Polish lunch

I know very little about Poland, despite having visited it a number of times during the bad old days. Then, I ate forgettable meals in cold hotels in dreary towns like Wroclaw and the unspeakable Brzeg Dolny. A feature of the food was “the State chicken”, the rumour being that the same bird, possibly a chicken, was used over and over again, and was finally suspended by a string in bowls of warm water to provide the soup course. I can remember many other negative experiences, best forgotten.. In fact the only positive memory I have is of the amazing Old Town in Warsaw, rebuilt, brick by brick, after the War. Oh yes, and the spectacular bosoms of many Polish women, but then I would notice that, wouldn't I?

So, lunch today was a wonderful experience. The Polish ladies in our congregation put on a “Polish lunch”. I went mainly because it was a fundraising event (The church roof is in need of repair, what church roof isn't?), but the food turned out to be a revelation. I gorged and eventually staggered out, carrying my stomach in a wheelbarrow.

I tried to get down the names of the dishes, both main and dessert, and it goes something like this (I had to google for some of the ingredients):

Main course: Pierogi – dumplings; Gołąbki - type of cabbage roll; Chłodnik - cold beet soup; Barszcz - dumplings with mushroom filling; Flaczki - meat stew (?); Żurek – potatoes with Polish sausage and egg; Bigos - stew of sauerkraut and meat; Kiełbasa - sausage 
Desserts: Makowiec - sweet poppy seed-swirl cake, with raisins and walnut; Pączek - closed donut filled with rose petal jam; Sernik – cheesecake; Kutia – a pastry with wheat, poppy seeds, nuts, raisins and honey.

Envoi:the Polish ladies there were as attractive as the food. They brought back memories too, but I will say no more than that....