The Hungarian influence on the Polish cuisine - Leczo

I don't know why but for centuries Poles and Hungarians have regarded themselves as brothers. Both countries share linguistic and cultural differences, but the impact on each other is huge. Hungarian merchants have traded with the Polish since the early Middle Ages. Royal families in both countries were closely related through numerous marriages.

 King of Poland - Jadwiga

 

The culinary side of this influence is very evident in Poland. The first wine drunk by the Poles was the Hungarian wine. This wine is still very popular in Poland.
According to a legend, the Hungarian Princess Kinga brought salt to Poland. Princess Kinga who was to marry a Polish king was asked by his father what she wanted as a dowry. She replied that Hungarian salt for the Polish nation. She threw her engagement ring to one of the salt mines and went to Poland.
In Poland she pointed out to the place where to dig and salt was found there.
In the first salt mine the princess' engagement ring was found. This is a very romantic story. Princess worship as she gave the salt in Poland is very strong since today.

 Florian Cynk: st. Kinga

Red pepper is the pice which was brought to Poland by the Hungarians .
Red pepper as a spice has been very popular in Polish cuisine until today. In Polish groceries you can also find Hungarian vegetables and fruit such as red peppers, tomatoes, melons, watermelons and many others.
Poles love Hungarian stews, lecza and soups. One of my favorite dishes is Hungarian pancakes. This dish combines Polish and Hungarian cuisine in one piece. Polish potato pancake is served with Hungarian stew. Recipe on potato pancake is here.

Leczo

• 200g stewing steak diced
•  1 tin chopped tomatoes
•  1 very large potato peeled and diced
•  Half an onion chopped
•  half a red pepper thinly sliced
•  1 heaped teaspoon paprika
•  1 clove garlic crushed
•  150ml water
• 150 gram of thick pork sausages sliced

Take a large saucepan and begin by frying the potato, onion, pepper and garlic in a little butter or oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes, until everything has softened a bit.

Add the meat and fry for a further couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, paprika and water, cover and very gently simmer together for at least 2 hours, or up to three if you can wait! You may need to add small amounts of water towards the end if it has become too dry. 

Serve with potato pancake.

Enjoy!