History

Eel-smoking on the Hel Peninsula goes back centuries; the alder-wood method shaped the Kashubian fishing villages along the Baltic coast. Smoked eel became a luxury export through the Hanseatic period, prized at Gdańsk merchant tables and shipped across northern Europe. Today it appears as a starter at Targ Rybny Fishmarkt and Cała Naprzód, and shows on most Pomeranian Christmas tables. The Hel fishery still supplies the city's restaurants daily through the autumn season.

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Warsaw

Guided tour · 3h 30m

Warsaw: Polish Food Tour

The Polish food tour is a great way to experience a must-try cuisine of this amazing country. A professional guide will teach you all there is to...

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Common allergens: Fish, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 6Hands-on 20 minTotal 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g hot-smoked or cold-smoked Baltic eel fillet, skinned
  • 8 thick slices dense rye sourdough
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened
  • 60g freshly grated horseradish (or 4 tbsp prepared horseradish, drained)
  • 200g full-fat creme fraiche
  • 1 small bunch dill, fronds picked
  • 1 small bunch chives, finely chopped
  • 1 cucumber, peeled into ribbons
  • 1 lemon, half juiced and half cut into wedges
  • Pickled green peppercorns, to garnish (optional)
  • Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Take the eel out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving so the fat softens. Cut into 2cm slices across the fillet.
  2. Mix the horseradish into the creme fraiche with a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of salt and black pepper. Taste; the heat should be assertive.
  3. Butter the rye slices generously to the edges; the butter shields the bread.
  4. Lay 2 ribbons of cucumber on each slice, slightly overlapping.
  5. Arrange 3 to 4 slices of eel on each, glossy skin-side up.
  6. Spoon a stripe of horseradish creme fraiche down the centre.
  7. Scatter with dill, chives and a few peppercorns, finish with cracked black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges and chilled aquavit.

Tip from the editors. Hot-smoked eel is firm and flaky; cold-smoked is silky and sliceable. Both work; choose by texture preference. Freshly grated horseradish loses heat in hours; use it the same day.

Where to eat smoked baltic eel (węgorz wędzony)

Smoked Baltic eel (Węgorz wędzony) in Gdańsk

Targ Rybny - Fishmarkt ★ 4.2

$$ SeafoodUntil Mon-Sun 24:00

Targ Rybny - Fishmarkt in Gdańsk runs a midnight close every day, the latest-serving proper seafood kitchen in the centre. Smoked eel, oysters, Baltic fish.

TrySeafood plates

TipLast orders 23:30 for kitchen; the bar runs until midnight Kitchen close differs from bar close.

Directions Book

Cała Naprzód ★ 4.0

$$ Polish SeafoodMain Town

Cała Naprzód in Gdańsk crowns the Maritime Culture Centre on Tokarska with a fourth-floor terrace beside the medieval Crane. Located in Main Town.

OrderPike-perch fillet with spinach and cauliflower, or the pike-perch and smoked-trout pierogi.

TipTake the museum's central glass lift directly to the fourth floor.

Directions Book

Restauracja Kubicki ★ 4.3

$$ PolishMain Town

Restauracja Kubicki in Gdańsk has run since 1918 on Wartka Street, the oldest surviving room in town. Book the window tables for the Motława view at sunset.

OrderThe eisbein, the kitchen's century-old never-altered dish.

TipBook the window tables for the Motława view at sunset Walk-ins usually OK.

Directions Book

Restauracja Filharmonia ★ 4.2

$$ Modern Polish

Restauracja Filharmonia is a modern polish room in Gdansk. Cross from Długie Pobrzeże; the dining-room view back to the Old Town is the trip.

Why locals goOn Ołowianka Island opposite the Old Town, reached by a footbridge most visitors skip; the most committed Kashubian kitchen in the centre.

TipCross from Długie Pobrzeże; the dining-room view back to the Old Town is the trip.

Directions

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