History

Szare kluski (literally 'grey dumplings') take their name from the slightly grey colour of the raw-potato starch. The dialect dish belongs to the Wielkopolska peasant table, eaten across the Poznań countryside since the 19th century when potatoes settled into the regional staple. They appear on Modra Kuchnia and Hyćka chalkboards as the regional comfort food, often served alongside duck or kotlet schabowy with red cabbage.

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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: Gluten, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 1 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g floury potatoes for boiling
  • 500g floury potatoes for grating raw
  • 100g plain flour (potato starch is more authentic if available)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper
  • 200g smoked bacon, finely diced, for the topping
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped

Method

  1. Boil the first 500g of potatoes whole and in their skins for 20 minutes until tender. Peel while warm and mash smoothly.
  2. Peel and grate the second 500g of raw potatoes on the small holes of a box grater into a sieve over a bowl. Press to squeeze out the liquid.
  3. Let the squeezed liquid stand 5 minutes, pour off the water, scrape the starch back into the grated potato.
  4. Combine the mashed and grated potatoes, flour, egg, salt and pepper to a soft dough.
  5. Shape with floured hands into oblong dumplings around 6cm long.
  6. Drop into a wide pot of barely simmering salted water in batches. Cook 8 to 10 minutes until they float and feel firm to the touch. Lift out.
  7. Render the bacon in a dry pan, add the onion and cook 8 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Tip the dumplings into the bacon pan, toss to coat in the fat, and serve hot.

Tip from the editors. The proportion of raw to boiled potato controls the chew. More raw makes them denser and greyer; more boiled makes them lighter.

Where to eat szare kluski

Szare kluski in Poznań

Modra Kuchnia ★ 4.5

$$$$ Tasting 140-240 $Modern Polish

Modra Kuchnia in Jeżyce, Poznań is a small basement room on Mickiewicza, run by Szymon (kitchen) and Dorota (front), with a tight modern Polish menu.

OrderRoast duck with the modra kapusta that gives the room its name.

Book2 weeks ahead

TipBook the table by the open kitchen; you can see the entire pass and Szymon plates every dish himself.

Directions

Hyćka ★ 4.5

$$ Modern Polish

Srodka kitchen on Rynek Srodecki since 2014 from Sadowski couple; Wielkopolska classics: czernina, szare kluchy, namesake elderflower cordial.

Why locals goOn the Śródka side of the river, this Wielkopolska room is the city's most local regional kitchen but tourists rarely cross from Stary Rynek to find it.

TipBook by phone a day ahead and ask for the small room upstairs.

Directions

Podkoziołek ★ 3.9

$$ Greater Poland RegionalStary Rynek

Podkoziołek on Stary Rynek in Poznań is a Wielkopolska restaurant opposite the Koziołki, with handmade pierogi, plendze, czernina and golonka in a vaulted.

OrderPlendze (Greater Poland potato pancakes) with mushroom sauce.

TipTime your visit to 12:00 to catch the Koziołki, the mechanical goats above the town hall, butting heads.

Directions

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