What is in season in Warsaw. and what to order when the market changes.

Spring

  • Asparagus (szparagi): White and green asparagus arrive at Hala Mirowska from late April through early June, dressed with butter and breadcrumbs in the bistro tradition.
  • Strawberries (truskawki): Polish strawberries hit market stalls in June, before the imported supply. Eaten with cream, layered in cakes, and shaped into the season's pierogi z truskawkami dessert filling.
  • Wild garlic (czosnek niedzwiedzi): Czosnek niedzwiedzi (bear's garlic) appears on neo-bistro menus through April and May, leaf-blade pestos and folded into vegetable pierogi at Alewino and Bez Gwiazdek.

Summer

  • Chanterelles (kurki): Kurki yellow chanterelles arrive in late July and run through August, sold by country foragers out of vans at Hala Mirowska and folded into cream sauces on placki ziemniaczane.
  • Sour cherries (wisnie): Polish wisnie sour cherries peak in July, used in soups, sweet pierogi, infused vodka (wisniowka), and the Mazovian cherry-and-vodka tradition every restaurant in the city pours by the glass.
  • Cold beetroot soup (chlodnik): Chlodnik litewski, the Lithuanian-Polish cold beetroot-buttermilk soup garnished with dill and hard-boiled egg, runs across every traditional menu through July and August.

Autumn

  • Wild mushrooms (grzyby): Polish foragers walk back from the Mazovian forests with porcini, chanterelles and bay-bolete through September and October, sold loose and dried at every market in the city.
  • Game (dziczyzna): Wild boar, venison and pheasant run on bistro menus through October and November, often plated with red cabbage and a juniper sauce in the modern Polish kitchens.
  • Plums (sliwki): Italian plums hit markets in early September, layering plum cake (placek ze sliwkami) on every bakery counter and filling sweet pierogi through to November.

Winter

  • Herring (sledz): Pickled and creamed herring runs the Christmas Eve Wigilia supper table and through the winter at every milk bar and vodka bar. Sledz w smietanie with raw onion is the canonical bar zakaska.
  • Bigos (hunters stew): Bigos, the slow-cooked sauerkraut and meat stew, peaks through December and January when cabbage is at its best. Every Polish restaurant in the city plates it through winter, ladled over rye bread.
  • Paczki (Fat Thursday): Paczki, the rose-petal-jam doughnut, anchor Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday, the Thursday before Lent) when queues form down Nowy Swiat outside Blikle and Lukullus from 06:00.

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Warsaw: 4-Hour Polish Food Tour★ 4.9 (46)

Guided tour · 4 hours

Warsaw: 4-Hour Polish Food Tour

Discover what pierogi, gołąbki and schabowy are on a 4-hour food tour of Warsaw, and experience the flavors of Polish cuisine. Learn about the local food culture and h...

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