Letter from Poland.

 

Why I’m no longer scared of the meat counter.

07.11.2007
Last week, the World Cancer Research Fund made public a report in which they found that there is strong evidence that red and processed meats are causes of bowel cancer, and that there is no amount of processed meat that can be confidently shown not to increase risk.
By Anna Piwowarska
So, the upshot is that we are all urged to limit our intake of red meat to less than 500g cooked weight a week and advised to try and avoid processed meats such as bacon, ham, salami, corned beef and some sausages, all together.
Now this is all very well if you’re living in the UK and you have a choice of fresh tuna to supplement your intake of protein but what about if you are living in Poland? Here, meat is a large part of most people’s diet. Practically every time I go to my local shop I buy some variety of ‘processed meat’. One of my regular buys is ‘boczek’, a cooked, polish, fatty bacon sold by the kilogram rather than in thin, neatly packaged slices as in the UK. I use ‘boczek’ for fry-ups or as a type of pancetta for pasta dishes. Another one of my processed meat favourites is ‘Krakowska’ sausage – a type of dry sausage which tastes sumptuous with Polish mustard of tear-inducing horseradish. I also buy ‘parówki’, polish frankfurters, for my husband for breakfast, and kabanosy – a thin, dry sort of frankfurter which is perfect for snacking. That’s a lot of meat, I hear you say. Well, that’s true. In the UK I was never such a carnivore but maybe that’s perhaps because it wasn’t as tasty, or healthy for that matter.
When I first arrived in Poland I was absolutely terrified of the meat counter and usually ended up buying what the woman in front of me. Once I’d dealt with the shock of seeing the bloody slabs of meat and grizzly chicken feet lying unashamedly behind the glass counter, it was the names that confused me – ‘Ham from the Highlander’s barrell’, ‘Grandpa’s bacon’ and ‘Mother-in-laws gammon’. There’s even a type of ham named after a politician – ‘Szynka jak za Gierka’ – that’s ‘ham as it was under party leader Gierek’. I quickly realized that there’s a whole method to this strange meat buying experience. Poles revere in choosing their meat. They point and fuss and grimace if they are served the wrong amount or an old cut. Once I learnt to act like this I found that the ladies at the meat counter respected me more. And the trick was of course to ask them what to buy – they know what is good and it’s less confusing than trying to decipher all those strange names.
Meat is an important part of the Polish diet – perhaps because for a while it was scarce. Wartime rations were replaced by Communist ones. I myself, although only thirty, remember a time when we were fed mainly on ‘milk’ products and meat was only bought on special occasions.
These days, although you will find meat counters overflowing, the respect for meat is still omnipresent. If you invite someone to your house and don’t serve meat, it may be frowned upon especially amongst the older generation, and you could be accused of being stingy. Unless, it’s a Friday when you’d just be seen to be a good Catholic.
So anyone that comes to Poland has to expect to eat meat. I recently had a large group of friends over and took them to a traditional Polish restaurant. They squealed and grimaced when they saw ‘smalec’, that’s lard, being served with bread before the main course. “It’s pure animal fat!” screamed one friend, “With bones in it” said another with disgust. “How do all the Polish girls remain so slim?” asked someone in utter amazement. To be honest, I don’t know but my suspicion is that the meat here is a lot healthier. I recently bought a piece of pork ‘polędwica’ and the next day it was off. That may not sound particularly encouraging but I’m more comfortable with that than a pork chop that lasts for two weeks…
Since joining the EU, Polish meat has been a popular import to other EU countries. Often sticking to old, traditional recipes of production, and before EU membership having stricter laws on the use of preservatives in meat and hormones in livestock, Polish meat has always had the reputation of being tasty, and ecologically bred. With the added benefit of being around 30 percent cheaper than that of most other countries, it is now a regular in most British supermarket. Of course, there are those who do not agree. In 2005, Russia banned the import of Polish meat on the grounds of sanitary reasons. The EU has since agreed with the Polish side that the ban is unjustified.
Consequently, I am no longer scared of the meat counter. I love Polish blood sausage, ‘kaszanka’ which is a Polish type of haggis. All winter I indulge in spicy tripe soup (although it is very smelly so perhaps it is indeed best to not cook it yourself). Sometimes, I even indulge in pig’s liver. Fried on a very hot pan served with a sharp, stewed apple it is wonderful. And healthy, especially for people like me who are anemic. So I think that unless you’re fighting animal cruelty or have real health problems, there’s no reason to be scared of meat here in Poland. I think it’s much healthier to eat a pig’s liver than an artificially grown, dwarf sized carrot sold in British supermarkets. I tell you - that’s why Polish girls are so slim.