Poland Day 10 – A Górale Evening!

Well, the evening turned out be pretty spectacular as well today. We had an excellent meal and were also entertained. How much better can it get?

We left our hotel just a bit before 7 for the short drive to Sabata, the restaurant where we had dinner. We were seated at one large table in a side section of the restaurant, so basically had that area to ourselves. Our dinner there was fantastic, and was some typical górale food, though I do not know the proper names of all that we ate. But I know it was good and I can still describe it for you!

Our meal began with bread and lard, or smalec. OK, I know what you’re thinking, but you’d be wrong. This is not just ordinary lard, this is pork fat that has been rendered. You know that Emeril says “pork fat rules” and his is right. Now I only put a little bit on my bread, though some put on quite a layer. But however you do it, it is a little bit of heaven with each bite, I’m telling you. The Polish people know how to cook and eat, and there are no overweight people in Poland that I could see, either.

For our zupa course, we had  some sort of meat soup that was absolutely wonderful. There were chunks of pork in it and perhaps just a few dumplings. But the broth was the star. It was meaty and heavily flavored with paprika, primarily. I could have drank this nectar of the gods all night, it was that good.  I even had seconds, that’s how much I liked it.

For salads we once again had a trio of fresh veggies. One was a red cabbage slaw. It was not very sweet which was a good thing, but it was tasty. The second was a coleslaw, shredded cabbage with some carrot and red pepper and a few other things, it was quite tasty. And the third was a celery root (celeriac) slaw, this was also quite a hit. It had a few raisins in it to give it some sweetness and a bit of acid, a nice balance of flavors. I didn’t leave any on the plate.

Our main course was a good ole meat and potatoes course, but certainly not at all ordinary. The potatoes were oven fried/roasted and seasoned with a bit of caraway, they were very good. And the meat… well, it was anything but ordinary. A thin cutlet of, I think, pork was topped with just  a tiny bit of sauerkraut, then a thick piece of country ham/bacon, and then some slices of ośćypek, and baked/broiled.  It was divine, absolutely divine. Again, I didn’t leave a speck on the plate, it was that good.

Finally, the desert. Well, we did have kawa with our dessert. But the dessert itself was a cheesecake, nice and flavorful but certainly not very sweet, which was nice. I am not sure what kind of cheese was in it, but it was very good and topped with a crumb topping. By this time in the meal, I was pretty full and I am sad to report that I did not quite finish the cheesecake, but only because I’m not a big dessert fan and I was already quite full.

But that is only half of the story. We also had entertainment! There was a górale band at this place and they came and played for us three times, a total of at least 6 song, and not short songs either. They were dressed in traditional górale garb and sang and played for us, three violins, a bass, and an accordion. They were very good. Christine, one of our group members, has a lot of górale music at home and recognized several of the songs as well. It was excellent entertainment.

We had a good time this evening, and now I am back at my hotel, enjoying a nice cold piwo and writing in this blog. I have to get packed and ready this evening as well, as in the morning we leave very early for Krakow, but have a number of stops to make on the way.

I am glad for all of your comments and/or emails and glad that there are a number of people out there enjoying my blog. I have a lot, lot more to say about Poland, just not enough time in the day to say it all. But suffice it to say that Poland is a wonderful country, I can well see why Poles are so strongly nationalistic and why they as a culture have lasted for over a thousand years. Not many other cultures on this earth have such a long and rich history as has Poland. And in today’s world, they are just coming of age as a country, it is truly amazing to see this happening right before my very eyes. You cannot imagine how it is, you cannot. You’ll just have to come over with me on my next trip to see it for yourself! But for now, dobranoc!