The Wawel Castle is a castle residency located in Wawel Hill and constitute one of the most historically and culturally significant sites in Poland. In 1978 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and forms a part of the Historic Centre of Krakow. The castle is one of the largest in Poland and represents nearly all European architectural styles of medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. More info here.
Learn to make (and taste) Krakow regional specialities
Located in Rynek Kleparski, the interactive Obwarzanek making workshop in Obwarzanek Krakowski’s Museum is fun and educative. Obwarzanek Krakowski, a popular snack in Kraków has the status of regional food with protected geographical indication. Not only did we learn to make these famous Obwarzanek, we also learnt the history of theses braided ring-shaped beauties of bread sprinkled with either salt, poppy seeds, or sesame seeds. After an interactive session of obwarzanek making, you can also indulge in the museum’s small café cum shop with coffee, bagels and some souvenirs. Interestingly, there are only 8 bakeries in Kraków who have the license to make these and around 150,000 pieces are made daily and distributed around the city.
More on Żwye Museum Obwarzanka
A prestigious certificate and the Obwarzanek we made for ourselves after an interactive Obwarzanek making workshop in Obwarzanek Krakowski’s Museum
Krako Slow Wines
Address: Lipowa 6F str., Cracow
Learn about and taste Polish wine with a wine tasting session at Krako wines. Even if you don’t do the wine tasting class as we did, you can sip and enjoy a wide variety of different wines, beers and spirits etc from around the world as you soak up the lovely atmosphere of this trendy find!. As a bonus, you can purchase all that you taste and bring some home with you too! We suggest you order a platter of charcuterie and cheese, paired with fresh salad, dips and bread, all Polish, of course. to accompany the experience.
More on Krako Slow Wines
Do leave aside a day or two to leave Krakow and head outside to the gorgeous countryside. Jut an hour or so outside Krakow we mother and daughter duo, Magna and Agnieszka Sendor for a tour of Ojcowski trout farm as well as a superb lunch of traditional homemade sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers to accompany the delicate trout which are smoked or baked. This is a gorgeous and popular spot where the long queues prove that it’s all about educating the palates (and minds), to appreciate the taste of honest food and respect our eco system. Do read our separate post about this amazing experience which you can find HERE (coming soon).
The farm is located in the very center of the strict nature reserve.
Address: Ojców 48, 32-047 Ojców
STOP PRESS!
Congratulations to Magdalena Węgiel, who we mentioned above. Magdalena is among the most innovative female farmers in the European Union as recognised at the “Innovation Award for Women Farmers 2018 – Innovative Solutions for Farming Sustainability – Women Farmers’ projects” competition”. Magdalena received an award from COPA-COGECA, the united voice of farmers and agri-cooperatives in the EU, which promotes the agriculture sector.
SEE the article HERE
Chlodnik: a beautiful pink cold beetroot soup that is a summer staple in Poland.
Lody: the home made ice creams that are so popular in Poland, especially those made with fresh seasonal fruits. There are many traditional ice cream parlours but a few have reached cult status… for example, Lody Tradycyjne in Starowiślna street where long queues are part of the process.
Kremówka or Papal Cream Cakes: Papal Cream Cake is a Polish type of cream/custard pie made of two layers of puff pastry, filled with whipped cream, creamy buttercream, vanilla pastry cream or sometimes egg white cream, and is usually sprinkled with sugar. (more on this here … Kremówka ~ Papal Cake)
Milk Bars: These historic milk bars (bar mleczny) used to be government subsidised cafeterias during the socialist post war Poland. Today, there are about 150 milk bars remaining in Poland and they serve popular Polish dishes at incredible prices. Some of the well known Milk Bars in Krakow are Pod Temidą (ul. Grodzka 43, Old Town), Bar Targowy ( ul. Daszyńskiego 19, Old Town), Milkbar Tomasza (Ul. Św. Tomasza 24, Old Town) which looks modern and more like an American-style diner, or the traditional Bar Kazimierz ( Ul. Krakowska 24, Kazimierz) in the historic Jewish neighborhood of Krakow.
Popular staples on Milk Bar menus… almost a mini recap of Polish Cuisine
- Pierogis: The stuffed dumpling of some kind, and Poland has the famous pierogi. The pierogi ruskie was a favorite of our group, filled with a potato, cheese and onion mixture. Pierogis are so culturally important that there is an annual dumpling festival held to honour this culinary heritage! This year’s Dumpling Festival (or Festiwal Pierogów) involved not only traditional and well-known dumplings but also various combinations of ingredients and interesting stuffing like salmon, lamb, deer meat or smoked cheese.
- Naleśniki: A crepe-like pancake with sweet or savory fillings
- Gołąbki: Meat and rice filled cabbage leaves
- Kiełbasa: Polish sausage, either eaten on its own, or added to a soup
- Barszcz: Similar to the Russian borscht, this is a delicious beet soup
- Obwarzanek krakowski: A bagel-like bread that is sold widely around the city by street vendors.
- Pączki: Donuts filled with rose marmalade and a variety of icing options including lemon, orange or cinnamon.