dlq04

That and old German ring baloney are some foods I really love. We are lucky to have local meat market, even if its way on the other side of town, that was built around 1930 and is famous for their 35 varieties of homemade fresh and smoked kielbasa and sausage. The varieties of sausage include pineapple, banana hot pepper and traditional Polish sausage. 'For the 3-day period around Easter, they sell about 5,000 pounds of kielbasa alone,”.... essential for those of Polish heritage I'm told. Using fresh meat and real hickory wood for smoking in making the kielbasa is a store tradition. If you like something a little warmer, that will insure you grab a beer or something similar, then go with their cheddar cheese and jalapeño pepper sausage. I had that for snacks last night. Tonight was the first time I tried the pineapple sausage - which I really liked.

Did I make you hungry?

Matt_in_VA

Dave,

My Father was a first generation American. Some of his older siblings were born in Poland. Back in the 50's I asked him to teach me to speak Polish, as his parents spoke Polish in their home. Unlike immigrants today, his response was: "You are an American and have no reason to learn Polish."

He died in 1986. He had no way of knowing that in 1998/1999 that NATO would expand to include Poland, and that I would spend months of life (generally weeks at a time) in Poland. Needless to say if I knew how to speak Polish it would have been very helpful.

With that stated: I found a lot of the food in Poland "challenging". Things like "Blood Sausage" (which IMO is like eating liver with blood and sand thrown in), or Head Cheese is not on my menu. I was at a banquet at a conference in Poland where I had to walk around about sixty linear food twice to find something to eat. Besides the fruit.Most of it was things like Head Cheese, or other really fatty stuff. As I stated on another thread. I often would lose 8-10 pounds during a ten day trip to Eastern Europe. Trout preserved with salt, fried Salmon, and runny scrambled eggs were among my not so favorites.

With all of that stated, and out of the way. My Mother now lives in Riverhead, NY which has an area known as Polish Town, USA. As the North Fork of Long Island NY has a very large Polish population. There is a place called the Euro Deli that makes their own Kielbasa and sell really good Bakkas.

But while I was a kid, I have fond memories of me going to Greenpoint NY with my Father, where he would buy Kielbasa, both smoked and fresh right from a packing house that was both retail & wholesale that supplied a lot of restaurants with their product back then. They sold it by the yard. They also sold Kosciuszko Mustard that came in 12 OZ beer mugs with a snap on lid. IMO it is still a very good mustard.

At Easter time he would buy "fresh Kielbasa" and then we would also go to the Eagle Bakery down the street and buy Chrusciki. One of my favorite treats back then.

Thanks for the memories.

NNY S2k

My mom's parents were both born in Poland so I grew up eating plenty of Polish food. Love most of it and like Matt never was a fan of blood sausage and head cheese.
Levi

Headchef

Love a good ring baloney with some cheese and crusty french bread!

Legal Bill

My dad was born in Sweden. he loved liverwurst.

dlq04

I like liverwurst and I was born in PA. My dad loved canned sardines. OMG, no thanks.

Lainey

Rick will eat canned sardines then try to kiss me. I run for the hills! My Dad used to work in a small grocery store owned by a Polish man. They used to smoke the kielbasa there. I'll take a nibble, but I'm not a huge fan. Bologna? Haven't touched that in years. Around here Portuguese Sausage is a big thing. Linguicia..you should try it sometime. It's great crumbled up on a Pizza.
Gaspar's Linguica Products, Shop Online,