Cuisine of Krakow’s Jews

Bigos, mead, żurek, pierogi, vodka and many other dishes and drinks typical of Polish cuisine should be familiar to anyone who has spent even a few days in our country.
Poland has always been a homeland for people of many cultures, languages and religions. That was our strength – and there were times when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth covered over one million square kilometres, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Krakow, then the capital (although later Warsaw took over most capital functions), was also multiethnic. The largest minority in our city were the Jews, who on the eve of World War II made up more than a quarter of the population. What did the Jews of Krakow eat? That’s our topic today.

Hummus, falafel or maybe shakshuka?

My answer is: absolutely not! Good cuisine is based on local products, sometimes enriched with imported spices. It was no different in Poland and in Krakow.

The cuisine of Ashkenazi Jews – those who lived in this part of Europe – is similar in its foundations to Polish, Russian, Hungarian or German cuisine. It is based on meat and vegetables available in our climate. Of course, religious rules applied: just as Christians avoided meat or all animal products during Lent, Jews could only eat meat from ritual slaughter performed by a specialist called a shochet, and certain animals such as pigs were forbidden. Jews are also not allowed to mix meat and dairy dishes.

Apart from that, we see many similarities. Some Polish dishes inspired Jewish cuisine and vice versa. Doughnuts, potato pancakes, carp Jewish-style (gefilte fish) and many other dishes appear in both traditions.

Typical dishes of Krakow Jewish cuisine

My personal favourite dish of Polish-Jewish cuisine is cholent. Cholent is a stew made of meat and vegetables – exactly the ingredients most common in Poland. Like many Jewish dishes, it was inspired or even required by religious law: on Shabbat, the holy Saturday, no fire may be kindled. Since heating the oven from Friday sunset to Saturday evening was forbidden, Jews prepared a dish that would cook slowly overnight in a previously heated oven, often at the baker’s.

You can surely imagine how delicious beef with onions, groats, beans, potatoes and other vegetables tastes after slowly cooking for many hours, ideally with broth (I would probably add a bit of wine too).

Where to eat Jewish cuisine in Krakow?

The answer is definitely: in Kazimierz. Here you will find several good places serving dishes of Polish-Jewish cuisine. Again, a reminder: if the menu greets you with falafel or hummus, that is a playful take on Jewish cuisine, not authentic Ashkenazi cooking – unless we are talking about genuine Israeli cuisine, which is something entirely different.

Among the restaurants in Kazimierz, I can recommend Kapłony i Szczeżuje on Izaaka Street. The name is not very kosher – a capon could be kosher, but a freshwater mussel certainly is not. Truly kosher restaurants are rare in Krakow; one can be found in the Eden Hotel on Ciemna Street.

At Kapłony i Szczeżuje you can try, for example, cholent made from beef cheeks, slow‑cooked for 24 hours with vegetables in broth and wine. The restaurant specialises in modern interpretations of traditional Ashkenazi dishes. I visited a few months ago and can genuinely recommend it.

Among homemade dishes I have prepared myself, I can recommend Jewish-style “caviar”. It has little to do with real caviar: it consists of boiled eggs, chopped onions and liver, preferably goose liver. Goose was an important ingredient in Jewish holiday cuisine. I especially recommend goose schmaltz, which is much more delicate than pork lard.

If you’d like to explore Krakow’s Kazimierz with me and taste the flavours of Krakow, just let me know https://krakow-tour.pl/en/contact/