riddlemay wrote:Further curious about the Polish Mountaineers/Highlander thing. Besides there being something in the decor that distinguishes a Polish Mountaineer place from other Polish restaurants, is there something in the cuisine that is uniquely Mountaineer/Highlander?
I don't believe there's a significant difference in cuisine today- I think you would have seen more distinct differences 100 years ago in Poland, but by the time the food makes its way onto a Chicago menu now, it's fairly similar. Music, dance, and dress are the most notable cultural highlander aspects, but it's more rooted in tradition than in everyday practice. Zakopane, the representative mountain town of the area, is pretty popular with winter sports tourists these days, though it means you still see some mountain culture preserved for the visitors.
Góralski (highlander) cuisine, like most that comes from mountain regions around the world, was heavily influenced by what kind of food the terrain afforded. That meant a more prominent role for potatoes (is that even possible?). A food that reflects this is moskole, which are baked, potato cakes that were brought into Poland along with Russian prisoners of war that the Germans held in southern Poland during WWI (Moskol= someone from Moscow). It made its way into Polish kitchens, but would not be something you'd be likely to see in many restaurants. Often topped with garlic sauce/butter or cheese, in my head I imagine these being an easily portable breakfast to take up with you into the mountains, though I have no idea if that's how they were actually eaten.
A notable Góralski dish is kwaśnica (if you're familiar with the Slavic drink kvas, this name is the same idea- it refers to something fermented, sour, or acidic). It's a sauerkraut based soup with meat, often smoked ribs and bacon.
Hałuski is a potato-based dish of the region that represents the liminal space that exists in so many European cuisines, the not-quite noodle, not-quite dumpling (think gnocchi), sometimes served with a sheep's milk cheese called bryndza. It's now claimed more within Slovakian cuisine, or in the Eastern European community in Western PA and adapted into an egg noodle and cabbage dish.
Perhaps the most noteworthy culinary contribution of Podhale (the Polish highlands) is oscypek, a smoked sheep's milk cheese you'll find being sold all over Zakopane. The smell of the salty, piney smokiness is pretty transporting, and this is one of the few protected regional foods (like Parmesan or Gorgonzola in Italy) in Poland. Lamb/mutton would have also been served occasionally around the Tatra mountains, though I'm thinking that a much greater emphasis was put on sheep for milk and wool than for meat.
Looking at Bacowka's menu, they have oscypek, moskole(!), kwaśnica, and a common highlands dish called placek po zbójnicku (potato pancake "robber's" style, which is essentially covered in goulash). That's more representative of mountain cuisine than any other Polish menu I've seen in Chicago. I hope they also serve bread with smalec (lard speckled with bacon)- that was a nice touch they had at Szała's.
riddlemay wrote:I've been to Smak-Tak two or three times and enjoyed it greatly, but I didn't notice a difference in the menu from other Polish places. That is very likely due to my ignorance.
Smak-Tak's menu offerings don't appear to have a regional focus. You may see more regional variation in food from Śląsk, or Silesia. They speak a different dialect of Polish there, and there is more of a German influence within the food. One of their more notable dishes, kluski śląskie, are another example of a hybrid dumpling/noodle that are great vehicles for a sauce. I'm not aware of any Chicagoland places that focus on this cuisine.
Szała's, as well as the Polish Highlander Alliance, reflect the south side/north side divide that existed in the city- highlanders (from southern Poland) tended to settle on the south side, while the north side saw many immigrants from the rest of Poland. The communities remained relatively separate despite their shared language. As great as Szała's offerings were, my favorite highlander restaurant was Paul Zakopane Harnas on Milwaukee. It was never very crowded when I went in, but they did a steady takeout business, as some folks in the neighborhood bought a meal plan where they could regularly pick up a certain number of meals per week. I don't think they had a particularly regional menu either, but the Polish mountain hospitality always came through- the owner would come around, offer shots to the table, and invite you back to his house in Zakopane. I wonder if anyone ever took him up on it...