes themselves, they are all on my Polish food page.
The Polish Ingredients, One by One
- Twaróg Fresh Polish curd cheese, dry and crumbly, and the base of sernik, pierogi ruskie and kluski leniwe. Most US supermarkets do not sell it, but most do sell farmer cheese, in a block or a tub, usually near the cottage cheese, and that is the closest thing on the shelf. Instead: make it. It is milk, a starter and a lot of waiting, and my homemade twaróg is what I recommend over anything in a tub.
- Kefir Soured milk you can drink. Plain kefir is on the shelf in plenty of US supermarkets now, so this is one of the easy ones, and it is the starter I use for twaróg. Instead: cultured buttermilk does the same job as a starter.
- Śmietana Polish soured cream. Everyday Polish recipes mostly use the 18% kind, and American sour cream has to be at least 18% fat, so it is a fair match. Temper it before it goes into a hot soup or sauce: stir a ladle of the hot liquid into the cream first, then pour it all back in, or it can split. Instead: crème fraîche is richer and holds up to heat better.
- Double cream When one of my recipes says double cream, I mean the British kind at about 48% fat. American heavy cream is at least 36%, and single cream is lower again. Instead: heavy cream is fine, but temper it the same way as sour cream, or add it near the end rather than simmering it for hours.
- Kiełbasa Polish smoked pork sausage, garlicky and properly smoky. A lot of supermarket “Polish sausage” is milder and smoother than the real thing, so read the label and look for smoked pork sausage with a short ingredient list. A Polish deli is the best place for it. Instead: order it from one of the shops further down this page, where it ships vacuum packed. It goes into my fasolka po bretońsku and łazanki.
- Boczek Pork belly. Polish recipes usually mean the smoked kind, boczek wędzony. The American match is a piece of smoked slab bacon from the deli or butcher counter, which you dice yourself. Most packet bacon is cured wet, which is why thin rashers spit and shrink away to nothing in the pan. Instead: thick cut smoked bacon if you cannot get a piece.
- Kapusta kiszona Sauerkraut. Every US supermarket sells it, but most of the jars and tins on the shelf have been pasteurised, so if you want it raw and alive look in the chilled section. It is the backbone of bigos. Instead: make a jar yourself, and my brine calculator works out the salt.
- Ogórki kiszone Cucumbers fermented in salt brine, with no vinegar at all. Be careful here: a jar with “Polish” on the label is not always the fermented kind. Krakus Polish dill pickles, for one, list vinegar and sugar in their ingredients. For the sour, cloudy, fermented kind look for Bubbies in the chilled section. Instead: make ogórki kiszone, which needs a jar, salt and some patience.
- Suszone borowiki Dried porcini, also sold as ceps. Italian dried porcini are the same mushroom, and small packets of them turn up in plenty of US supermarkets. They go into bigos, and they are what turns my zupa grzybowa into the Christmas Eve version.Instead: a bag of mixed dried wild mushrooms, though porcini give the deepest flavour.
- Majeranek Dried marjoram, the herb that makes bigos, żurek and Polish sausage taste the way they do. The jar of dried marjoram in any US spice aisle is the same herb. Instead: dried oregano is a close relative but a lot stronger, so use about half.
- Mąka żytnia and zakwas Rye flour, and the soured rye starter that żurek is built on. Polish delis sell zakwas in jars; outside one, you make it. Dark rye flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill, is on the shelf in a lot of big supermarkets. Instead: start the zakwas yourself from rye flour and water.
- Kasza Groats, mostly buckwheat and barley. Polish shops sell buckwheat both roasted, which is darker, and unroasted. In the US the roasted kind is often sold as kasha, and pearl barley is in every supermarket. Instead: for krupnik, plain pearl barley is exactly right.
- Chrzan Prepared horseradish: grated root with vinegar or lemon, sharp and hot. Creamed horseradish is mixed with cream or mayonnaise and is much milder, so check the jar. Instead: plain prepared horseradish from the condiment aisle, or grate fresh root yourself.
- Mak Poppy seeds. The small jars in the baking aisle are fine for a sprinkle, but a poppy seed cake takes far more, so buy those in bulk. Instead: there is no real swap for poppy seed in a Polish bake.
- Vegeta A dried vegetable seasoning from Croatia that sits in a lot of Polish kitchens anyway, and it goes into my braised chicken. It is easier to find than you might think: its own stockist list includes Price Chopper, Mariano’s and Walmart, and it is on Amazon. Instead: a good vegetable stock powder and a pinch of salt.
What a Normal US Supermarket Will Cover
More than you might expect. Sour cream, heavy cream, sauerkraut, dried marjoram, dried porcini, pearl barley, prepared horseradish, plain kefir and dark rye flour are all ordinary supermarket items, and Bubbies fermented pickles sit in the chilled section of a lot of them.
The hard ones are the same five almost everywhere: twaróg, proper kiełbasa, smoked boczek in a piece, zakwas and fermented cucumbers. Two of those you can make at home, and I would. The other three are what a Polish deli or an online shop is for.
If There Is a Polish Deli Near You
It is worth the trip for those hard five. Polish delis are easiest to find in the cities with long-standing Polish communities, Chicago, New York and New Jersey, Detroit and Hamtramck, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Philadelphia among them, but plenty of smaller towns have one too. Ask at the counter for boczek wędzony and fresh twaróg by name.
Ordering Polish Food Online
Fresh food by post is fine from a good supplier, as long as they pack it cold and send it quickly. These three ship across the US and say how they do it:
- Polana A Chicago shop selling pierogi, kiełbasa, soups and a lot more. Orders are packed in an insulated cooler with dry ice. They ship inside the United States only, so not to Canada or Puerto Rico. polana.com
- Piast Meats and Provisions Two shops in Garfield, New Jersey. Meat is vacuum packed and sent in an insulated cooler with frozen gel packs, and their shipping page puts the cost at roughly $25 to $50 a box in the continental US. piast.com
- Polish Deli Online A family-run New Jersey deli with pierogi, kiełbasa, cheeses and pantry goods. Anything chilled needs a shipping cooler added to the order. polishdelionline.com
FAQ: Buying Polish Ingredients in the US
Is farmer cheese the same as twaróg?
They are close relatives, both fresh curd cheeses, and farmer cheese is the nearest thing you will find in a US supermarket. It works in pierogi and in a baked cheesecake. If you want the real thing, twaróg is easy to make at home.
Why does supermarket Polish sausage not taste like kiełbasa?
Because a lot of it is made milder and smoother for a wide market. Real kiełbasa is coarser, garlicky and properly smoked. A Polish deli or one of the online shops above will get you much closer.
Why are my Polish dill pickles sweet?
Because they are vinegar pickles with sugar in the brine, even with “Polish” on the jar. Ogórki kiszone are fermented in salt brine with no vinegar, which is why they are sour and cloudy rather than sweet and clear.
Can I use American sour cream instead of śmietana?
Yes. US sour cream has to be at least 18% fat, the same as the everyday Polish kind. Temper it with a little of the hot liquid before it goes into a soup or sauce, or it can split.
What is boczek in English?
Pork belly. In most Polish recipes it means the smoked kind, and the closest thing in a US shop is a piece of smoked slab bacon from the deli or butcher counter.
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