Warsaw pact lunch
’ EAT&DR|NK
1) Strawberry pierogi dumplings with honey and cinnamon; 2) carp and vegetables in gelatine; 3)Sledi opiekany (pickled battered herring); 4) Kielbasa Wegierska (smoked sausage); 5) Kielbasa Tatrzanska (smoked sausage); 6) Boczek (cured bacon)
A new Polish deli in Leith is bringing some home cooking to a burgeoning expat community. But will the rest of the shore’s residents like what’s on offer? Robin Lee samples a selection of Polonia’s more unusual bites.
H May 2004. the Iiuropean
Union welcomed ten new
countries into its economic fold. At the lime. scurrilous tabloid newspapers drew a caricature of armies of migrant workers. revving clapped-out car engines at their country's western border. ready to come and steal our livelihoods (and presumably our beer and virgins. too). The truth is that there has been steady migration from the former Iiastern Bloc to fill skills gaps and vacant jobs that native Scots can‘t do. and also to study.
In just over a year. the Polish community in Scotland has swelled by 50% to an estimated 30.000. and their most popular destination is lidinburgh and. more specifically. l.eith. The docks in l.eith were the first in Scotland to see Polish destroyers at the start of World War ll. and the history of seahound trade
between the two countries goes back several hundred years. Lucyna lillis. originally from (idansk. has lived with her husband Kelvin in lidinburgh for more than live years. Witnessing the rapid growth of the Polish community. she decided that the time was right to open a deli to serve it with authentic food. drink. newspapers and magazines from the mother country. ()pening on IS November. the business had instant success. ‘We‘ve been run off our feet.‘ says lillis. ‘We sold out of some products within two days.‘ In Poland. the emphasis is on taking fresh produce and eating it fresh. or preserving it by jellying. pickling or turning it into sausage. Deli Polonia has a large display fridge filled with preserved meat and sausages. Pork is usually the starting point. turned into strongly-smoked kir'l/ms‘u for example. striped [mack bacon and .\‘(l/(‘(’.\‘()II. a creation involving heart and tongue stuffed into a pig‘s stomach and
held in gelatine. It‘s more appetising than it sounds - and not in fact so very far from the ingredients of our own haggis. Sausage is commonly cured with combinations of garlic. paprika. marjoram. thyme and bay. It‘s dense. chewy and full of savoury llavour -— unlike the fatty. anaemic
HERRING FROM THE BALTIC IS PICKLED, SCANDINAVIAN FASHION - IT IS SOMETIMES BATTERED AND FRIED BEFOREHAND
sausage that is the unfortunate standard in the UK.
Pickled mushrooms and gherkins. potted meat. pate and a Polish version of sauerkraut are popular. the latter going into bigos. or hunter‘s stew. Bigos is a hearty. filling dish made with pork. ham. beef. smoked pork sausage. apples. tomatoes. onions. prunes. cabbage. sauerkraut. mushrooms. and - wait for it — garlic. wine and bay leaves. simmered together for a few hours. The combination of ingredients ensures that each mouthful is different. and because the flavour matures with time it's delicious after three or four days in the pot. >