Oscypek is the smoked sheep-milk cheese the Tatra highlanders bring down from the mountains. In Kraków it appears grilled, sliced into thin discs, served with cranberry jam, the canonical winter bar snack and Christmas-market dish.
Oscypek has been produced in the Polish Tatra Mountains since at least the 14th century by Górale (highlander) shepherds. The cheese is brined, then smoked over pine wood for two weeks, taking on a hard amber crust and a chewy, salty interior. The EU registered oscypek as a Protected Designation of Origin in 2008; only sheep-milk cheese smoked in the Tatra by traditional methods may carry the name. Kraków's Old Town cellar restaurants (Pod Aniołami, Morskie Oko) grill it sliced and serve with cranberry jam; the Rynek Główny Christmas market stalls have run grilled oscypek from open-flame grills since the 1990s.
3 editor picks for Oscypek in Kraków, ranked by editorial score. All Kraków signature dishes · Oscypek across every city.
Pod Aniołami ★ 4.3
stare-miasto · ul. Grodzka 35, 31-001 Kraków
Pod Aniołami in Kraków sits in a 13th-century cellar on Grodzka with a beech-wood grill at the centre of the room. Traditional Polish grilling, table service nightly.
Rynek Główny Christmas Market ★ 4.3
Rynek Główny, 31-042 Kraków
The Christmas market on Kraków's Rynek Główny runs from late November to 26 December: 80 stalls of mulled wine, grilled oscypek, pierogi and Polish craft.
Morskie Oko ★ 4.0
stare-miasto · Plac Szczepański 8, 31-011 Kraków
Morskie Oko in Kraków cooks Tatra-highlander Polish in a wooden-room dining hall with live folk music. Oscypek, kwaśnica cabbage soup, slow lamb.