Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating in or widely popular in
Poland. Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other
Slavic countries, especially
Czech,
Slovak,
Belarusian,
Ukrainian and
Russian cuisines. It has also been widely influenced by
Central European cuisines, namely
German,
Austrian and
Hungarian cuisines as well as
Jewish,
French,
Turkish and
Italian culinary traditions. It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region), winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish
bigos), and herbs. It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of
noodles the most notable of which are
kluski as well as
cereals such as
kasha (from the Polish word
kasza). Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. Many Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially
Christmas eve dinner (
Wigilia) or
Easter breakfast which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety.