Fish
Whitefish Salad
A classic recipe for whitefisah salad with sour cream, capers, celery and sweet onions. Smoked whitefish is traditional, but most fish works.
Eastern European recipes are nearly as varied as those of Western Europe, but the area’s predominantly Slavic background ties the region together, at least somewhat.
What follows is a collection Eastern European recipes featuring fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. Many are from Poland, although lots of other countries are represented.
Mushrooms are a huge deal in this part of the world, so you’ll see recipes like my Polish fermented mushrooms, as well as mushroom pierogi, which are popular all over the region.
I have a few classics, too, like Ukrainian borscht and Hungarian pörkölt, which is like a thick gulyás (goulash).
Fish
A classic recipe for whitefisah salad with sour cream, capers, celery and sweet onions. Smoked whitefish is traditional, but most fish works.
Eastern European
Polish cabbage rolls, also known as golumpki, are, like many "thing wrapped in other things," comforting, easy, versatile and delicious.
Recipe
A classic, beet-based Ukrainian borscht recipe using venison. It's rich in flavor, but not sweet at all.
Wild Game
A classic Polish hunter's stew using whatever meats you have handy, from wild game to chicken and pork.
Recipe
How to make meat-filled pierogis the Polish way. Not an empanada and not a potsticker, it's Eastern Europe's gift to dumplings.
Recipe
Old school venison pot roast, Eastern European style. Great with venison neck or shoulder.
Recipe
It's spring bear season in many parts of the world. I can think of no better recipe for bear than these pelmeni. No bear? Use any meat.
Recipe
Who doesn't love pierogi? I mean really. Little pockets of goodness, boiled briefly then fried and served with caramelized onions, sour cream and dill? Heaven on a plate. I made these with wild mushrooms, but any mushroom will do.
Fish
It's sturgeon time here in the West, and whether you catch your own or buy farm-raised fish, smoked sturgeon is one of the great smoked fish of the world. Here's how I make it.
Recipe
Few sausages are as iconic as Polish kielbasa. There are as many variations as there are cooks -- even an official government-approved recipe, which I used as my inspiration. This one is pure smoky awesomeness.
Recipe
I could eat these all day long. Tangy, smoky and addicting, kabanosy, a Polish smoked meat stick, is what a Slim Jim dreams about when it sleeps at night. You want to make these. Now.
Recipe
I'd always been leery of the Slavic style of salt-pickled mushrooms. But I finally took the plunge and fermented my mushrooms Polish style, and damn but they're good -- especially with some rye bread and lots of vodka...