If you never had pierogi, Poland’s national dish, now is your chance. These delicate dumplings have been savored in Poland since 1494 and enjoyed by all social classes, including nobles. They are the only Polish dish that has its own patron saint! You can find pierogi at Polish festivals, weddings, and all religious holidays. At PolCa, you can enjoy our own local pierogi made by hand by Polish cooks. Using their family recipes from Poland, they use Bay Area organic farmers for the freshest ingredients possible, local handcrafted farmer’s cheese, slowly caramelized organic onions, and fresh organic potatoes and herbs. Packed with flavor, enjoy their three top flavors at PolCa: Potato & Farmer’s Cheese, Mushroom and Kraut (vegan), and their Savory Beef & Pork that has no antibiotics or hormones. All pierogi will be topped with caramelized onions and served with sour cream.

Sausage is also a staple of Polish cuisine. Although most Americans know Polish kielbasa as stuffed with pork and seasonings, kielbasa can also be made with beef, turkey, lamb, chicken or veal. Similar to pierogi, every region of Poland has its own specialty of kielbasa and there are now official Polish government classifications based on size, meat, ready-to-eat, or uncooked varieties. At PolCa, we will be serving barbequed Polish sausage imported from Chicago (unquestionably, the main hub of delivery of the Polish culinary delicacies), served with real Polish sauerkraut and/or pickled cucumbers!

Also known as “stuffed cabbage rolls”, these are a common Polish cuisine made from boiled cabbage leaves wrapped around minced pork or beef, onions, and rice or buckwheat – then baked in a creamy tomato sauce. They are commonly served at Polish festivals and weddings. There is an old tradition that the King of Poland fed his army Gołąbki before a battle in the 1450s outside of Malbork castle. Their victory against the Teutonic Order was attributed to the strength of the hearty meal! Take a bite of history and enjoy these incredible rolls made by volunteers from The Polonian Cultural and Pastoral Center based in Sacramento.

This traditional meat and cabbage stew is also a National Polish dish, and is known as “hunter’s stew”. Typical ingredients include sauerkraut, cabbage, onion, and various cuts of meat and sausages. Traditionally, Polish chefs would use whatever left-over meat they had in the kitchen, the more variety, the better. Because of the savory flavor and seasonal availability of cabbage, this stew is popular during the winter in Poland, especially on the 2nd day of Christmas. Enjoy bigos at PolCa!

Kotlety are a type of Polish pork cutlet that is lightly breaded and pan fried. The Polish pork cutlet, schabowy, dates back to the 19th century as seen in a few cook books at that time but has recently become more popular. Typical ingredients include eggs, oil, spices, pork tenderloin, breadcrumbs, and flour. You can try these crispy and tasty cutlets with potato salad and pickles served by DJ’s Bistro from Concord.

Potato pancakes are associated with a variety of ethnic cuisines around the globe, including Poland. Potato pancakes became the food staple at monasteries in 17th-century Poland and were even used to replace bread during the times of extreme economic difficulty. Enjoy some of the best Polish pancakes made by volunteers from Sacramento!

Like most European desserts, Polish desserts are some of the best in the world. At our Polish festival, you can enjoy a variety of Polish cream pie called Kremówka. Other desserts include Poppy seed rolls (makowiec), Polish cheesecake (sernik). We even have smoothies, cotton candy, shaved ice cream (food cart) for the kids, as well as excellent regular ice cream for everybody!